Re: [AMC-list] almost OT: small trucks

[Ross <rossg@xxxxxxxxx>]

Funny you should mention that you'd like a basic stripper truck.  My
'03 Chevy S10 is exactly what you want....but you can't have it.  4
cylinder, 5-speed, A/C, AM/FM/CD and that's it!  No power windows, no
power anything and I like it just like that.  The only thing I wish it
had was 4WD cuz I can't make it up steep gravelly grades.  Back end is
too light and just slides off into the ditch.....don't ask me how I
know.   

	AMC content:  Had Vivo in a Father's Day car show, she didn't win
any prizes but me and three of our Car Club members had quite a crowd
gathered around our cars all day.  It was good seeing folks interested
in our oddball collection (a Pacer, Hornet hatchback and Jav AMX) as
much as they were interested in the hundreds of Cameros and Mustangs
that dominate these shows. 

	Ross Guistino 

	Rohnert Park, CA 

	'73 Gremlin 304 aka Vivo / '75 Gremlin X aka Greta 
 On Mon 06/29/09 2:51 PM , Frank Swygert farna@xxxxxxx sent:
  Labor cost is a big issue, but UAW won't budge on anything. Let the
suckers go out of business. Oh, I forgot! The UAW has lobbyists in
congress who won't let that happen!! 
 You can get stripped vehicles through fleet sales, but rarely see
one on a dealer lot. As someone else said, too much greed... err...
"incentive" to add lots of things on. I'd like a basic stripper with
an AM/FM/CD and AC. Those are the only two options. Would make a nice
work truck! That's about what I plan on for the J-10 I'm building,
stick too. Really want a five speed, but will settle for the four
speed for now. Back in the 70s people who couldn't afford a new car
for a second vehicle (or first) would buy a mini pickup, since they
were 20% or more cheaper than even the smallest cars at the time. As
soon as dealers and corporate noticed that, they jacked up the prices
on small pickups and started dolling them up a bit to justify the
added price. 
 You know, both auto companies that pulled back into profitability
since the 1960s have done it the same way, but no one seems to notice
or remember. AMC did it with the 63 Classic/Ambo, followed by the 64
American. Maximum parts interchangeability and a trim model line.
Chrysler followed the same pattern in the 80s -- everything based on
the K-car platform and a trimmed down model line. Now Chrysler has
four different lines with little to no interchangeable parts (the big
car... Magnum et. al., Neon/PT, the Sebring and derivatives, and the
mini vans). All that careful product integration went out the door,
though I'm sure there are some parts correlation -- the mini van might
use the Sebring drivetrain? It took AMC less time to loose it though,
but that was because Abernethy took over and wanted to compete model
for model. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I don't think the idea
would have looked good to me no matter what! I'm too much like Romney,
I guess. 
 ---------
 Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:42:04 -0700 (PDT)
 From: Joe Fulton 
 I would think that the what, $2.00/hour wage rate? in India would
make the greatest difference in price between U.S. built and India
built truck. As far as stripped down, how stripped do you want it? Go
to the GM website for instance and look at the base level Chevy
Colorado pickup. I believe it will have rubber floor mats and will be
all one color inside with vinyl seats. Think CalTrans truck. 
 -- 
 Frank Swygert
 Publisher, "American Motors Cars" 
 Magazine (AMC)
 For all AMC enthusiasts
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 (free download available!)
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