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You know Doc brings up a interesting point. Back then automakers I guess
figured they could shove anything out onto the public and it would sell.
You can paint a turd any color, and have all sorts of excellent marketing
and 'sell' points but it is still a turd. Iocrappa used to say 'if you can find
a better car, then buy it' then Chrysler went out and bought AMC. I hate to
see Chrysler take a beating like it is as hate to see Americans losing jobs
(gee, like Kenosha in 1989 when Chrysler promised state of Wisconsin that
they would keep the plants open for 6 years, then after 6 months, decided to
close them, putting thousands out of work in a economically depressed area) so
hate to see hard working folks get laid off as many of those jobs will
never be there again. Back to the Krap-cars however, keep in mind that AMC was
also pushing Frogcars like Alliance (which won Car of Year award from Motor
Trend in 1983) I don't think anyone at MT drove one, or had to have it towed to
service or could not get it unstuck shifter out of third after less than 1000
miles. The bulletins, revisions were many and at one time I had all the
bulletins from 1981 thru 1984 and was about size of a 1974 AMC shop manual,
which is about size of Ivanhoe or War & Peace book.
There is a nice page on Bob's site (Arcticboy) about Renault
Interesting to see several things, like the Renault's were rather good
looking and very similiar to what one sees today in car lines, just more
squared. But they also had Richard Gere's gerbil under hood and Rod stewart's
stomach pump for trans so thats where it ended.
Too bad the Alpine was never offered in the US, could have marketed it as
maybe AMX/4 or AMX/5 perhaps.
On longevitity: at the Houston area pick a parts:
there is usually about 1500-2000 cars. In the 'new section' which is cars
from 1992-current, it is loaded with Toyota, Honda, Niccan, BMW, Volvo and other
cars that many have barely hit 100,000 miles. Disposable cars in other words and
cheaper to replace than fix (you can toss in computers, cell phones, printers,
and God knows what here) but interesting to see cars that are touted (by their
manufacturer) scrapped, as having a long life barely getting pass the range of
what a Cadillac now requires before tune up....
Granted who knows what type of life some had and just like AMC vehicles, I
guess if you do regular maintainence they will last a long time, however, some
like the K-cars were doomed from start. Here is a K-car forum, please be quiet
and don't wake up anyone:
Eddie Stakes
713.464.8825 eddiestakes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx www.planethoustonamx.com email volume post Hurricane Ike EXTREMELY HEAVY, reply time 20+ days __._,_.___
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