Clown Cars: The Disastrous Results of Lawyers, Not Gearheads, Running the Auto Indust

[Blue Goose]

Clown Cars: The Disastrous Results of Lawyers, Not Gearheads, Running the Auto Industry

Lawyers cannot fix cars. The talent required for turning a wrench is not the same talent you use when twisting a contract. Most attorneys are not as comfortable working beneath the hood of a car as they are running behind an ambulance. So a wise nation keeps attorneys as far away from their automotive plants as possible.

What made the American auto industry great was not the league of academics in Washington; it was the garages full of gearheads across the nation who have a passion for mechanical things. While academics often look down on the humble grease monkey, it requires a different skill set that they just don’t teach at the Kennedy School of Government. If you left one million bureaucrats in a machine shop for an infinite amount of time, they could never produce a single exhaust manifold.

It’s time to get Washington out of the auto industry. Let people who love cars go back to building cars, and let Washington do what Washington does best. And let me know when you figure out what that is.

 

[LEB Ben]

While I get what they're saying, and appreciate the idea, and even like the shots toward GM and the gubmint boneheaded moves, BUT, what about the performance divisions? I seem to think the Shelby and Raptor are rather firy pavement pounders...and the other two have their versions of fire breathers as well. Not to mention, we all like poking fun at the electric/hybrid car niche, but that technology has to start somewhere...although I believe the fashion in which it is approached is misguided, keeping that segment stagnant. But hell, if there were an affordable 100% electric Mustang with good battery life, I'd rock it. Hell if there was an electric car in anything that struck my fancy, I'd find it a tough decision to pick the gasser counterpart, if certain numbers/specs were comparable. Keep in mind, the idea of home computers were once scoffed at too.

 

[DNFXDLI]

Ben..you are a smart guy..do your own looking at electric cars...much like solar panels and lithium batteries, I'm sure you will come to an educated opinion.

 

[polarbear]

I think we'll find, in the long run, that technology will save the automobile- although it'll result in products we'll barely recognize today. There'll be some missteps along the way though- guaranteed.

 

[O'Rattlecan]

Batteries are decades behind feasability at this point. They operate terribly in cool weather, they can't be refilled on a whim, and their range is laughable.

Right now it's just a status symbol. Electric motors aren't the problem, the power source is the problem.

Side note: I hate electric vehicles. I almost got hit by one crossing the street the other day. You can't hear them coming.

Ryan

 

[LEB Ben]

Ben..you are a smart guy..do your own looking at electric cars...much like solar panels and lithium batteries, I'm sure you will come to an educated opinion.

I'm not sure which direction you wanted me to take that...but the following article is what popped in my mind and was the direction I was going with my statement. I've been watching these for a couple years now:

http://www.motortrend.com/auto_news/112_news050712_electric_muscle/viewall.html

IMO...if you could get get those in the price range the common man could afford (say 10k within a car with similar specs), I see no reason why they couldn't sell like hotcakes. The hp is the same as my 2011 stang was, with triple the tq and 1.5s off the 0-60 time. Beyond that, quadruple the range of travel (ie the same distance a tank of gas took)...hell I'd be happy with a distance that got me to and from work (roughly 100 miles, plus traffic time) and other daily driving (another 20 miles or so of city driving), then plug up at night. And with all power sources, over time, you'll usually be able to get more power from smaller more compact technologies...again, think computers.

 

[Fellro]

Once they should ever figure out a way to more effectively produce electricity, then the electric car will fare better, but at the current level, they are not viable. That is the key factor to their survival, regular battery packs in current form are not effective enough to be realistically viable.

 

[DNFXDLI]

Where I was going with that is although electric motors will propel cars along quicker and quieter, the amount of fossil fuels and toxic constituents required to build batteries and solar panels (for charging) far outweighs the benefits.
The infernal combustions engines over the last few years are running more effeciently and cleaner due to ECM managment....more power and less fuel.
Battery technology is a long way off from being a reliable source of energy for transporation...I'm sure it will happen one day, but in the foreseeable future improvements on petro engines will continue to keep them in the mainstream.
Just my opinion though

 

[LEB Ben]

Where I was going with that is although electric motors will propel cars along quicker and quieter, the amount of fossil fuels and toxic constituents required to build batteries and solar panels (for charging) far outweighs the benefits.
The infernal combustions engines over the last few years are running more effeciently and cleaner due to ECM managment....more power and less fuel.
Battery technology is a long way off from being a reliable source of energy for transporation...I'm sure it will happen one day, but in the foreseeable future improvements on petro engines will continue to keep them in the mainstream.
Just my opinion though

Oh yeah...that's always my favorite rebuttal to greenies that bash my C footprint...is to look at what it takes for development of the 'their' power sources and look at the disposal process for 'their' power sources. Just because they feel all warm and fuzzy about being green, doesn't mean they're actually doing anything for the environment...the pollution is just pushed further up and down stream. I was speaking from a purely selfish perspective as to what the vehicle could do for me, I could give a rats *** as to what it does for the environment.

 

[nobodyspecial]

I hate electric vehicles. I almost got hit by one crossing the street the other day. You can't hear them coming.

Ryan

Look left... Look right...

 

[O'Rattlecan]

Look left... Look right...

Yeah yeah yeah..... I don't want to hear any of that common sense gobblety guke.

Ryan

 

[Blue Goose]

Yeah yeah yeah..... I don't want to hear any of that common sense gobblety guke.

Ryan

gobblety guke???? WTF???

Try:

Gobbledygook

 

[O'Rattlecan]

I can't even lose with grace in this joint.

Ryan