<VV> Musings on GM, was: Salesmen---No Corvair

[Karl Haakonsen (cityhawk@pobox.com)]

One just knew that this would spark a debate. :-) 



I have been critical of GM for the past 35 or so years, even though I have owned more GM cars than any other brand (possibly more than the others combined). Mark is right about the Malibu (though I wish it came in a wagon version -- sort of a pet peeve of mine with respect to the auto industry in America -- the dearth of affordable wagon versions of sporty sedans). 



I will miss Saturn. I have bought three of them, two S-series wagons and an L series wagon. I still have two of them. GM did bumble the whole Saturn idea and lost a loyal bunch of customers. 



Yet, I still miss the bowtie. With the exception of my Corvair (which I have yet to actually drive), the last Chevy I had was a 1963 Chevy pickup which I got rid of in 1984. If I buy any new cars in the future, I would likely go (reluctantly) with a minivan. Curiously, GM doesn't make a minivan at the moment (as far as I can tell, the only ones currently available are from Honda, Toyota, Kia and Chrysler). 



The thing is, however, that today's minivans are about as exciting as a toaster. I have actually considered taking a Greenbrier and restoring and modernizing it into the family minivan. I might even have spousal support for such an endeavor after i finish my convertible. 



Karl 



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Corbin" <airvair at earthlink.net> 
Subject: <VV> GM, was:  Salesmen---No Corvair 
To: "kaczmarek at charter.net" <kaczmarek at charter.net>, 
        virtualvairs at corvair.org 
Message-ID: <380-22010953155517968 at earthlink.net> 
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII 

Hank, 

Obviously you have been asleep for the past half dozen years or so. Ever 
since the introduction of the present Malibu, GM has been introducing new 
car after new car that (starting with the Malibu) have met or exceeded the 
quality of not only Ford, but even the foreign manufacturers like Toyota, 
according to sources like JD Power, Consumer Reports, Insurance Institute, 
etc. 

Also, GM has been paying back the government faster than expected, no 
thanks to you or people like you, and been working to get out from under 
that situation. 

-Mark