The Refined Redneck

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Now for the next installment on what we think GM should do to get back in the black.
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Now for the last of the American big 2.something manufacturers.  We have worked up to GM since they are by far the messiest of the three, and have the most right and wrong at the same time.  They have so many home runs mired among the steaming piles that they are easy to miss.  Let’s hope there won’t be too much to wash off when were done here.

I think that may be a bit generous.  When you make as many things as GM does you’re bound to get a few things right once in a while.  My biggest problem with GM has long been that they are one of the worst abusers of badge engineering.  In some respects I thought that was improving, but now I’m not sure anymore.  Pontiac, in particular, is like my gauge for how stupid GM is being.  Pontiac G3?  No way.

Before he has an aneurysm… on with the show!!!

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Let’s put on our imagination caps and think of a world where the impatient Cerberus group wasn’t desperately trying to regurgitate the remains of Chrysler on to anyone willing to spare a few pieces of pocket lint and pennies.  In this imaginary wonderland Cerberus wasn’t going to dissolve the remains of Chrysler, but instead invest the time and money in a long term plan to save the irrelevant Chrysler brand, strengthen Jeep, and trim Dodge to a lean and competent brand.

I have always been a fan of the upstart underdog that Chrysler has been through the years.  Always small enough that they were willing to take risks, but not quite enough money to keep up with the bigger bullies from across town - Ford and GM.  Now they have been sucked dry by Mercedes, and left to rot with Cerberus.  This analysis will be in same vein as our earlier Ford break-down, just this time we have to suspend disbelief for a little bit and assume Chrysler will stick around long enough to be fixed.

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SELL THEM TO INDIA!!!!

To start off the series we’ll look at the one who has gone the longest distance to help themselves already.  In going over all of the companies, and looking at their current lineup, Refined and I felt Ford needed the least amount of restructuring and help.

Somehow Ford seems to be getting some things right.  They’ve acquired Mazda and Volvo and both brands actually have a lineup of products that make sense.  There are a few things that need removing but on the whole Ford seems to be getting a hang of the “brand image” concept and making sure each brand has some sort of cohesive style or vision. The only tricky issue is what to do with Mercury, which seems to be a brand unsure of its purpose.
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So Refined and I have been discussing the plight of the American Auto companies and have gone over failrly comprehensive plans on how to go about getting all of them back on their feet and making money…

SELL THEM ALL TO INDIA!!!!

Just kidding… Over the next couple weeks we’ll be putting up our ideas on what each brand should do in company specific posts outlining these thoughts.

Hope you enjoy :)

This delightfully quirky little car is called the Wildfire.

Hailing from China, these contraptions come with a two cylinder motorcycle engine, and can achieve greater than 60mpg.  For around $7000 out the door you can have this four door, three wheeled wonder and it really might be worth thinking about.

It will turn on a dime, and of course that Star Trek space shuttle look, incredibly light weight and the large amount of room on the inside (seriously, rear leg room is insane) make this look like a pretty killer city car.  Put on some studded tires -maybe a front ski- and it could make for a sweet winter wonder-mobile considering the driver sits on the engine.  It apparently can hit highway speeds but I wouldn’t want to be caught dead in one of these on the highway, which is probably exactly what would happen should you need to make any emergency avoidance maneuvers.

Redneck and I found out about this after chasing down one we saw going the other way down the street.  The owners told us about the local dealer and we fully expect to check it out and go take one for a test drive.  Mr. Redneck has some more on the technical details on this thing I’m sure so hopefully those will come out soon.

The only thing it’s missing is a retro flower power paint job, and maybe some bubbles coming out of the exhaust.

Redneck and I have a discussion about making lightweight cars out of alternative materials, which we’ll be posting soon, but this news just came across me (even though the article is from late last month) and I thought it was worth posting.

Honda and Nissan are joining Toray Industries to develop more cost effective ways of building auto bodies out of carbon-fiber rather than steel.  They say this should be possible by the middle of next decade and could shave 40% of the weight off a standard steel bodied car.

For Refined and myself, this is one of many things we have been discussing and I’m very glad to see it may be happening!

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Japanese auto giants Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. have joined with Toray Industries Inc. to develop a new carbon-fiber material for use in auto bodies, aiming to mass produce cars that are lighter by as much as 40% than steel-built vehicles, according to a report Thursday.

The group aims to establish mass production technology for the new material by the middle of the next decade, the Nikkei business daily reported, without citing a source.

The joint efforts come during steep increases in iron ore prices recently, which have in turn inflated steel prices and raw material costs for automakers across the world.

Although carbon fiber now is several times more expensive than steel or aluminum, the price gap is expected to narrow because there is significant room for increasing production of the new material, according to the report.

If successful, the efforts will help produce lighter vehicles than can also improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions.

Successful mass production would also be a big leap in the evolution of the automotive industry, as although it is tough and light, carbon fiber’s high costs currently limit its usage to concept cars and a select few high-end sports vehicles.

Article source

As a gear head I do my best to keep up with automotive blogs, thus the reason Jalopnik and Autoblog are in the links section. Another that I frequent is Motorcycle Blogger.

In a post today angrybob comments on how much he dislikes being a passenger. He writes:

Personally, there is only one way to have two people on a bike - a guy in front and his woman riding pillion. Lets review the other situations (excluding children):

1. A male with a male passenger - I cannot think of anything more gay.
2. A female with a male passenger - see #1.
3. A female with a female passenger - see #1 (but it has potential to be hot).
4. A mom riding her adolescent son - Ugh. I saw this once and purposely made eye contact with this kid just to let kim know how beat down he really was.

Though I’m not as critical as he is, I do dislike being a passenger. I also tend to be posessive about my auto’s, and - if my bike were running - would probably avoid having any passengers riding pillion except my girlfriend and I might give special dispensation for my mom. The only exception I would probably make for that is having a friend, male or otherwise, riding in a sidecar. Somehow in my head that’s kosher.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of visiting the Pioneer Gas Engine Reunion. It was filled with fantastic hit or miss engines, fun tractor pulls, and some great people running it all. Consider it a warm up to the Pageant of Steam coming up shortly.

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