American Car Makes

John S. wrote:
> Kind of an overstatement don't you think. Somebody is buying all those
> america name cars we see on the road.

I suspect a lot of those (at least around here) are company-owned
vehicles. No company wants to provide foreign made or badged vehicles
for its employees and therefore be open to accusations of being
unAmerican.

nate

>> however, had a 198x LeBaron that was constantly blowing head gaskets and
>> ultimately I think it cracked its block.

>Don't know if it's with all LeBarons, but I had a LeBaron from that era,
> and it had a Mitsubishi engine.

For very low values of "8x" or high values of "7x" a LeBaron would have
been an M-body RWD sedan powered by an LA-block 318 or in some years
an optional 360.

"LeBaron," which has a long history at Chrysler as a nameplate in its
own right or a variant on the Imperial, was applied to a K-car
derivative in 1983. These and the next generation were smaller
front-wheel-drive cars powered by various I4's (some turbocharged, if
memory serves) and V6's. I'd have to do some digging around to see
where the engines came from, but for sure Chrysler and Mitsubishi were
in a web of technical contributions, badge-engineering of entire cars,
joint ventures, and intertwined ownership during those years. The
model stayed around until replaced by the cab-forward generation in
the mid-90s.

When the little front-wheel-drive jobbies got the LeBaron name, the RWD
V8 "M" body was dubbed the 5th Avenue (which had previously
designated an option package on the New Yorker) and, less gussied up,
the Plymouth St. Regis and Dodge Diplomat. The latter two were much
loved by operators of police and taxicab fleets in their day.

The M-body soldiered on through the rest of the 80s, but never regained
the LeBaron name. Both are history now.

Cheers,
--Joe

"N8N" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>
>
> John S. wrote:
>> Kind of an overstatement don't you think. Somebody is buying all those
>> america name cars we see on the road.
>
> I suspect a lot of those (at least around here) are company-owned
> vehicles. No company wants to provide foreign made or badged vehicles
> for its employees and therefore be open to accusations of being
> unAmerican.
>
> nate
>

That is not true. Fleet sales account for some, but not most of the sales.
It is people that are stuck with certain brands, go for the cheap deals
(like with GM), low payments, etc.

I mean you can buy a a new GM cheaper than a used Japanese sedan.

So some folks buy a new American car, knowing they will have more issues,
but with the longer warranty and more time on their hands, they can come out
ahead.

Not in my experience. Look at the number of american car dealers on
auto row in your town and the number of people milling around in the
showroom. Some people buy american because they've always done it that
way. I've bought Toyota and Volvo since 1970 with no regrets. My
sister-in-law has owned Chevy (vette & suburban), Chryslars, jeep and
caddy and would not consider a foreign car. And we still talk!!!

Dan J.S. wrote:

> It's like this. If you want reliability and bland styling, you buy a Honda
> or Toyota. If you want fast and fun, you buy a BMW, Mercedes, Porsche or
> Audi. American cars fall in between, but mostly just fall apart.

Driving today, this thread sprung to my mind, when I was driving behind
what seemed to be a Dodge Sprinter.

It's increasingly difficult to differentiate, what is an "American" car,
and what is "European" or "Japanese".

In its simplest form, it is rebadging the car with an American label.

On a more complex level, it can be sharing the chassis, engine, or other
parts with other manufacturer's models.

Heck, even many of the so-called non-American makes, are actually
assembled in the US, whereas, some of the American makes are assembled
in Mexico.

And why did it come to my mind from the Dodge Sprinter? Because it
was obviously a rebadged Mercedes Sprinter.

--
Mikko Peltoniemi
Film & Video Editor, Avid Technician at large.
http://www.discountcadavers.com

"Dave Lister" > wrote in message
. 6...
> Nate Nagel > wrote in
> news:1118699145.40c08c9a86029f55b2ff96ff1a6b1d1e@t eranews:
>
> > C. E. White wrote:
> >>
> >> Dave Lister wrote:
> >>
> >>
>>
> --
> Republican Health Plan: Don't Get Sick
>
> Guantanamo: The Gulag of Our Time
>
Suggest you invest in a dictionary

"Robert Morrisette" > wrote in
:

>
> "Dave Lister" > wrote in message
> . 6...
>> Nate Nagel > wrote in
>> news:1118699145.40c08c9a86029f55b2ff96ff1a6b1d1e@t eranews:
>>
>> > C. E. White wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Dave Lister wrote:
>> >>
>> >>
>>>
>> --
>> Republican Health Plan: Don't Get Sick
>>
>> Guantanamo: The Gulag of Our Time
>>
> Suggest you invest in a dictionary

Suggest you open your eyes.

--
Republican Health Plan: Don't Get Sick

Guantanamo: The Gulag of Our Time

Dave Lister wrote:
> 223rem > wrote in news:j7Ore.1164$aa2.183
> @newssvr17.news.prodigy.com:
>
>
>>Dave Lister wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Guantanamo: The Gulag of Our Time
>>
>>
>>You have no idea what the Stalinist Gulag
>>was like; comparing Guantanamo with
>>the Gulag is an insult to the memory of tens of
>>millions of inocents killed by the Communists.
>>
>>Try to read Solzhenitsyn's "Gulag Archipelago",
>>and you'll see how big of a dumb**** you were.
>
>
> Why don't you take your moral relativism and shove them right up your
> reactionary ass?
>

You're again using big words you dont fully understand.
Many US jails are far worse than Gitmo. Why dont you
direct your hysterical indignation to them?

> Why don't you take your moral relativism and shove them right up your
> reactionary ass?
>
> --
> Republican Health Plan: Don't Get Sick
>
> Guantanamo: The Gulag of Our Time
>

Hey Lister,

You do not even know what Gulag is, or what socialism can lead to.

223rem > wrote in newsxVre.3555$on5.1600
@newssvr19.news.prodigy.com:

> Many US jails are far worse than Gitmo. Why dont you
> direct your hysterical indignation to them?

The people in US jails have been tried and convicted of a crime, loon.

--
Republican Health Plan: Don't Get Sick

Guantanamo: The Gulag of Our Time