My thoughts on the Big Three

I have been an auto enthusiast for most of my life, and since some of my earliest memories are of dad working on the K5 Chevy Blazer out in front of the house. I remember Saturdays filled with 4WD trucks packed and loaded early for trips with a convoy of trucks, CB Radios, big tires, mud bogs, chains and come-alongs. Everything that made owning a 4WD fun. I have always loved Detroit steel, and I love cars. I started reading Motor Trend in middle school. I've been going to the WANADA auto show every year for 15-20 years. Even if the last one was about rims and rice burners.

Then came Michael Moore in 1989 with "Roger and Me" showing how devastating the GM plant closing was to Flint, Michigan- and it got many of us wondering what was wrong with American auto manufacturers. We were shocked at how the big evil auto manufacturer ruined a town by closing that plant. I mean, shouldn't someone have MADE THEM keep it open? Shouldn't some legislation be created to keep that from happening?

So, When Saturn came out with an econobox, that was supposedly going to create US jobs, rejuvenate GM's manufacturing process and bring back the American automobile, we jumped in with both feet. We ended up buying two Saturns over the course of 10 years or so in the 90s, while in the meantime I continued to have my eye on one of those big 4WD vehicles.

On the one hand, the big three have just been giving us what we were buying. I mean, bigger was better, right? Just in case it got a little icy on that trip to the mega-mall, we needed that extra large Canyonero that could haul all of our mall-booty home safely. I mean, seriously. If Chrysler had offered an electric car in 1998, how many people would have traded in that Lincoln/ Cadillac/ Chevy/ Oldmosbile SUV to buy one? Then again, someone could have stepped in and imposed higher taxes on gas-guzzlers. Someone could have made us buy smaller, more fuel-efficient cars. I mean the Japanese manufacturers kept making small cars and NEVER offered the big evil 8-cylinder gas gluttons did they?

Someone should have seen the storm coming. Someone should have remembered the gas crisis of the 70's and early 80's. Someone should have stepped in and MADE US do the right thing. Someone should have legislated fuel economy. They already assume that we need to be told to wear our seatbelts, replace cracked windshields, buy insurance, and keep our tires inflated to the correct pressure. Someone should have been making us have some common sense at the pump.

Maybe Obama will teach us to do the right thing. I can't wait. I'm gonna spend my Obama bucks on a Toyota Prius that requires that I buy a $4,000 battery every 100k miles and not spend it on a new paint job for my 89 Chevy 1/2 ton pickup with the 5.7 liter 8 cylinder engine.