On 5/23/2011 8:46 PM, Çhâlõ Çólîñã wrote:
T∅m Sherm⊄n wrote:
Ron Ruff wrote:

Then buy a Mercedes diesel...

Or even a current VW diesel, which are much more luxurious than the Golf
I (aka Rabbit) of 3-3½ decades ago.

I am told that 21st century VWs are some of the most quickly self-
composting cars ever made. I understand that one of their most common
failures is locking the owner out of the gas tank when the fuel door
release mechanism breaks.

The 1975 Plymouth Gran Fury we inherited had rear doors that only opened
from the outside and front doors that only opened from the inside at
less than 5 years of age. There were also air leaks around the door
handles since the car was new. In addition, the first engine (360 c.i.
V8) failed at 10K miles, and the second engine at 90K miles (rod
bearing), despite normal oil change intervals and never being run hard.
The front seat on the driver's side was shot by this time [1]. The
body panels rusted through so much that the trunk (with a lumpy floor
that limited usefulness) was no longer usable after 6 years. And the
engine would often stall after running just enough to get the car out
into the intersection.

And of course, the car was ugly, space inefficient, slow [2], poor
handling, and a fuel hog [3] from the day it came off the assembly line.

Wonder how all the Mopar heads feel about Chrysler only being able to
survive by being twice put on corporate welfare at taxpayer expense,
then the carcass being sold to FIAT?

At some point, it no longer matters how good and efficient an engine
is, if it is wrapped in a vehicle without a will to live.

I still get a creepy feeling when I see the odd surviving 1970's
"Detroit" full size sedan or coupe - like seeing a crocodile close up.

[1] By comparison, the driver's seat on my 1994 Civic looked almost new
after 11 years and 160K miles.
[2] A miserable 155 hp @ 3600 rpm [4] and a middling 275 lb-ft @ 2000
rpm from a 5.9L engine.
[3] 10 to 13 MPG in real world use.
[4] A contemporary Honda CVCC engine scaled up to similar displacement
would have put out more than 250 hp.

--
Tºm Shermªn - 42.435731,-83.985007
I am a vehicular cyclist.