Re: which big business
Author: Left Wing Train Nut
Date: 12-09-2008 - 17:49
Hmmm. I admit I didn't know when CAFE standards came into being, so I did an internet search... 1975 (can't prove that year... but it's what I found on the internet... is it wrong?).
Now I did know when the Gremlin, Pinto, and Vega were introduced, 1970. The reason they were terrible was that they were all developed in two years, instead of the standard four years that cars are usually developed. Essentially Ford and GM got it into their heads that they could build a better VW. They tried to build the cars as cheap as they could. Vega was an abominition, they actually saved money by not putting in the little hinges for a glove compartment. Pinto had the gas tank where it was so there would be enough room to hold golf clubs. Guys at Ford went to their friends at the Nixon White House and got a number for the value of a human life, calculated that number against the amount it would cost to put a protective cover on a sharp bolt that the gas tank would rub against in a rear end accident and decided that human lives were cheaper. As to the Gremlin... AMC couldn't afford to design a small car, so they actually just cut the rear end off the Hornet. To make it really cheap, the made rear windows that went up and down and a rear seat optional.
But I bring this all back to my question... did CAFE really have anything to do with Pintos, Gremlins, or Vegas? Because I don't like getting misinformation. I've done a lot of studying on those three cars. It's my other hobby. I don't remember anything about CAFE at the time. I don't find anything about CAFE on the internet now. Are you spinning or telling the truth. Please send me to a site that shows me when CAFE started so I can accept that I was wrong to question you on this. The Goverment sites say first enacted in 1975. The program that became the Vega was announced in 1968.
Thanks.