Detroit auto makers try some new tricks

"Steve" ...

That's it! Not the Kadette or whatever the other one was.

Thanks - that was bugging me! You know, how you go nuts trying to remember
things.

Natalie

 

"Lloyd"
"Wickeddoll®"
wrote:

You should read the Car & Driver review of the Opel in an early
issue. (They reprinted it in their anniversary issue last year.)
Scathing (and hilarious) review.

*** where would I find this amusing piece?



Natalie

 

Ya didn't answer this question. The original name of the Cadillac Motor
Company was the Henry Ford Motor Company, until it was bought out by Mr
Leland in 1902. The current Ford Motor Company didn't exist until 1903.
Basically Mr Leland built Cadillacs until Mr Durant forced him out. Then he
started building Lincolns, until Henry Ford bought him out somewhere around
1921.

Then there's Auburn, Duesenburg and Cord.

There's a story that the non-Ford manufacturers got together about 1923 and
wondered what happened when Henry Ford gathered the people that made the
other 50% of the cars (i.e. himself.)

Charles of Schaumburg

 

I wonder if that guy is sitting on the dole queue next to the guy from Decca
Records who said the Beatles were a fad and guitar groups were on the way
out?

Charles of Schaumburg

 

I never got to a chance to drive a second-gen Corvair. By then they'd
worked out most of the problems Mr Nader was blowing about. (BTW, his VW
that he drove at the time had exactly the SAME problem, but you don't see
him putting down the VW. . . Typical left-leaning hypocrite. VW fixed the
last of it in 1968 model year by changing the geometry. In most cars,
including the pre-65 Corvairs and pre-68 VW's the rear track was narrower
than the front track. With the 1968 model year, the VW spaced the rear
track out until it was just a hair wider than the front. A lot of people
used to put spacers between their rear wheels and brake drums to get the
same effect.

Charles of Schaumburg

 

They didn't even build a centenial replica of the Curved Dash Olds in 2001.
That would have been something to see. That was the car that started
Oldmobile.

Charles of Schaumburg

 

Because it's advantageous in that it dissipates the crash energy
instead of transmitting it to the occupants of the cars.

Car bodies are way cheaper to fix than human bodies.

 

"aarcuda69062" ...

As a nurse, I get that, but some have said those old steel cans were safer.

Natalie

 

I'd question their qualifications.

 

Don't forget that other Opel model, the Cadillac Catera

 

A rigid body (one that does not crumple) transfers energy (into, say, a
passenger compartment). A non rigid body (one that crumples)
absorbs/dissipates energy as it crumples. Hint: Go back to basics.
Force with zero motion is zero energy; motion without force is zero
energy. Energy = force applied over a distance. Crumpling (motion with
force applied) reperesents extraction of energy from the body creating
the crumpling. It's all about controlled energy dissipation so that the
energy does not get transferred in full into the passenger compartment
(by a rigid body).

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

"Edwin Pawlowski" ...

You're kidding, right?

Natalie

 

"Bill Putney" ...

So that whole thing about "Christine" in "Night Court" surviving a crash
with a bus in her Roadmaster was a load of crap?



Natalie

 

I don't think you can make a blanket statement as to which is most
safe. Crumple zones can be a huge plus for the new cars while mass
can be a plus for an old car.

It just depends on what you hit or what hits you. If I was going to
be involved in an accident with another car I would rather be in one
of my oldies. I've got the mass and metal on my side and the other
car can be my crumple zone. If I'm going to hit a brick wall I would
much rater be in a new car that will crumple up instead of me
crumpling up.

Steve B.

 

GM loves to play with Opel stuff. The Catera was all but a rebadged
Opel. The current Saturn convertible is an Opel GT at heart. The
Opel V6 powered some earlier Saturn models. I'm sure there are more
out there but those come to mind off the top of my head.

Back when I was a kid my grandfather was big in to Opels. I got my
feet wet working on cars helping him rebuild a couple of Manta
engines. Funny the things you remember in life... I don't remember
yesterday but I still remember starting the engine in that car for the
first time after we rebuilt the engine in it. That was a high that
I'll likely never have again.

Steve B.

 

Some have also said that it's safer to not wear a seat belt, so you
can be thrown clear in an accident. They don't know know what they're
talking about, either.

 

Nope, that is who made it. The Caddy dealers had to pay an additional
$50,000 to sell them too. My local dealer never did and is glad he stayed
away from them.

 

"Steve B." ...

Good points. Thanks.

Natalie

 

"Steve B." ...

Spoken like a true car enthusiast.



Natalie

 

"Joe Pfeiffer" ...

Sadly, lots of people believe in rolling those dice.

I think anyone who thinks that's a good idea should, for even only one day,
observe motor vehicle cases in a large ER. *Any* large ER.

Made a seat belt believer out of me - quickly.

Natalie