"Get Smart!" and the American way
April 5th 2008 12:04
Now, at the outset I have to say I dont personally dislike Americans, but the world is slowly realising that there would be perhaps a lot more oil around if the American motor industry had been a little more considerate in the past. Im not saying they are greedy but while the rest of us were tootling along in small four cylinder cars or even big six cylinder cars, the American idea of a medium sized car would have rivalled a Brisbane City Council bus in overall length.
Ah, the good old days when a four door pillarless hardtop, chrome plated American dream propelled by a massive V8 engine had to have at least a four barrel carburettor stuck on top, this combination, when fired up in anger, would suck air at a rate that threathened roadside fence posts and small animals as the car drove past. Maybe Freud had a theory about the correlation between car size and appendage size that he only told Americans?
The recent announcement by GM that they will be pursuing alternative forms of propulsion such as plug in hybrids is heartening but is it too little too late? They had the opportunity years ago to take a step forward with the EV1 but they cancelled it, well actually they exterminated it. Why? only the General really knows. If you believe in conspiracy theories, then perhaps the truth is out there, there was a theory that the oil companies felt the car was too much of a threat to their powerbase and subsequently paid GM Billions to destroy them.
Times are changing though, the American public are now far more aware of Miles Per Gallon, probably due to the rising price of fuel, rather than environmental reasons but at least its a start. Its interesting to note that Roger Penske ( of Racing team and Dealership fame) recently took on the SMART franchise for mainland USA, after Mercedes Benz USA turned their nose up at it. Penske took the car to the people through an innovative web site which offered the opportunity to reserve a car for a $ 99.00 credit card deposit, it has been pretty successful as he now has over 35,000 orders! Now thats pretty SMART!
Oh, one final thing,I couldnt resist this, there are nine towns in the USA by the name of Maxwell, talk about the ultimate marketing opportunity, Where is Roger Penske's number?
" Good Morning, Welcome to Maxwell Smart"
Ah, the good old days when a four door pillarless hardtop, chrome plated American dream propelled by a massive V8 engine had to have at least a four barrel carburettor stuck on top, this combination, when fired up in anger, would suck air at a rate that threathened roadside fence posts and small animals as the car drove past. Maybe Freud had a theory about the correlation between car size and appendage size that he only told Americans?
The recent announcement by GM that they will be pursuing alternative forms of propulsion such as plug in hybrids is heartening but is it too little too late? They had the opportunity years ago to take a step forward with the EV1 but they cancelled it, well actually they exterminated it. Why? only the General really knows. If you believe in conspiracy theories, then perhaps the truth is out there, there was a theory that the oil companies felt the car was too much of a threat to their powerbase and subsequently paid GM Billions to destroy them.
Times are changing though, the American public are now far more aware of Miles Per Gallon, probably due to the rising price of fuel, rather than environmental reasons but at least its a start. Its interesting to note that Roger Penske ( of Racing team and Dealership fame) recently took on the SMART franchise for mainland USA, after Mercedes Benz USA turned their nose up at it. Penske took the car to the people through an innovative web site which offered the opportunity to reserve a car for a $ 99.00 credit card deposit, it has been pretty successful as he now has over 35,000 orders! Now thats pretty SMART!
Oh, one final thing,I couldnt resist this, there are nine towns in the USA by the name of Maxwell, talk about the ultimate marketing opportunity, Where is Roger Penske's number?
" Good Morning, Welcome to Maxwell Smart"
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