Well, GM seemed to spend the entire period from ca. 1971 to ca. 2009 actively trying to put themselves out of business, avoiding bankruptcy through a combination of inertia and good luck, so that’s not really surprising.

Because they’re the same as any other brand-loyal customers. If they’re going to buy a GM product and only a GM product and not cross-shop anything else, let alone an import brand from a non-union factory, they don’t know what they don’t have. 

Yes, they’ve definitely had long periods of “good” quality. “Excellent”, on the other hand, has been more elusive. 

In the absence of information, the media and conspiracy theorists will speculate to fill in the gap, and that is almost always worse than the real thing. Of course, coming out with the truth after years of deflection doesn't look good either.

Nope, it was right when they were just starting to get concerned about their auto industry getting overcrowded, and started their policy of encouraging consolidation among existing automakers and rejecting applications for new ones. They put the brakes on new foreign joint ventures too, except for ones involving…

We might hear about Prius owners ICEing new HUMMERs.

Well, GM did find a buyer for HUMMER - Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company was all set to do a deal, but the Chinese government refused permission to allow them to expand into the passenger vehicle market, so it fell apart. GM didn't try to find anyone else, because they felt it was too late to start…

It isn’t terribly diverse, is it? 50% of the items are from English-speaking countries (even though only 4.9% of the world is), 50% are from Europe (which is only 11% of the world’s population), 100% from majority white countries (only 11.5% of the world), 100% from countries that are constitutional monarchies (only…

The new Quarter Pounder patties are a dramatic improvement. Credit where credit is due, McDonalds recognized they had a big problem and they did a good job fixing it. I mean, no one’s going there expecting gourmet food, its a red and yellow restaurant with a drive through window and a kids play structure in front,…

Certainly not. Far too low to the ground, one door too few, and it doesn’t look like a bar of soap was put in a microwave. 

I’m assuming they will mainly be distributed among Nascar management, and maybe a few will be sold to executives from sponsors who want something themed to wear to Nascar-related events. 

Here’s the deal. You like NASCAR, but you’re not the type to unbutton (unhook? untie? you don’t know, that’s not your thing) your overalls to show a big “3” for Dale shaved into your chest hair or sunburned onto your skin.

Other than the palm trees and freeways, its like a trip back to childhood. Riding with my dad over to Grossman’s to pick up some nails and plywood, talking him into stopping at Roy Rogers on the way back home. 

Mainly that, but there is such a thing as too far on the other way, too. I would say doing 55 on a 25 residential street would be excessive. Also, you should know where your local police speed traps are and adjust accordingly when you go through them.

Well, that doesn’t sound like a German-managed plant at all.

People will still ignore them. Speed limits are in big, black and white signs and nobody reads them. 

Probably about the same time news reporters switched to jeans and a polo with their station logo on it. Nobody has standards anymore.

This is true, the wobble is somewhat that can happen to any vehicle with a solid front axle, and did happen a lot before independent front suspension became common. Not saying there isn’t a flaw with the Wrangler that is making the normal tendency worse, there could well be, but people buying specialized trucks…

They can get pretty much anything they want, if they're willing to pay for shipping. We've got to wait 25 years.

I wonder if he got that hammock from Hammock Hut or Hammocks 'R Us? I've always preferred Mary Ann's Hammocks myself.