Classic Cars With Bob Gelber

Last week Ford Motors settled the strike with their union. It was reported that Ford was quoted as saying that now they can be competitive with the foreign automakers. Bull. For years, Ford, General Motors and Chrysler have been complaining that the foreign companies (read Asian) have had an unfair advantage over them because of the low cost of Asian production, mainly regarding health care for their workers as well as hourly pay. Bull. Has anyone in Detroit noticed, while they were outsourcing American jobs to Mexico and Canada, the Asian automotive companies have been constructing massive new factories here in America to build their cars. It's ironic that more American workers build a Japanese Honda than an American icon like Ford.

I've said this before and I'll say it again, the problem with all American car manufacturers has been bad management. Even while gas prices have been climbing through the roof, all the American car companies have been building and heavily advertising their gas hungry SUVs and mini-vans. Even their four door mainstream cars have all been overweight and gas hungry.

During the same period, Toyota has been developing and building hybrid design systems to install in many of their vehicles. For their engineering creativeness, Toyota has amassed many patents on this system. Ford, GM and Chrysler will eventually have to pay royalties for these patents. Honda, which has earned the prestigious reputation of building the finest and most creative automotive piston engines in the world, has been busy building and designing the most powerful and fuel efficient internal combustion engines ever designed. The 238 horsepower two liter four banger in the Honda S2000 sports car is a stunning design, but it is already outdated. The new 200 hp four cylinder in the new Accord has more horsepower than most other manufacturers' V6s. Remember, the less cylinders one has to pump fuel into, the better the gas mileage.

What has Ford been doing for the last few years? Well, they brought out the new Mustang, which is certainly a pretty car that appealed to a few low budget muscle car buyers. They also improved, and incidentally made considerably larger, their pickup truck line. Yep, pickup trucks. I can't knock em, the Ford F-150 pickup is the biggest selling vehicle in America. Let's face it if you need a pickup, there is no substitute. However, many people who drive pickups really don't need one. Only in America has the pickup become a lifestyle thing, sorta like owning a Harley Davidson. Does anyone really need a Harley? Ford has been making a lot of money selling pickups, but that's about it. Neither the Mustang nor the pickup will save the company. Maybe somebody at Ford should consider making the cars smaller, lighter and much more fuel efficient. The little glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel for Ford are the Ford Fusion sedan and their very attractive Edge "Crossover" SUV. Both are excellent cars, but still get mediocre fuel economy.

Mammoth General Motors, almost weighed down in my thinking by its sheer size, has also been sleeping at the wheel for the last decade. Virtually every one of their cars has looked alike. When they tried to be creative, they ended up with the Pontiac Aztek SUV! GM has also been a big supporter of the V-8 engine, which, in reality, produces slightly more horsepower than their available V-6s. Sure, they produced a 500 horsepower, 200 mile per hour Corvette, a car everyone needs on the 55 mph Long Island Expressway. To satisfy the public's quest for fuel efficiency, the General is currently featuring a handsome show car called the Volt. It is an all electric car that GM implies will be in their future. Bull. It is based on lithium battery technology that currently does not exist. My educated guess is that the world will never see this car in production. GM is also teasing the public with pictures of the soon to be released new retro Camaro. Sure it's pretty, and it's making the muscle car gang salivate, but it will not save General Motors. Can't any automotive executive see that the new Mustang didn't help Ford's bottom line, so why should the new Camaro make a dent in the General's fortunes?

I haven't mentioned the Chrysler Corporation because as we all know, they have fallen into the same SUV, big-car-gas-hog-trap as the other members of the big three. Daimler Benz got fed up with them for a reason. And now, their new boss is the former CEO who headed Home Depot, a guy with no automotive experience whatsoever. I wonder if their new products will end up running like lawn mowers. Good luck, guys.

I'm sorry to be so tough on American car makers, call it tough love. It saddens me that our car companies, because of pure stupidity, are losing sales to foreign competitors. America used to build the finest cars in the world. Their engineering was copied by everyone and the envy of every country. We still build some very nice vehicles, but not enough of them. If Detroit doesn't change its thinking soon, it will be a sad day for American automobile manufacturing.

Bob Gelber, an automotive journalist living in the Hamptons, appears regularly on television as an automotive expert. You can email him at bobgelber@aol.com

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