Posted by David Sherman on Sunday, June 02, 2002 at 6:44PM :
In Reply to: More than you might think posted by Matt Wilson on Sunday, June 02, 2002 at 2:27PM :
I still have my grandfather's 1967 chevy 1/2 ton with the 292 and a 4 speed (really 3-speed plus granny gear) bought new by him in 1967 from Marson's Garage in Molalla Oregon, and it's done lots of work for me and has 187,000 miles without any engine work yet. I've put over 2000 lbs in it many times and haven't broken anything except tires and one shock absorber mount.
Maybe the real issue is old trucks vs new trucks. In the "old days" all trucks were work trucks. Maybe Dodge set the standard that people expected Ford and GM to match. Then came the lowriders and El Camino types but it wasn't until the last 20 years that so many people wanted "cowboy cadillacs" that the manufacturers softened up the basic design so you can't get a simple, strong truck anymore.
Personally, I'd like to see the Chinese build a copy of something like an M37 with a modern engine. If they do it as well as they've copied American machine tools, it would probably be a very good value and it might wake up Detroit to the fact that not everybody wants fancy upholstery and curvy plastic and hidden fasteners and sound-proofing and computerized everything that can never be fixed by a normal person.
The gimmicks are cool -- my banker neighbor showed me his new truck that steers at both ends -- but to me anything that requires electronics with custom ICs to make it work is disposable since 20 years from now you won't be able to buy or fix the electronics.
Follow Ups: