I heard on the radio yesterday that Ford is discontinuing the Mercury line of cars. This got me to thinking about all of the various auto manufacturers that have folded in my lifetime. Edsel, Nash, Hudson Kaiser, Fraser, Henry J, Studebaker, Packard, AMC, Crossly, Muntz, Plymouth, DeSoto, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Saturn, Hummer and Checker come quickly to mind. I'm sure that I have forgotten a few.
Now if you are under forty, you probably don't recognize hardly any of these names as car brands. Some of these such as Studebaker and Packard were very good cars and some others are frankly best left on the dust heap of history.
Edsel for instance, like Mercury, was nothing more than a re-badged Ford. No better and no worse than any other contemporary Ford that was made at that time.
Nash and Hudson were OK car lines that merged into American Motors Corp. The AMC cars were about the same as their Nash and Hudson predecessors.
Crossly was unique. It was a very compact car built in the late forties and early fifty's. Besides being compact, Crossly's had four cylinder engines with overhead cams and disk brakes. These features were, at least, fifteen years ahead of their time. They were built, along with Crossly's line of home appliances, in Cincinnati.
Checker automobiles were built in Kenosha Wisconsin, and as their name implies, for the taxicab industry. They were big, very roomy inside and were tough. They could take the abuse of a Cuban middleweight.
Why are they all gone? That's a good question. It was said that the cost of American labor closed down the smaller builders and moved some of the big guys off-shore to Mexico and beyond. I say that's bullshit. Mercedes. BMW and Volvo now build some cars in the USA. As do Honda, Toyota and Nissan. Even Hyundai and the lowly KIA are built here. What gives?
Now if you are under forty, you probably don't recognize hardly any of these names as car brands. Some of these such as Studebaker and Packard were very good cars and some others are frankly best left on the dust heap of history.
Edsel for instance, like Mercury, was nothing more than a re-badged Ford. No better and no worse than any other contemporary Ford that was made at that time.
Nash and Hudson were OK car lines that merged into American Motors Corp. The AMC cars were about the same as their Nash and Hudson predecessors.
Crossly was unique. It was a very compact car built in the late forties and early fifty's. Besides being compact, Crossly's had four cylinder engines with overhead cams and disk brakes. These features were, at least, fifteen years ahead of their time. They were built, along with Crossly's line of home appliances, in Cincinnati.
Checker automobiles were built in Kenosha Wisconsin, and as their name implies, for the taxicab industry. They were big, very roomy inside and were tough. They could take the abuse of a Cuban middleweight.
Why are they all gone? That's a good question. It was said that the cost of American labor closed down the smaller builders and moved some of the big guys off-shore to Mexico and beyond. I say that's bullshit. Mercedes. BMW and Volvo now build some cars in the USA. As do Honda, Toyota and Nissan. Even Hyundai and the lowly KIA are built here. What gives?
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