Dammit, I'd much rather see a Solstice, or a DeLorean, than a fucking Fisker. We are going to look back at this era of $100k taxpayer-funded, luxury, electric sports cars and shake our heads in wonder.
@therealmusashi: To my knowledge neither the Tesla Model S nor the Fisker Karma is taxpayer-funded. The loans which arose from this Bush 43-era program are for their supposedly cheaper follow-on Model S and Project NINA sedans.
"Section 136 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 establishes an incentive program consisting of both grants and direct loans to support the development of advanced technology vehicles and associated components in the United States." #deloreanmotorcompany
@skierpage: Virtually everything ever handed out by the government, is taxpayer-funded.
It's also interesting that the lawmakers who crafted the bill didn't think to include a "This program should be suspended as unrealistic if we're in a dire economic situation with crazy-high unemployment, failing banks, etc."
@therealmusashi: Most economists would say that a dire economic situation is exactly the time when you need taxpayer-funded stimulus programs. This one should put people to work in the USA getting advanced technology automobiles into production. #deloreanmotorcompany
Yeah, the tooling's paid for, but would signing a whole batch of new OEM and material supply contracts make sense for 2.5 years of production of something that will sell less than 10K per year? I doubt it. Good night, Solstice. #deloreanmotorcompany
Maybe we should be planning to stage an intervention on December 21?
Although killing off a decent platform that's finally been sorted, yet improperly understood and incompetently marketed, is what GM's always been best at. #deloreanmotorcompany
A long, long time ago...
I can still remember
How those cars used to make me smile.
And I knew to keep the US alive
That I could make those people Drive
And, maybe, theyd be happy for a while.
But february made me shiver
With every paper Id deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;
I couldnt take one more step.
I remember how they meandered
When I read about new cafe standards,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the autos died.
So bye-bye, miss american pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
Singin, thisll be the day that I die.
Thisll be the day that I die.
Did you write the book of love,
And do you have faith in Government above,
If Obama tells you so?
Do you believe regulation,
Follow his orders without hesitation,
And looking forward to socialize this nation?
Well, I know that youre in love with him
`cause I saw you jizzing at CNN.
You both kicked off your shoes.
And are in his bed to loose.
I was a lonely teenage broncin buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck,
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the autos died.
I started singin,
Bye-bye, here's mud in your eye.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
And singin, thisll be the day that I die.
Thisll be the day that I die.
Now for eight years weve been on our own
And you had to pick hard on that bone,
But thats not how it used to be.
When the jester sang for the king and queen,
In a coat he borrowed from steve McQueen
And a voice that came from you and me,
Oh, and while the king was looking down,
The jester stole his thorny crown.
but the senate was not adjourned;
more laws would be returned.
And while lennon read a book of marx,
The quartet practiced in the park,
Obama clapped in the dark
The day the music died.
We were singing,
Bye-bye, miss american pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
And singin, thisll be the day that I die.
Thisll be the day that I die.
Helter skelter in a summer swelter.
Its Global warming, quick to the fallout shelter,
While talk about CO2 rising fast.
It landed foul on the grass.
with big laws and a carbon tax,
and no reason to keep any cars that were too fast.
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the commies played a marching tune.
We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
`cause the players tried to take the field;
The marching band refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the autos died?
We started singing,
Bye-bye, miss american pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
And singin, thisll be the day that I die.
Thisll be the day that I die.
Oh, and there we were all in one place,
A generation with heads in space
With no time left to start again.
So come on: jack be nimble, jack be quick!
Jack flash sat on a candlestick
Cause fire is the devils only friend.
Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage.
No angel born in hell
Could break that satans spell.
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite,
I saw satan laughing with delight
The day the autos died
He was singing,
Bye-bye, miss american pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
And singin, thisll be the day that I die.
Thisll be the day that I die.
I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news,
But she just smiled and turned away.
I went down to the auto store
Where Id heard the music years before,
But the man there said the Government wouldnt play.
And in the streets: the children screamed,
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.
But not a word was spoken;
The church bells all were broken.
And the three men I admire most:
The father, son, and the holy ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the autos died.
And they were singing,
Bye-bye, miss american pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
Singin, thisll be the day that I die.
Thisll be the day that I die.
They were singing,
Bye-bye, miss american pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
Singin, thisll be the day that I die.
Hmmm. A competent, if not class leading, attractive sporty car from Pontiac (and Saturn) that is axed despite profitability and a healthy fan base? I could swear that we've seen this before.
They've actually outdone themselves. The Kappa had a shorter life than the Fiero by a year.
@smalleyxb122: I'd read somewhere that the Solstice/Sky weren't profitable. That makes intuitive sense when you think about it; overall sales for the two cars weren't that higher than the Miata but needed to cover the costs of two distinct sets of sheetmetal.
@DrLemming: I will concede that I didn't do any research into the profitability (of the Kappa). There is really no reason that the car couldn't be profitable, though. It's a parts bin vehicle. Halting production will not help things. The longer a vehicle is made, the lower the bottom line gets, since the tooling (minimal, in this case due to the large number of shared components) and development costs are amortized over a longer production run. If the car hasn't turned a profit yet, it would have. If the parts, labor and plant overhead exceed the sale price, it should have been canceled long ago, or never even reached production.
Risk my soul, test my life
For my bread
Spend my time lost in space
Am I dead?
Let the river flow
Through my callused hands
And take me from my own
The eyes of the damned
It makes my stomach turn
And it tears my flesh from the bone
How we turn a dream to stone
And we all die young
Yeah we all die young
Tell me I know
I lived so afraid
And still we cry alone
With words left unsaid
Yeh it makes my stomach turn
And it tears my flesh from bone to bone
How we turn a dream to stone
And we all die young
Yeah we all die....
Young...
Young...
Young...
No sardonic modifications to the lyrics here. I am well and truly saddened by this.
These two cars are the only ones in the GM lineup that I considered cooled. When are these corporate clowns going to learn to listen to me?
One time a friend of mine was reading an article in a newspaper that the CEO Roger Smith had stepped down and was being replaced by Robert Stempel. My friend had been a new car salesman for a GM dealership in the late seventies and early eighties and he told me that one time at a big sales conference he sat in an audience with other salesmen and one of the speakers was Robert Stempel (who was I think he said was the vice-president of GM at the time). My friend said that Stempel gave the most egotistical speech he had ever heard. Basically what Stempel said was that GM determined what cars the public wanted and determined the publics taste in vehicles. That GM did not respond to consumer demands, but that instead the public responded to the demands of GM. My friend said at that time that he figured GM was doomed with that kind of leadership. He was a prophet I guess.
@kthooker needs money to buy G8: Hey, it was just a heart-filled yet insightful and informative comment about why GM failed. We can all look past the "cooled" error, and we understand what he actually meant.
After all, 1 error in a comment that long is pretty damn impressive, for the internet.
Look at the bright side, the Kappa platform is now for sale.....cheap. Jalopnik Motors can evolve from it's current, brefast scotch fueled fantasy to......brefast scotch fueled reality!
And who among you wouldn't leap at the chance to be the first on your block to own the Jalopnik Wert GT-R, Type S, Turbo R....."The World's Only "Dragon-Rated" Sports Car"?
10/27/09
10/27/09
"Section 136 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 establishes an incentive program consisting of both grants and direct loans to support the development of advanced technology vehicles and associated components in the United States." #deloreanmotorcompany
10/27/09
It's also interesting that the lawmakers who crafted the bill didn't think to include a "This program should be suspended as unrealistic if we're in a dire economic situation with crazy-high unemployment, failing banks, etc."
Quoting law doesn't make it any less stupid. #deloreanmotorcompany
10/27/09
10/28/09
10/27/09
It would be a shame to see that car go to waste. #deloreanmotorcompany
10/27/09
10/27/09
Oh, wait... #deloreanmotorcompany
10/27/09
10/27/09
Maybe we should be planning to stage an intervention on December 21?
Although killing off a decent platform that's finally been sorted, yet improperly understood and incompetently marketed, is what GM's always been best at. #deloreanmotorcompany
10/27/09
10/27/09
Something about the clip-art concept sketch... #deloreanmotorcompany
07/29/09
There goes any chance of the coolest GM concept of the last four decades.
Not that we ever thought it had a chance.
10/06/09
07/29/09
I can still remember
How those cars used to make me smile.
And I knew to keep the US alive
That I could make those people Drive
And, maybe, theyd be happy for a while.
But february made me shiver
With every paper Id deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;
I couldnt take one more step.
I remember how they meandered
When I read about new cafe standards,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the autos died.
So bye-bye, miss american pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
Singin, thisll be the day that I die.
Thisll be the day that I die.
Did you write the book of love,
And do you have faith in Government above,
If Obama tells you so?
Do you believe regulation,
Follow his orders without hesitation,
And looking forward to socialize this nation?
Well, I know that youre in love with him
`cause I saw you jizzing at CNN.
You both kicked off your shoes.
And are in his bed to loose.
I was a lonely teenage broncin buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck,
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the autos died.
I started singin,
Bye-bye, here's mud in your eye.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
And singin, thisll be the day that I die.
Thisll be the day that I die.
Now for eight years weve been on our own
And you had to pick hard on that bone,
But thats not how it used to be.
When the jester sang for the king and queen,
In a coat he borrowed from steve McQueen
And a voice that came from you and me,
Oh, and while the king was looking down,
The jester stole his thorny crown.
but the senate was not adjourned;
more laws would be returned.
And while lennon read a book of marx,
The quartet practiced in the park,
Obama clapped in the dark
The day the music died.
We were singing,
Bye-bye, miss american pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
And singin, thisll be the day that I die.
Thisll be the day that I die.
Helter skelter in a summer swelter.
Its Global warming, quick to the fallout shelter,
While talk about CO2 rising fast.
It landed foul on the grass.
with big laws and a carbon tax,
and no reason to keep any cars that were too fast.
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the commies played a marching tune.
We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
`cause the players tried to take the field;
The marching band refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the autos died?
We started singing,
Bye-bye, miss american pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
And singin, thisll be the day that I die.
Thisll be the day that I die.
Oh, and there we were all in one place,
A generation with heads in space
With no time left to start again.
So come on: jack be nimble, jack be quick!
Jack flash sat on a candlestick
Cause fire is the devils only friend.
Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage.
No angel born in hell
Could break that satans spell.
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite,
I saw satan laughing with delight
The day the autos died
He was singing,
Bye-bye, miss american pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
And singin, thisll be the day that I die.
Thisll be the day that I die.
I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news,
But she just smiled and turned away.
I went down to the auto store
Where Id heard the music years before,
But the man there said the Government wouldnt play.
And in the streets: the children screamed,
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.
But not a word was spoken;
The church bells all were broken.
And the three men I admire most:
The father, son, and the holy ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the autos died.
And they were singing,
Bye-bye, miss american pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
Singin, thisll be the day that I die.
Thisll be the day that I die.
They were singing,
Bye-bye, miss american pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
Singin, thisll be the day that I die.
07/29/09
They've actually outdone themselves. The Kappa had a shorter life than the Fiero by a year.
07/29/09
07/29/09
07/29/09
For my bread
Spend my time lost in space
Am I dead?
Let the river flow
Through my callused hands
And take me from my own
The eyes of the damned
It makes my stomach turn
And it tears my flesh from the bone
How we turn a dream to stone
And we all die young
Yeah we all die young
Tell me I know
I lived so afraid
And still we cry alone
With words left unsaid
Yeh it makes my stomach turn
And it tears my flesh from bone to bone
How we turn a dream to stone
And we all die young
Yeah we all die....
Young...
Young...
Young...
No sardonic modifications to the lyrics here. I am well and truly saddened by this.
10/06/09
07/29/09
One time a friend of mine was reading an article in a newspaper that the CEO Roger Smith had stepped down and was being replaced by Robert Stempel. My friend had been a new car salesman for a GM dealership in the late seventies and early eighties and he told me that one time at a big sales conference he sat in an audience with other salesmen and one of the speakers was Robert Stempel (who was I think he said was the vice-president of GM at the time). My friend said that Stempel gave the most egotistical speech he had ever heard. Basically what Stempel said was that GM determined what cars the public wanted and determined the publics taste in vehicles. That GM did not respond to consumer demands, but that instead the public responded to the demands of GM. My friend said at that time that he figured GM was doomed with that kind of leadership. He was a prophet I guess.
07/29/09
They will start listening to you when your english improves. "cooled?"
07/29/09
After all, 1 error in a comment that long is pretty damn impressive, for the internet.
07/29/09
07/29/09
And who among you wouldn't leap at the chance to be the first on your block to own the Jalopnik Wert GT-R, Type S, Turbo R....."The World's Only "Dragon-Rated" Sports Car"?