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OK, time to bore you bastards with a few factoids from my Walter P. Chrysler book


Ralphie

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what about number 5?

 

Lady Gaga

5.  Walter P. Chrysler had a lot greater desire for quality than Lee Iacocca and all Chrysler CEOs who came after him.

EDIT:  Okay, that was a cheap shot. The CEO before Iacocca wasn't great shakes either.

Edited by LoneWolf
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You have figured out my goal, to see if I can figure where Chrysler went off the rails. :D

Actually (see my edit), Chrysler went off the rails before Iacocca.  Iacocca brought them back from the brink of bankruptcy by getting the US government to bail them out for the first time.

Chrysler suffered probably the most of the Big 3 during the gas crisis, because they didn't adapt nearly as quickly, despite having resources to do so.  Iacocca was brought in to fix the mess.  Still, I can't think of a single Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth car I actively wanted, ever.

EDIT:  Wait.  There was the `69 Charger.  But I blame the Dukes of Hazzard and Pixar's "Cars" for that.  And I'm over it.

Edited by LoneWolf
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5.  Walter P. Chrysler had a lot greater desire for quality than Lee Iacocca and all Chrysler CEOs who came after him.

EDIT:  Okay, that was a cheap shot. The CEO before Iacocca wasn't great shakes either.

The culture of planned obsolescence was alive and well when Iacocca took the reins, and quality was not job one (I know, that's Ford's line) They still had not figured out why the Japanese were eating their lunch.

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Actually (see my edit), Chrysler went off the rails before Iacocca.  Iacocca brought them back from the brink of bankruptcy by getting the US government to bail them out for the first time.

Chrysler suffered probably the most of the Big 3 during the gas crisis, because they didn't adapt nearly as quickly, despite having resources to do so.  Iacocca was brought in to fix the mess.  Still, I can't think of a single Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth car I actively wanted, ever.

EDIT:  Wait.  There was the `69 Charger.  But I blame the Dukes of Hazzard and Pixar's "Cars" for that.  And I'm over it.

Through a very strange set of circumstances, my mother wound up with a Charger similar to the Dukes of Hazzard one, only it was white.  It could not keep a transmission in it, but the car was of unknown history, so the design MAY not have been at fault, but I doubt it. :D

 

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I had a 70 Chrysler Newport, with a 383 in it.  The front bumper was about 18" in front of the radiator, and there was nothing but space in between.  The trunk was so big you could put two Volkswagen Beetles back there and still have room for two picnic coolers and a Sasquatch.  The front seat was very spacious and the back seat was.... even more spacious. :whistle:  From front to back bumper the car was just shy of 19 feet long, if I remember the measurement correctly.

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How bout some factoids from the rust book.  Like how to keep my car solid for another winter or two.

Thank You in advance.  :)

Move to Florida!  Your welcome. :)  Or better yet, Aridzona,

Bridges in Europe are mostly galvanized, as opposed to the US where a heavy prederence for low initial cost often causes them not to be.  And galvanizing makes a huge difference. :)

 

Edited by The Inedible Bulk
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...Chrysler products were mostly pretty solid up until the early 70's .  The 225 slant 6 engine had a reputation for endurance, simplicity, and generally being bomb proof. 383 8 was also a solid workhorse engine.If you lived anywhere where they salt the roads, there were some body rot issues.  And in the late 60's there were plenty of motorheads who were tweaking Chrysler production Hemi's.

 

When I was driving cabs in D.C in the early 70's, most of the rental fleet was Plymouth Fury or similar with 3 or 400,000 miles on them.  If you were there, you would know this.

They were mostly not glamorous, but they got the job done.

 

 

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How bout some factoids from the rust book.  Like how to keep my car solid for another winter or two.

Thank You in advance.  :)

...is the front seat starting to sag through the floor yet?  I drove a Dodge Dart with that problem for another 30.000 miles, and sold it to some guy in TN.  I think he wanted the engine and trans. :mellow:

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My first brand new car, special ordered and delivered on 20 May, 1968.

1968 Plymouth Roadrunner.  383 c.i.,  335 hp.

Sticker price 3,500, purchased for 3,000.  Sold in non-running condition (due to some minor incomplete restoration work) in 2010 for 15K.  Car was subsequently restored and sold to a collector in South Carolina for probably around 30K.   

RR_in_79-1_(640x433).thumb.jpg.04468ade0

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...Chrysler products were mostly pretty solid up until the early 70's .  The 225 slant 6 engine had a reputation for endurance, simplicity, and generally being bomb proof. 383 8 was also a solid workhorse engine.If you lived anywhere where they salt the roads, there were some body rot issues.  And in the late 60's there were plenty of motorheads who were tweaking Chrysler production Hemi's.

 

When I was driving cabs in D.C in the early 70's, most of the rental fleet was Plymouth Fury or similar with 3 or 400,000 miles on them.  If you were there, you would know this.

They were mostly not glamorous, but they got the job done.

 

 

Ah, the leaning tower of power. My first car was a '65 Dodge Polara with the 225. Good motor, but as I learned each time I went to buy a part that there were 9 different block castings, so unless you wanted to make a bunch of trips with trial and error parts, you better have your VIN.

epj6f9.jpg

Edited by Rattlecan
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...is the front seat starting to sag through the floor yet?  I drove a Dodge Dart with that problem for another 30.000 miles, and sold it to some guy in TN.  I think he wanted the engine and trans. :mellow:

On my 66 MG Midget that I had as a teen, at first I held the drivers seat up with a cable, and then in the interest of safety, I made a thick-gauge aluminium pan that I bolted to the sides.  :blink:

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