AHC: New York and Detroit switch places

Anderman

Donor
The Wayne State University has a Medical school and one for Pharmacy maybe Detroit could became a center for biotechnology, so Amgen & Co. are founded in Detroit.
 
The Wayne State University has a Medical school and one for Pharmacy maybe Detroit could became a center for biotechnology, so Amgen & Co. are founded in Detroit.

Simply giving 'Detroit' a better economy still doesn't make it a world-class city, since it's hardly a city at all; it's just a loose collection of suburbs surrounding a near vacant 'downtown'. Something more drastic has to be done to change/reverse its whole pattern of development.
 
Simply giving 'Detroit' a better economy still doesn't make it a world-class city, since it's hardly a city at all; it's just a loose collection of suburbs surrounding a near vacant 'downtown'. Something more drastic has to be done to change/reverse its whole pattern of development.

A gentrification boom lasting from the late 80's through the mid 90's. The next generation of young auto executives, engineers, researchers, and the lawyers and doctors who service them decide to live in the city proper rather than in traditional stodgy suburbs.

The vintage brownstones are bought up and rehabbed, soon followed by defunct commercial & industrial properties which get sliced up into condos and for the first time in a generation vacant storefronts find themselves filled with an assortment of shops, bars and restaurants catering to the newly affluent.
 
Again, too simplistic and too late. Having the federal government enact protective trrade policies during the mid '80 will do little to change the dynamics that shaped Detroit during the 20+ previous years.
I'm inclined to agree. Detroit screwed itself going back to the '50s, ignoring competition from overseas. Even the "voluntary import quotas":rolleyes: didn't help. They were intended, IIRC, to provide Detroit an opportunity to retool. Instead, the Big Three chose to take higher profits & reinvest nearly nothing, & the "voluntary quotas" are still there...& the mess is bigger now than ever.:eek::rolleyes: NYC has been benefitting from being a port for over 150yr; you virtually have to prevent the building of the Erie Canal to change that.
Chrysler keeps its wealth of several generations of turbine powertrain development.

Gas was absolutely cheap back then! And, turbine-powered cars --a product Chrysler was (again) on the very verge of producing when the bailout occurred-- would by then have still gotten decent gas mileage, especially on the highway.
This is a persistent fantasy, up there with steam cars. Turbines are a joke for cars. The throttle response is terrible. Nor is there much prospect of that changing. Turbines make great jetliner powerplants because they can run at constant revs; in cars, they never do. Turbines might, rpt might, be competitive with diesels in semi tractors, but even there, the diesels are cheaper & more durable.
Now, add the glamour and boost --the excitement and market repositioning-- resultant from compelling turbine-powertrain Chrysler products. Imagine a big Chrysler convertible with the turbine powertrain! Glorious.
Can you say Edsel?:rolleyes::rolleyes: And we're down to the Big 2.:rolleyes: And GM's market share goes back above 50% by default.
 
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Making New York sink is hard, but as Modelcitizen pointed out, possible. Me, I'd prefer to get Detroit up off its feet with fewer problems, thank you. And what people have said about Detroit is entirely right - they screwed themselves, with the help of both overkill government regulatory efforts and the adversarial relationship with the UAW.

Fixing Detroit has a best POD in the late 1950s. I'm thinking that the Chevrolet Corvair is better-built and had the handling quirks ironed out, and scores B-I-G in the American car market, with at least three million made between 1959 and 1964. This convinces GM that better tech can work, and while they are beaten to the punch by Ford with the Mustang, when the Camaro comes out, it comes out with real overhead-cam V8s and fuel injection. The Corvair stays in production as GM's smaller sedan until 1981, through two redesigns. GM's tech binge causes them to be the vanguard of American car manufacturers, and even stuns the Europeans. Radial tires, disc brakes, independent suspension, fiberglass bodywork, aluminum engines and other innovations are wholesale taken up by GM, and Ford and Chrysler are effectively forced to follow.

AMC produces the Spirit, starting in 1970. Instead of the overweight, not-particularly-efficient Gremlin, the Spirit is a gem of a car, with a fuel-efficient engine, excellent handling, solid assembly quality and excellent amenities. Ford produces the Pinto similar to OTL, but owing to its antiquated design and serious flaws, it lasts just four years, and the Escort comes out for 1975. Chevrolet redesigns the Corvair in 1972 to match the Spirit, and switches to water cooling. When the energy crisis hits, AMC and GM have the right small cars, Ford and Chrysler don't, and it shows. Chrysler goes bankrupt in 1977, and is saved from the heap by Peugeot, which takes in a major share in it, wanting access to its dealer network. Ford gets hit hard as well, but counters fast. The energy crisis turns AMC from an also-ran into a major player, and their line up of cars in the 1970s is impressive.

In 1978, Lee Iacocca is hired to run Chrysler, with the approval of the French backers. Iacocca's turnaround of Chrysler is one of the biggest such actions in history, and despite Iacocca's personal eccentricites, Chrysler emerges from the 1980s back in full form. The Minivan, a Chrysler invention, proves to be the car for the 1980s, with rivals from GM (Chevrolet Lumina APV), Ford (Ford Transit) and AMC (AMC Walker). Peugeot's return to the US market is successful, and Iacocca is appointed to lead the entire company when PSA and Chrysler merge in 1986. Peugeot's tiny 205 hatchback becomes a major hit in North America in the 1980s for its incredible handling, and the Peugeot 405 and Chrysler Intrepid share the same chassis from their launch in 1987. Their successors, the Chrysler Intrepid and Peugeot 406, share chassis but are very different looking from 1993 onward. GM continues its technological prowess through the 1970s and into the 1980s, though some of these bite back, such as Cadillac's infamous V8-6-4 of 1982. But the majority of them work just fine, and when the technology and traditional big engines mix, the result can be awesome - the Corvette Grand Sport of 1984, with its 5.7-liter V8 engine producing an unbelievable 445 horsepower, being one such example. The Corvair is replaced by the Cavalier in 1982, with a 16-valve, 2.2-liter engine that makes 155 horsepower, again amazing for the time. The Cavalier is a blowout hit, moving 300,000 units in the first 12 months. GM ups its stake in Toyota to 33% in 1985, which leads to rumours of a buyout, but GM instead sells off its stake in February 1989, making a gargantuan profit on the deal owing to Japan's bubble economy. Ford starts the process of importing European models to run with its American models, and does alright. Not as advanced as GM is with regards to technology, they do fair in any case, and the Escort is a steady seller. Ford's "Fox body" cars of the 1980s are strong sellers. The Taurus, introduced in 1986 to replace the aging LTD, is one of the most popular sedans of the 1980s, and the LTD Crown Victoria goes into the bin in favor of the Falcon, nearly identical to its Australian counterpart, in 1991. Ford's tendency to make models for across the world pays off in the 1990s and 2000s. AMC's 1970s success gives them the resources to make other vehicles. Their highly-successful Jeep line and small car lines make up for the loss of the middle to Ford and technological lead to GM. With Detroit flying high, the imports struggle in the 1980s, to the point that several of them leave altogether. Japanese manufacturer Daihatsu never gets off the ground, and several others struggle. Toyota never gets as big a market share as it has IOTL.

The end of Coleman Young (following gridlocked's plan here) and the beginning of gentrification leads to Detroit beginning to regain much of its former status, but the 1980s are a turbulent decade.

Reagan's controversial firing of the nation's air traffic controllers in 1981 touches off a series of massive rolling strikes across the nation. Hamfisted responses to this by management see Roger Smith shown the door by GM's board. New management realizes the problems that a militant workforce can cause and spends much of the 1980s trying to fix that. AMC is fastest to follow, with Ford and Chrysler tailing along. The "Year of Discontent" of 1981-82 is a mix of major economic problems and civil unrest. Detroit is not immune to this - no Midwest city is - but big riots do not ever break out, and in several cities, including Detroit, black rioters frequently found themselves facing off against black citizens angry about the mayhem, which has a psychological impact as well. The problems with traffic from the outer suburbs lead to the beginnings of gentrification. (Again, gridlocked's plan works for this.) Reagan loses the 1984 election to the Democratic ticket of Ted Kennedy and Henry M. Jackson, the latter used to steal a lot of strong arm voters from Reagan. The 1980s see new manufacturing grow up in the United States, focused on quality and innovation, and in many cases with smaller businesses. Detroit is not left out of this. America's social and economic development in the 1980s and 1990s is very marked.

The 1981-82 riots had one unanticipated side-effect - as in New York following the blackout of 1977, many stolen pieces of electronic equipment are part of the base of a major music scene. Motown Records returns parts of its operations to Detroit starting in 1984, and as the city's music scene comes back, so does its number of labels. House music, which was born in Chicago, explodes across the Midwest in the 1980s and has a strong sub-culture, the Detroit Sound, born in the Motor City. This is followed by many musical acts out of Detroit in the 1980s and 1990s, from soul group Boys II Men to rapper Eminem. The diversity of the entertainment acts gives new life to Detroit's music community, which when combined with fixing windows theory-based law enforcement work, demolition of abandoned properties and the growing creative class, leads to people returning.

The vibrant arts communities, reduced crime, shorter commutes and economic prosperity sees the long flow of people to suburban regions completely reverse in the 1990s. Tens of thousands of old houses are rebuilt, abandoned warehouses are turned into condos, clubs, shops and smaller industries. Several large apartment buildings are built in the mid to late 1990s to house poorer residents, and middle-class residents are able to stay in the city center. Many of Detroit's landmarks are rebuilt, with such places as the Fox Theatre and Michigan Central Station massively rebuilt. The architecture of the city becomes a high point, with storefronts of the 1850s mixing with 1990s towers. Detroit's city population grows massively in the 1990s, from just over 1.1 million in 1990 to nearly 1.6 million in 2000. This has a few negatives, particularly with regards to cost of living, but the city's growth is put forth as an example of America fixing its problems and building a 21st Century city.

The 2000s are taken up by improving the infrastructure of the area. From the waterfront to the city's growing system of above-ground transit (and light-rail surface transit, starting in 2004) and buses, the city's transit system improves markedly in the 2000s, further helping the growth of the city's inner areas, including several areas which become loaded down with middle-class residents, many of them working for the automakers. Detroit blows past its 1950 peak population in 2005, and the 2010 census records a population in Detroit 2,107,455, 250,000 people above the 1950 peak. The average income in Detroit is still considerably below New York, San Francisco or Boston, but higher than Chicago (or indeed, any other major Midwestern city) and higher than most. The city's entire urban area has a population of 6.4 million, the fifth largest in the United States (behind New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston) and seventh-largest in the North American (those five, plus Mexico City and Toronto).

Detroit in 2003 joins with the Canadians in building a major high-speed rail line along the St. Lawrence River Valley, with Detroit responsible for a new bridge over the Detroit River for the trains and the section of the line from the bridge to Chicago. The Alliance Bridge is completed in 2007, and the first high-speed train between Chicago, Detroit, Toronto and Montreal runs on July 1, 2008. The system proves to be a cash cow for the city in many ways, from tourist draws to hockey and football fans going to see games in another city. By 2011, Detroit fans traveling to NHL games in Chicago, Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City is a common occurence, as is Bears-Lions games being flooded by fans from the other city. The St. Lawrence River Valley HSR would become seen as a critical tool for cities, and eggs on the expansion of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and the building of similar systems in Texas, Florida and California.
 
Add in gas taxes
Hell will freeze over first, given the cowardice in DC. In politicians generally, actually.:rolleyes:
forcing consumers to buy more fuel efficient small cars
The CAFE standards haven't succeeded in doing that yet. They have driven up the cost of cars at about twice the rate of inflation & subsidized Detroit jobs, yet the Big 3 still managed to put themselves on the brink of bankruptcy.:rolleyes::rolleyes:
the Big Three most likely would be able to continue to have a foothold in Europe and also guard against the European assault on the American car industry.
For that, you have to have generally better management of the Big 3 companies, & IMO butterfly the Type 1 & much of the counterculture, plus somehow butterfly the '73 Oil Crisis...
I'm thinking that the Chevrolet Corvair is better-built and had the handling quirks ironed out
That's actually pretty easy. Just change to MacPherson-type struts, rather than swing axles. Or change your marketing, to target sports car drivers, rather than trying to make it an economy car; Porsche had no problem with essentially the same rear engine & swingaxle arrangement.... (Market it as an Olds, so your higher profit margin makes up for lower sales?) Trouble is, this undercuts the 'vette....:eek::eek:
and scores B-I-G in the American car market, with at least three million made between 1959 and 1964.
I like this quite a lot, actually.
...while they are beaten to the punch by Ford with the Mustang
If the 'vair survives, it could fill the same niche. Alternatively, the Poncho version (badged Tempest) could, with front engine/rear drive (front drive?:cool:), beat the 'stang to market. (Might need to attract John Z. to GM...:rolleyes:) It might only have inline six, but it could be an OHC fuellie six:cool::cool:...which beats the 'stang's stock six. Add 'glass body, & you get an economy version of the "plastic fantastic".:cool: Which GM won't allow, as it risks killing the 'vette.:eek: Unless they decide to move 'vette up-market as a Buick or Olds & add a 4-seater,:eek: as Ford did with the 'bird--& sold twice as many.:eek: This could see the 215 (aluminum) V8 becoming standard in the 'vair/Tempest (& *'vette Mk 2?), & surviving into the '70s, in time for the Oil Crisis.:cool: By which time it's a 315-320ci turbo fuellie prodcing 350hp.:cool::cool::cool:
AMC produces the Spirit, starting in 1970.
If you're going back to the '50s, why not give AMC an early *Rebel Machine on the (Rambler) American platform, instead of the (big car) Ambassador?:cool::cool: (Except AMC doesn't really understand muscle cars... Late with even the 401, & nothing like the 454.:rolleyes:) Still, it could be a real competitor with the Nova SS. Same platform could produce the *Javelin:cool: (rather than the "chopped-off"-looking AMX.:eek:).
Ford produces the Pinto similar to OTL
Not sure why, given the changed competion from the new 'vair & posited increased attention to Europe.:confused::confused: Why wouldn't Ford America lift a design from Ford England (the Lotus Cortina? *Lotus Zephyr? Prefect 107? Anglia?) Or use captive imports, in the fashion of the Dodge Colt?
The Minivan, a Chrysler invention
Well, no.:rolleyes: That actually goes to the VW Type 2. (Unless you accept the Mini sedan delivery.:p) BTW, what happens to the sedan delivery? (I suggest its survival is more sensible than introducing a "new" type...tho that might butterfly the Woodie.:rolleyes:) And can TTL's AMC produce a *Gremlin (American-based) pickoupe?:cool::cool:
Chicago is no longer the go to destination for everybody in the Midwest who has a shiny college degree and wants a job.
That suggests to me a benefit to Cleveland, too. IIRC, it's already #3 in location for corporate HQs, after NYC & Chicago.
Something more drastic has to be done to change/reverse its whole pattern of development.
A gentrification boom lasting from the late 80's through the mid 90's.
Hmm... Going back a bit further, what about a change to the G.I. Bill, so it discourages building new 'burbs? Or, at the least, in Michigan, a change in property tax law to do it?
Wasn't Coleman Young the mayor that said he was against gun control because: "the city needs guns to defend itself from the suburbs"?
Actually, as a response to crime, gun control is stupid.:eek::rolleyes: Criminals are going to ignore the law anyhow.:rolleyes: The better answer, actually, is a "must issue" concealed-carry law. Crooks will avoid citizens who might be carrying, & homes which might have guns, for fear of getting shot.:eek::rolleyes: They'll tend to turn to things like car theft--& cops are really good at catching car thieves...:rolleyes:

On the issue of crime, I have to wonder if it wouldn't be better to pre-empt the stupid "drug war".
 
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And who says a city of working-class but employed black people can't send their kids to college and build a normal city just like white people? I don't see how all the white people leaving changes much, as long as there are jobs and a decent tax base to provide solid public schools and reasonable infrastructure.


with a healthy Detroit-centric auto industry, we're talking middle-class, with healthy suburbs supporting a non-decrepit downtown and good schools too, I'm reckoning that demographically it could be comparable to Atlanta albeit a touch less balmy weather-wise.
 
Fixing Detroit has a best POD in the late 1950s. I'm thinking that the Chevrolet Corvair is better-built and had the handling quirks ironed out, and scores B-I-G in the American car market, with at least three million made between 1959 and 1964.

all GM had to do was fix one measly rear suspension quirk, I think it was adding an inexpensive stabilizer bar, and the Corvair would not have had a starring role in Nader's "Unsafe At Any Speed."

Very notable: That book, along with the lawsuits that led to it, led to Corvair sales plummeting by well over fifty percent, from a healthy 220k-per-year in 1965 to 109k in 1966.

The Corvair was sporty! It was snazzy.

It was GM's answer to the BMW 2002 and BMW 3-series that would come knocking within a decade of the Corvair's debut...

Shucks, I think the Corvair Corsa turbo model beat out Porsche in the turbocharged rwd 2+2 car dept. by a decade, no?

As far as I'm concerned, the Corvair should be sharing showroom space with the Corvette today, with a nice 300hp Corsa Turbo variant being a fan favorite...


Peugeot's tiny 205 hatchback becomes a major hit in North America in the 1980s for its incredible handling,
a drool-worthy thought indeed. I'd enjoy having one of those!

notably, your insight has precedent.

In the late mid 1970s, Simca, of Chysler-of-Europe, designed the Horizon hatchback. By 1977, this French-designed subcompact debuted state-side as the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon. In an acknowledgment of your POD, Peugeot purchased Chrysler's European operations shortly after that, and the Horizon continued in production for the European market under the Talbot brand.

The apotheosis of the US Omni-Horizon was the Dodge Omni GLH :D (GLH stood for Goes Like Hell, I kid you not. In the mid 1980s, GLH variants cranked up to 175 horsepower, which was a LOT.)


edit: in otl, Chrysler US sold the Omni-Horizon from 1977 to 1990, in other words, the same freaking car for 13 years.

replacing the freaking thing with a 205 twin (in, say 1984, the year the 205 won "What Car" car of the year award) would have been sweet.



and the Peugeot 405 and Chrysler Intrepid share the same chassis from their launch in 1987. Their successors, the Chrysler Intrepid and Peugeot 406, share chassis but are very different looking from 1993 onward.
The 405 and 406 were sweet. Being able to get those with a touch extra chrome could make for a richer used-car market too.

The New 1984 Dodge Omni.JPG
 
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all GM had to do was fix one measly rear suspension quirk, I think it was adding an inexpensive stabilizer bar, and the Corvair would not have had a starring role in Nader's "Unsafe At Any Speed."

Very notable: That book, along with the lawsuits that led to it, led to Corvair sales plummeting by well over fifty percent, from a healthy 220k-per-year in 1965 to 109k in 1966.

I agree on the Corvair front. I went with it as an example of what to do mainly because for the time, it was highly-advanced. Independent Suspension, unibody construction, a flat-6 engine that both propelled the car quite nicely and got better fuel mileage, and it was a damn sight better handling than most GM cars. Handling quirks and the awesomely-stupid outside heater (something burning gasoline in the trink - not a good idea) aside, the Corvair was a fabulous idea wrecked by idiotic cost-cutting. In my min-TL here, the much better Corvair is such a hit that GM starts using the better ideas in other cars.

The Corvair was sporty! It was snazzy.

It was GM's answer to the BMW 2002 and BMW 3-series that would come knocking within a decade of the Corvair's debut...

I wouldn't say it was that sporty in standard trim, but the Monzas were excellent, the best handling cars GM made at the time. (The Corvette was the only thing coming close.) I had the idea of the Corvair establishing the idea of a great little small car, something that even someone raised on big cars would enjoy for its quickness and excellent handling. In my idea, the Corvair sells millions of units between 1959 and 1981 and is considered one of the most important cars in GM's history, and the far more conventional Cavalier that replaces it keeps up the spirit of a handsome, quick, efficient, excellent-handling pocket rocket. (Mind you, when the 205 arrives in America, it would redefine the idea of pocket rocket. Eat your heart out, Honda.) I did have the idea of GM making a new modern Corvair as part of the retro style phenomenon of the 2000s.

And FYI, a friend of mine owns a '66 Corvair Monza Coupe. He loves it.

Shucks, I think the Corvair Corsa turbo model beat out Porsche in the turbocharged rwd 2+2 car dept. by a decade, no?

You're right, but a 911 is a far smaller and lighter car than the Corvair is. A Monza Coupe against an early 911 is a fair comparison, the lighter and smaller Porsche against the bigger and more powerful Corvair. The Porsche would have considerably better brakes, the Corvair probably better handling owing to the better rear suspension. (911s up to the early 90s were positively evil handling at the limit, the Turbos worst of all.) They aren't easy to compare after that

As far as I'm concerned, the Corvair should be sharing showroom space with the Corvette today, with a nice 300hp Corsa Turbo variant being a fan favorite...

I wouldn't go there. The Corvair was an economy car first, which then evolved into a handsome small coupe. Might be a possibility for developing it, but I don't think it would go that far, and more to the point, the rear-engine layout is tailor-made for handling quirks.

a drool-worthy thought indeed. I'd enjoy having one of those!

Me, too. The first car I ever owned after growing up driving vans was a Peugeot 405, which I bought when I lived in South Africa for a time in the late 90s. Great car it was, though a little less well built. (American cars, love 'em or hate 'em, are heavier in construction. The 405 felt like a tin can compared to my family's cars.) The 205 GTI was not known for build quality, but was a quick little runabout that cornered like a slot car. (My 405 was built in France, but many 405s in South Africa were built in Zimbabwe - not kidding.)

notably, your insight has precedent.

In the late mid 1970s, Simca, of Chysler-of-Europe, designed the Horizon hatchback. By 1977, this French-designed subcompact debuted state-side as the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon. In an acknowledgment of your POD, Peugeot purchased Chrysler's European operations shortly after that, and the Horizon continued in production for the European market under the Talbot brand.

The apotheosis of the US Omni-Horizon was the Dodge Omni GLH :D (GLH stood for Goes Like Hell, I kid you not. In the mid 1980s, GLH variants cranked up to 175 horsepower, which was a LOT.)

edit: in otl, Chrysler US sold the Omni-Horizon from 1977 to 1990, in other words, the same freaking car for 13 years.

replacing the freaking thing with a 205 twin (in, say 1984, the year the 205 won "What Car" car of the year award) would have been sweet.

I wasn't really planning on replacing the Omni with the 205, but you could go that route. I was more thinking of Peugeot moving in with Chrysler's dealerships across the early 80s, and Iacocca's successes through those dealers helping Peugeot to get a better foothold. Peugeot was trying to project a more upmarket brand image, and I had the idea of the 405 and Intrepid being Chrysler's cars for the late 80s, ditching most of the Mitsubishi-built small cars for Peugeot ones, and making their own mid-sizers. The 600 is replaced by the Intrepid, and as a result the Dynasty never exists, while the 205 takes up the smallest rung, while the Dodge Shadow sits between them. An all-new rear-drive chassis developed by the two companies replaces the Dodge Diplomat and Monaco, and the Peugeot 605 is built off this chassis. The Stealth (rebadged Mitsubishi 3000GT) never happens, but the Viper does, of course. I'm also seeing the Copperhead concept car (1997ish) making to the production line, to fight the Toyota MR2 and Mazda MX-5 Miata.

The 405 and 406 were sweet. Being able to get those with a touch extra chrome could make for a richer used-car market too.

I don't think there is much point, honestly. Adding chrome to these cars would be an obvious gimmick, and not needed at all.
 
I wouldn't go there. The Corvair was an economy car first, which then evolved into a handsome small coupe. Might be a possibility for developing it, but I don't think it would go that far, and more to the point, the rear-engine layout is tailor-made for handling quirks.

We'll agree to disagree.

I think a "conventional" less expensive compact sedan could be built concurrently with the Corvair. (If Porsche can have its rear-engine weirdo be an icon, why not the much better-looking Corvair?) The Corvair could be the car for "The American Driver," and for (in today's money) a couple grand less, hey presto, the Cavalier with cushy highway ride and sit-up-straight space for five.






Me, too. The first car I ever owned after growing up driving vans was a Peugeot 405, which I bought when I lived in South Africa for a time in the late 90s. Great car it was, though a little less well built. (American cars, love 'em or hate 'em, are heavier in construction. The 405 felt like a tin can compared to my family's cars.) The 205 GTI was not known for build quality, but was a quick little runabout that cornered like a slot car. (My 405 was built in France, but many 405s in South Africa were built in Zimbabwe - not kidding.)

I'd like one of the last Nigerian-built 504s :)



edit: The South African-market BMW 333i and Ford Sierra XR8 (mis?), those I'd happily park in our spots :D


..... An all-new rear-drive chassis developed by the two companies replaces the Dodge Diplomat and Monaco, and the Peugeot 605 is built off this chassis. The Stealth (rebadged Mitsubishi 3000GT) never happens, but the Viper does, of course. I'm also seeing the Copperhead concept car (1997ish) making to the production line, to fight the Toyota MR2 and Mazda MX-5 Miata.

sweeet.

the Stealth was a two-ton boulevardier, or, the precursor to today's Nissan GTR, or both. (either way, no huge loss even if the Stealth looked attractive for its time.)

I like the larger rwd sedan! The everything-must-become-fwd craze of the 1980s didn't have to go that far, to the extent where Detroit companies had to almost be reminded how to build reasonably priced rwd vehicles.




I don't think there is much point, honestly. Adding chrome to these cars would be an obvious gimmick, and not needed at all.

I agree there'd be no point, I just presumed it'd be semi-likely.

For example, the 1981 Ford Escort, which made its World Car debut in the United States with a couple alterations for us special folks in America...

shiny happy.JPG
 
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It needed color.

Here, the Mercury Lynx, the twin of the World Car Ford Escort, and a direct match for the five-door non-American-market Escort above

shiny happy b.JPG
 
We'll agree to disagree.

I think a "conventional" less expensive compact sedan could be built concurrently with the Corvair. (If Porsche can have its rear-engine weirdo be an icon, why not the much better-looking Corvair?) The Corvair could be the car for "The American Driver," and for (in today's money) a couple grand less, hey presto, the Cavalier with cushy highway ride and sit-up-straight space for five.

I do agree that that would work, but GM made multiple attempts at smaller fun cars, from the Camaro/Firebird to the Pontiac Fiero, which would have gotten in the way of it. The Corvair was more expensive to manufacture than many cars, and if you focused it as a sports coupe, it causes potential problems for the Camaro, and GM won't have that. Perhaps the Corvair was the couple version of the Cavalier, sure. But that's kinda out of the spirit of the original.
 
Curious: is there any way you could have a single unified Metro Detroit municipality encompassing the whole metropolitan area going back to the post-war era?

Seems to me that this would eliminate the suburban free-rider problem, and potentially head off much of the growth of and flight to outlying suburbs. Plus other added benefits like unified city planning leading to better urban transport and infrastructure, better (more even) public education and services, etc.

Seems to me that New York has benefited from this enormously in its modern history. The almagamation of Canadian cities in the 90s (Toronto, Montreal, etc.) was also likely responsible for the revitalization of their cores and checked the growth of the 'burbs vs. their balkanized American peers.
 
The problem is threefold: Oakland, DeKalb, and Pontiac counties. They are the reason why Detroit's northern city limit is Eight Mile Road: Because according to the Michigan state constitution, municipalities and municipal governments cannot cross county lines, and there are administrative and regulatory hoops to jump through for them to cross township lines, too. (Sault Sainte Marie is a technical exception, but one created by a treaty with Great Britain (Now applying to Canada) that predates Michigan's entry into the Union. Changing this with a constitutional ammendment or new state constitution is possible, but it would likely jeopardize Wayne State's official flagship university status, and there are other, less favorable articles that could be stuck in especially for Detroit and Grand Rapids.
 
The problem is threefold: Oakland, DeKalb, and Pontiac counties. They are the reason why Detroit's northern city limit is Eight Mile Road: Because according to the Michigan state constitution, municipalities and municipal governments cannot cross county lines, and there are administrative and regulatory hoops to jump through for them to cross township lines, too. (Sault Sainte Marie is a technical exception, but one created by a treaty with Great Britain (Now applying to Canada) that predates Michigan's entry into the Union. Changing this with a constitutional ammendment or new state constitution is possible, but it would likely jeopardize Wayne State's official flagship university status, and there are other, less favorable articles that could be stuck in especially for Detroit and Grand Rapids.

Two things:
- There is neither a DeKalb nor a Pontiac county in Michigan.
- There are 25 or so cities or villages in Michigan that are in multiple counties (though Sault Ste Marie is not one of them).
 
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