Re: over all over

[James Montebello <jamesm@domain.elided>]

On Tue, 19 Feb 2002 Pottree@domain.elided wrote:
> In a message dated 02/19/2002 10:41:22 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
> owner-alfa-digest@domain.elided writes:
> > These poor mechanics are over. OR they try to survice with
> > Vintage cars, or they're over. 
> > 
> Luca, the description you give of the old days of cars as art in motion being 
> over has been the case here in the USA since at least WW II and probably 
> since the end of the Depression.  I know this "revolution" took longer to 
> play out in certain European countries (I will mention only England) because 
> of their social organization (cars being indented for a wealthy nobility or 
> at least economic elite, and not as mass-produced for every purse) compared 
> to the more egalitarian USA.  With rare exceptions is this the way of the 
> world.

Well, yes and no.  However, many of the English cars of the immediate
post-war era are today considered beloved classics in England (Austin
A35, Ford Anglia, etc).  Many Immediate post-war US cars would also, no
doubt, be considered pretty arty today.  Even well into the 50s and 60s,
one can find cars were very much mass-produced "appliances" of their day,
that would be universally considered classics now, such as the Mini and
the Chevy Bel Air, to name only two.  Perhaps that's stretching Luca's
definition of "art in motion".

One wonders how people will regard, say, a 1990 Honda Civic, in 2040.
The idea that someone may lovingly restore one to like new condition,
and that it would appear on a concours field seems a bit silly now, but
imagine how someone in their 70s today feels about seeing a restored 1947
Ford Tudor in the same context.  It's quite surprising how perceptions
can change over time.  Now, of course, if someone showed up at a concours
with a Gremlin...

 
> I don't pretend to know about the maker-specific aspects of the computer 
> equipment aboard newer cars.  I had thought there were only a few companies 
> making this equipment, then selling it to the automakers (Bosch and the like) 
> for use on different makes. Maybe that's wrong.  But the result is that the 
> cars work better and the economic benefit is that it is not easy or perhaps 
> possible for a lot of independent garages to work on newer cars because of 
> the specialized knowledge and costly equipment needed, which results in a 
> healthier stream of secondary income from dealer service bays and parts 
> departments.

For European cars, at least until very recently, there are few suppliers,
Bosch being the primary source.  For US cars, there's at least one
supplier per automaker, since they each own the operations themselves.
The Japanese seem to be somewhere in between, with a handful of suppliers,
but not a one-for-one relationship.  In terms of actually fixing cars,
most shops (independent or dealership) have been little more than
parts swappers for quite some time.  The exception has been shops that
specialize in older cars for which the dealer network is weak or missing
(uh, like Alfa), so that they're now forced to actually fix things,
since part swapping is often no longer a viable solution, except for
used or remanufactured parts.

james montebello

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