The first car for legions of young men was a Chevy. As Americans increased in age and wealth, they climbed the General Motors Corp. status ladder, up through the Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile and, ultimately, Cadillac brands.
I can't believe this is really news. My first car was a Chevy Vega. And my last GM car ever.
Goodbye to some iconic names -- the Pontiac GTO and Ford Thunderbird. And goodbye to the Ford Taurus. In its day, the Taurus was hailed as the great American import-fighter in the mid-size car category. Ford sold hundreds of thousands of them before the car bottomed out, bypassed by continually updated, glitzier foreign rivals. The Taurus became, for a time, the quintessential American rental car.
The rental car is today the average American's only exposure to the wares of GM and Ford. And they invariably suck- I always feel like I'm driving some Soviet era clunker. Invariably the feel and drive -not to mention the ergonmics- of the virtually spanking new GM car I drive off the lot in a place like San Jose is sickeningly worse than my 8 year old Honda Civic. And my next car will likely be a Honda...
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