05-03-2010, 10:43 PM
|
#1 (permalink)
|
|
ooo ooo ooo ah ah ah
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: up north
Posts: 7,357
Thanks: 636
Thanked 848 Times in 591 Posts
|
Legendary car flops
|
|
|
|
05-03-2010, 11:36 PM
|
#2 (permalink)
|
|
Master EcoModder
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Cypress, TX
Posts: 330
Thanks: 8
Thanked 29 Times in 16 Posts
|
I'd have to guess an experimental car would have it's share of problems. I have to kind of laugh at "low sales" since it was a leased car.
__________________
Lets see how far it can go
"All I know about music is that not many people ever really hear it. [...] But the man who creates the music is hearing something else, is dealing with the roar rising from the void and imposing order on it as it hits the air. What is evoked in him, then, is of another order, more terrible because it has no words, and triumphant, too, for the same reason. And his triumph, when he triumphs, is ours." -Sonny's Blues
|
|
|
|
05-04-2010, 10:43 AM
|
#3 (permalink)
|
|
...beats walking...
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 3,352
Thanks: 56
Thanked 330 Times in 249 Posts
|
...I'm surprised they didn't mention the "...Unsafe At Any Speed..." Corvair (ha,ha).
...Edsel will forever be an automotive Albatross around Ford's neck, just as the Corvair is for Chevrolet.
__________________
• 2011 Chevrolet Cruze LTZ 1.4LT 6A
• 2009 Pontiac Vibe 1.8L/SFI 4A
• 2004 Pontiac Vibe 1.8L/MFI 4A
• 2003 Ford Focus ZX5 2.0L/Zetec 4A
• 1971 Dodge Charger 318 3A
• 1970˝ Plymouth AAR 'Cuda 340/6BBL 4M
• 1968 Dodge Charger 383 3A
• 1967 Plymouth Barracuda Formula S 383 4M
• 1965 Plymouth Barracuda Formula S 273 4M
|
|
|
|
05-04-2010, 11:02 AM
|
#4 (permalink)
|
|
Pokémoderator
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Southern California
Posts: 5,724
Thanks: 385
Thanked 459 Times in 315 Posts
|
Frank -
Low "sales" means flop in any book. I am guessing unreliable in terms of "range anxiety". I am reading " The Car that Could" and I haven't gotten to the point where the car was being "sold" and in the public's hands. Maybe I'll have some more reliability info at that point.
CarloSW2
|
|
|
|
05-04-2010, 11:05 AM
|
#5 (permalink)
|
|
Pokémoderator
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Southern California
Posts: 5,724
Thanks: 385
Thanked 459 Times in 315 Posts
|
Frank -
Wouldn't it be cool if a GM CEO said something like "We were wrong" and recreated an EV2.0? Whoops, I was in another dimension for a second. Won't happen again.
CarloSW2
|
|
|
|
05-04-2010, 11:50 AM
|
#6 (permalink)
|
|
Master EcoModder
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 2,878
Thanks: 390
Thanked 222 Times in 191 Posts
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Lee
EV1 was unreliable?
|
How would they know? they only built 1,100 of them.
|
|
|
|
05-04-2010, 12:40 PM
|
#7 (permalink)
|
|
Master EcoModder
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Earth
Posts: 2,651
Thanks: 31
Thanked 237 Times in 171 Posts
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by cfg83
Low "sales" means flop in any book.
|
Oh? Then Porsche, Lotus, and Ferrari are all flops?
Besides, if I'm remembering correctly, the GM EV1 didn't have ANY sales. Weren't they leased to test drivers, and taken back at the end of the lease period, often over the vehement protests of the drivers?
|
|
|
|
05-04-2010, 01:07 PM
|
#8 (permalink)
|
|
Pokémoderator
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Southern California
Posts: 5,724
Thanks: 385
Thanked 459 Times in 315 Posts
|
jamesqf -
Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesqf
Oh? Then Porsche, Lotus, and Ferrari are all flops?
Besides, if I'm remembering correctly, the GM EV1 didn't have ANY sales. Weren't they leased to test drivers, and taken back at the end of the lease period, often over the vehement protests of the drivers?
|
Yes, I was being subtle. I was intimating to texanidiot25's earlier post that EV1's were leased. That's why I used quotation marks when I typed "sales". Part of my post was nuanced in the sense that other people that are unlike us would judge the success of a car based on it's "bottom line" profit/loss to the company that produced it. As you and I have discussed in the past, this is a POV question with regards to the first Gen Honda Insight.
I don't think exoticars are good analogies in this discussion because EV1s were never sold at or above what they cost to make. And yes, EV1s were never "sold", period.
Question: Does anyone know the cost of EV1's when they were produced? Maybe I'll find out later in the book. How much did first Gen Insights cost to make?
CarloSW2
|
|
|
|
05-04-2010, 02:15 PM
|
#9 (permalink)
|
|
ooo ooo ooo ah ah ah
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: up north
Posts: 7,357
Thanks: 636
Thanked 848 Times in 591 Posts
|
Yeah, I laughed at the "sales" comment too.
What got my attention was the "unreliable" comment. I haven't really researched EV1s, but as noted above, I recall that the leasees were despondent when their cars were called back.
"EV2"- wouldn't that be nice? GM must have concluded it's a dead end... at least for these times...
P.S. Corvairs are awesome! 
|
|
|
|
|
The Following User Says Thank You to Frank Lee For This Useful Post:
|
|
05-04-2010, 02:36 PM
|
#10 (permalink)
|
|
Master EcoModder
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Cypress, TX
Posts: 330
Thanks: 8
Thanked 29 Times in 16 Posts
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by cfg83
I don't think exoticars are good analogies in this discussion because EV1s were never sold at or above what they cost to make. And yes, EV1s were never "sold", period.
Question: Does anyone know the cost of EV1's when they were produced? Maybe I'll find out later in the book. How much did first Gen Insights cost to make?
CarloSW2
|
I'm going to go out on a limb and say 40k-50k, I recall it being a high number. Mainly due to the technology and the very limited production run. These were probably hand assembled instead of assembly-lined like mainstream models.
Exotic cars do not count in "low sales" because they are all limited production cars. They're point is low sales.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Lee
Yeah, I laughed at the "sales" comment too.
What got my attention was the "unreliable" comment. I haven't really researched EV1s, but as noted above, I recall that the leasees were despondent when their cars were called back.
"EV2"- wouldn't that be nice? GM must have concluded it's a dead end... at least for these times...
P.S. Corvairs are awesome! 
|
Volt isn't EV2?
__________________
Lets see how far it can go
"All I know about music is that not many people ever really hear it. [...] But the man who creates the music is hearing something else, is dealing with the roar rising from the void and imposing order on it as it hits the air. What is evoked in him, then, is of another order, more terrible because it has no words, and triumphant, too, for the same reason. And his triumph, when he triumphs, is ours." -Sonny's Blues
|
|
|
|
|