U.S. Automakers That Failed Without Being Bailed

FOXNews.com
Long before GM, Ford and Chrysler became the Big Three, there were hundreds of automobile manufacturers that went out of business without ever asking for a government bailout.

More than a century ago nearly every major city in America had a company building automobiles. In 1895 the Chicago Motor Corporation built what it called a motocycle. The term didn't last and neither did the manufacturer. According to automotive historian Kit Foster, “car companies sometime failed simply because they were under-capitalized.”

Companies like Brush Auto ran into another problem. At a cost of $550 they couldn't compete with the Ford Model T, which, during its nearly two-decade assembly-line production run sold for as little as $300.

Other manufacturers were simply victims of the Depression. Many specialized in upscale and luxury automobiles. The 1929 stock market crash brought down St. Louis-based Moon Auto and Buffalo’s Pierce Arrow. Also unable to ride out hard times: DuPont, the car of choice for film star Douglas Fairbanks, boxer Jack Dempsey and other celebrities. The “playboy car” of the era, an eight-cylinder DuPont cost over $4,000. Reputation alone was not enough to keep the car in production and in 1932 the last DuPont rolled out of the Wilmington, Delaware factory.

Even cars offering some of the latest innovations couldn’t stay in business. Have you driven a Cord lately? No, not Ford—Cord. The company was one of the first to offer vehicles with front-wheel drive, but it closed its doors in 1937.

Automakers that survived the crash did so “by producing commercial vehicles and smaller economy vehicles” according to Jeff Bliemeister, curator of Hershey Pennsylvania’s Antique Automobile Club of America Museum. Bliemeister says the key to survival was producing cars within a budget that the average person could afford.

Following the Second World War, when auto factories were converted for military production, a few new car companies managed to open. But despite the booming economy and shortage of new vehicles, most didn't last long. While you probably never heard of a Kaiser automobile, the name Tucker lives on, thanks mostly to a Hollywood movie about the company's famous demise.

Despite joining forces, better-known auto makers Studebaker and Packard also couldn't survive. After ceasing U.S. operations in 1963, the combined company struggled to stay in the automotive business at a plant in Hamilton, Ontario before shutting its doors for good in 1966.

Wisconsin-based American Motors was formed thanks to the merger of Hudson and Nash Kelvinator in the 1950s. The company, with quirky designs and models named Rebel, Gremlin, and Pacer, focused on making small, fuel-efficient cars. But by the 1980s AMC lost its way and became part of Chrysler.

As the surviving U.S. auto manufacturers struggle to stay in business, product lines are still being trimmed. Already gone are GM’s Oldsmobile and Chrysler’s Plymouth divisions. Even with a Washington bailout some analysts say the future for the U.S. auto industry will be tough.

“The American car-buying public is fickle, they can change their tastes much more rapidly than an automaker can retool with a new type of product,” Foster warns. The only expansion that seems certain is more museum space dedicated to cars no longer in production.

Bailout My Butt

Several folks have asked my opinion of the government bailout of all the businesses that have been in the news. My gut reaction to the Fannie May and Freddie Mac bailouts was, the government created this mess, let them fix it. Then I realized they were using our tax dollars for the fix. This is wrong on several levels.

First you have to realize that government is the only entity in the country that can take your money at the point of a gun. If you don't pay your power bill, the power is cut off but you can't be forced to pay it. If you don't pay your taxes, first the government takes all your assets. They rob your bank account and put leins against your property. If you still refuse to pay, they send armed agents of the government to put you in jail. At the point of a gun if necessary. So the gun thing is not an exaggeration.

So what the government is doing is using your money, taken at the point of a gun if necessary, to help private businesses. Look at the "Big 3" automakers. All the years they were making gazillions of dollars they never offered to share it with you. Instead they built palaces for their corporate headquarters and millions and millions on CEO pay. I never faulted them for doing this. It is a private business and they could do what they wanted with their money. This is as it should be. You and I should be able to run our businesses and do what we want with our money.

But if you and I build palaces and pay exorbitant salaries instead of developing products that make us competitive in the marketplace our businesses go into bankruptcy. If we run to the government for help we are laughed out of town. What makes these big businesses special?

The government gave 700 billion, (that's with a "B") to one man to spend however he wants to help the economy recover. Never before have we given such a sum to one person with no idea how he will spend it. Now the auto industry is asking for another 25 billion. Where does it all end? At the barrel of a gun.

Aftermath

Obama has started disassembling the war on terror already. He has his staff preparing a plan to close down the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (Gitmo) where the captured terrorists are held and move the prisoners to US soil. I'm sure he realizes that once their feet hit the ground here that they all are afforded access to our criminal courts and the rights of our citizens.

This may seem proper to you but even my simple mind can see problems with this. Overlooking the clogging of our court system, the main problem facing our freedom is the defendants right to face their accuser. I know all the undercover CIA operatives will stand in line to reveal their identities in open court. How many of these operatives families would live another week once they are revealed?

And how about the Iraqui citizens that turned in many of these bad guys? I'm quite sure they will hop the first camel coming this way to answer a subpoena. And without this testimony revealing national security secrets these killers will go free, probably released here in this country. Al Quaeda won't have to smuggle terrorists into this country. We'll bring them here ourselves, compliments of Hussein Obama.

Obama may not be a Muslim but he is playing for their team.

What in the Hell Have We Done

It's a sad day for America. This nation of fools has elected a liberal appeaser as President. The Islamic nations are rejoicing in the streets. They see the "Big Satan" (us) coming under Islamic rule.

Here are some predictions for the upcoming 4 years. We will be attacked by Islamic terrorists on the scale of 9/11. You'll see interest rates soar to over 20%. You'll see an attempt by Congress to come after your guns. Unemployment will go to double digits. You'll be forced into a healthcare program not of your choosing with criminal prosecution if you try to go outside of it. Gas prices will be back up around $5. You will see special concessions made to the Islamic religion not available to Christians. They already have Muslim footbaths at some airports.

Somebody save these predictions and see if they come true. And keep looking in the mailbox for that check the Chosen One has promised. It's a sad day for America.