Letters

Automotive Industries,  Sept, 1999  

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Saturn LS Styling

In his July "Cars Worth Noting" review, Lindsay Brooke bad-mouths the new Saturn LS's styling. Why is it that domestic car companies can't get it right according to your "standards?"

The VW Bug was the same for years, but you speak highly of that effort. Mercedes sedans have been shoe boxes for years, along with Volvo and BMW, yet you can't pat them on the back enough.

Why can't you just tell readers how really nice the new LS is, and let us be the judge of styling?

Kuchita
via e-mail

Because the fair, unbiased reporting I'm required to do on this magazine represses the real me -- a highly opinionated Beetlelover who can't say a single good thing American cars. Seriously, I didn't "bad mouth" the LS, but rather called it white bread -- good white bread. -- LB

An Engineer Never Forgets

It was interesting to read the letter by Bill Fliotsos in your July issue, which noted the "abysmal component reliability" of his 1995 Impala SS. This is the mason why I probably will never own a GM product again. In 1965 I bought a new Corvette. I'm happy that it came with a full one-year warranty, because it took that long to get most of the "bugs" worked out of it. My next GM mistake was a new 1971 Chevrolet C-20 pickup. This vehicle was a mess -- no two adjacent panels fit properly. As an engineer, I have my own ideas of what constitutes good engineering. When a product is designed in such a manner so as to be properly assembled by unskilled labor, and then fulfills its design objective for years of reliable operation, it is well engineered. Very few products from GM, Chiller and even Ford can meet these criteria. While I prefer to "Buy American," I currently drive a very trouble-free Nissan pickup.

Lou Garner
Las Vegas, NV

Wants More Plastic Car Info

I read Gerry Kobe's June '99 article on the Paradigm plastic car project for China and its 12,000 square-foot manufacturing plan. I am very interested in further information.

Paul Hirshhorn
via e-mail

As the article stated, ADC (developer of the Paradigm) is located in San Antonio, TX. Company president Michael Van Steenburg can be reached at 210-599-9477. -- ed.

'56 Continental Feedback

Congratulations! Lindsay Brooke's June article on the 1956 Continental Mark II was right on the beam, except for the credit given to Gordon Buehrig for the styling of the car. Buehrig was Chief Body Engineer. John Reinhart was the Chief Stylist and I was the Assistant Chief Stylist. Working on that car was the most rewarding design experience of my life, because seldom do you start with a blank sheet of paper.

Bob Thomas
San Diego, Calif.

Mr. Thomas is the author of the book, Confessions of an Automotive Stylist, a memoir of his career in Ford's design department from 1937 to 1974.-- ed.3

COPYRIGHT 1999 Cahners Publishing Company
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group