Thoughts on cars

With all the news the auto industry has made this week, I thought back to some of the vehicles my parents owned during my years growing up.

During that time, which seems somewhat ironic at this time, my parents owned a car made by a company that no longer exists as an independent car company. The car was an AMC Hornet Sportabout station wagon. It was one of the first cars I remember, so it made an impression. The car and how it performed overall seemed fine, at least by my small child standards. I don't remember the car ever breaking down, or having any major mechanical defects (although the rear passenger door didn't like to unlock sometimes). I think my parents owned it for 5-6 years.

I think they would have owned it longer, but at the time my parents had bought a towed camper and the car couldn't tow it, so they traded it in for one of the first GMC Suburbans (first model year anyway). I found out later the vehicle was slightly unusual (the engine they put in was too small – at least for that size), but it served the purpose my parents wanted it for. I hardly noticed at the time the gradual disappearance of the AMC brand, but I thought about it more as I got older and looked back.

I recently did some looking around about the life and demise of the AMC brand. They were actually a fairly popular brand in the 1970's, making vehicles people wanted and being 'ahead of their time' regarding safety and fuel efficiency. What did them in was some poor choices (AMC Pacer), and not having enough capital to deal with economic difficulties. They partnered with Renault in the 1980's and were eventually absorbed by Chrysler. Apparently they were the last 'independent' automobile company (in other words, outside of the 'big 3' in Detroit).

As I got older, the vehicles my parents owned seemed to change with the times (by that I mean they didn't let cars get more than 7-8 years old), and my parents pretty much stayed with American automobiles, Chrysler products to be specific, although there was one import that my brother bought and my parents got from him, a Toyota.

I look back at my own car ownership history (as short as it is) and it's much more eclectic. There's been a mix of domestic and import cars, depending on needs, wants, and availability. Today, I've got two 'used' vehicles – one domestic van and one import car. I'm happy with what I have, since my purchasing criteria has more to do with how they perform than a particular company.

Brand loyalty used to be an important part of our culture and buying process. Today, I guess brand loyalty doesn't matter much anymore, but then again why give money to companies who either can't or won't change with the times and operate without assistance?