Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

the auto makes "need" a bailout because the electric car didn't take off? jeeeeezzzz, I dont know where to begin.
BTW, when you plug your electric car in, where do you think the electricity comes from?

Never mind, I'd rather talk about

Obviously electricity isn't clean unless the power source is clean. (The versatility here comes in being able to remodel the electrical grid itself over time. Right now the electricity may come from coal or nuclear, but who knows when that may switch over to solar, if people fight for it.) The point I was making was that that vehicle was very successful from the outset and now they're TOTALLY REDOING IT (believe the new model is called the Volt) and spending MORE TIME AND MONEY when they had a working thing already... which oh by the way they forcibly removed from all leasers and testers because of who knows why. (We can all make educated guesses, of course.)

Clearly they do deserve a few jabs.

cassius987 wrote:My wife's dad, a self-reliant, DIY type, claims 45 mpg on their old Fiesta... I'll have to pester him about it some more especially now that they're bringing it back.

What annoys me is the way the Big 3 are now trying to reinvent the wheel when they already had a good electric. Was it GM that came out with the EV or something?--featured in the movie Who Killed The Electric Car. And now they're trying to design a new one?? The people who drove the old one loved it so I don't follow their logic.

I'll bite on this one, since car design has been my full-time career since '91 or so...

Political issues aside (and it was these that killed it!), the "old" GM EV featured "old" technology. The "new" Volt takes full advantage of the technological progress in this area over the last 20 years since the EV-1 was conceived. But even the ones currently on the road for evaluation are already obsolete.

GM (again, due to corporate politics, which in that Corporation are like wading through hip-deep treacle) is sorely behind in adapting new technology to their product line. Their new Malibu Hybrid, for example, is far behind its competition from Ford, in terms of real-world liveability. Toyota and Honda remain the early-starters and world leaders in alternative propulsion technology.

It'll be interesting to see what the Old Fogies come up with in terms of a corporate re-focus, required by the government assistance program that's given them an injection of short-term operating capital. This is supposed to happen by March...if you thought the time period between 1980 and 2000 was radical re: changes and cultural impact, just watch the next 20...

Does America have enough total acreage for all the solar panels it would take to power everything? We don't have enough sun days for solar power here to be usable as a 100% source. America needs more high tech nuclear power plants, and a REAL policy for dealing with the rods after use.

Regarding the guitars, put on a sandpaper shirt. Play hard. Metal stud wristbands optional.

Regarding the cars, well, we better get it together around here or we're gonna all need a bailout.

johnallg wrote:Does America have enough total acreage for all the solar panels it would take to power everything? We don't have enough sun days for solar power here to be usable as a 100% source. America needs more high tech nuclear power plants, and a REAL policy for dealing with the rods after use.

I'm not promoting all solar. Like you say, a mixture is the best thing to do.

UNTIL we have a real policy for dealing with those fuel rods, I will never have anything good to say about nuclear power.

Jeez, talk about thread drift...

ajish4 wrote:

sloop_john_b wrote:I was raised by a Depression Era Mom....who drummed into my skull..."Take the best care of everything you have, and it will last you forever"

Wise advice! I received the same from my Depression Era mom.


Hmm, maybe I could start a new career as an authentic relicizer! You buy a new guitar, I play it to death for a year or two, and give it back to you all broken in, dinged up, yellowed, et cetera. It could command a premium price as an authentic relic, rather than a phoney, manufactured, in shop relic...nah, it'd never work.

I am happy with my Sentra, thank you. 40 MPG highway!

RE: the "Road Worn" guitars...I'm just surprised it took this long...

paologregorio wrote:
Wise advice! I received the same from my Depression Era mom.

OTOH, my Mom was merely depressed.

I bought a road worn Fender USA Highway Strat guitar off a forum member Steve Garner - aka Ben Brown who was selling it for a friend.

It has bumps bruises scrapes etc all over it and it is rusty in the right places, aged plastic and the patina on the metal parts is to die for. The guy who owned if before me already broke it in for me. I am such a lucky man. I did not have to do any of that myself and it looks like I have owned it since birth and played every smokey blues bar on the planet.

paologregorio wrote:Jeez, talk about thread drift...

freshmattyp wrote:Feel free to heap your scorn on me then. I like them. I like relics. YMMV.

Right on. Matt! I tried them out and like them too; at my local GC, where I would bnever buy one, of course.

Truth is, Fender relic guitars just plain feel comfortable and broken in; like old jeans. And yes, I intend to buy one of these MIMs.

Sue me if you don't like it.

When you are running a company the size of Fender you have to grow sales. They can't afford to ignore a revenue source because it might not appeal to everyone. Fender has had huge hits with its products over the years and supports thousands of people around the world. They need a continuing stream of innovation and new products. Guitars are as much a fashion accessory as a musical instrument, if current fashion dictates "road worn", more power to them.

schoolside wrote:When you are running a company the size of Fender you have to grow sales. They can't afford to ignore a revenue source because it might not appeal to everyone. Fender has had huge hits with its products over the years and supports thousands of people around the world. They need a continuing stream of innovation and new products. Guitars are as much a fashion accessory as a musical instrument, if current fashion dictates "road worn", more power to them.

I presume you're also in favour of the "Hello Kitty" Squier line then?