and I split up and I was dating again. I had this tricky VW Scirocco that was loud, rough-riding, and, most importantly, had a five speed manual transmission. About the second time I had to take my hand off something I didn’t want to take it off of to shift that thing, I converted to sedans with automatic transmissions! Too bad we didn’t really understand the virtues of automatic transmissions and bench seats when we were young!

Needed some work and smoked a little. I didn’t want to be bothered with a ratty old Ferrari that needed work. That was one of the biggest mistakes of my life. At times those cars have gone for several million bucks. If I’d just bought it an put it on blocks down on my parents place I could have sold it for hundreds of thousands of dollars by the ’90s as it was, where it was.

I owned or drove at least one of everything Fiat made in the ’70′s, except the 850. Burning 850′s–and Porsche 914′s–were a common sight along the Interstate in Atlanta back in the day. I gusess those rear engines couldn’t handle the Southern climate.

That successful little experiment in competition with the Japanese imports went refreshingly far afield from the UAW span of control and was thus “terminated with prejudice” by Obama himself.

For that bit of Stalinistic treachery, I will never, ever buy a GM product.

Toyota, Honda, Nissan, BMW, Mercedes et al are located in “Right to Work” states, Ford isn’t. Michigan had a ballot proposal a few years ago to become a RTW state and it was defeated. That being said I drive Fords and have owned up to 5 at any given point in my business and personal fleet. Ford is a different culture in that the Ford family still runs the Corp. in spite of it being a publicly owned company.

I could write a diary about the stories that came back from Washington when the Big Three went with hat in hand to congress.

The UAW is propped up by the government with labor laws, collective bargaining and more, but so are all other unions as well. If we stop buying union made products then we are more likely to have to purchase items made in China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Pakistan. Ford no more desires to have to deal with the UAW than any other auto maker but under the circumstances, has no choice. The UAW specifically denies any of the Big Three to close a plant in a union state and open a plant in a RTW state. There is a loop hole that does allow them to close a plant in the US and open a plant overseas (Mexico) so what would you expect them to do? Me, I open a plant in Mexico.

I am a Detroiter, I have no special love for the UAW myself, but I do have friends and neighbors that I do not wish ill will.

My concern here is that we are throwing the baby out with the bath water when we limit our automobile purchases because we don’t agree with a group of people (UAW). Without the government to prop them up they are nothing. Change the government and you will fix that problem.

For the record I had a ’70 MGB, Bristish racing green, luggage carrier on the “boot” and a full set of covers (tonneau, etc.) wire wheels. Next to the Lucas electrical system how come no one mentioned those miserable dual Stromberg-Carlson carburetors?