I just threw up in my mouth a little.....

[Finnster]

@76: IDK man, the whole things a bit of a mess. The best I understand it was GM left its problems way too long to fix, its debts were too large for any private entity to really be able to assume, and there were big structural impediments, as well as state franchise laws that prevents it from moving swiftly or cheaply, not to mention all the labor contracts and unfunded pension obligations it had.

From what I understand, GM tried to sell its remaining minority stake in GMAC at one point recently, and it failed. Gotta wonder what bad morgage and other debts it holds. GM has had trouble even selling many of its former brands, Saturn, Hummer, Saab. GM has been selling bits of itself off for years in its continous decline and floundering.

Chrysler was way smaller than GM, and its ownership bounced from entity to entity that couldn't fix it. Who would want GM then? IF no one, was liquidation and resigning to oblivion the largest US auto manufacturer a good idea in an imploding economy? To me, seemed like all the other options were even worse.
Maybe this was the only way to save the behemoth from thier decades of bad decisions. Maybe no CEO could ever do it alone. IDK.

I guess my view of it is that, despite all the ugliness or things that could have been different, GM was worth saving and may end up a net boon in the end. At least they still actually manufacture something real in America (as opposed to banks which just manufacture debt) and employ a lot of people. They got their second chance at life, and I want to see them learn their lessons, rise from the ashes, and succeed to be a global leader in American manufacturing and engineering once again and not become a landmark in a history of American decline and failure.
[/tangent]




As far as the OP goes: I can't see the Mr Fusion mounted the back. Too bad, as we could have gone back to 1995 and destroyed that POS before it was ever created

[_paralyzed_]

I e-mailed this guy via e-bay. He sad it's so cheap because he bought it down in Louisiana, it was a katrina salvage car,

He bought it in slidell, from some shady body shop. He described the owner as a pudgy greasy fellow named James. I guess he was very touchy feely.

He said James went on and on about how this was some of his best work and and he was sure to impress a few sows at the local feedlot.

[josh9mille]

Originally Posted by _paralyzed_

I e-mailed this guy via e-bay. He sad it's so cheap because he bought it down in Louisiana, it was a katrina salvage car,

He bought it in slidell, from some shady body shop. He described the owner as a pudgy greasy fellow named James. I guess he was very touchy feely.

He said James went on and on about how this was some of his best work and and he was sure to impress a few sows at the local feedlot.

[Finnster]

Originally Posted by _paralyzed_

I e-mailed this guy via e-bay. He sad it's so cheap because he bought it down in Louisiana, it was a katrina salvage car,

He bought it in slidell, from some shady body shop. He described the owner as a pudgy greasy fellow named James. I guess he was very touchy feely.

He said James went on and on about how this was some of his best work and and he was sure to impress a few sows at the local feedlot.

I heard the preachers say God sent Katrina bc of the homos and casinos. I'm thinking he saw the car, and it did not please him.

Finn,
Good discussion man, I don't get to talk this stuff that much any more. I was naming the sale of the GMAC finance division based on this Business Week article, they said 10 to 15 billion dollars in value. (<--but this was from 2005, things have changed)

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine...2001_mz001.htm

I wonder if it is still worth near that and if it is, are buyers leery of the valuation or concerned about the government involvement in the deal?

You hit the nail on the head about the unfunded liabilities. I am kinda cut throat about it, I would rather them have declared bankruptcy where they could restructure the debt and then negotiate new contracts with some kind of 401K type component to younger employees and discontinue the defined pension, be viable again and meet the obligations to those who have retired as they planned their retirement based on the promises made. I don't want to see anyone get screwed.

I have been told by people with family members who work for Toyota here in the states that they have great benefits on par with those that are enjoyed by UAW members, the only difference being the retirement benefits ....Medicare for health insurance, 65 is retirement age, and 401K with generous match. I see no reason this can't be the model for GM and other auto makers.

They also need to discontinue some of the insane practices that I am sure go on at other auto makers that hamper productivity. On that note, I have a friend who is an engineer for GM, she currently works on the Corvette line. She has gotten so frustrated with the state of things she is ready to leave engineering all together. She was explaining to me that if she wants to adjust a prototype piece, do the programing and make a test sample, that she has to have a union employee to run the line for her....though she is the engineer. She says she can wait several hours some times to get one of the "approved" people to fire up the production line for her one piece. This type of thing can not continue, especially when other countries...China cough cough cough....have absolutely no boundaries....no environmental concerns (Which is trouble some to say the least), depress workers wages, child labor and currency manipulation. All of which is horrible, no one please mistake what I am saying. The wages of the American worker to me is not the bulk of the problem with American manufacturing.

In the end, though I am not a fan of their products, I too would like to see GM come back and be the power house it can be and should be. Bottom line, Americans can and do make the best products in the world. We need more of it!

My last comment is about Chrysler, I though they were sold by Daimler Benz several years ago to a private consortium, so I am really baffled as to why they got a bail out and were saved. Seems to me it was just a crap investment.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/14/news...sale/index.htm

Originally Posted by _paralyzed_

I e-mailed this guy via e-bay. He sad it's so cheap because he bought it down in Louisiana, it was a katrina salvage car,

He bought it in slidell, from some shady body shop. He described the owner as a pudgy greasy fellow named James. I guess he was very touchy feely.

He said James went on and on about how this was some of his best work and and he was sure to impress a few sows at the local feedlot.

Most excellent!

[lincpimp]

Originally Posted by _paralyzed_

I e-mailed this guy via e-bay. He sad it's so cheap because he bought it down in Louisiana, it was a katrina salvage car,

He bought it in slidell, from some shady body shop. He described the owner as a pudgy greasy fellow named James. I guess he was very touchy feely.

He said James went on and on about how this was some of his best work and and he was sure to impress a few sows at the local feedlot.

Yes, and I heard that this "james" guy was commisioned to build the car by a spastic dumbass from minnesota. The guy sent him the car and materials and paid him 20 bucks to finish it. He got what he paid for but could not pickup the car due to an unexpected outbreak of herpes. And medicare would not cover valtrex. So the James guy had to sell it on to cover his expenses incurred.

[TexasSP]

Originally Posted by _paralyzed_

I e-mailed this guy via e-bay. He sad it's so cheap because he bought it down in Louisiana, it was a katrina salvage car,

He bought it in slidell, from some shady body shop. He described the owner as a pudgy greasy fellow named James. I guess he was very touchy feely.

He said James went on and on about how this was some of his best work and and he was sure to impress a few sows at the local feedlot.

Originally Posted by Finnster

I heard the preachers say God sent Katrina bc of the homos and casinos. I'm thinking he saw the car, and it did not please him.

Originally Posted by lincpimp

Yes, and I heard that this "james" guy was commisioned to build the car by a spastic dumbass from minnesota. The guy sent him the car and materials and paid him 20 bucks to finish it. He got what he paid for but could not pickup the car due to an unexpected outbreak of herpes. And medicare would not cover valtrex. So the James guy had to sell it on to cover his expenses incurred.

Loving it!

[_paralyzed_]

Originally Posted by TexasSP

Loving it!

Glad you got a kick out of it, but James doesn't know half as much as he claims to-

The outbreak wasn't unexpected, Mr. Smarty James