Studebaker Parachuting In to Save Detroit???

[Adamsavanti]

In today's NYTimes on the Editorial/Letters page, there are 5 letters on the topic Where Does Detroit Go From Here? The illustration is a photo of a Studebaker Hawk parachuting to . . .I don't know, Detroit?

What does this mean? That Detroit is going the way of Studebaker? That the ghost of Studebaker will come in to save Detroit? That if the (not so very) Big Three were to make something as exciting as a Hawk it would bail them out? That in 1963 a parachute from Washington would have saved Studebaker?

[JBody]

I believe that I can answer your question. Quite simply, what the cartoonist is saying is that the Big Three, like the late, great Studebaker, face high labor costs & the Execs are pulling too much money out of the business, while telling the beancounters to say the company is going broke, unless We, the people subsidize Auto Production with a parachute--any color will work fine. . Just like we already do with Agriculture and Health Care and Higher Education and Scientific Research, etc.,etc. IOW, a mix of Privatized Gain, Socialized Risk. That is the "Hybrid Vehicle" they refer to... If I am wrong about that, then maybe the artist is trying to convey the concept of saving the mfrs. big $$$$ on delivering new cars via truck and rail transport, and instead drop them out of airplanes directly in front of the new car buyers' homes, and let them prep the cars themselves.

[CDeffaa]

It made me happy just seeing that late '50s Hawk on the ;etters-to-the-editor page of The Times today!

chip deffaa

[Roscomacaw]

Not having seen the cartoon, I'd like to know if it says "Studebaker" anywhere, or it's left to the reader to KNOW what sort of car it is. [?]

1957 Transtar 1/2ton
1963 Cruiser
1960 Larkvertible V8
1958 Provincial wagon
1953 Commander coupe
1957 President two door

[ralt12]

It doesn't identify the car. But it's not just current labor costs (i.e., the "actives") that afflict the auto industry--it's the huge retiree base. Non-U.S. based automakers have largely had the benefit of government support for healthcare and retiree obligations. Take 50 years of this, and it's easy to see why this is the largest portion of the difference between U.S. and non-U.S. automakers. the UAW 2007 agreement goes a long way in addressing the differences, but most don't really kick in until 2010. A tough haul for Gettlefinger, he's had to preside over the sunset of the American union movement.

'53 Commander

[buddymander]

We need an executive order against investing in oil futures. And DMV registration fees based on weight and miles driven. THen car manufacturers would start building lighter and more economical (Studebakerly)automobiles. Why should I pay more so that a three ton navigator can run 30,000 miles a year? I'm getting double his mileage and driving one tenth the miles.

[Bredehoft]

Just for info, here is a link to the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/06/opinion/l06detroit.html?_r=1

and here is the image:



--george

1963 Lark Daytona HT - 63V J8 175

[barnlark]

That can be taken a million ways, who knows what it means. Only we know what that is under that parachute. Pretty random usage. Wish Studebaker had a bail out that looked so pretty though. Glad readers aren't running the country, as well. [:0]

[JBody]

Another interpretation of the sketch is that NYC journalists don't seem to like Cars, specially U.S.Makes. They feel that even driving a car is unecessary and lowbrow, but if you are forced to do so; they would advocate driving a car made by a company based in one of the former Axis powers of the 1940s, just to show that you are sophisticated and have good taste. With that in mind,they see any bailout of the big three as just political posturing by politicians, and the equivalent of pouring big money into a doomed company such as Studebaker Corp.

[buddymander]

Maybe it means to point out that large American automobile manufacturing companies can and do go out of business, and if this bailout idea had been implemented sooner, Studebaker might still be building cars. Then what would you drive to be different?

[JDP]

The failure of Studebaker led to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or Erisa, that pays pension if the business fails.i.e., if the big 3 fails, the taxpayers will foot a lot of the bill.


"The Studebaker failure was a watershed. Thousands of employees, including some who had worked 40 years on the line, lost the bulk of their pensions. Stunned by the loss, which totaled $15 million, the U.A.W. changed its tactics and began to lobby in earnest for federal pension insurance. A union pension expert tellingly explained to Walter Reuther, the U.A.W. chief, that insurance would reconfigure the "incentives" of both labor and management. Though business was skeptical of the idea, a decade later, in 1974, Congress finally passed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or Erisa, which, among other protections, established the P.B.G.C. to insure private pensions. Erisa, according to Wooten, who wrote a history of the act, completed the transition of pensions into a part of the social safety net. It was also the birth of moral hazard. "

JDP/Maryland
Please vote for Sid (64GT)in the NYT contest.

http://collectiblecars.nytimes.com/Contest/

[JBody]

Well, that is really good, JDP. It is my understanding that the tragic death of actress Jayne Mansfield in a bloody 1967 auto accident where the vehicle she was riding in ran under the rear of a semi-trailer led to DOT regulations that required a crash bar on the back of trailers, so the roof would not be sheared off of cars that hit them. It didn't bring MS Mansfield back to life, but it may have saved others. Too Littl, too Late. It it unfortunate that they hadn't the foresight to also pass legislation disbanding the UAW(Unemployed Auto Workers) at the time of Studebaker's demise; otherwise GM, Ford and Chrysler would not be in trouble right now.

[A1956GoldenHawk]

quote:Originally posted by barnlark

That can be taken a million ways, who knows what it means. <snip>

[u]NOT

[A1956GoldenHawk]

quote:Originally posted by JBody

<snip>
It it unfortunate that they hadn't the foresight to also pass legislation disbanding the UAW(Unemployed Auto Workers) at the time of Studebaker's demise; otherwise GM, Ford and Chrysler would not be in trouble right now.

IMHO, that is exactly the [u]WRONG</u> thing to do!!!

IF ...the Big 3 had followed the "model" set up in 1964 between a group of former Studebaker management AND a group of former Studebaker UAW Local #5 members they would BOTH be prospering to this very day!!! But no, they didn't ...the BIG 3 knows better ...

...yeah, sure they do.

[avantilover]

Re Jayne Mansfield, I read somewhere that - contrary to the popular story, she wasn't decapitated in that accident. Still dead though!!!

John Clements
Avantilover, your South Australian Studebaker lover!!!
Secretary Studebaker Car Club of SA (as of 3/19/08)
Lockleys South Australia

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31883343@N00/sets/72157607158071811/show/