From the November 15, 2013 Indianapolis Star front page:
Connersville Mayor Leonard Urban is quoted at the end of the article. He says the city should have the car for a museum, and the plaque in front of the car should read: LESSON LEARNED.
Right. If only they would learn a lesson. He's right in saying there's a lesson to be learned, but it would only be learned by attentive, receptive students.
However, with double-digit employment still haunting that area, do you really think the locals wouldn't bend over one more time if another venture came forward to use the place...with proper public "assistance," of course?
My late mother-in-law was a Company Nurse for Ford Motor Company when Ford built and operated the Connersville facility in which Carbon Motors was to be located. It's a large place, but becoming increasingly obsolete the longer it remains vacant. (It is not yet on the order of Studebaker's older buildings in South Bend or the Detroit Packard ruins, however; it still has a pleasant presence, and could be used.)
Carbon Motors was an interesting idea, but the ultimate passing of Checker as a specialty taxicab manufacturer years ago should have proven how rough would be the road for anybody trying to produce a vehicle for only one market without having the resources of a full-line vehicle company to share R&D and help amortize common component and manufacturing costs.
Personally, I wish they were still manufacturing Cords in Connersville. It's a neat little town, but somewhat distant from Interstate Highways in the area (I-70 and I-74) to compete in the manufacturing sector.
BP
Connersville Mayor Leonard Urban is quoted at the end of the article. He says the city should have the car for a museum, and the plaque in front of the car should read: LESSON LEARNED.
Right. If only they would learn a lesson. He's right in saying there's a lesson to be learned, but it would only be learned by attentive, receptive students.
However, with double-digit employment still haunting that area, do you really think the locals wouldn't bend over one more time if another venture came forward to use the place...with proper public "assistance," of course?
My late mother-in-law was a Company Nurse for Ford Motor Company when Ford built and operated the Connersville facility in which Carbon Motors was to be located. It's a large place, but becoming increasingly obsolete the longer it remains vacant. (It is not yet on the order of Studebaker's older buildings in South Bend or the Detroit Packard ruins, however; it still has a pleasant presence, and could be used.)
Carbon Motors was an interesting idea, but the ultimate passing of Checker as a specialty taxicab manufacturer years ago should have proven how rough would be the road for anybody trying to produce a vehicle for only one market without having the resources of a full-line vehicle company to share R&D and help amortize common component and manufacturing costs.
Personally, I wish they were still manufacturing Cords in Connersville. It's a neat little town, but somewhat distant from Interstate Highways in the area (I-70 and I-74) to compete in the manufacturing sector.
BP
We've got to quit saying, 
BP
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