[Spridgets] (no subject)

[Jim Johnson]

My admittedly limited experience wih the "T" is that it was a marvel
of its time. It was simple enough that the ordinary man could work on
virtually every part of it with simple tools and yet provided
transportation to many who otherwise would have been afoot or on horse
back. You can't name another car of that era which had as profound an
impact on the common American as the "T".  Chevrolet only "kicked its
butt" among the well to do. The commoners couldn't afford Chevy
luxury, nor were the Chevy parts as interchangable as those of the
"T".

Crude? Definitely, but it was incredibly forgiving and ran in almost
any mechanical condition. Crude, however, does not translate into
"junk". It served its purpose and more.

Moreover, I question whether one can lay the "notion of automobility
as something akin to natural law" at the feet of the Model T alone.
Many other factors conspired to produce this mindset. It is a huge
stretch to blame our current problems entirely upon one vehicle. It is
also wildly contorted logic to blame fossil fuel demand alone for the
Iraq war if that is what the writer implies.

I found the whole thing filled with great exageration and personal
agendas on the part of the author.

My $0.02

Cheers!!
Jim - 68 Midget in Dodge City

On 9/10/07, Ron Soave <soavero at yahoo.com> wrote:
> The 2nd part is inarguably true. Ford had to shut down
> the production line for over a year to retool for the
> Model A after Chevy kicked the Model T's butt. That
> was Henry's arrogance, despite Edsel's advice. I guess
> I didn't find the first part offensive.
>
> -- Robert Bruce Evans <b-evans at earthlink.net> wrote:
> > "The Model T...conferred to Americans the notion of
> > automobility as something akin to natural law, a
> > right endowed by our Creator. A century later, the
> > consequences of putting every living soul on
> > gas-powered wheels are piling up, from the air over
> > our cities to the sand under our soldiers' boots.
> > And by the way, with its blacksmithed body panels
> > and crude instruments, the Model T was a piece of
> > junk, the Yugo of its day
>
>
>
>
> ____________________________________________________________________________________
> Need a vacation? Get great deals
> to amazing places on Yahoo! Travel.
> http://travel.yahoo.com/
> _______________________________________________
> bmwwxman at gmail.com
>
> Edit your replies
>
> http://www.team.net/archive
>
> http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/spridgets
>


-- 
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to
fill the world with fools.
-Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)