opinion

Eclipse Of The Heart

Posted on by noahmielke

Mitsubishi used to take a larger part of my heart back in the day. I always set aside time to think about their quirky spot in the industry. The plucky half alive company trying to stay afloat while building cars to compete with much larger brands, cough cough Subaru. But while Subaru managed to build their followers, Mitsubishi kept a solid small group focused on pride towards the Eclipse and eventually the evolution. It took them way too long to bring that starship too the United States but before we got that we had the Eclipse. One of the sleekest meanest coupes of their line was the late 90’s gsx. Basically a two door evo. I have no problem with them building cheaper versions, and having some faster counterparts for people with more money but damn I think they turned their nose up to everyone with their newest offering. I still don’t understand if your having an issue surviving why you would enter the competition with a new crossover in a saturated market, and then top it off use badging that could have saved your image. Its like tying a rock to your legs before you swim. You already had early entries into the crossover market long before it was a thing. Why would you feel your whole line up needs to be different versions of the same unflattering car not car, truck not truck. Please Mitsubishi say pop! Then pull your head out. Keep making the crossovers you have and the cheap cars you have entry level is ok people need to drive. Please bring back some of your amazing offerings with performance so people who like to drive can buy your cars again. We Eclipse lovers want you back but I kinda feel like you ghosted all of us, and its gonna take some flowers and chocolate before we call you back.

Glory Days

Posted on by noahmielke

I threw a lot of shade yesterday on Ford, GM, and Chrysler. So, I’m going say a couple nice things. Each one of these companies made a mark in different ways. Up to the 1960’s they had been leading the world in technology, innovation, and offerings. I mean we are talking about Ford who brought the V8 to the masses, with hot Lincoln V8s running in the first hot rods. GM who brought us the automatic main stream, and Chrysler who brought us Hemi power for the end of the hot rodding years plus their impenetrable 727 Torque Flite Auto. It wasn’t until they started having a large enough corporate structure that real problems started to arise and add in a dash of recession mixed with foreign competition that they really didn’t have the business sense to fight their way out of a paper bag. General motors corporate structure was so ridiculously large by the 1960’s that they were already showing signs of fatigue even during a booming economy. Choices like giving into John Delorean to pump out GTO’s were a sign they had zero connection too their consumer. If it hadn’t been for that little bit of young blood they might not have joined the muscle car fray till the 1970’s talk about a disaster they could have added to their list.

Chrysler is a distant third to the three I truly think that’s why they still had quite a bit of development chops and innovation through the 60’s. They had to fight for market share and some weird stuff came out, but they kept plugging along. Did I mention the Barracuda came out before the Mustang? It wasn’t like the Camaro trying to catch up with Fords new grab bag. Ford on the other hand, started off strong like General Motors had except they had younger talent at the time and plenty of resources. So much in fact, that when they failed to acquire Ferrari, they paid a Texan chicken farmer and a British racing group to build a car that could win Le-mans against Ferrari. You know what – it took a hell of a lot to do that. I think that’s more of a testament to Ferrari than Ford.

The fact one of the largest car companies in the world dropping unlimited funds to show up a small but famous Italian car company could still have to fight so damn hard. I’m getting off topic but let’s say for a while, these companies had a will to be around and kept enough people around that were driven to make cars, and push boundaries. Focus is what’s missing for so many reasons and its what you need to do to be relevant. They used to have it, and I hope they find it again. Those people working for them would probably like to keep their jobs and be proud of what they make.

Come On Time To Step Up

Posted on by noahmielke

This is just an opinion, and it’s what I see daily, but it is limited to my view. What are the American car companies plans when their supportive generation is gone? I still see a lot of older people pick Ford trucks and Chevy trucks over the better competition brands based off brand loyalty. A loyalty that honestly has been worn down over the years by crappy office politics, and non-class leading ideas. I don’t think you have to be a fan of Tesla to see how change can be made when taking a real risk. Some day picking the sleepy safe bet isn’t gonna sell cars. The thing that really irks me about these companies isn’t their inability, it’s the fact they choose this path when they have clearly had the resources to push many times. If Chrysler had used their K-platform wisely it would have tuned and built lasting quality into their life raft they choose to build during the 80’s. Instead, they counted on American consumers to want less. Guess what – it didn’t last, they couldn’t compete with the smaller companies on foreign soil. Honda, Toyota, Nissan, and in fact Hyundai can thank American car companies personally for leaving that door wide open.

During the 80’s the big two spent more money lobbying against importing those better options than creating better options. For companies that like to advertise themselves as true red, white, and blue they sure don’t like working hard and pulling themselves up from their bootstraps. We spent the 90’s watching ford build better cars in Europe, because they have tougher competition, and people who had higher standards. While we received those sweet mustangs and FWD Escorts. Europe was dealing with Cosworth AWD editions including Recaro seats. Here, Ford is barely able to compete with Honda on their own soil because they still undervalued their consumer market. I just have a lot of respect for these massively capable designers and engineers held back by lower standards by their business bullshittery company rudders. I think its by time some of these idiots leave and let more capable hands take over before they are just companies talked about in museums because if they keep this crap up, they don’t deserve the present they can keep the past.