Wagoner? Wagonaire!

I actually feel embarrassed for GM CEO Rick Wagoner as he finds himself pleading with congress to save his company. It's like wrestling with the tar baby. The more you struggle the more you are stuck. Showing up the first time in the corporate jet was a mistake of course. Bringing the hybrid mule the next time just looked like pandering to anyone who was paying attention. I'm still struggling with the concept of lending many billions of dollars to a company you could buy on the open market for about 3 billion dollars. Why not dispense with the political theater and buy the company. Now they want his job of course. Maybe he should resign and wait to head up the oversight comittee that would follow the purchase of GM by the American people. It wouldn't pay nearly as much as his current position of course.

What's good for General Motors is good for America. Indeed.



As synchronicity would have it I passed by the magazine rack at the Y yesterday where someone had left the September 2008 issue of Hemmings Classic Car. A station wagon special edition. I couldn't resist. Here in the states SUV's replaced all the station wagons in the 90's. Now we are starting the slow slide back to common sense with a stopover at Crossover Vehicles which are really 4 wheel drive station wagons that are too big but still command the premium price of the SUV's of old. One feature was on the Studebaker Wagonaire. An early 60's attempt to save another failing car company. Just two years away from extinction and grasping at straws to redeem years of failed business strategies, Studebaker took a chance on this innovative design. Sort of an All American spin of the Citroen 2CV. Why can't we have useful modern versions of designs like this?
Imagine this at the local Costco with a 60" flatscreen TV rather than a refrigerator sized box. Tres chic.