RADwood Chicago: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I have not written in this blog for a long time and I’m sorry for that. A lot of unfortunate things have happened in my life in recent years and it has really stunted my want to write. 

That being said, I participated this year in RADwood Chicago. For those who do not know what RADwood is, it’s the celebration of cars, car culture, and the lifestyle of the 80’s and 90’s. Kind of a satire on the famous Goodwood Concourse d’Elegance, which usually shows high end vehicles that the one percent lavish over, RADwood does quite the opposite and has cars that could be owned by anyone in any income bracket, as long as it was built between 1980 and 1999.

Most of the cars seen at a RADwood shows are cars that both Gen-Xers and Millenials grew up with, whether it be nostalgia for a family vehicle, a car they had on a poster on their childhood bedroom wall, or just an overall fondness for vehicles built within that period. There definitely is an eclectic grouping of vehicles, regardless of their physical condition.

Coming out of the first round of COVID lockdown, we’ve all been very antsy to get out and enjoy the summer. For me, when they announced there would be a RADwood Chicago event, I was more than excited. I had just got my 1991 VW Jetta GL running and looking halfway decent, so I had a vehicle to take. As soon as tickets were on sale, I purchased myself one and got pretty amped. I still had things to finish on the Jetta, so I set a goal and started to get things done. 

The Good

The RADwood guys were able to score the Waldron Parking Deck, which for those of you who don’t know, is on the south end of Soldier Field, right on the shore of Lake Michigan. For any car show based event, this was probably one of the best places to have it in the City of Chicago. I was a little concerned for space, because the parking deck is not that large. Upon arriving, they had plenty people directing you in. They were parking cars a full parking spot away from each other and that was nice, because I’ve been to many car shows where you’re lucky to have a door lengths gap between vehicles. 

There was a definitely a variety of vehicles from American cars and Trucks, to imported JDM cars, to Mini Trucks, to Motorcycles. People were dressed for the part as well, because part of RADwood is celebrating the era, so dressing up and bringing accessories of the time is highly recommended if you're attending. 

There were concessions, from food to Hagerty Insurance. A live band was also present and played a lot of songs of the era. Most everyone you talked to was kind and more than happy to talk about their car. My Jetta was decked out with 90’s ski gear, so I received a lot of compliments, which a lot of people did with their vehicles. I’ve been to many car shows with older crowds and classic cars and I’ve never seen the enthusiasm and conversations that took place at this event. 

The Bad

I’m not gonna rag too hard on the RADwood guys. I’ve been a part of setting up car shows and it’s not as easy as people would think it is, first year events always have issues, especially in a city you haven’t had a show in. However, my complaint isn’t on how things were run, it was getting the word out about the show. 

RADwood put out the word only a few months ago that they had scheduled the Chicago event. I didn't think much about it then, because I had my own stuff to do, but day of, it became glaringly obvious that giving people only a few months notice with minimal advertising of the event, isn't going to result in as much attendance as one would think. From my own experience, they posted the event on their Facebook page and then focused on the other events they had scheduled, until about a week out from the Chicago event when they started posting about it again. I don't follow them on Instagram, so I don't know how often they talked about Chicago. I understand that SoCal is their biggest show and NorCal is right behind it, but with such short notice, they should have hyped the Chicago event more. 

Now, I thought that I was the only one who thought this, until I started speaking with other participants. I spoke to about a dozen people and the consensus was that people only found out about this event recently, like within the last week, which means word of mouth didn't get around until the last second and I only know that because I heard "My friend just told me about this a few days ago" several times. In this day and age of people constantly on the internet, word of mouth is still going to be one of the ways you get the word out about your event. The sooner you get the word out, the longer you have for word of mouth to get out, whether it be online or in person. 

Because of this, the attendance was probably at a minimum for a Midwestern car show, especially in a major city. I didn't take a complete tally, but there was around 100 cars. Not terrible, but not great either, at least in the terms of how popular the RADwood scene has become. I've been to cruise nights with more cars. I honestly was expecting there to be over attendance and people having to be parked on the lower level. Even so, people came from all over; Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio, so word did get out and people did want to come. 

Other than that, they ran the show pretty well. 

The Ugly

Usually "The Ugly" is saved for something atrocious involved with the show, but the show was pretty good. What really killed it was the weather. It was a high of 92 degrees with a heat index of 102. While we were on top of a parking structure, the original designers were smart enough to make it a Green Space as well, so there were several trees that provided shade for those of us who were not smart enough to think ahead and bring umbrellas or an outdoor awning. Luckily there was somewhat of a breeze and by the afternoon, there was some overcast that provided some much needed shade. This may have contributed to the lack of attendance, but who knows, car people are not always rational in decision making. Late August in the Midwest is no joke, it's generally the hottest time of the year. 

The other issue that I experienced, mostly because I was focused on my period correct display with my car, was not bringing a cooler and chairs. We were not the only one, there were several people dreading that they also did not do the same. Luckily concession was selling water, but at $4 a bottle, you burn through cash really quick. Lessons learned for next time. 

The show was supposed to last until 4pm, but because of the weather, they decided to cut it short and did the awards early. Pretty much the majority of everyone cut out after that. 

In Conclusion

I guess if you've made it this far, you're probably thinking I didn't enjoy myself. Despite my griping about the weather and the lack of attendance, I really did enjoy myself. I had some great conversations and saw some truly excellent cars. I do look forward to RADwood coming back to Chicago, despite that I heard several times that Detroit was better. Hopefully though, they make it sometime in September when it's not so hot, but not too cold either. 

Owning a "Unique" Car.

What most people outside of my group of family and friends don't know, is that I own a 1968 Chevrolet Corvair. It was my dad's car. He built it as a race car in the 70's for mostly autocross, but for some track days too.

My dad parked this car back in the early 80's because he was having some mechanical issues and life got in the way of him repairing it. He has owned other Corvairs since and I have spent all my life around them. I have been to numerous car shows, I worked at a shop specifically for repairing them, and how I hadn't owned one up until recently is beyond me. Fast forward to 32 years later and I made the comment to my dad that I had been looking. He basically said that if I wanted the '68, I could have it. My arm didn't need much twisting and within a few months, the car was in my possession.

 But this isn't a story about the car itself. It's a story about owning the car, being associated with the group of people that own the same cars and dealing with the people who just don't get it. Like I've said, I've been around Corvairs my entire life. They have always been second nature to me. I spent several years working on them as a job and I know many people who own them.  So let me tell you about my feelings toward owning a "Unique" car. While the Corvair isn't the only orphaned or unique, but not necessarily rare car out there, most people that own other marques will probably understand where I'm coming from.

Being an owner of a unique car has it's trials and tribulations. Not only do you have to deal with trying to acquire parts, but just trying to figure things out in general. What aftermarket wheels fit? Does someone still make a factory tire size? Does someone still make spark plugs and oil filters? Is there anyone that still works on these cars? 

Corvairs are unique by nature because they were out of the realm of the typical American made car in the 1950's and 1960's. They however are not rare by any means. Over a million were built and there are probably a 1000+ still on the road. Unlike some cars, parts acquisition for the Corvair is actually pretty easy for most of the parts. There are a few suppliers out there and there are a few Corvair specific salvage yards that have stuff available. 

Aside from the general mechanical side of the ownership, you have to deal with some very ignorant people. If you are not aware, the Corvair was dealt with some controversy in the 1960's. There was a small design flaw in the rear suspension of the earlier models and there were some accidents caused from the rear suspension tucking under the car and causing a possible roll over. It's a lot to explain and I don't want to bore you to death with the details, but basically the NHTSA in 1972 found that the Corvair had no worse suspension issues than other rear-engined cars of the time. 

This however didn't stop the general public from being misinformed and not being educated on the subject, but you can't even escape the general automotive public. When you are out and about, you get a lot of comments like: "Don't these flip over?" or "I owned one years ago and it was the worst car I ever owned" or my favorite, "My Uncle's Cousin's Step Sister's Grandfather's Barber's Taxidermist had one and it always caught on fire". Sometimes the rouge gallery of the internet gets pretty bad as well with their comments. 

 Sometimes though, you can't even escape the negative comments from Corvair owners themselves.

Through most of the online brand specific communities, there is a lot of arm chair warriors that think that what they say needs to be heard. I have seen some really foul things get said to other owners because they have a car that's customized or isn't stock. I have seen people say things to other owners that have scared off people from seeking help. It really does suck sometimes. If you try to do something different, people get bent out of shape. You want to start a side business for your particular car to help out your fellow marque owner? Well you're going to get told that there is no money in doing it and they are going to be so negative, that you will decide it's not worth it. This is why I don't frequent the online forums very much anymore.

Picture Courtesy of Steve Morton

That being said, there are a lot of good comments and stories and they usually outweigh the bad. The Corvair is not much different than any other classic car, but it seems like Corvairs spark memories like no other car I have experienced. They were cheap enough new that many people bought them as their first car and many people remember riding around their parents Lakewood wagon or Greenbrier Van. People don't forget when it was their first car in High School or College. There is always that heartbreaking story of someone who sold their car right before they went off into the military. They seem to be never ending and that's not a bad thing, it's always good to know that something as ordinary as a car, can remind people of a good memory.

 I enjoy owning an orphaned marque. I have nothing against the Camaros and Mustangs of the world, but they just aren't my cup of tea, I always enjoy things that aren't mainstream. If you gave me a choice between A and B, I'm most likely going to look for Q.  The people are usually pretty awesome. They are helpful and you are usually guaranteed to find someone hoarding parts or lend you a hand when you are stuck in that rut of fixing your car. You find out quick that you're not the only one trying to preserve the past for future generations or want to see your car on the road.

Speaking of which, I need to get this damn car on the road. 

U.S. and State Highways: The Roads Less Traveled

I've been driving now with my new job for the last 4 months. Getting settled into the world of Hot Shot Trucking, I started off traveling the Interstate System both to and from my drop offs, because it was what I felt was the fastest route, which is ultimately not the truth. If you can learn the state roads in any given state, it will help you immensely, especially if you are frequenting that particular route. It could actually be a faster way home or just a good way to divert the Interstate if there is an accident or road construction clogging up the highway.

One day, I was coming back from Calera, Alabama. I had a friend I wanted to see in Memphis, Tennessee and I thought that I was going to have to drive all the way up to Nashville and cross over on I-40. When I put the address in the GPS, it said to get off the Interstate and head down the back roads of Alabama. Well that's a little nerve racking when you have no clue where you are and you don't know where the GPS is taking you.  I decided "What the hell. What could go wrong?" and off I went. I ended up on Alabama 157 that took me to US Alt 72 which ended taking me through the rest of the state and through Mississippi right to Memphis. I was impressed on the ease and speed of the drive (65 mph speed limit through most of Alabama). I also saw a lot of beautiful countryside, abandoned gas stations from a time gone by, and a lot of classic cars waiting for an eternity for either their savior or to be sent to the scrapper. It was one of the most calm drives I had in a long time.

U.S. and State Highways can come in many shapes and sizes. They can be a two-lane blacktop that winds through the landscape or they can be a 4-lane divided highway, very similar to an Interstate. They can take you right through the middle of little towns scattered through the state or they can bypass towns and cities to be a non-stop route. You can still have rest areas and truck stops just like the Interstates or you can have crazy little roadside attractions and small town diners. In all honesty, they can sometimes just be faster than the Interstate System, especially if you are going diagonal through a state, not directly North, South, East, or West. Yes, you can end up driving through small towns that will slow you down, but it is never for more than a few minutes. Yeah, there are stop lights too, especially when two major roads intersect or are going through a larger town, but you will not usually get held up too long.

The other advantages of these Highways, is that they are usually main thoroughfares through most of these towns, so you will always see gas stations and restaurants along the way, so you never have to worry about if you are going to be able to find some amenities. There is also a lot of country you haven't seen, I guarantee it. You see a lot of Americana and many things from the past. From turn of the century grain elevators to art to drive-in theaters and everything in between. There's all sorts of little diners and produce stands scattered through the country. You may discover antique stores that have something priceless that you have been looking for. There's so much away from the bustle of the Interstate that many people don't know exist.

So, my fellow travelers, if you're not in too much of a hurry and want to get off the beaten path for a while, try a State Road or U.S. Highway. While they may not all be perfect or the most direct, you can end up seeing a part of the country that you may have not known exists.

Safe Travels

It's been such a long time.....

So, I have decided to fire this bad boy back up. I started this blog for all things automotive on my mind and while that most likely won't change, I'm going to adjust my focus, which is to give you commentary on my new job of Hot Shot Trucking. I'm traveling all over the United States and have seen and will see all sorts of stuff on my trips.

You can also see my day to day account on my Facebook page: The Adventures of Big Red . I hope to get some more followers and hope to entertain you with my misadventures.

Badge Advertising

Over the course of the age of automobiles, companies have done what they can to sell cars. Everything from marketing gimmicks to inaccurate fuel ratings . The one that usually goes unnoticed is badging. I mean hey, what do you see everyday? Cars. While driving? Cars. While doing anything in life? Cars. You're going to be seeing one at some point during the course of the day, so why not make a subtle form of advertising.

Here in the United States, one of the first things to be advertised on a on a car was the Ford V-8. It was prominently displayed  right between the headlights so everyone could see that the Ford was packing heat. As the years passed more and more car companies produced V8 engines and there was plenty of unique "V8" badging to see all the way up into the 50's. Into the 60's, the "V8" badge went away and the Cubic Inches came to play. Almost every car with a V8 had the cubic inches displayed somewhere on the car, usually on the front fenders. When you would see that car, you knew what it had under the hood and that became more pertinent when the Muscle Car wars came about in the mid-60's. When all the street racers would pull up to the stop lights, they could look over and knew (or thought they knew) what they were up against. As the Fuel Crisis of 1973 came along and big engines were on their way out the door and new fuel efficient cars were being produced, nobody really had an interest in cubic inches anymore. Into the 80's, 90's and 2000's we saw engine sizes again, but in the form of Liters.

One of the more common things that was advertised, was the transmission. The automatic transmission was considered a luxury item in the 40's, optional in higher end cars like Oldsmobile's and Cadillac's , so what better way to advertise this fancy new contraption than to slap a badge on a car. The Hydra-Matic was used in a wide variety of vehicles in the 50's, so you could find badging on a anything from a Nash Ambassador to a GMC Pickup truck. Many companies over the years have advertised their automatic transmission. Even the small car manufacturer DAF advertised their Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT), the Variomatic, on the back of their cars. After the '73 Fuel Crisis, when fuel economy was big deal, the Japanese swept in with their compact cars and 5-speed manual transmissions became the advertising rage. From the 70's into the 80's you could find a "5-Speed" badge on many vehicles from around the world and you knew that someone was getting reasonable mileage (and maybe having fun doing it in the process). Since then, companies don't really flaunt what transmission they have anymore.

The next type of advertising that were used, were decals. In the late 60's, the advertising decal came about during the muscle car wars and was not so subtle. We saw such cars as the Super Bee, The Judge, AAR Cuda, Daytona, Yenko, Trans Am, and BOSS 302. Cars were coming in bright colors with loud decal packages. Through the 70's we saw pretty much the same thing as the late 60's. Vehicles like the Oldsmobile 442 and Dodge "Little Red Express Truck" still advertise it's muscle, regardless if was there or not, but companies like Jeep had special models that they wanted the general public to see. Along came the 80's with all sorts of decal goodness, everything from "Turbo" to "High Output 16-Valve". Into the 90's the advertising decals kind of went away.

Well, almost.

The decal rage dwindled down with the exception of pickup trucks. In the 80's the Japanese brought in their 4x4 pickups and made sure you knew that. Into the 90's the American companies took note and they prominently displayed "4x4" or "Off-Road" somewhere on the bed or tailgate. The 90's brought in the next big rage from the manufactures: ABS. There were many cars being equipped with this newly common safety feature and what better way to say "my car is better than yours".  There were many American cars in the 90's that had "ABS" decals and badging. Other than that, the 90's were pretty boring.

Into the 2000's, the advertising badging made it's rounds and came back to who's got the edge on saving fuel. We have seen a lot of Diesel (TDI, CRD, and BlueTec), FlexFuel, ECO, and Hybrid. I don't think today I can go a few miles without seeing "Hybrid" or "ECO" on a vehicle. With the advancements in engine technology, things like turbocharging are slowly starting to make an appearance again. We're starting to see badging like EcoBoost and EcoTec. Regardless of how you look at it, it's advertising. In this day and age, the Manufactures aren't stupid, they know you're going to see it. It may not get you down to the dealer floor, but it can get you to their website and that's all it takes.

I hope this gives you an idea that badging is more than it seems. While it can sometimes be annoying like the flamboyant decals of the Muscle Car era, or something as subtle as a "T" next to the engine displacement, it's there for you to notice and make you curious. Next time you're stuck in traffic or walking through a crowded parking lot, take a look, you might be surprised at what you find.

The Name Game

Lincoln, Lincoln bo Bincoln Bonana fanna fo Fincoln....Just Kidding. This isn't about that wonderfully ridiculous song from the 60's that we all sang in grade school and was our start in making fun of the other kids' names in class. This is about the ridiculousness of naming cars.

Any automaker that has been around for more than a few years has gone through some transition of changing the names of their cars and not carrying on past name plates. Some have continued on with the same names for decades and we've seen them transition from great and powerful cars, where the name meant something, to horrible econoboxes, and eventually watching them die out with the pathetic vehicle it was slapped onto. Others have changed with the times and somewhat for the better to not confuse the consumer with what they are purchasing. Some companies have brought back old name plates that they haven't used in a decade or two, to name new cars. Then we have the companies that name their cars with combinations of letters or numbers or both, that don't really stand for anything in particular (Chevy HHR anyone?).

One vehicle that seems to be of recent controversy is the new Dodge Dart. A lot of auto enthusiasts have complained that Dodge resurrected a name that came from a great mid-size car from the past and have slapped it onto a small car that isn't worthy of the name. I beg to differ. The name came from a car from the 60's, it started off as a midsize car, shrunk to a compact and then grew back to a midsize car again. It was everything from a economy car, to a family wagon, to a muscle car. Unfortunately the mid-70's came along and the cars got lousy, so the Dart was discontinued.

Fast forward to now.

The new Dart that has been brought out to market this year is a compact car from Dodge. It is based off of a widened and lengthened chassis of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta. This car is something Dodge (and Chrysler in general) has needed since the Neon was dropped from the lineup in 2005. It's sporty in nature and can be had as an base economy model all the way up to an upscale luxo model. The only difference between the new Dart and the old Dart, is that the new one only comes as a 4-door sedan (yeah, yeah, the drivetrain layout is different, but I'm not getting into that). I don't see the problem with naming this new car the Dart. The name hasn't been used in over three decades (at least here in the U.S.) and it suits the car fine. I mean come on, why not?? It makes sense to me to call a small, sporty car "Dart", but there are the naysayers and hardcore Dodge fanboys that don't like what the name is being put on. Well we could just call it the Dodge D35LQSV if that will make people shut the hell up, but it won't, because I'd be the one complaining about that name.

Which now comes to my biggest pet peeve: Alphanumeric naming. There are companies that have used alphanumerics for years. BMW, Jaguar, Lexus, and Mercedes are just a few that still do to this day and I expect the big luxo car companies to do as such. But when other companies who hadn't done it before start doing it, there comes to a point when you say: Enough!

The whole reason for this post, is because of the Fiat 500XL that will be making it's introduction at the Paris Motor Show this year. I commend Fiat for bringing the 500 back to American Shores. The U.S. as a whole needed to be reintroduced to small cars again. While cars like the Mini had come before the 500, the 500's reintroduction kind of got things going again. Well the 500 alone hasn't really made as big of an impact as Fiat would have liked, so instead of bringing over models that they already have, they are going to start selling the newly designed 500L here. For those who don't know, the 500L is a "L"engthened version of the 500. Instead of being a 3-Door hatch, its going to be a 5-door hatch. Well apparently that wasn't enough, because now they are working on the 7 passenger 500XL, which will be like a mini-minivan. Ok, I get it, they're still trying to appeal the the masses, even though they have a huge line of cars that they could bring here. But what I don't get is why it needs to be called the 500XL (Extra Large?). I mean, I get name, it makes sense, but this is a car not a t-shirt. The 500XL is just a stupid name. It really doesn't sound appealing. I, however, have an idea for a better name.

My idea is to not call it the 500XL, but to call it the 600 Multipla. The vehicle itself is larger, much larger than the 500. Just because the front end resembles a 500 doesn't mean it has to be called one. If anyone knows Fiat history, back in the day they used to have a model called the 600 Multipla. The Multipla could arguably be considered Europe's first real people carrier.  Just shy of 12 feet, this vehicle was capable of carrying 6 people or you could fold the rear seats flat and use it to transport some cargo (sounds familiar to today's minivans doesn't it?), but still be able to get around the small streets of the Italian towns. This sounds like something Fiat is designing now, hmmm, can you say 500XL? The Multipla lived on for years as a people carrier and now the 500XL is replacing it. I think Fiat should have thought this one over before naming it after a t-shirt size.

We're always going to have names like Mustang, Silverado, Accord, 740iL, C320, and LS460, they are the names we have been used too for years. Names like 500, Dart, and Caprice have all made a come back on newly redesigned cars and I think they are a refreshing to hear. I'm just tired of hearing names that sound like the marketing people don't even try.

Death of a Model

No this isn't some old timey detective story with a man in a trench coat wearing a fedora, wielding a snub-nose revolver trying to save some dame from goons in trench coats wearing fedoras, wielding snub-nose revolvers.

This is about the death of certain car models. Most are cars that a car guy would never care about, like the Aztek, the Caliber, or Eclipse. However, there are models that span over several generations that you think will never die out, no matter how many redesigns (good and bad), how many engines (good and bad), or how many versions of one model (good and bad) there could be, you always root for that model when it comes to magazine comparos and you always promise yourself that one day you're going to buy a new one (or old one). It becomes a part of your life and it haunts your dreams to the point of insanity. One day, the company listens to the bean counters and it's decided that they aren't selling a million a year, so it needs to be eliminated from the lineup. It upsets you, makes you feel like someone killed your puppy. It just isn't fair! What am I going to do?? Well, you're not the only one who has felt like that, I guarantee it.

For me, one of these car models is the Australian Ford Falcon. I just read an article from Autoblog.com that Ford had decided to cease factory operations in Australia. In other words: They want to shut down the only factories they have there that produce Australian only models, they want to make Ford's Australian lineup all "Global" vehicles. Slowly Ford has been pulling back its production down under and it looks like they will eventually pull the plug all together. This means that one of my favorite cars of all time is going to be discontinued. By the sound of it, it looks like it will remain alive until 2016, but it still sucks knowing of it's impending death. This actually isn't new news, I just forgot about it.

You're probably asking right now: "Why do you care? You live in the United States. They don't even sell that car there. How is this affecting you?" Well, you must not be a car guy then.

Car guys lust after things that are within reach and things that are waaaay out of reach. This is one of those waaaay out of reach type of things for myself. I used to have dreams of moving to Australia a long time ago, there's just something I enjoy about the Aussies. I enjoy the culture, the beautiful country, the people, and their accents. That move however, did not happen and here I am sitting in my living room here in good old Farm Town, USA. So, I get to lust over the Ford Falcon from afar.

One of the other disappointing things I read was that the Falcon will be replaced with the Taurus. Seriously? The Taurus? Well I guess they have to give the Australians something, even if it's an overweight, bloated pig. Now don't get me wrong, the Taurus is a fine car. It was built for the masses and it does everything it's supposed to, but if you've seen one in person, you know that it looks a little bit disproportionate. Also, on paper, the Taurus is heavier than the Falcon. Much heavier. Like 500-700 lbs heavier. I'm just not sure that the Aussies will like a car that was built for Americans. The Falcon Faithful are going to be a little more than disappointed though, the Taurus is automatic only and comes in either Front-Wheel-Drive or All-Wheel-Drive, not the Rear-Wheel-Drive platform that they're used to hooning with.

One last thing that is also disappointing is the loss of Ford AU's bulletproof 4.0L Inline-6 engine. They are one of the last companies to use an Inline-6 engine. Their engine has just as much power (if not more) as the V6 that comes in the Taurus and it definitely has more torque. The Turbo version has as much horsepower as the EcoBoost V6 in the SHO and still more torque. For those who have never had the chance to drive something with an Inline-6 engine, do yourself a favor and drive one. They are the smoothest and torque-iest engines to have in a vehicle. You'd be surprised at how strong Inline-6 powered vehicles pull off the line. It's a great engine and it's too bad it has to go too.

I guess my point for this post is that it's always disappointing when a car maker drops a car that's been around for a while and shaped our lives in some fashion or another. It like Ford's decision to drop the Crown Victoria or GM's decision to drop the entire Pontiac lineup. I personally have cars that I like from almost every car company from the USA, Japan, and Europe. It's sad for me when they let the bean counters win and decide to drop good models that they don't want to spend the money on to retool for an updated model. The death of the Ford Falcon for me is as significant as if the Ford Mustang were to be discontinued and what's interesting is the Falcon has been around longer than the Mustang and the Mustang was originally based off the Falcon.

Those damn bean counters.

*A LATER THOUGHT* 

Another thing that came to mind is that this will also mean the end of the Ford Falcon Ute. A vehicle we once knew as the Ranchero, it wasn't very popular here, but proved to be popular in many ways down in Australia. Since Ford wants to stop production of specific vehicles for specific countries and focus on Global Vehicles, this definitely means the end of the Ford Ute. Holden has no intentions on stopping production of their Ute (as far as I know), but that doesn't mean that it may not be far behind if GM chooses to do the same. So this means not only will one model be axed, but two. Realize as this happens, they will be shutting down factories, which means many Aussies will be losing their jobs. 

I can only imagine how people all those people feel.