Better Off Elsewhere
As I read your article in the December issue about the United Auto Workers union (see WAW — Dec. '09, p.6), I was reminded of my experiences working with the UAW at both Chrysler and Ford. In my experience, the UAW protects the lazy, promotes the inefficient and cultivates a general feeling of us-versus-them within the company. In short, the UAW is institutionalized in-fighting.
The UAW is not responsible for all of GM's woes. But the union is responsible from distracting attention and obstructing progress toward fixing the woes. The union is a ready-made scapegoat management can blame for their problems.
The UAW is not good for job security. Look at where the highest unemployment is (union states). Look at where new construction is happening (elsewhere). Any new company would be insane to start up in UAW country. They're better off elsewhere.
Name withheld
Columbus, IN
Back to Car of Tomorrow
Several points in Jerry Flint's “cars of tomorrow” commentary are worth revisiting (see WAW — Nov. '09, p.32).
The first car he mentions is the Chrysler Turbine car. While it is true Chrysler threw in the towel after building 50 of them for consumer trials, the turbine wizards at Chrysler deserve credit for their role in helping shape the world's leading main battle tank, the U.S.-made M1A1 and its successor M1A2.
The technology also occupied the race track in the 1960s in the great Andy Granatelli's turbine-powered Indy cars. Though they haven't made it into affordable cars, it would not surprise me if Andy's engines are revisited by the boutique super-car manufacturers.
As for the Wankel rotary, if the sustainable economy of the future truly involves hydrogen-powered cars, then the bet placed by Mazda may yet payoff in the form of a hybrid automobile that is powered by a Wankel rotary burning hydrogen. Do not be surprised also to see hydrogen-powered Wankel power generators.
As for the EV1, it certainly found its fanatics and limited sales. Let us hope the EV1 experience is not revisited by the Chevy Volt or the Cadillac Converj concept. It is imperative that both GM and Ford do their battery homework up front and mitigate lithium-ion battery failures.
Finally, let's challenge GM, Ford and the other OEMs to consider an entire industry of collective photovoltaic charging stands at car parks and employee parking lots in the sunny regions of the U.S.
If charging of an employee's Chevy Volt can be written off as a business expense or as employee compensation, then it could revolutionize how Americans view parking their car for eight hours.
Think outside the box, Mr. Flint, and maybe someday George Jetson's electro-gravitic powered flying car might take us Back to the Future to the Car of Tomorrow.
David Pawlowski
Midland, MI
Turbine Exhaust Not Hot
Editors Note: We heard from a number of readers, including comedian Jay Leno, who called to inform us that, contrary to popular belief, the exhaust on the Chrysler turbine car was not excessively hot.
In Jerry Flint's Nov. '09 column “Short Circuit on Memory Lane,” the phrase “exhaust that could melt the car behind you at stoplights” was inserted during the editing process and is incorrect.
Leno, who counts a turbine car as part of his collection and even drives it to work occasionally, says the exhaust actually is significantly cooler than the tailpipe temperatures found in conventional cars of the era.
Jeff Godshall of Royal Oak, MI, informs us Chrysler executives were so intent on quashing the misperception of hot turbine gases flowing out the tailpipe that they routinely posed for publicity shots kneeling at the back of the car with their hands near the exhaust.
We apologize to Jerry and to the engineers who did their best to make the turbine car a viable alternative for American consumers.
We want your feedback. Please email comments to Editor Drew Winter at dwinter@wardsauto.com. Include your name, city and state. Letters may be edited for clarity and length.
