[geeks] Special skills draft?

Sandwich Maker adh at an.bradford.ma.us
Fri Sep 24 14:33:46 CDT 2004


" From: Ross Lonstein <ross-sunhelp at lonsteins.com>
" 
" On Fri, Sep 24, 2004 at 01:38:40PM -0500, Mike Parson wrote:
"         [snip]
" > Model-T 'Tin Lizzy' was that it was made cheaply and for the common man.
" > This may have been the first time it was done in Europe or Germany, but
" > Ford had a car that an average working man in the US could buy for about
" > a generation before the VW started rolling off lines under Hitler's

that was some of porsche's inspiration.

"         [snip]
" 
" Piping up with some interesting numbers, the original Model-T sold in
" 1908 for about $850. By 1915 the price was down below $300 and it
" stayed there for several years. Why $300? The average American worker
" earned $300 per year. Ford paid his employees better than that and
" many of them were able to afford the cars they built.

didn't last though.  two decades later ol' hank was acting like the
bill gates of his day, calling in the mich natl guard [or was it army]
to put down strikers trying to unionize his co.  some were killed.

also like the petty dictator, he insisted on personally approving
every project.  that's why '48 fords were still sprung on the
transverse leaves of the '28 model a, and their first six didn't
appear until after he died - he couldn't figure out the
counterweights.
--
this reawakens one of my petty peeves in this world - top-10 worst
cars of all time, most recently on car talk.  people who blasted the
chevy vega or renault dauphine would run screaming to them and clutch
them to their bosoms until their fingers were numb if they had to
spend a week [especially in winter] in a model t, let alone cough up a
year's salary to buy it.  and the t is a landmark car, a major
milestone in auto evolution etc.
________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Hay                                  the genius nature
internet rambler                            is to see what all have seen
adh at an.bradford.ma.us                       and think what none thought



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