"Let's build a patriot car within five years"

[trof]

"Let's build a patriot car within five years that moves into the 21st century with leapfrogging technology, historic gains in fuel efficiency and new standards of automotive excellence.

That, in turn, will spark a new spirit of national confidence, make profits for taxpayers and spur sales across our nation and in global markets from China to India where there will be an exploding demand for autos that will last for generations.

The recession will ultimately end. I promise. Growth will ultimately return. I guarantee it. The credit crisis will end and lending for consumers will ultimately resume. You can count on it. The bear market will end and a new bull market will come. It always does. And when these things happen, there will still be huge global demand for cars that will last a generation from China, from India, from Africa and Latin America and yes, from Americans who are now delaying new auto purchases.

After Kennedy announced his project for the moon, Americans invented the new rockets that would take us there, the new alloys that made the rockets, the new training for astronauts to travel in space, a new commitment to education for science and engineering and a spirit of can-do optimism and daring self-confidence. If we could reach the moon in 10 years, we can build the cars to travel to the grocery store and achieve 75 miles per gallon or better in five years."
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/120408a.html

[Citizen Number 9]

1. Sounds good.

Maybe they should only come in three colors....red, white and blue.

[amdezurik]

6. and can only run on Freedom Fuel...

[Phred42]

2. First step would be to make the concept of PATRIOTISM have a positive meaning again

The Reich has been working to do an Orwellian switch on the concept for decades

[ixion]

3. uh, okay, but let's call it something other than 'patriot'

m'kay.

[TwilightGardener]

8. I have a Jeep Patriot. So that name is taken.

[TahitiNut]

12. So is Jeep Liberty

:shrug:

[TahitiNut]

10. Ford Freedom, Chevrolet Columbia, and Chrysler Minuteman?

:silly: :dunce:

[Sherman A1]

21. I agree with you

I think we could call it the potato or something along those lines.

[Posteritatis]

25. "Coming Soon - The Ford Abstractnoun!"

[ben_meyers]

4. Cool, what would we call it?

How about the "Peoples Wagon"?

[trof]

7. FolksWagon...I like it!

;-)

[Fumesucker]

11. Freedom Wagon n/t

[chrisa]

5. Problem

It might be too expensive for the Lower-Middle Class to buy.

[Fumesucker]

9. Eventually they will trickle down to the used market..

It might take a while though.

[zorahopkins]

13. Thanks, But NO Thanks

My God, have *e learned nothing from the past eight years of tyranny and manipulation?

I do NOT *ant to have my patriotism measured by the type of car I drive -- or *hether I drive a car or not.

A "patriot" car?

No! God, No!

Note: In protest of the continuing occupation of OUR *hite House by the illegal and totally corrupt Bush/Cheney regime of thugs and cronies, I REFUSE to use the letter bet*een "V" and "X", and I urge you to do the same.

[Dogmudgeon]

16. Sniffa did much the same thing a couple years ago

He put all of his stuff in lower-case; the letter "L" was always capitalized.

It impressed people pretty much the same way.

When he does post these days, he uses standard capitalization and spelling.

--p!

[tomreedtoon]

14. You might mention who you were quoting.

I had to go to the original article to see that it was some kind of Democratic senator. Which means this statement means nothing, because this was NOT said by anybody from the automobile companies. They don't commit to it, the only way it can happen is if the Federal Government outright buys them and deposes the management. Which, may I mention, would be fine and dandy to me.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

15. The P-51 fighter, which was a stake in the dagger

of the Japanese Zero, was designed from scratch, prototyped, tested, and built on a production line in 18 months.

What's this shit about 5 years? FIVE FUCKING YEARS?

BULLSHIT.

Ford already builds a popular euro diesel small sedan that gets 65 MPG.
they just won't build it here.

[Sherman A1]

19. Precisely

and very well said. I think it could be on the road in 12 months or less.

[KG]

20. off-topic but, actually, the P-51 was a dagger in the heart of the Luftwaffe

it was the F6F was that ended the Zeke reign in the PTO. :hi:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

30. did I really say stake in the dagger?

holy grammar.

[KG]

31. !

:rofl:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

37. I heard an interview by a Zero pilot trainer

(my honey is japanese) who broke down, knowing that his last years' entire class of trainees were going on one way missions, who talked about the P-51. He called it the two winged devil. While most of them were in Europe, some were used in the Pacific, and when they ran into the Zero, the P-51 had a faster climb, a better turn radius, a better dive, and a longer range (esp. with drop tanks) AND it had self sealing tanks (the Zero's biggest defect or problem)

But, in the beginning of the Pacific Theatre, the Zero matched or exceeded US air abilities be a fairly good margin.

It was a hell of a weird looking plane, tho, no matter where you saw it.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

33. And thanks to a British engine.

The Zero, of course, was of American design.

[Kalyke]

26. They're bringing it here, though.

Chill.

[RaleighNCDUer]

17. Patriot Car? Would that be a car that intercepts and destroys oncoming cars?

I think there are plenty of them on the road already.

[dipsydoodle]

18. Volkswagen would be a good name

- the people's car. I think someone has already been there done that over 70 years ago in Germany. It's quite simple - you just don't provide alternatives and that kinda guarantees its success.

Adolf Hitler had a keen interest in cars even though he did not drive. In 1933, shortly after taking over as leader of Germany, he asked Ferdinand Porsche to make changes to his original 1931 design to make it more suited for the working man. Hans Ledwinka discussed his ideas with Ferdinand Porsche, who used many Tatra design features in the 1938 "KdF-Wagen", later known as the VW Käfer - or Volkswagen Beetle. On 22 June 1934, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche agreed to create the "People's Car" for Hitler.

Changes included better fuel efficiency, reliability, ease-of-use, and economically efficient repairs and parts. The intention was that ordinary Germans would buy the car by means of a savings scheme ("Fünf Mark die Woche musst Du sparen, willst Du im eigenen Wagen fahren" — "Save five Marks a week, if you want to drive your own car"), which around 336,000 people eventually paid into. Volkswagen honoured its savings agreements in West Germany (but not in East Germany) after World War II. Prototypes of the car called the "KdF-Wagen" (German: Kraft durch Freude -- "strength through joy"), appeared from 1936 onwards (the first cars had been produced in Stuttgart). The car already had its distinctive round shape and air-cooled, flat-four, rear-mounted engine. The VW car was just one of many KdF programmes which included things such as tours and outings. The prefix "Volks" ("People's") was not just applied to cars, but also to other products in Nazi Germany; the "Volksempfänger" radio receiver for instance. On 28 May 1937, the Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH was established by the Deutsche Arbeitsfront. It was later renamed "Volkswagenwerk GmbH" on 16 September 1938. <7>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen

[IDemo]

24. HomeLand Rover™

[defendandprotect]

22. Build ELECTRIC CARS -- we can't burn oil any longer --

Electric cars are ready to go --

Could be on highways in just months --!!!

Take over the auto plants --

[Kalyke]

27. ... and promptly loose our shirts when no one can afford to buy them.

They're priced, right now, too high for the average American.

[defendandprotect]

34. We can subside both mfg and purchase -- Global Warming doesn't have a price tag --

and oil won't stay at $1.50 gallon --

We should NATIONALIZE OIL -- SAVE THE PLANET--!!!

[jpak]

23. We already did this - it was called the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partnership_for_a_New_Generation_of_Vehicles

Ford developed the 72 mpg diesel-hybrid Prodigy

GM the The 80 mpg diesel-hybrid Precept

Chrysler the The 72 mpg diesel-hybrid ESX-3

"The program was cancelled by the Bush Administration in 2001 at the request of the automakers"

These guys are true assholes...

[NickB79]

28. Exactly. We had a "Patriot Car" (three of them, in fact) TEN DAMN YEARS AGO!!

And then, a pretend patriot got into the White House.....

[dipsydoodle]

29. I've got one now funnily enough.

The 2.0 CRD European one with the VW engine and 4Motion running gear.

[tjwash]

32. Wverything that has been done in this country with "patriot" in its title is doomed to fail

[ddeclue]

35. Let's stop abusing the word "Patriot" in the next five years...

:puke:

[maxsolomon]

36. how about we abandon the happy-motoring nightmare instead?

oil is killing the planet, and it's going away very soon. alt fuels will not be able to replace it. we're going to use our cars much much less in the future.

we should build TRAINS.