While the Humvee is still very much in use and production, its successor vehicle is the very different Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, a product of Oshkosh Corporation that is powered by a GM Duramax engine.MORE HERE
DETROIT – Don’t sell the meat department of the family grocery store to keep the business afloat. There is a horrible thought floating about General Motors. GM would depart from manufacturing in Europe, sell off Opel to a neighbor like Peugeot, and perhaps grab Jeep and shut down the rest of the non-glamorous,MORE HERE
Keeping an old brand viable is sometimes no more difficult than packaging. Here, a specialized Willys Jeep Wrangler, which according to a Chrysler LLC release dates from 2004. Basically, it’s a Wrangler, but it comes specially packaged, with a Willys decal, and Army paint colors and tires. The Willys packageMORE HERE
A BrandlandUSA reader laments the missed opportunity in Pontiac: It may be that Pontiac is gone and erased from the accounting books of GM, and it may be that the heritage of Pontiac lives in the memoirs of Americana – but the fact of the matter remains that Pontiac outsoldMORE HERE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Just off the headlines. The massive shutdown of dealers ordered by the Obama administration was a massive failure. Not that you couldn’t have noticed by just talking to some of the dealers themselves. I recall running into a group of repair guys from Sarasota Chrysler-Plymouth, which isMORE HERE
Take a break and enjoy America’s industrial legacy. And to all those companies that have shut down their factory tours because of some straw men like insurance or liability, shame on you. The reality? People love companies that open their doors to the public, but they HATE companies that doMORE HERE
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. – I recently attended the NHRA Winter Nationals and noticed that the most popular body for those outrageous funny cars seemed to be Pontiac. So when I asked another spectator why, he simply said “they have the best aero-dynamics.” My horse sense told me this was likelyMORE HERE
There is one type of job you can’t export. The repair man. Companies in recent years have ignored the repair man; before the Great Recession it was almost cheaper to buy a new lawn mower than to fix the old one. So you just threw the old one out, withMORE HERE
Pickup collecting is gaining favor as 1970s muscle car prices have gone too high for new collectors. The Wall Street Journal has profiled the top 25 collectible pickup trucks, though any older pickup is now hot, including, at right, the Chevrolet 3100. Brands include the early British Morris Minor pickups,MORE HERE
Brief items: Proctor & Gamble just released its revived collection of Rochas, under the leadership of Marco Zanini. Proctor & Gamble shut down Rochas in 2006, and brought it back. The Wall Street Journal noted last week that its “nutty wide heels” and such targeted the exuberant woman who wantedMORE HERE