GetAwayDriver, that might just be the best post on Moparts ever! The Consumer Union background is something I've never looked into, very interesting!
We are constantly bombarded by propaganda and few people stop to think what is behind the scenes and which products are actually good. It is not so much about the product but how the product is imaged in the consumer minds.
When I grew up all my experiences about American cars were positive. When I was 1 year old we bought a 1966 Rambler American which was in Finland "that big car" at the time. My parents visited Detroit (among other cities) and did the Ford factory tour in 1967 (they rented a 1967 Ford Fairlane 2dHT). Many of our family friends drove new American cars. I never heard anyone bashing American cars, they were somehow the ultimate thing you could own. But then again, we did not associate with anyone at the other end of the political spectrum. When I turned 10 or so I visited the library a lot and loaned bound yearly editions of two finnish magazines that had road tests of American cars. And boy, were those biased! Positive things were rarely said and it was pretty obvious that not only was the understanding of the US auto industry very poor but there was also a heavy political bias. Luckily in 1978 I discovered the new Finnish American car publication as well as Hot Rod, Car Craft and Popular Hot Rodding not to mention several Swedish titles. Those were my windows to the world for a long time and I bought every issue of them all. At the age of 15 I bought my first car, a 1965 Dodge Dart 4d sedan together with a friend. There has been about 70 cars since, all American. I would never consider anything less.
Fast forward to today. When Finland voted to join the European Union we were promised by the politicians that the 100% or so car tax would go away. I had hopes that American cars would slowly take over Europe as the trade barriers would vanish. The opposite happened. The European Union reminds more and more of the Soviet Union and especially the American cars are heavily targeted not to mention trucks. If there would be free trade between the US and Europe the car market would be totally different. But the US cars continue to raise in price here while the European cars are actually dumped on the US market. The prices are often lower in the US than in the home market. Enjoy having that free choice we don't.
