Larry Schramm

No pictures today, but about 140 miles added on the clock. At least it was dry with no rain.

Up until the 80's +- I believe the labor amount was a 50/50 split between the dealer and the technician.

We went out on a 125 mile drive today with some friends. Good drive not for the faint of heart.

The darkest hours started in 1980 with the ascension of Roger Smith & the bean counters running the corporation and continue today. At the same time finance was moved from NY to Detroit and ran the Corp into the ground. There was no customer focus, just ROI metrics for everything and not being able to see the "big picture". I could tell lots of stories having lived and worked during those years.

Rampsides I have heard of the increased interest. I had two wagons that "ran when parked" but eventually became parts cars because of time and being parked outside. Tried to sell them for the price of scrap, $250 each and had no takers. Had one person offer $100. My decision was easy, they are probably now toasters from China. One of the wagons had the tinted glass all around in good condition.

Yes, the building is still there. When GM left there was some sort of deal made where the State of Michigan consolidated a number of their offices into the area into the building. It is now called Cadillac Place. It is on the register of historic places. My office was in the building when the move was taking place to the RenCen. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Place

GM should have never left the GM building on West Grand Blvd... IMO

Buy a Corvair. Reasonable price, and parts are still fairly available and reasonable in price. We had a '64 Monza with a 4 speed. Fun car with a lot of memories.

Steve, You are correct. GM bought the building and did not think about parking. Come to find out after the purchase was finalized, they had to buy the lots around the RenCen for parking. They paid $70 Million for the building and put $1 billion into repairs and upgrades. According to the grapevine only one tower is currently occupied with GM personnel because of the new world order post covid on employee office requirements. This is just what I have heard and I have no positive confirmation. Part of the reason that encouraged the move.

I worked for a time in the old GM building on West Grand Blvd. I had a office on the 13th floor. Nice place to work, just needed a technology upgrade and some other improvements. Not too hard of a place to park. Then worked some at the RenCen. Interesting place to work with nice views of Detroit, the river, and Windsor, Ca. I ended up retiring from GM while working in Warren at Engineering at the Tech Center. Easiest place to get to and get around. It was a good place to work from a commuting location and campus.

I personally like the round abouts. They keep traffic moving. The one caveat is the number of persons that have no idea how to approach them and drive through them. It makes you wonder if they can drive normally.

Where are you located. The Model 31 is a great touring car. My wife and I have put somewhere between 7,000 to 9,000 miles on ours since we purchased it a few years ago. Our car had acetylene headlights, but no starting system like Mark's.

Go to Hart's Machine Shop in Cecil, Oh. John there is very good and has a good staff. He has done several engines for me with babbit bearings.

Nice truck.

I agree on sound deadening more than paint problem mitigation. Lots of cars did not have sound deadening and there were no paint issues.