The Lexus vs. The '53 Skylark

[Guest]

Is anyone else annoyed by the recent Lexus commercial ? You know, the one where the guy runs outside when its about to rain ... and takes the car cover off of his '53 Skylark converible and uses it to cover his Lexus RX-whatever minivan.<P>Or is it just me ?<p>[ 07-10-2002: Message edited by: Ira ]

[rocketraider]

Bugs Bunny once said "Anyt'ing can happen in a cartoon, mac". That's the way I view this ad campaign. Real life ain't that way.<P>Do you think Lexus has built or will build anything that could be remotely construed as collectible 50 years down the road? Skylarks were collectible when they were built. Lexii are nothing more than high dollar transportation for the guy who really wants a Cadillac but can't bear the thought of his friends and neighbors' foreign-car snobbery if he showed up in it.

[Guest]

yeah, anyone dumb enuf to pay that much for a lexus IS probably dumb enuf to to do the car cover thing. But, what the HEY??? there is some Cadillac commercial the tries link the new (small Caddy) to the 59 Convertible too. They must be grasping for straws or trying to appeal to the Yuppie wanna-be - country club set that can almost afford a car like that but will anyway.

[Guest]

This is yet another example of Madison Avenue idiocy. I too am disgusted by this unbelivable, tasteless ad.

[Reatta Man]

ANYONE stupid enough to do that deserves the bill they are going to get when the interior of the '53 Skylark needs to be replaced due to the water damage. Mr. yuppie will then find out it will cost about what the yuppiemobile is worth. <P>See, everything that goes around--comes around. <P>The reality is, does ANY collector of ANY brand, Ford, GM, Chrysler or whatever, believe a true car collector would EVER do such a thing? Any commercial, to be effective, at least has to be remotely believable or entertaining. All that one does is offend the senses.<P>Joe

[Guest]

I am a loyal Ameican.I was picked up and thought dead twice in WWII,(they were wrong both times) I will not be caught driving a "Kamikazi death trap",they have too much BLOOD on them!

[Guest]

WWII Vet: YES! i completely agree with your concept. BUT, name ONE car or motorcycle (built in the last 10 years) that does NOT have a significant number of nip parts on it?????? Even the Harley Davidson is at least 20% jap now. Sad but true.

[Guest]

eeehhh. Mr WWII,<BR>absolutely no disrespect , but wasn't GM spitting out Opel Blitzes and anything else rolling for the Germans during WWII?? They even filed claims after the war for the bombings....

[66400]

The Nazis no doubt had nationalized the GM holdings for their own use! Henry

[Guest]

I helped to LIBERATE your country !

[Guest Shaffer]

I am sure the post is long gone, but I posted about that before. Lots of interesting replies. #1, is that even the top was down on the 53 Buick. At least Lexus is recognizing that the 53 Buick is a very beautiful and collectible car, which is why they are comparing it to their car. Also crazy, because both cars are setting right in front of the garage. Why not put both cars in there? I like Lexus, as well as Hondas, Toyotas, Acuras, Nissans and Infinitis, as I have owned several Toyotas and Hondas and all was quality built and reliable cars. Still- no other cars now like the old American cars, especially the 1950s to the mid 1970s. I also like a few American cars starting again in the mid 1990s to present. In conclusion: If that was my Lexus and 1953 Buick convertible, I would put the Buick safely in the GARAGE and put the tarp on the Lexus. <p>[ 07-11-2002: Message edited by: Shaffer ]

[Guest Skyking]

"At leaste Lexus is recognizing that the 53 Buick is a very beautiful and collectible car, which is why they are comparing it to their car" Tony, first of all there is nothing to compare. They are two different cars. One beautiful, one ugly. One Classy American, one typical cookie-cutter. I find it VERY insulting to Buick to even place that car in the ad.

[KAD36]

I see it a little different guys...<P>I figured he was covering the Lexus so it wouldn't rust and fall apart after the rainstorm and then maybe it might last as long as his Buick. <P>Like Skyking, I prefer American badges and any car in my driveway will have a GM badge on it. I like to stick with what works. It would be an insult to my oil filter wrench if I put a Lexus in my garage (and an insult to my IH garden tractor, which I would still drive to work over a Kia GS!)<P>That big ol' 53 Buick will be running strong, turning heads and rekindling dreams long after that yuppie owner is 6 feet under and pushing up daisies. <P>Just my humble, unbiased, passionate opinion - did I push the envelope?<P>BTW - anyone know where they got the Skylark from? Museum/owner?

[Guest Dynaflo2]

At the Great Lakes Regional meet of the BCA last week, I clapped eyeballs on four skylarks, all within about 70 feet of each other. At least one of them was insured for about twice what that Lexus SUV goes for. Want to take a stab at which one is depreciating evey day? And more importantly, which one is growing in value? I'll give you a hint: The chowderhead covers the wrong car! <P>I have seen the entire ad once. Since then, the remote gets a workout when the ad comes on. It's times like this that I wish I could afford a Lexus so I could walk into the dealership and tell them I wouldn't buy one.

[Guest Shaffer]

Skyking: Lexus does not know that their car will never be a 1953 Buick. I guess they probably know that, but would never say it. LOL <p>[ 07-11-2002: Message edited by: Shaffer ]

[Guest Skyking]

Don't forget, a Lexus is just nothing more than a glorified Toyota......The idiots keep paying the price! I'll buy nothing but American cars. It's true some parts are foriegn, but at least the cars I drive have American names............

[Guest]

Guys - do any of you really think that any of the people that Lexus is trying to attract to their SUV have any idea at all that the old car is a Buick, much less that it is the rare, desirable and appreciating 1953 Skylark? Do you think that there is any possibility of selling a Lexus to anyone who knows about and cares about a 49 year old American convertible? These groups - potential Lexus buyers and worshippers of old Buicks - share nothing at all. They are people in two exclusive, remotely different worlds. That we Buick people might be offended by the thought of uncovering the Skylark to protect the SUV is of absolutely no import to the ad agency or to Lexus. They don't care about us. They want to sell that vehicle to women who have to drive kids to school, then themselves to work. The ad continues also to use the theme that "men are idiots". She probably told her husband to get that tarp off that old car and put it over her brand new leased Lexus. Your contempt for the story told in this ad means absolutely nothing to Lexus nor to the ad agency. Not only do they not care about us, they don't even know people as bizarre as ones who are stirred by that old car exist.

[Guest]

It's just an ad. And it's meant to be humourous. Of course no one would uncover the Skylark - the hyperbole is the point.<BR>Duh.

[Guest]

I would put the Buick inside,cover it with a down-filled comforter,then make sure the Kamikazi was insured and hope for a hail-storm !

[Guest]

THE GERMANS DECLARED WAR ON US, THE JAPANESE<BR>S N U C K UP ON US AT PEARL HARBOR.<BR> I FELL OFF MY CHAIR LAUGHING AT THAT COMMERCIAL!!!!-CAN'T OWN A JAPANESE CAR, IT'S MADE FROM NON-UNION LABOR!

[Guest]

Ok guys I am going to stir up a hornets nest here. There is not a bigger proponent of buying American products than me. I used to look at EVERY label or package and buy ONLY products made in America. I mean from a pencil, an orange, a coat, to a car, EVERYTHING. This has gotten impossible and I have all but given up. <P>The line between import and domestic has gotten so blurred that there is really no difference at all in many cases. First of all every one of the Big three own a huge part if not controlling interest in one or more "import" car companies. GM=Toyota-Isuzu-Suzuki, Ford=Mazda-Jaguar, Chrylser=Mitubishi-Mercedes<P>They ALL have Japanese built cars in their line up with a DOMESTIC name on them. They all have Japanese designed cars in there line up made HERE. They even all have cars they sell in Japan made here (though the Japanese government have many rules that discourage that I agree). <P>Every one of these companies and more like Honda have factories HERE in America in cities where the domestic manufacture may even had closed down plants! I live in Fremont California, BOTH my '65 Skylarks were made in the plant here in town about 5 miles from my garage and driveway where they sit right now. This plant was closed around 1980ish and reopened around 1985 in a joint venture of GM and Toyota making GEOs (a Geo Prizm IS a Toyota Corolla) and called it NUMI, New United Motors Inc. GM has now dropped the Geo line and all that is made in the plant are Toyota Cars and Trucks. These cars and trucks are made by UNION employees from the UAW, the same UAW that made my Skylarks! I am personally effected in that the body shop I work at has a contract with NUMI to repair small damage on the new cars they make. On any given day we will have six to ten new NUMI Toyotas in the shop for these repairs. <P>The Chrysler Town and Country and Dodge Caravan are made in Canada, their Ram Trucks are made in Mexico. Chevy trucks are made in Mexico, while Toyota trucks are made right here in my home town. Things have gotten quite screwy, that is for sure.<P>I know that most of the profits from these Toyotas go to Toyota of Japan, but some stays right here in my home town. I also know that there are many factories such as this throughout America. I remember a story a few years ago about a city in upstate New York that was going to buy a Japanese tractor. The City's people flipped, they said buy American. So they went to John Deer or Cat or someone, I forget and found that the tractor they wanted was built in Japan! And then found that the KoMoto or what ever the "Japanese" tractors name was, was built here in their American plant! <P>All I am saying that line has gotten to blurred for me. I buy items that make sense to my needs and have all but forgotten about the rest. This doesn't mean I look at the price only or anything like that, I just look at the products honestly. <P>If you were to go back in the achieves two years you would find my screaming bloody murder at people who had posted something similar to this. But I have studied a little on the subject and can tell you it happens with all industries, in EVERY country (industrialized). The world is getting smaller and there is NOTHING we can do about it short of living off the land in the Ozarks. <P>Buy the way how about some trivia? <BR>What was the first motorcycle factory in Japan? Harley Davidson, 1928.

[Guest Skyking]

MARTINSR, you didn't stir up any hornets nest with me. You couldn't have said it any truer. I guess the thing that bothers most of us is we, (I'm 56) were used to the way it was and then all hell broke loose. When we are all gone the younger generation won't know the difference.

[Guest]

I agree that these choices are far from clear, and the choices have to do with individual selections. Some questions which don't have right answers:<P>Would you rather support American workers and Japanese executives or Mexican workers and American executives? <P>Would you pay more to support those you choose?<P>Would you accept lower quality to support those you choose?<P>There's lots more and no easy answers. Please respect each other's choices if they differ from your own.

[Guest]

Respect?????? REAL Americans buy what REAL Americans WANT!!! i have 2 late 40's Indians and a 56 Packard among other pre-75 vehicles and equipment. NOTHING gripes me more than to hear someone talk about their NEW 'American built Harley". What a slap in the face to those of us with REAL American built machinery. As far as i know my indians and packards have NO (here let me spell that for u N-O) foreign parts on it. NO foriegn materials either. <P>Dont get me wrong, i'm NOT above buying a foriegn name-plate (have owned only 2 or 3 in the last 30 years) . In fact, i eat at a persian restraurant at least 3 times a week.<P>BUT, lets not let this 'respect' and 'tolerance' bullshit cloud reality, especialy when it comes to our classic iron. <P>For I AM the man with a BIG V8 - better known as PackardV8.

[Reatta Man]

MARTINSR and Skyking:<P>You have hit on some VERY valid points. The lines are soooo blurred, all new vehicles sold in the U.S. have a label that shows where the CAR was assembled, as well as where the engine and transmission come from, as well as the amount of U.S. vs. foreign content. <P>Personally, I love my old Buicks, but I would rather buy a Toyota Tundra truck (made in Gibson County, Indiana) a Nissan Altima (made in Shelbyville, TN) or a BMW X5 (made in North Carolina) than a Buick Rendezvous made in Mexico. Soon, the same can be said for Hondas or Hyundais, both to be made in Alabama. <P>Why? Two reasons. One, why should I buy a Buick made in Mexico when I know there are thousands of Buick factory workers still out of a job, when I can buy a 'foreign' car and help keep an American worker on the job? Two, why can't Buick build a $25K-$35K car at a profit in the U.S., when Nissan can build a $22K Altima in the U.S. and still turn a profit? Is Buick really that bad at managing costs, or are they just gouging the public, selling cars made by workers paid $1.20-$2 per hour but selling them in the U.S. as if they were made by workers making $15-$20 per hour?<P>Something to think about....<P>Packard V*: please register as a member and keep the profanity out. <P>Joe

[ranchero]

Packard V8 - boy, two Packards and two Indians. Pure American. Yup, and pure incompetence too! What decade was it when those two historic companies went belly up? Well, they used all American parts at least. Looking at the automotive market of 2002 through the prism of a personal relationship with relics of a different time may not provide insight into today's market. I love old American cars, mainly for the style and history. But I also know the zenith of the American auto business was a long time ago and that unfortunately the manufacturers based in other countries do a better job now in all aspects - from market research and design to manufacture and sales. A glimmer of hope for Buick may be the V-8, rear wheel drive (hopefully available) Buick Rainer. I am very interested in old Skylarks and Packards too but know that the world circumstances that contributed to the wonder of the product of those times have changed forever and staying loyal to American product may be like feeling safer on the Titanic than on the lifeboats.

[Guest]

I know a guy who shipped two 53 Skylarks to Kokomo and drove a Lexus to the show. Both Skylarks scored a Gold Senior, so you know where his heart was, but with a 600+ mile drive, you now know where his butt was. Lexus makes a fine car for driving, but it is merely transportation. A Skylark is a work of art and apparently, Lexus knows this too.

[Guest]

Respect and tolerance should apply to others' opinions, Pack V8. Sorry if you think that's BS.

[Guest]

I own both a Lexus,94 SC 400, and a Buick, 54 Riviera, . it's toooo bad the Lexus needs the protection over a 50YEAR OLD AUTO. It just goes to show you<BR>that the Lexus needs the protection the Buick can handle IT!!!

[Guest]

Incompetence ??????? Maybe incompetent management of Indian and Packard YES. Certainly there is nothing incompetent about the product itself. The 56 Packard i have holds its own just fine with nearly any other modern car out on the Interstate hiways and on these snakey Tn roads. Granted, the car was shackled with some defects from the factory but they r not difficult to correct. YES!! We CAN compare a a 50 year old car to a modern car. I do it everyday. Believe it or not, i even vie in favor of the modern car once in while.

[Gene Brink]

Packard V8,<P>Think it through. I'm certain your beloved "all U.S.A." toys do contain some imported materials. For example the U.S. has not produced enough aluminum or copper to meet all of its needs for almost 75 years. I suspect your Packard has both metals in it and that some portion of both was imported. Not a bike fan but bet the same is true for your Indians as well. Both certainly have imported petroleum products in them today. Does that mean you will be getting rid of them? If so advise prices, as there will probably be lots of us that may be interested.<P>Like it or not the world has changed, is changing today and will be different tomorrow. Kind of keeps it interesting I think.<P>Regards, Gene

[ranchero]

Packard V8 & others who decry the globalization of the auto business: here is an interesting new twist on the whole deal. Because of new protection for American steel instituted by the Bush administration, the market price of steel has risen and the supply has dropped. Buying domestic steel has become more difficult and expensive. Facing a shortage, Honda has found that it has to FLY steel to Ohio from Japan to meet production need. Yes, they fly steel from Japan to the USA. So now they build a Japanese car in Ohio using American labor but Japanese raw material. Absolutely amazing but that just shows how global the automobile business and the economy in general has become!

[ranchero]

I really don't know where the ore used in the Japanese steel originates. Good point, I simply meant the basic material used in the production of the car. I've been reading about this steel air ferry in Automotive News. Yes, I think scrap steel previously was sold/sent to Japan - before WWII also. But, it is a new world economy and domestic steel production is a fraction of what it once was. In addition to cars, foreign countries produce steel cheaper too.

[Guest Skyking]

The reason I asked that is because I am a printer and paper is a big problem now because most of these foriegn countrys are producing paper and they don't even have trees. Japan is one of them. Most paper mills in this country have either been bought out or closed. They are getting their hands into everything. As far as I'm concered we let this country slip through our fingers. America is gone..........

[Guest Skyking]

Ranchero, since when did Japan ever have raw material? I was always under the impression they didn't have any steel in their country. We always shipped our steel there.........

[ranchero]

skyking - does the issue with paper have anything to do with the supply of the raw material? out here in the west we are acutely aware of the efforts of the enviro-weenies (sierra club, etc.) to limit or end logging. we have fires burning very thick forests now all around our state and others in the west. proper forest managment would eliminate the fuel. in the west we sense that the responsibility for this failure to manage and log rests with the former democrat administration and with the enviro-weenies. is the supply of usa paper in your business related to the logging restrictions?

[Guest]

River-Rouge 1937. Flint 1938. (among many others) No. Ive never been Union. Dont want to be. BUT, one thing is for sure, if it wasnt for the UAW all of u high roller wanna-be's in low to mid level management positions wouldnt be making $50K+++/yr salary either. What do YOU think????? That little bo-peep college degree (probably from some nameless school) and a cheap $300 suit makes u so special???? Back in the Mid 70's i saw Chrysler managers who could NOT get a job at McDonalds. <P>The price per hour for ANY job could be argued all day. The bottom line is that the company's do NOT have to pay if they dont want to. THEY CAN close their doors and HAVE. Also, the Union Boys do NOT have accept concessions either. <P>Think of it like eBay: its worth all u can get. If what u can get isnt enuf then stay home.<P>The biggest problem with Unions since Leonard Woodcock is that they have turned into a bunch pussies. In the pre-Woodcock days they were garage burning, arm twisting, (and worse if need be) United Americans for a common cause. It has been the Unions own prosperity among the R&F that has ruined them. <P>You can not deal a man unless he is hungry....something you girls need to learn.

[Guest]

Hey, it's a good thing the guy without even a GED is making $45 an hour pushing a broom. That's extreme, but at the risk of offending some present and past union members on this forum, how much responsibility for the situation do unions bear? We're talking about paying people huge hourly wages for unskilled labor. It doesn't take much to learn how to bolt in a seat or take stacks of cereal boxes off the end of a printing press and set them on a pallet. <BR>With the US steel industry, companies can't modernize to make their factories competitive with other nations. Why? The Unions scream bloody murder about reducing wages to pay for it, and laying people off. The US was the GREATEST steel producer in the world. The technology in the plants hasn't changed since WWII, and we've been passed by. So then you get Japan finding it's cheaper to produce steel in their factory, using metal from crushed cars boated over from the US and other countries, then flying it back as opposed to buying it here. Why? Their guys may work a little cheaper, but their factories are much more advanced, so it takes fewer people to run them. Same in Europe. Our steel technology is so far behind, the only way it can be competitive is the debacle we just witnessed, with huge tarrifs. The government should have left it alone and let capitolism do it's thing.<BR>Look at the brake plant that shut down GM a couple years ago. Guess what? Rather than agree to reasonable wages (meaning a pay cut), the jobs went to Mexico. Is that right? No. But can you really blame the companies? In this country, anyone can better themselves and strive for a better life--there are millions of ways. <BR>Unfortunately, the Unions help the guy who doesn't want to bother live like those who do.<BR>The extreme is abuse of the labor in poor countries, with child labor and cheap wages. But that's not so much a problem here. I'll grant that at one time it was, but I'm sorry, today a factory worker who can't read doesn't need to be earning $50K a year (I worked at that place one summer--they were all Teamsters, though it was a printing press for James River paper). He should be earning what he's worth. Everyone should.<BR>I blame our decline in the world industry squarely on the shoulders of Unions who made it uneconomical for business to keep doing business here. <BR>I don't know about the rest of the Japanese plants here in America, but the plant in Ohio isn't union: and the conditions are excellent, the workers make a fair wage, and there is every opportunity provided by the company to better yourself.

[Guest c.johnson]

Back to the commercial...<P>I think the moron should have cleaned out the garage, then he would have had room for at lease one of his "prizes".<P>cj

[Guest Skyking]

Unregistered Brad, I'm not or ever was in a union, and I don't make anywhere near $45.00 an hour, nor do I take cereal boxes off the end of a printing press. The point I was trying to make is that we (in general) the American people, have had our heads in the sand for many years and we let this country slip away...