While ruminating, the other day, over something brilliant to say about the pickle the politicians are in over the unkind machinations of General Motors, I was actually more concerned about my Buick. It was selfish, I guess. It was also serious. It will probably be my last General Motors gas guzzler. It might have made me out a dinosaur but I really loved that car.
But like my first auto, that I bought for $90 off a used car lot on Toronto’s Danforth, I have had a love affair all my life with Detroit road warriors. That first car was a Chevrolet and had been built as a War Two army staff car. Its only problem was that someone had installed the radio upside down and the vacuum tubes kept falling out.
After that car, they became a blur of Chrysler, Ford and GM products. Over the years, they were newer and bigger with every step higher in the corporate chain. When GM stopped making Oldsmobile, I settled on Buicks. My family was grown before the SUVs started to dominate the market and I never liked the way those damn vehicles blocked your view of the road ahead. My Buick rides so well and purrs like a kitten as you fly down the highways of North America.
But the other day, someone stepped on that poor kitten’s tail. It made it to its dealer—but under protest. I found out that it was lacking two working cylinders for the trip.
The dealer might be a bit richer today but my concern is that Buicks will become pariahs on the roads of Ontario in the next few years. General Motors might have betrayed us but the company has also called it quits with a sizeable chunk of the North American market. Ontario will remember its rejection.
I might just drop by my local Ford dealer in the Spring and see what there is on offer. Or, if really daring, I might check on the latest Toyota or Hyundai.
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Copyright 2018 © Peter Lowry
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