General Motors hates italian cars

[HMSPITZ@Prodigy.Net]

Digestisti -

Well, this is one Italian car owner who can't stand GM cars! So I guess the feeling is mutual.  Perhaps they realize
that people who love Alfas and Fiats are the kind of people who would not buy their products, and are therefore
taking no risk in alienating us.

Every time I rent one of those beasts (regrettably often on business, as my company uses Avis), I spend
much of my driving time cursing the following brilliant GM design features:

1) the idiotic daytime running lights, which fool you at night into thinking that all the lights (like those
at the rear) are on;

2) the automatic electric locks that lock-you-in-the-car-for-your-own-good, a big brother item which
always causes a fight with the lock button when trying to simply let someone out of the car at a curb;

3) the instant-on interior light that pops on, wanted or not, on turning the car off.  This is a really handy feature,
particularly in urban neighborhoods, which allows panhandlers, carjackers, and muggers to check out who you
are and what you have with you, and, if so inclined, to clearly draw a bead on you without needing to turn on their
laser sights;

4) the shoulder belts that twist up like licorice sticks, no matter how many times they are untwisted or how
carefully they are pulled out; and

5) the classic GM driving "feel," as in "what feel?" Every GM car I have ever driven handles, steers, and runs
just like my dad's 71 Chevy, which was also totally forgettable except as a basic transportation appliance.

But hey, the folks keep buying them, at least in the heartland.

Chrysler's cars are works of genius in comparison.

Herb Spitz (Nomex on standby in case any GM lovers or namecallers are lurking)
Phoenix, AZ
78 Spider