As a loooong time reader of this magazine(I'm not much younger than

Freiburger), I feel that I must address some things that have been bouncing

around in your magazine and in the automotive press as a whole recently;

this lament of the lack of interest in American iron, and the effect that

has had on the speed shop industry and related businesses. First and

foremost, to those that build and drive import technology-you are every bit

as American as the guy driving the '69 Camaro; I am currently serving in the

Marines, so anybody who wants to question my patriotism over this issue is

more than welcome to give it his best shot, with fair warning of the

consequences. If you are lamenting the burgeoning pressure from foreign

suppliers of cars and parts think of this, and think hard; we only have

ourselves to blame. I will now give you an example; Harley-Davidson at one

time, during Mr. Freiburger's and my youth, was owned by AMF, a company many

of you new readers are too young to have even heard of. During this time,

the much-lauded quality of their product declined sharply, and the only

thing that kept the company afloat was the faith and pride that "patriotic"

individuals such as enlisted military and much of the working-class

population held for their last remaining American motorcycle company. The

1980's came along and Harley got an infusion of fresh thinking engineers who

created the Evolution engine, and forsook tradition for reliability by

rubber mounting the engines and better counterbalancing the crank, both

things that could have been done decades earlier, advances in metallurgy

aside. Now, looking at this vastly improved, much more functional motorcycle

one would think that the company who was saved by greasy, sweaty,

hard-working, hand-mangling home mechanics would turn around and make the

bike easier for those same people to achieve, as a reward for their long

suffering devotion, but not so. As I write this letter I have to state that

the lowest ranking enlisted Marine who can afford a Harley and still

maintain financial responsibility as a Staff Sergeant(E-6), and that's still

iffy. And in a land of 6-footers, don't even mention the Sportster. Why the

high pricing? R&D? Give me a break; the Evolution was just that, an

evolutionary step in the same archaic yet functional v-twin that had been

around for decades. Unions? Nope, for those same blue-collar gents were

taking cuts in pay or even delays in pay to get Harley back on their feet.

The answer lay in one simple word; greed. Where there was an American

institution now there is an investment. Remember that word. In return the

interest in less expensive Japanese motorcycles of different styles that

could match and exceed the American bike on all levels took root, and other

American motorcycle companies were created. Does this sound familiar yet?

Our predecessors were the first generation in which automobiles were

designed and marketed for in history, as I found out in a marketing class in

college. It was this spoiling of our then youth that created this greedy,

mine-mine-mine if-you-have-to-ask-you-can't-afford-it mentality that has

totally screwed the current generation out of d@%n near every domestic 2

door v-8 available from 1965 to 1972. What idiot has the sheer audacity to

charge $50,000 for a *^%&% clone of a muscle car??? Another, more relevant

example; why are there no more Camaros or Trans Ams? Simply put, General

Motors couldn't rationalize losing Corvette buyers for cars that cost half

as much and with minimal cash outlay could be made to perform as well as the

flagship. General Motors needs to take a long hard look at what Ford is

doing; where Ford looks at what sells the most, GM looks at what sells for

the most.

Why in the world should we, the originators of the Muscle Car and

everything that goes with it, have to outsource our creativity to another

country????? I'm not putting anything against the Australians, but the GTO

is completely uninspired as far as looks go. People don't want a larger

Cavalier with a V-8; they want, and pay attention General motors, three

things; it has to be mean, in looks and performance; it has to be fast, but

think more quarter-mile than autobahn; they must last. This generation is

all too familiar with the phrase "designed obsolescence" and we're tired of

getting screwed by it. Follow Ford's example and put your customer first for

a change-look at your past and build a retro Camaro. A '60's Camaro. I know

plenty of people in this country who would love to spend their free time at

your design offices doing nothing but go over old pictures and ideas from

the past in an effort to build a better car. You have been served notice,

GM; get off your bloated, unmotivated corporate butts and get back to work,

where you should be or your future customer base will let YOU get bought out

by an AMF, and this time you won't be the last American car company, so I

don't think you last too long. I am going to send copies of this to other

mags as well, so don't think you're getting off light. You owe this to the

people who have kept you in business al these years.

R/S,