DORF Spells Doom For Detroit

The other day my wife and I talked about summerHonda, Toyoto, KIA,Subaru, Isusu and Hyundai (once
camps. We want our children in busy learning spacesthe brunt of comedic joking). Foreign labor-cost
when school vacates. For some reason the subjectadvantages offered consumers better vehicles
reminds me of a New Hampshire camp where Idollar-for-dollar.
worked during the summers of graduate school. EveryAll of this spells doom for the dorfs of Detroit. For
morning at camp, the grounds crew would emptyexample, The Wall Street Journal's headlines describe
trash barrels. Driving the old, dented pick-up truck madethe tension in GM's Boardroom.
this job fun. As they drove past, I noticed that*Foreign vehicles last longer with reliable performance.
someone changed the chrome letters to read "DORF"*U.S. car-markers have a "worse-than-average"
instead of Ford.record. *"Don't come to work; we'll still pay you as long
Dorf has no definition. It suggests goofy; for the campas you stay here from 6AM to 2:30PM": Cost $1.4billion
pick-up truck, it described a poor-running, smokey, rusty,to US automakers *Malcolm Bricklin brings China's
mechanical nuisance. Ford and GM have designedChery Automobile, Inc. to the U.S. in 2007 to "steal" GM
vehicles with mechanical panache. Corvette, Impala,customers. *GM one year stock return: -48.4% *GM
and Country Squire were the cars of my youth. Theirten year average stock return: -3.6%
look made drivers proud when the price of gasoline didU.S. companies once listed on the Dow Jones Industrial
not matter.Average have disappeared; they are gone forever
As a high school senior, I drove a 1950 convertiblebecause of competition and poor management
Chevrolet with Dynaflow. I loved the smell of thedecisions.
interior, the sound of the automatic transmission, andMy father had a Nash for a few months. In July of
the convertible top that needed pushing and pulling1930, Nash Motors was removed from the Dow (and
during sudden down pours. My grandfather drove aagain in 1939).
1954 Cadillac as did my father. Long, sleek AmericanEver drive a Hudson (me neither)? In May of 1932,
cars lined lanes from New Haven to Newport Beach.Hudson Motor was removed from the Dow. Chyrsler
Now, time, technology, unions, and quality turnedhad its problems and was removed from the Dow in
consumers toward safer, fuel efficient cars fromJune of 1979.