GM is cutting away the fat and will return leaner and meaner…or that’s the general idea.

First it was Oldsmobile in 2004, one of the oldest American car lines, which began life back in 1901 and continued for over 100 years as one of GM’s most valued marques. Slogans such as ‘in my merry Oldsmobile’ and ‘it’s not your father’s Oldsmobile’ became part of the lexicon of automotive jargon.

But now Pontiac, GM’s ‘cool, hip’ division  will be going the way of the Oldsmobile. No word yet as to when this will happen, but you can be sure Pontiac will be gone within a couple of years. Then there’s Hummer which may be sold to a Chinese heavy equipment manufacturer. SAAB, also on the cutting block, has 3 potential buyers; Swedish luxury carmaker Koenigsegg, U.S. financier Ira Rennert and his Renco Group, and Italy’s Fiat SpA. I have a soft spot in my heart for SAAB. That was the first new car I ever owned. Bought one when I was fresh out of the Navy back in 1972…a SAAB Sonnett IV in all its fiberglassed, manual popup headlighted, roll barred, free-wheeling uniqueness. What a cool car…at least back then. Actually, it was a choice between the Sonnett or the new Datsun 240z. The Z would have been a better choice (there’s a huge collector base for them; not so the Sonnett), but I couldn’t bring myself to buy Japanese…still can’t.

Anyway, back to the present and GM. They are also trying to dump Saturn. There was some interest about a month ago by former Saturn owners and dealers, but that’s not gonna happen.

Unfortunately, most of GM’s product line started its downward slide during the ’70s…probably one of the worst decades for the American automobile.

But it wasn’t just General Motors, all cars built in the good old USA were ‘dumbed down’ beginning in that decade and extending well into the 80’s and 90’s. Ford and Chrysler were just as guilty. Design and quality had given way to complacence and greed. American manufacturers began to use plastics more and more both inside and outside and the interiors looked and felt ‘cheap’. The body styles all looked the same especially GM’s ‘J’ body cars of the 80’s. These cars included the Chevrolet Cavalier, Pontiac Sunfire, Sunbird and J2000, Olds Firenza, Buick SkyHawk. The cars all looked the same outside except for some bumps and curves here and there. And the interior details were different…whoop dee doo! Even the mighty Cadillac had a glorified ‘J’ car…the Cimarron. What a piece of crap.

And we wonder how in the hell the American automobile industry is perched on the brink of disaster…