The parking pawl issue almost got me cut in two. I was working at a gas station in 1971 and just finished an oil change on a fairly new Mercury. I pulled it out of the bay and parked it. It was an automatic; I put in park. I opened the door. There was another car very close, I had pulled in with little room to exit the Mercury. As I got out, my eye caught that door was moving. My two feet were already on the pavement; the car was slightly angled so, I’m also pinned between the open door and the other car. I was able to jump in and stop the mercury before it caught my legs but not before the door went into the car parked next to it and bent the hell out the Mercury’s door. I went the garage, white as a ghost. My boss asked what happened and a said “I just ****** up”. He came out, fooled his eyes and rubbed his forehead. He called the owner. We covered the repair. It was a number of years later before Ford had its recall and I could honestly say, it wasn’t because I was young and stupid. I as young and stupid but it had nothing to do with what happened that day. ... View more

I think the east side Cadillac plant you are referencing was originally a Hudson plant. Cadillac had an east side location on Riopelle, which was also the first home of Detroit Transmission, the beginnings of Hydramatic. Most of Cadillac’s Detroit operations were on the lower west side of Detroit. The Poletown plant, now home of GM’s high-end EVs, replaced it. They also built an engine plant, I think in the late 1970s, in suburban Livonia. That plant built the Northstar engines. The other interesting historical error with GM is when articles confuse the location of the GM assembly plant located at Willow Run with the bomber plant that became the home of Kaiser and later Hydra-Matic. That plant, located north of the airport, built Corvairs, the Chevy IIs and its various derivations, then full size Chevys before their assembly when to Arlington Texas. One of the sad facts about Detroit and the environs, is that it is still full of historical industrial buildings and sites with little attention to their historical significance in making Detroit the Motor City. ... View more

I have the exact car in this piece. I bought it new in 1989. It has just over 100,000 miles on it and was my daily driver, in Michigan until about 1997. It had the usual Taurus rust issues which I’ve managed over the years. The shifter is always of issue, as it uses a cable linkage with a nylon connector that wore out. There is an aftermarket replacement I had installed. The Mazda trans isn’t the smoothest either. But it is still fun to drive. It’s now only a summer car and I love it…The engine is a thing of beauty… ... View more

How about the FIAT 124 coupe and the Chevy Vega? Roof line, grille, even the steel wheel treatment.... ... View more

I bought a 1989 SHO new and still have it. It was my daily driver until 1997. It’s now my summer driver.  I have kept up on rust repairs over the years; it helped have it Zeibarted when it was new. The engine is great, the shifter, not so much. I have a rod shifter to replace the cable shifter when I have the courage to get it done. Yep, the engine is a work of art.  It’s been a lot of fun over the years.  ... View more

There’s a lot of confusion about GM’s use of the bomber plant. GM never built cars there. The auto assembly plant was north of Hydra Matic, in a separate assembly plant. In its time, Corvair, Chevy IIs, and full size Impalas were built there. My dad worked for the division, which started at the old Cadillac Riopelle plant, then called Detroit Transmission Division, then the ill fated Livonia plant, which burned down in 1953. When the move to Willow Run took place, Kaiser was still building cars and aircraft at Willow Run. At first, final transmission assembly began there, with various GM factories and suppliers were blanking and cutting gears, machining valve bodies, clutch packs and other parts through the Midwest. Eventually, the entire manufacturing operation was brought under one roof.  ... View more