Definitely a sad story. :-(
But I can't help but delve a little deeper... I think this whole
thing is indicitive of the massive gap that exists between the
manufacturers and their customers. I mean, there are people on this
list who would do almost anything to own a vehicle that nice, and DC
is just gonna crush it. Why not give it to an exec? Why not put it
in a museum or send it around the country to shows? Raffle it off
for a charity? Why not donate it or sell it? I'm sure something
could be arranged to eliminate the liability. (Wether it be a
legal agreement or perhaps giving it a salvage title?) I should
think Hotchkis would love to keep it for a rolling advertisement,
which would greatly benefit DC as well!
I suspect its just too much bother for the suits. They don't see it
as the work of art it really is; its just a source of potential liability
and the easiest thing to do is crush it. If they can't understand
something as simple as this, how can they claim to be building cars
that fulfill our needs and desires?
Speaking for myself, its really hard to respect a company with that
sort of mindset. DC is the last company about which I would have
expected to hear something like this. After the big turnaround, they've
always had a "lean and mean" image. Crushing perfectly good cars
sounds more in line with a bloated behemoth to me. What a waste,
indeed. (On so many levels!) :-(
Don't get me wrong, Chrysler is still the best, but they've just
dropped down a couple of notches in my book.
-Jon-
.---- Jon Steiger ----- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@twistedbits.net ------.
| Affiliations: AOPA, DoD, EAA, NMA, NRA, SPA, USUA; Rec & UL Pilot - SEL |
| '92 Ram 150 4x4 V8, '96 Dakota V8, '96 Intruder 1400, '96 FireFly 447 |
`------------------------------ http://www.cs.fredonia.edu/~stei0302/ ----'
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