Chinese cars to hit U.S. shores (from the guy that brought us the Yugo)

Some group, I believe in Houston, also announced plans recently to import Chinese vehicles into the USA. Article was in the Houston Chronicle some time ago, but I have heard no followup.

Should be interesting.

Wonder how much a knock-off of a new Corvette would cost? s

Malcolm Bricklin selling a fiberglas sports car... whoa, there's a flashback...

--Joe

I wonder if it would be possible to manufacture a reasonably priced (fibreglass, maybe) car, cobbled up from some of the better components around from the major producers?

Fitted to a sturdy chassis frame with strong and accurate suspension.

Shooting for attractive, economical, and long lasting...minimizing microprocessors and using robust electrical systems.

Air conditioning systems that dont rot out, and with compressors built to last... maybe even using R13 as a refrigerant ;>)

They still need to meet emissions and safety standard so that is a limiting factor. I'd like to see them put the price squeeze on the Big Three though. Cars have been overpriced for too long. Let the usual lackeys flame in now and chide me for not being a homeboy.

Sounds great to us, as owners. But what about the companies' $-health which relies on designed obsolescence? s

And the already have their "Wal-Mart dealear network" in place with fully unfuctional service departments!

Steve B.

I fear the Chery might be much better quality than some expect...

Professor

The Yugo was made in Yugoslavia which disintigrated into civil war in the

1990's. Any connection? Should someone inform the Chinese?

Let's see if I've go this right, they'll be sold by WalMart in the US as "Bricklin's" to demonstrate the Chinese can make cars with as few problems as the Big Three. I don't know. I bought tires at WalMart and they've lasted really well.

Maybe Malcolm B has some drug debt left over from one of his previous autombile enterprises to pay off.

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Im going to have to research this one. Certainly remember the Bricklin. John DeLorean also had some involvement with powdery finance schemes.

The Yugo was designed by Fiat,the factory was built by Fiat and they made the yugoslavs an offer they couldn't refuse.The Yugos that made it to the US were built by the best workers at the factory.They did not want to get a bad quality reputation on the first cars into this country.At the time I was looking for a new cheap car and bought a Hyundai for $3800 instead of the Yugo.Still got it and so far it has given good service with no breakdowns.

I don't know whether Fiat designed the cars for them or whether they just licensed an old fiat design and repeated it over and over. I think it is the latter.

factory.They did not want to get a bad quality reputation on the first > cars into this country.

Those workers you are referring to must have been on extended summer holiday when the cars destined for the U.S. market were assembled. Actually the Yugo cars that made it into this country were of very poor quality and based on an old Fiat design. The factory had serious QC problems. The cars did poorly in crash tests and insurance companies upped their rates and Consumer Reports eviscerated the Yugo in a review.

The importer (Bricklin was involved here) was establishing a dealer network and parts availability was spotty at best for cars that had a habit of breaking down. The US importer went belly-up in a couple of years after new car sales evaporated, leaving owners of those troublesome cars high and dry. To make things worse the parent company went bust a few years later, probably in part due to the unstable political situation in that region. The parent company has since reorganized and is producing cars again in europe under a couple of different names.

I would have serious reservations about buying Chinese cars that Bricklin had a significant involvement in. I would be very concerned about his willingness to stay financially involved long enough to establish a permanent dealer and parts supply network and be around to honor the warranty.

You made a good choice.

Believe it or not, I saw a Yugo, still running strong, not so long ago.

What I was trying to say was the Yugos that came here were the cream of the crop.They were still junk.Fiat had a similar deal previously with the Lada in Russia.The Lada was not state of the art,the Russians were looking for a simple and reliable vehicle which Fiat designed.The clincher on both countries was the financing arrangements offered by Fiat.No other car outfit had so liberal terms as Fiat.I believe they took a bath on both.

I had my Dodge van bought new in '75 for $2750.That was the first year of Chrysler giving rebates,mine was $250.I had it for 29 years,my criteria on keeping a vehicle is if I put the key in and it gets me to my destination we're gold.The day this didn't happen it went to the auto boneyard.

Admittedly, it's a small niche, but the way to survive with a Yugo and perhaps the Cherry is to buy several parts donors when the price is cheap and they are still available.

Acording to Phil Edmunston in the Lemon-Aid car buyer's guide Malcolm Brickln arranged to import the Subaru Justy in the 1960's. Another one of his automotive endevours. He does seem to be persistent. Maybe this time he'll have a winner. :)

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The Justy was a model of the '80s and '90s. The Subaru that Bricklin imported in the 1960s was the Subaru 360, a grossly unsafe, grossly polluting car considerably smaller than a VW Beetle.

The Subaru was the 360 model,I looked at one in '68.There is a picture out there somewhere when they couldn't pass some type of gov.test and they weren't allowed to unload the ship.Instead of stripping the cars to salvage parts they were shredded whole and put back on a ship to Japan.There were buyers on the dock pleading to buy some to no avail to add irony to the story and picture.