The irony here kills me.
Trump takes a trip to Japan, sees the little cheap and economic cars running around, comes back and says, we should do that and then makes it happen.
Decades of bullshit rules and regulations get thrown out the window and we can finally get our hands on cheap, fuel efficient cars again.
Probably little trucks again too.
I have siad for a very long time that what this country needs is a Bare Bones, Small Pickup with a little Direct Injection 4 cylinder Diesel engine that is not only fuel efficient but is something a Red Blooded American Man can educate himself on how to repair without breaking the bank.
Just like it used to be.
Of course the Direct Injection will never happen, they will insist on Electronic Fuel Injection but a guy can dream can’t he?
While he might make it legal for small inexpensive vehicles it’s unlikely that any existing auto company in America will build/import any. Not enough profit. Greed is the rule of the day in corporate boardrooms.
He told them right in the video to start making them here.
Seen the Slate? Cool concept. Yes it’s electric, but so what?
Tooling around Diego Garcia in those little trucks was VERY economic, DG is an island where EVERYthing has to be imported. Great for Island Life, and so are motorcycles or scooters.
Just like the EPA screwing with the gas, they screwed with the CAFE “standards” and made cars that are expensive to make.
As far as direct inject, I actually installed Borg-Warner mechanical FI on my ’67 Camaro, and it was a royal pain to keep tuned- any time the baro pressure or humidity or altitude changed, the system dropped out of tune. This was WWII gear meant for aircraft engines, and I had to tune it at least once a week! I took it off after a while. Modern systems should be able to compensate for this, EFI does it automagically and compensates by slightly tweaking the Fuel/Air ratio in just about real time (see: PID loops).
I prefer electronic systems. Properly designed they will last a LONG time!
Direct injection diesel doesn’t require tuning every couple of weeks.
Didn’t we have the SMART car and the public thought it sucked plus it’s Trumps idea so it will tied up in court for awhile.
There are also stories bouncing around that the Hilux might ( ! ) eventually be sold here. As far as I can find out, these are just stories as of now, which is why I did the ( ) , because there is no way to predict where the country will be in 6 months, let alone next week.
Toyota Hilux!!!!!!
Buggah…
I’ve been running Toyota 4×4’s for decades here in England, maintained them all myself easily, designed for maintenance in the field.
The only downside is the ladder chassis arn’t well painted/protected against salt corrosion, so get busy rustproofing if you live in the rust belt, live axles too which rust like hell, its always pissing down with rain in England and there’s fetish for salting the roads here if the sun stops shining so rustproofing is a must here if you want your vehicles to last.
Rust is about the only thing that will kill a Toyota so long as you change the oils and coolant sensibly.
Second for a diesel Hilux without all the crap. Manual transmission, windows and door locks would suit me just fine. Horn, lights, heater, AM radio, rubber floor mats and turn signal indicators are all I want. I guess air conditioning would be cool (snark). 40-odd years ago, my employer had me in a Datsun mini-pickup for a while that was similarly equipped, and that contraption was built like a tank. Do want, again.
I’ve got a hard run ’86 Toyota 1 ton, 1st gen. The parts guy, called it a 5 percenter. In ’86. only 5% of pickups had fuel injection. That along with the 22RE engine and 5 speed makes it a dependable truck, with great torque. If I keep the speed below 70 on the freeway, it gets 30 mpg. If I’m going 80+, it drops into the 24-25 mpg area. I don’t do that anymore.
Rides like a rigid Harley, the suspension is so stiff.
A new one would be awesome.
Opening that door is a two edged sword, IMHO. Once Japan makes the initial inroads, China will be knocking on the door next to get whatever their comparable model(s) are on the import schedule.
What is needed IMHO is for government to change the regulations imposed on U.S. auto makers forcing them to design and build nonpolluting vehicles without all of the geegaws required to make them clean burning.
They’ve had 50 years or more to come up with an engine design to do that and have instead put the research into quick fixes. Then they blame the government for imposing the fuel and pollution standards on them as the reason the vehicles are so expensive. That and the cost of labor here as opposed to vehicles made “over there” and shipped across an ocean to be sold here.
Then there’s the traditional American tanks vs the “cute little vehicles” when encountering each other in the same space with the occupants of the “cute little vehicles” winding up being scraped off the pavement or the front or sides of the traditional American tanks. CONgress will surely jump all over that one because Orange Man did it.
Which begs another question: why the hell does today’s F150, as an example, come in at nearly double the size and weight of the one from the 40’s while basically hauling the same amount of weight in the truck bed?
The U.S. auto industry is STILL doing it to themselves while STILL screwing the U.S. consumer. When a foreign competitor enters the U.S. market with a product that out sells their offerings, they piss and moan about unfair competition, instead of innovating the competition out of the market. I’ve got no sympathy for U.S. auto makers.
I’ll join the chorus for the Hilux.
A smart truck manufacturer would produce a modular vehicle (Toyota’s normally aspirated 4 liter 4 cylinder diesel comes immediately to mind, as does the Tacoma-like Hilux they’re putting it in) that’s available as a pickup, a panel van, a flatbed, a “4-door station wagon” type, etc. 2 WD only, options = manual or awfumagic trashmission, AC, radio, paint color. Period.
I’ll take 2 RFN in white, one a delivery panel van, one a pickup.
My oldest son is a GM Master Mechanic. The cars of today are full of company computer chip and programing so they have to go to the dealership to be worked on. His base salary in $140k and that is before bonuses plus what he makes on very specialized fixes that brings him many more thousands each month.
I would love to see all computer chips and computer controls to be removed from cars. I would like them to be brought back to 1970 standards and get rid of catalytic converters as all people can work on them. I think at this point in time in the USA most people do not know how to work on any vehicle let alone to change a tire, which is sad.
I have a 1970 Camaro….no cats. I cannot imagine how bad the roads would smell without at least efi and emissions controls…..but roll it back to about 1995 levels; that’s good enough.
I would agree on the helix & often wondered why not here? (If’n it don’t make sense there’s a buck init!) Too is what ever happened to the old pedal mopeds; them suckers was great for puttering around the neighbourhood.
1. Small trucks like that won’t sell enough to make a profit. We have trucks with bells and whistles and short beds because that is what sells.
2. I want a Honda Acty with A/C to tool around in town and to get to work and back. I’d likely replace my truck with an SUV if I had that little Honda.
I could use a little 1980s Datsun pickup type. Have no need for a giant truck.
WANT a “driver’s car”:
4 Door Sedan
350hp V8, Normally Aspirated, no VVT
6spd Manual Trans (or 8spd Auto with jockey shift (fwd down/rear up) optional)
Rear wheel drive (AWD optional), independent rear suspension with limited slip differential
Double wishbone front suspension
ABS brakes with dual piston front discs.
Driver and pax airbags (optional)
A/C, defrost, heated rear window and mirrors
Cruise Control with set-speed indication adjustable up down in 1mph increments and cancel button.
Rear view camera (one really useful modern addition)
FM Radio with Bluetooth capability with dumb touchscreen (let my phone do the rest)
Electric windows and locks
Driving position with ability to comfortably rest elbows/forearms for long distance driving.
DON’T WANT:
TOUCHSCREEN CONTROLS FOR VEHICLE FUNCTIONS
GPS TRACKER
NANNY SHIT:
-LANE DEPARTURE ALERT
-AUTOSTEERING
-AUTO BRAKE
-ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL (especially not the sort that will brake if you exceed speed setting)
AUTO STOP/START
MULTIPLE SIDE/CURTAIN AIRBAGS