Episode 70 – Purpose Built

Throwin' Wrenches Automotive Podcast

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Welcome to the auto podcast that… is settling in for a cold, hard winter.

On this episode of Throwin’ Wrenches…

• GM Workers, it’s time to come back to the office.
• Mayor Pete wants more bike lanes
• Does anyone want to buy a VW factory?

All that and more on Throwin’ Wrenches.

Thanks for listening. To join in on the fun of the show, just email us at [e-mail] or post a review on iTunes to be heard around the world! Seriously, around the world!

Sponsors

• Fort’s Toyota of Pekin.

• Gabe Casey for Tazewell County State’s Attorney

PATREON – Thanks to our Patreon supporters, enjoy that 90-minute sales manager conversation we had with Jake prior to this show. Click here to join and hear all the fun we have. Plus get some swag.

News

International News

• Volkswagen Group is looking for an investor to take over its factory in Kaluga, southwest of Moscow, where production was halted soon after the Ukraine war began. VW said it is looking at various scenarios for the future of its business in Russia and one option was to sell the assets to a third party. No decision has been made yet.
  Source: Automotive News

National News

• Following a surge in traffic deaths in 2021, the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration is urging states to work with local leaders and advocacy organizations to assess the most dangerous roads for pedestrians and cyclists and develop plans to make them safer. The new guidance, announced today, is part of DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s broader National Roadway Safety Strategy, a long-term plan to eliminate traffic fatalities that he unveiled in January.
  Source: Bloomberg
• Through nine months of the year, sales of new electric vehicles are up nearly 70%, as dealers have moved an estimated 576,408 new EVs, according to Kelley Blue Book. But in the used EV market, the turning point may come in January — which is when the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 goes into effect. The act, also referred to as IRA, includes the first-ever tax credits for used electric vehicles.
  Source: Auto Remarketing

• GM to bring salaried workers back to office 3 days a week starting Jan. 30 – Jamie L. LaReauDetroit Free Press – General Motors has set the end of January as the time to start bringing U.S. salaried employees back to the office for at least three days a week, the Free Press has learned. Earlier this week, GM department heads started meeting with their teams to discuss the automaker’s plans to bring the workforce back to the office on a more regular schedule, people familiar with the plans told the Free Press. The people asked to not reveal their identity because they are not authorized to speak to the media. GM spokeswoman Maria Raynal stopped short of confirming the timing but said the company is talking to employees about the policy for returning to the office.

Not really local, but no other place to put it. Sister in law’s fridge went out after a year. It’s an LG. Nice one. It’s still not fixed. That reminded me of old fridges my friends and family have owned and how some are still running after 50 years. Then I read this article:

Cold Start: The Rise and Fall of Car Companies Building Refrigerators

Automakers like GM, Ford, AMC, and Chrysler used to make all kinds of home appliances. Here’s why they don’t anymore.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/cold-start-the-rise-and-fall-of-car-companies-building-refrigerators

Automakers avoid the term “appliance” like the plague, as it’s come to define the kind of characterless car that exists to get people from A to B, nothing more. But that hasn’t always been the case—in fact, there was a time when just about every major American car company was all-in on the appliance business.

Back in the mid-20th century, your average home was stocked with stoves, washing machines, air conditioners, and especially refrigerators built by various divisions of Ford, General Motors, AMC, and more. It might sound odd today to think of buying an International Harvester fridge or a Chrysler home A/C unit, but it once was a common sight thanks to a unique mix of socioeconomic factors that all converged in the postwar era.

GREAT READ!!

Car makers used to all make fridges (and other appliances). And they made them WELL. Everyone remembers a Frigidaire from their childhood and it’s likely still running in someone’s garage or barn.

Maybe automakers should get back in the game. There’s money there, and the public wants stuff that lasts, even at a premium. After all, modern cars are just appliances anymore… am I right?

Moment of Musk

Oct 23 (Reuters) – Billionaire Elon Musk said in a tweet on Sunday pushed back by a month the date for Neuralink’s “show & tell” event to Tweet:

The chief executive of electric car maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and rocket developer SpaceX said in August that the event would be held on Oct. 31.

Co-founded by Musk in 2016, San Francisco-based Neuralink aims to implant wireless brain-computer chips to help cure neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s, dementia and spinal cord injuries and fuse humankind with artificial intelligence.

Related story: Gizmodo: Rights Group Claims UC Davis Won’t Release Photos Depicting Tortured Neuralink Monkeys – The group claims UC Davis has 371 photos related to the experiments, with 185 of related to autopsies of monkeys that died during the test procedures. ByMack DeGeurin

Cars of the Weak

Daryl – 1963 Dodge Dart 2 door sedan – $9,500 obo Source: FB Marketplace

This is a great running and great-looking “Survivor” car! 170 Slant 6 motor. Push button transmission. Runs great, has been featured in an Antique Auto Magazine, Original window sticker, Bill of sale, owner certificate and operating instructions!!

Eric

1976 Triumph tr6 Roadster

12 grand with 1400 miles??? I think I picked one of these before but I still have passionate memories of one of my paper route customers in Fairbury having one of these.

Jacob

Some Chevy truck thing with a big V6 that Eric does not understand, and thus, it will get very little writeup here… Listen to the show to hear all about it!

Thanks for listening!

Make sure to follow Daryl on Tick Tock and Instagram @throwinwrenches

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