The End of GM as We Know It, and my 56 Chevy

Many are calling today the end of General Motors, and in a way it is like the fall of the Soviet Union. Russia may still exist, but nowhere near the same power it was. And I never expected to see either GM or the USSR fall in my lifetime.

My first car was a 1956 Chevrolet. It was given to me by my father-in-law in 1972, so it was already 16 years old and on its last legs. But I was in British Columbia, and needed some way to get home cheap. The Chevy was loaded up with camping stuff and we started a 7-day trip to Quebec. The car had some major problems in the steering, we had a flat tire the first day, and I found out we had to stop for oil twice as often as we needed to stop for gas. But it kept chugging away, even though I was kind of doubtful we would make it. I remember stopping at a gas station in Northern Ontario, and some hapless tourist came up for a chat. His car was broken down - a new Pontiac, and he had to wait for parts. He was going to be stuck there for several days. When we were finished talking I just got into the Chevrolet, turned the key and it started right up. I drove away laughing to myself.

Not only did I make it all the way home, I commuted to University all the next winter. This Chevy had never seen a winter before. It was sold new in Hawaii, then moved to BC until I got it. It didn't even have a heater, or windshield washers, which was kind of a problem in Quebec. That winter I managed to make $70 by driving other student teachers around, paid for by the University. This car was paying for itself. During the winter I had a neighbour who always went to work at the same time as me, and had a newer Buick (also GM) which he had to crank for about a minute every day before it would start in the cold. The 56 Chevy had a weak battery which would hardly turn the engine over in the cold, but it only needed one revolution and it would fire up and keep going. My neighbour was jealous, I thought it was funny.

The next year I was teaching in Sept Iles, the Chevrolet made the trip up there, and I used it for weekend trips to Baie Comeau. Without a windshield washer, the visibility was poor from road salt. And without the heater, the inside of not only the windshield would frost over, but also the speedometer face. That was a three hour trip each way, and it was kind of a pain, but I was young and stupid. The Chevrolet was big and heavy, and one night I found myself driving along the highway in a blizzard. Unknown to me, the road had been closed, so no other cars or plows were out. As I drove along, I kept hitting these 3 foot high drifts and the Chevy would throw a big cloud of snow out of the way just like it was a plow. It was actually better with no other cars on the road, since that meant no road spray on the windshield.

The next year, I had a problem with cylinder no. 5 (out of 6) which blew a ring or something, so I disconnected the spark plug and the valves and kept going as a five cylinder motor. It was making a huge amount of smoke by now, and one day I was driving in town laying down the smoke screen, when I was pulled over by a cop. He jokingly asked if I had disconnected the anti-pollution devices, of which there weren't any. But he did insist on a safety inspection on the spot, which the old beast passed.

I sold it the next year to a kid who wanted to turn it into a hot rod, for $50. I never bought another GM vehicle after that. With good experiences on a Honda and Yamaha motorcycles, I bought used Toyota Corolla wagon, and when that died, a Datsun wagon, and then a new Chrysler minivan in 1984, then a used Honda Civic in '95, All were driven until they died.

In 2005 when I was deciding to buy a new car, I didn't even consider a GM product. Toyota was building the Matrixes right next door in Cambridge, and they had a great reputation for reliability. Another thing I didn't like about GM dealers was the haggling that went on. With Toyota, I could just go in and say I want a basic Matrix, silver colour, and they gave me a decent price immediately and had the car for me a few days later. And this is actually the first time I have enjoyed taking the car to the dealer for maintenance. The oil changes are not too expensive, with no appointment needed, and they give us a coupon for free coffee and cookie at the cafe inside. Yes, Mary Ann likes to come with me, she calls it a "Date", and they give her a free coffee and cookie too.

It used to be you would buy the car, and the salesmen would be very attentive, then as soon as you got off the lot, you were a nobody. Toyota was the first place where I felt that they treated me better when I came for maintenance than when I bought the car. I don't even know what GM is like, and it'll be a while before I need a new car.