Harry P.

The Italian Job. Not just the car chases, but the boat chases too! The Blues Brothers wasn't bad, either...

That desire for a bargain is universal to all mankind, not just us. And our economy chugged forward like a huge freight train back then because there was no competition! We Americans made what we needed right here! And we bought what we needed from our own domestic suppliers. We were a very successful self-contained economy, and we didn't have to worry about outside competition because there was none! A hundred fifty or so years ago China was nothing but a few emperors and a couple hundred milllion peasants farming the land. China didn't actually "make" much of anything, much less compete with our own manufacturers for US consumer dollars. Same with Japan. America had basically no competition. Sure, we imported some items from Europe... fine furniture, silver, porcelain, lace... basically luxury items for the upper class. But the meat and potatos of what we needed–tools, farm equipment, cars, trains, iron and steel, etc.–was all made here in America! Now the picture is vastly different. Other countries have not only caught up to us in manufacturing... they're outdoing us! When was the last time anyone here bought a TV set made in America? The clothes we wear, the toys our kids play with, the "consumer goods" like toasters, microwaves, cameras... all made elsewhere. And the trend is growing, not slowing. We still want a good bargain, but increasingly we can't compete with other countries, who can produce the goods we want as a much lower cost than we can produce those goods ourselves! We are currently feeding the economies of other countries instead of our own.

Wow! You first three must have some pretty tired fingers by now! Of course I could easily point out to you that if you ask the millions of Americans out there who are jobless today, or who have lost their homes, or who were driven into bankruptcy by medical bills because they either lost their employer-provided health coverage or never had it in the first place because they couldn't afford the premiums... if you ask those people how great this country is today, you might get a different answer. It's amazing how different America looks to, say, a guy with a steady job, a vacation home, money in the bank and a nice health-care plan provided by his company vs. a guy who was laid off six months ago, lost his healthcare, lost his home, and can't find work. How America is doing is totally dependent on what side of society you look at it from. Are most people still relatively happy? I would guess so... but the trends don't look good. More and more every day, we are becoming a country of the haves and the have-nots. That great, vast majority in between that used to be most of us–the "middle class"– is being literally forced out of existence. As the underclass continues to grow, the middle class is charged more and more (through taxation) to pay for that underclass's care, education and well-being... and as the upper class continues to grow through corruption, sweetheart deals with our government and just plain greed, the same middle class is called upon to fund them, also! (Wall Street bailouts were paid for by you and me, folks!) See anything wrong with this picture? This trend can't possibly continue. If the group in the middle is paying for the group at the top and at the bottom... what will happen when that group in the middle can't pay any more? Will we borrow even more from China to fund our own domestic social programs like Medicare and Social Security? What happens if our creditors decide that they want their money back? There is talk now of replacing the dollar as the unit of currency that oil trades at. What happens if the dollar does indeed lose its place as the monetary standard of the world? Serious questions... and serious (and troubling) things are happening in this country. We need to be aware of the facts... we can't just say "hey, everything will be A-ok because it always has been in the past." The world today is a very different place than it was even 50 short years ago. We may indeed still be the world's political and economic leader, but our once almost unquestionable place at the top of the heap is becoming less and less secure as other nations, on the rise politically and economically, are deciding that maybe they want more say-so as to how things will be from now on. And what's in their best interest isn't necessarily what's in our best interest. It's unfortunate that now, of all times, when we need to all pull together as one, we seem to be at our most divided, politically, socially and economically, than we have been in a long time.

In the first seven months of this year the US has imported more solar panels (in terms of $) than it has exported, a net LOSS. Guess who we import solar panels from, because they are so much cheaper than American made panels??? (Hint: the Chinese.) So much for the idea of the US becoming the "green jobs" leader! Looks like the competition has already figured out how to beat us at 21st century technology, too. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Unless we take drastic steps to right our ship, in a few years the only thing that we'll still be making here in America are movies and hamburgers.

I see our Arab pals are #23 or 24 (depending on which list you look at). Still, I thought they would have ranked higher. They have, however, by far the biggest GDP of the middle eastern countries. But I also wonder what they'll do when the oil runs out?

I'm self-employed (have been for over 20 years). Don't know if "self-employed" is just another name for "unemployed"... On the plus side, I'll never get laid off or fired. On the minus side, my work volume rises and falls with the economy, so right now I have much less work than I've had in the past. You could say that right now I'm "under-employed."

Ah, the '67 Impala... one of the best looking cars ever, IMO...

I'm very surprised that Saudi Arabia doesn't make the top 20! With all their billions in oil sales I figured they'd be in the top 10 somewhere. So Turkey's economy is bigger than Saudi Arabia's? Turkey???!!! Really???!!!!

Is #18 the Unknown Nation? Seriously, though, I'm surprised to see Turkey on the list. Turkey???!!! And where's Saudi Arabia?

ba da-BOOM!

The Penske/Saturn deal fell through. Penske backed out.

Interesting that production will remain here. You'd think they'd shift production to China, build them dirt cheap, and sell them back to us at a higher per unit profit.

Not a problem. The people in China who will be building them could never afford to buy them! Pretty sure only the elite class will be able to buy them...

How long do you figure we have left on the top of the list? Every day it gets harder and harder to compete with the Chinese, who have a vastly larger labor pool, willing to work for a fraction of what an American worker will work for, no EPA/OSHA restrictions, and no unions to deal with. The "level playing field" couldn't be more tilted! Time for some tariffs and a little protectionism???

That's exactly how I found out I was wrong! I guess two separate kits it is, then!

Yeah, you're right. Oh well... never mind!

I wonder if the Chinese Hummers will be sold here? And if so, for how much? If the Chinese can build them for a lot less than we did (lower labor costs), and maybe sell them for substantially less than they used to cost when they were a "domestic" brand, would they sell here in bigger numbers than they did before? Would be interesting to see how that plays out... How ironic it would be if a failed brand that we couldn't successfully sell here was sold to the Chinese, who then turned around and sold us our own vehicles at a lower price than we could manage ourselves???!!!

There you go, that's the real reason. The boot would have covered any difference in the tulip panel, if any (I doubt GM would have tooled up different body panels if they didn't really have to) and the X-brace is another no-brainer to include. As you say, the real reason is that they figure they can make us buy 2 kits instead of 1. I wonder though, how many true 2-in-1 kits (hard top, convertible) would sell vs. the convertible only plus a theoretical hard top later? I guess we'll never know! It would be interesting to compare the cost of tooling just 1 kit and letting the builder decide whether or not to build it as a convertible vs. tooling 2 separate kits (convertible body, hard top body) and weigh the tooling costs of each against sales of one single 2'n'1 kit vs. 2 separate kits.

I agree, good riddance to Hummer. It's just ironic that it went to the Chinese... as if they don't already own enough of America...

It has just been announced that GM has agreed to sell Hummer to the Chinese company Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery. Yet another bit of America now owned by China.

Why couldn't they have tooled up the body as a coupe, molded a thin groove on the inside as a guide to where you would cut to remove the top if you wanted to build a convertible instead, and includeed 2 rear seats (one for the coupe, one with convertible-style interior side panels molded to the seat), a convertible top boot and 2 sunvisors for the convertible version. Very simple, almost no added cost, and you'd have the option of building the model either as a coupe or a convertible. Or am I missing something here?

How does the paint cup lid attach? Screw on? Are the threads bad? Was the cap screwed on tightly? When you blow air through the brush it has to go somewhere... if the tip was clogged and the paint cap was loose, the air would blow off the cap instead of going through the tip.

Lowes, Home Depot or any home center-type store or hardware store sells O rings for a few pennies. Take the original torn one (if you still have it) and just match up the size. If you don't still have the torn one, then, like Jairus says, just go online to the manufacturer's website and order a replacement. Sounds like a very quick and easy (and inexpensive) fix.

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2006/10...little-big-car/

Has a body like this (or similar) ever been available in 1/8 scale? I mean a closed car, not a phaeton. Maybe in resin?