Saturday Car Thread 02/22/14 - [Niedermeyer's Dead Horse & Countrysquire]

Happy Saturday y'all.

Today we bring to you updated news of the situation in Chattanooga, some of the best in automotive advertising, one hell of a yard sale, what might be the most asinine tech "advancement" ever, and Countrysquire introduces a new weekly series: The Beauty of the Week.

As expected, the UAW has called on the NLRB to cast aside the vote at VW and order a new vote be held. In the process, they have succeeded in doing something I would never have thought possible: Making me cheer for Senator Bob Corker.

The UAW complaint alleged that comments by top Tennessee Republicans went beyond simple criticism and amounted to "extraordinary interference" in the election. The elected officials had warned that, if unionized, the factory would run the risk of losing legislative support for state financial incentives.

The union also claimed that comments by Corker were "intended to coerce employees to vote against UAW." Corker had issued a press release last week claiming that, based on private conversations he had had with VW officials, the company would expand the plant to include a new SUV line if workers did not unionize.

That ran contrary to prior indications from VW officials, who denied having had such conversations with Corker. The senator stood by his comments.

Corker said the UAW complaint showed that the union was interested only "in its own survival" and nothing else: "The workers at Chattanooga's Volkswagen plant spoke very clearly last week, so we are disappointed the UAW is ignoring their decision and has filed this objection."

Keep in mind that they failed to win the vote despite the heavy hand of the German union and the implicit support of the management at VW.

Irony. Look it up.

In its filing, the UAW stated that the Republicans "conducted what appears to have been a coordinated and widely-publicized coercive campaign, in concert with their staffs and others, to deprive (Volkswagen) workers of their federally-protected right, through the Election, to support and select the UAW as their exclusive representative."

"We're committed to standing with the Volkswagen workers to ensure that their right to have a fair vote without coercion and interference is protected," said UAW President Bob King.

Of course, the UAW took to twitter to retweet the rantings of their supporters.

I suppose "the working man" doesn't include the 700+ employees who voted against unionization.

If they, the UAW and the NLRB, succeed in overturning this vote you can guarandamntee that this will be just the start of union rape and pillaging.

Countrysquire: More than 15 million new cars were sold in the U.S. in 2013. I’m sure a Bing search would show us how much money was spent on advertising, but I’m too lazy to look it up. Plus, this is being written at the last minute because I was on the road all day yesterday to buy an old car, so I don’t want to incur any more of NDH’s wrath than possible. [Ed. note: Wrath? *bats eyelashes*] Anyway, ads that do nothing more than tell us why the competition sucks are not very interesting. For the last 50 years, no car manufacturer has done a better job pitching their cars than Volkswagen. No one. The little kid as Darth Vader from a couple years ago was just perfect, and the new one with the engineers getting their wings was pretty good as well. The ‘wing envy’ at the urinals was good stuff. Those in the advertising world say their ad agency’s work from the 1960s is still the gold standard.

Would you like to own 80 acres in the peaceful countryside of Wendell, Idaho? You're a car lover? Great! Along with the land, comes some 8,000 cars.

Location: Wendell, Idaho 83355 Trans: Auto Description: 80 Acre Auto Salvage in Idaho

The largest in the North West with an inventory of over 8,000 cars. The owner is ready to retire. Built from the ground up this yard is one of if not THE oldest, largest continually operated yard. It is a piece of American history. Mostly domestic vehicles with a sprinkle of others. Located in Wendell Idaho there is plenty of room for expansion. Give us a call we would love to tell you more. Or better yet come view it for yourself. 2 miles north of Wendell it is located on a main highway and only 3 miles off of the freeway. We sell cars and parts all over the world. Probably only 75 percent of this yard is actually inventoried since it was started in the 60's. This place needs an energetic car lover that could update the inventory and incorporate a website to capitalize on global sells. Someone who wants to save history not crush it!

Price: $3,000,000

Your Volvo Car Could Be Your Mailbox Oh, sheesh.

"Via a smartphone or a tablet, the owner will be informed when a delivery company wants to drop off or pick up something from the car," they added.

The owner of the car then accepts the delivery and can track when the car is opened. The technology would provide a solution for people who are on the move and need to receive deliveries away from their home or office.

The company said failed deliveries cost courier companies around one billion euros (US $1.37 billion) in re-delivery costs each year.

"The technology was trialled during a pilot program of 100 people, 86 percent of which agreed that 'roam delivery' saved them time," Volvo said. "The future car will be much more than just a means of transportation."

Beauty of the Week:

I’m still not thrilled with how many pieces of automotive art that had to be culled for our 10 Most Beautiful Cars piece a couple weeks back, so I figured that we should feature a gorgeous car each week.

Let’s start with one we all know and love, the ’63 Corvette with the split rear window. Turns out that Corvette buyers were interested in seeing out the back of the car, so Bill Mitchell’s iconic divided rear glass was gone in 1964. I would argue that the entire 1963-67 “C2” generation run was the acme of Corvette design, and the styling of the coupe worked even better than the roadster.

A cruising tune about pickup men:

For the moronettes:

And, for the Morons... last week I offered you sweet and started to offer another sweet pic this week, but decided against the inevitable revolt. So, you get this instead:

Please feel free to send any complaints or commendations to us at Twitter: Nied's Dead Horse and Countrysquire.

posted by Open Blogger at 02:30 PM

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