Wednesday, January 09, 2019
NO. For the million(+5)th time, it's NOT NEW.
Continuing the You didn't invent me theme....
I ran across the exact predecessor of Elon's Boring transit system in an old Collectible Auto magazine.
The picture is internally timestamped.
Caption says:
A Wisconsin congressman proposed a dual-mode transit system for metro Milwaukee and enlisted AMC and Allis-Chalmers to help develop it. Travel via electrified guideways would have required a retractable contact arm; the gas engine would have been used elsewhere.
This system was less stupid than Elon's in two ways: the cars weren't running on their own fragile batteries, and they weren't trapped in a one-lane tunnel. But it was equally stupid in a more important way. How do you merge cars INTO the guideway?
AMC and Allis-Chalmers were both in Wisconsin, so this was an in-state deal.
You couldn't ask for a more perfect opposite to Elon in corporate terms. Nash/AMC had a long tradition of cautious and TRULY visionary management. Good ideas that people actually wanted, manufactured with high quality and low debt.
The Hornet was a good cautious car, well-built and genuinely boring. AMC always made good cautious cars, always suffered from the OPPOSITE of cult zealotry and coolness.
¶ 4:55 PM 
The picture is internally timestamped.
Caption says:
A Wisconsin congressman proposed a dual-mode transit system for metro Milwaukee and enlisted AMC and Allis-Chalmers to help develop it. Travel via electrified guideways would have required a retractable contact arm; the gas engine would have been used elsewhere.
This system was less stupid than Elon's in two ways: the cars weren't running on their own fragile batteries, and they weren't trapped in a one-lane tunnel. But it was equally stupid in a more important way. How do you merge cars INTO the guideway?
AMC and Allis-Chalmers were both in Wisconsin, so this was an in-state deal.
You couldn't ask for a more perfect opposite to Elon in corporate terms. Nash/AMC had a long tradition of cautious and TRULY visionary management. Good ideas that people actually wanted, manufactured with high quality and low debt.
The Hornet was a good cautious car, well-built and genuinely boring. AMC always made good cautious cars, always suffered from the OPPOSITE of cult zealotry and coolness.
¶ 4:55 PM
