You have a time machine

[Manche]

And you decide to use it to alter the course of the automotive history of the world to an outcome more of your liking.

I would travel to USA, to the AMC hq and try to prevent its failure by making them forget the rotary engine GM was developing and make them develop their own sensible engine for the Pacer and Gremlin.


or....

Prevent Tucker from being shafted By Uncle Sam and the Big 3

[conan]

I will just realized after a few seconds that every failure in automotive history couldn't be fix by one guy. And that Preston Tucker was shafted only by himself, the big three thing was just artistic licence induced by Francis Ford Coppola.

[Manche]

if you persuade the right people to listen to you and act accordingly.... you only need one one person

[conan]

So can you imagine a conversation you gotta have with Gerald C. Meyers to persuade him to abandon this promising Wankel engine, not making the Pacer wider and look ridiculous as it was, and that 1980 Safety Standard Rules was not going to go through?

I imagine if this is going to work, it has to be that the time machine is like a very elaborate version of Automation on Historic Tycoon mode.

[Leonardo9613]

This is Doctor Who coupled with House of Cards. Time travelling and politics? This is idiotic even to think about.

Which is exaclty why i will give my contribution
I think that I would probably persuade the British to take the offer and build the KdF wages found on the remains of the Wolfsburg plant. So now we would have the VW cars to be just as unreliable, but at least they would have some British charisma.

[Manche]

Just to develop a sensible engine... the rest of the Pacer is fine a nice 2.0 I4 or slightly bigger would have saved the company I guess, (or at least make them last longer by selling more cars)

[Leonardo9613]

No, not at all. In America cars aren't the solution, pickups are. It is estimated that 90% of Ford's profits come from the F-series, ALONE. Therefore, AMC wouldn't be saved by a 20% increase on the Pacer sales. They needed a pickup truck range, better institutional organisation and, well, less stupid marketing decisions.

[nialloftara]

I'd travel back to 1900 and convince them that tetraethel lead is a bad move.

[Zabhawkin]

AMC had a couple of trucks under the Jeep brand, I thought the main problem with AMC was a lack of quality and consistency in general.

[EnryGT5]

Go through automotive history and secretly insert a super boost mode in every turbocharged model that can only be accessed inserting the Konami Code.

[strop]

Up up down down left right... Uh, shit, what was it again *mutter mutter crash*

[HighOctaneLove]

I'd go back in time and convince Nissan Australia to stay here and make some very important changes...

1: Build the R32 Skyline here rather than a facelifted R31 (and onwards to R33 and R34)

Model range: Base model R32 with KA24E, Main-spec RB30DE, Fully import GT-R for halo car

2: Ignore the Button plan and make Holden accept CA16DE's and CA18DE's in the local Pulsar rather than crappy, old tech Opel engines...

3: Since we have Skyline now, drop plans for the U12 Pintara and replace it with locally built S12 (and then S13, 14 and 15) Gazelles (All running IRS)

Model range: S12's basic engine KA24E, Sports version CA18DET, Luxury version VG30E

4: Don't import the 300ZX as local S12 covers that market

This'll massively improve the locally available performance car market and will force Ford and Holden (plus Mitsubishi) to lift their quality and technology. Local production will be healthier and more relevant cars'll be made here meaning we'd have a vibrant, sustainable local manufacturing sector in Australia continuing up to 2015 rather than the death of local manufacture that is currently the case.

[strop]

...and will force Ford and Holden (plus Mitsubishi) to lift their quality and technology...

You reckon? I was never under the impression that Nissan's pulling power was ever rated enough by Holden or Ford for them to properly take notice (except, perhaps, of the Nissan Pulsar)... otherwise when it came to their other potent offerings, they preferred to stick their heads in the mud and pretend they never existed. And even then, you would be just as, if not even more familiar with the kind of shit Holden was pulling in the compact market, do you really think that would have been ever salvageable?

[HighOctaneLove]

...and will force Ford and Holden (plus Mitsubishi) to lift their quality and technology...

You reckon? I was never under the impression that Nissan's pulling power was ever rated enough by Holden or Ford for them to properly take notice (except, perhaps, of the Nissan Pulsar)... otherwise when it came to their other potent offerings, they preferred to stick their heads in the mud and pretend they never existed. And even then, you would be just as, if not even more familiar with the kind of shit Holden was pulling in the compact market, do you really think that would have been ever salvageable?

It was because Nissan dropped out that the local Japanese offerings weren't seen as serious contenders. IMO, Toyota would have locally produced the Cressida/Chaser and it would have featured both the 1JZ and the 2JZ. We'd still have had Corona as a FWD model and Celica would have stayed exclusively 3S-GE to protect sales of the (theoretical) top-spec Corona Sport-Luxury variant.

The market would have consisted of: R32, Chaser, VN Commodore w/ a euro inline 6 from Opel, EA Falcon w/ standard MPFI 3.9 and Magna w/ FWD 2.6-4 and 3.0-V6. The Japanese cars would have been seen as BMW's at half the price and the Falcon (coarse engine) and Magna (FWD) would have been seen as the weaker choices of the group. Chaser could have featured the Lexus 4L V8 and Nissan their 4.1L V8(?) to keep the Bathurst crowd happy with turbo 6's to entice the Europhiles...

Lack of choice and possibly advertising funding bias saw car mags talk up the locals over the "imports" and there was an element of fear of high tech as well. I think these issues could have been solved with more locally targeted offerings but we were seen as an outpost and unimportant in the overall scheme of things. If the Japanese saw Australia the same way as they saw the USA then Ford and Holden would have been replaced with Toyota's and Nissan's a long time ago!