>Maybe I'm wrong here, but I do >believe that the beetle was discontinued because it no longer was able to >meet emmissions standards, set by the federal government. You also couldn't fit an air bag into it (not enough room to deploy) without radically changing the body style. Auto safety and pollution are areas where the Gummint has actually done some good, where individual initiative has failed. Seat belts were available as options in cars, both as factory options and aftermarket add-ons, for years in the '50s and '60s. Same with rear-view mirrors in the '30s and '40s. Few people bought them, like less than 3% of the auto-buying public, until the gummint made them mandatory. Air bag technology was worked out in the mid-'70s, but marketing surveys showed GM that very few people would buy them if offered-- not enough to warrant the tooling-up costs, so they were never placed on options lists since they were very expensive compared to belts etc. Only since gummint regulations made them mandatory, have they become widely available. History shows that this would not have happened, if people were left to their own devices.
The $64,000 question: do the increased safety benefits, justify gummint meddling in formerly private affairs? Careful how you answer-- the same argument can be made for, say, a national 30-mph speed limit, or even banning cars altogether in favor of commuter bus exclusivity. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Maher smaher@gi.com '80 V6anagon w/Chevy 2800 '66 Mustang Coupevertible, for sale Check out the cars at http://www.lookup.com/homepages/76242/home.html *** Friends don't let friends vote Democratic! *** ---------------------------------------------------------------------
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