Article: Requiem For Detroit

[John B]

The demise of the US domestic car industry was no real surprise was it! Sad but true. The American ethos of the time seemed to be, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", whereas the Japanese concept of Kaisen resulted in "continuous and never-ending improvement" (ie: "even if it ain't broke, still improve it").

Case in point was the Chevrolet small-block engine. This engine battled on for five decades with little change. Can you imagine the Japanese using an engine that was designed 50 years earlier.

[Jac Mac]

The demise of the US domestic car industry was no real surprise was it! Sad but true. The American ethos of the time seemed to be, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", whereas the Japanese concept of Kaisen resulted in "continuous and never-ending improvement" (ie: "even if it ain't broke, still improve it").

Can you imagine the Japanese using an engine that was designed 50 years earlier.

Ever noticed how similar an early OHV inline six chevy looks to the straight six Landcruisers, & the early pushrod Nissan/Datsun Bluebird could be a disguised BMC 4 cylinder...