I know I disagreed with you on buying import cars before, but my first reaction to your post was one of sympathy with yours.

This may be a faux-pas by Illitch especially at this time in Detroit's history but
I wonder if your initial reaction isnt another example of how the automotive industry has branded Detroit and vice versa. This isnt insurmountable and its not all that bad. I think that Detroiters have the right to feel an attachment to the automotive branding of the city. But some Detroiters have a right to maybe get off that bus and cherish something else, maybe the weather, the residential architecture and things outside the monoindustrial identity. I drive a japanese car, and I have driven
american cars; it doesnt address how Detroit is going to get out of this mire.

I have a neighbor who owns a metal fabrication machine company. He had a return client whose company builds industrial shelving units who was shopping around for a new machine a couple of years ago. This client was a fundamentalist christian type, he asked if he could get a machine without computer controls since his community resisted using computers. My neighbor pointed to the guy's brandnew pick-up and told him the thing was filled with computers and sensors but the guy didnt believe him. This guy probably didnt watch TV, read the papers or whatever else prevented him from seeing the forest for the trees.