Government Motors
4 June 2009
Editor, Washington Times
Dear Editor:
Cal Thomas is correct to note that government-produced automobiles are no models of performance, style, or safety ("Downfall of an icon," June 4). They truly are hunks of junk.
I recall being in Germany in September 1990, not long after the collapse of the Iron Curtain. A German friend told me of a then-recent incident that happened at night as he drove on the autobahn. He was cruising along at about 120 miles per hour in his Mercedes when he saw ahead two faint, flickering lights. "Good thing I slammed on my brakes," he said, "because the lights were candles in the rear window of a Trabant. They were being used as tail lights!"
The government-made Trabant, I gather, had a top speed of about 60 MPH - and, obviously, also a wholly unreliable electrical system.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Posted by Don Boudreaux on
Monday October 19, 2009 at 9:16am