Say Goodbye to Some Familiar Brands

SpeedoGuy

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Like jason_els, I also miss the romance of Pan Am.

I'll miss United if it goes under, but I can't deny that the one time "Friendly Skies" have morphed into the "Surly Skies" over the last decade or so.

For example the recent shut down of Circuit City: Now there was an outfit that needed to go. Most all of my experiences dealing with them have been bad, right up to their bitter end. Besides, ever tried calling one of their stores and getting someone to actually pick up a phone??

Gotta agree with that. If there ever was a chain destined for self-destruction, it was Circuit City for all the reasons you stated. Service was atrocious.
 

midlifebear

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Jason's summation of the odd vehicle known as Saab is right on target. It was THE automobile to pile all of your friends in and zoom up Little Cottonwood Canyon, passing everyone on the road, to ski all day at Alta. The Saab 900S, especially the convertible, will be missed. But I've since been spoiled by Peugeot in Argentina.

But I have no tears for the rest on the list. Especially United Airlines. Friendly skies my ass!

However, there are still companies and brands that haven't existed for years that I sorely miss. I don't miss Pan Am. But I do miss Trans World Airways. My first time in an airplane when I was around 4 or 5 years old was on a TWA Constellation. Me, dressed in a gray tweed little boy jacket, white shirt, red tie with coordinated gray short pants and Buster Browns. Everyone dressed in wool travel clothes and zaftig women dripping in pearls and dead weasel wraps. And those strange Mamie Eisenhower-style hats!

I recently waned fondly over the demise of Western Airlines that offered everyone at least one glass of free champagne regardless of the time of the flight. "Western Airlines, the only way to fly," spoken by a patrician canary reclining against the cartoon tail of a 727 and sipping champagne. At 6:30 AM you'd crawl on board with sleep schmutz still in your eyes and a flight attendant would appear out of nowhere with a tray of cheap plastic champagne cocktail glasses, and smiling sweetly. Often they'd let you have two or more because the mormons who flew out of Western's Salt Lake hub would cordially decline the devil's brew and the stuff was flat and useless when they arrived in LA, San Francisco, Denver, New York, Chicago, Seattle. Those bottles had caps instead of corks, so the bubbles didn't last long. It was cheap champagne, but it didn't matter. They made you feel welcome. Then they were suddenly absorbed into Delta like The Blob and the largest buyer of cheap champagne-style California bubbly caused a ripple effect in the economies of Napa and Fresno.

I miss Bosco. Someone told me it's still available somewhere in the world, but I'll be damned if I can find it. It didn't mix with milk as easily as Nestle's Chocolate Syrup, but it was richer and darker. And you could get an almost opiate-like buzz if you ate a couple of spoonfuls directly from the jar.

We always had Buicks, (white trash families such as mine would never consider buying a Cadillac). I'd still like to have my mother's 2003 Park Avenue Ultra, but my brother needed a daily driver more than I did. Now it sits in his driveway sans timing belt in Taylorsville, Ewetaw along with several engine blocks and the rusting skeleton of an AMC Scout and an old bathtub and washing machine. Yup, his neighbor's are thrilled to have him in the subdivision. But if Buick disappears, I'll understand why. The turbo-charged V6 in that 2003 dinoglide sedan would easily sip gasoline at a lady-like 32 to 35 mpg on the highway. The new V6 in the Buick Lucernes (what the fuck is a name like Lucerne, anyway? GM tries to sound Swiss/French and comes across with the name of the West's most popular hybrid clover raised for hay?), anyway, the new V6 sucks up 25 to 31 mpg on those same highways with the same emission ratings for a smaller car? It's time GM engineers returned to using slide rules.

But I can't forgive Barnes and Noble closing their little cathedral-like Manhattan landmark store. If I need a book in English, Amazon is just a few keystrokes away, and they now direct you to local vendors if you live in a foreign county whenever possible in addition to their own stocks. Hope they survive, despite their wierd political affiliations and worker's rights problems.

But one chain of stores, although many have closed, is still plugging away: Radio Shack. Where else are you going to find a 20 year-old vintage transistor -- in packs of six -- when you need one? Somehow Radio Shack still exists out in the hinterlands of the Great USA. And I hope they continue to slug along. They are a refuge for nerdy social misfits that need hold-over jobs until the local chip manufacturing plant starts hiring again. And those same employees are highly respected in the Dungeon and Dragon circles.
 
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jason_els

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Bosco is alive and well here in New York. Yet another reason to stop over! We also have Mallomars (except in summer) and Choward's. Even Teaberry! There's a link on their homepage if you'd like to order directly from them.

Saabs were great mountain cars for the time. The front wheel drive helped in bad weather and the turbocharged versions weren't affected by elevation so they never lost horsepower. They were also terrifically safe and sure-footed with no torque steer and ice had no place to get a hold on the windshield or wipers. Alas!

I really like Peugeots. The 505 was a marvelously comfortable car and had a great engine and shifter. With the turbo, it flew down the road. The seats in that car were the stuff of heaven. The Saab 9000's seats were close but just weren't so butter soft yet supportive. I could drive a 505 all day. Of course we haven't seen Peugeots in years. Are they still so comfortable? I'd really like to drive a Citroen C6 sometime. I always loved the old Citroens; they were even freakier than Saab.
 
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798686

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The Peugeot 505 was cool - especially the estate (station wagon). I'm assuming they're not sold in the States anymore? They're still really comfortable - but unfortunately they look like they've got a cracker stuffed in their mouth :p

Friend of mine has a 407 estate:
http://www.direct-vehicle-leasing.net/images/car_images/Peugeot%20407%20SW.jpg

Peugeot corporate cracker look:
http://www.channel4.com/4car/media/P/peugeot/308/03-large/08-308gt175-f3qa.jpg

Citroen are still around - not quite so quirky and hydropneumatically suspended as they used to be, lol, but still interesting and popular. Love the new C6 - evokes the DS a bit, I think. Until recently, the little Saxo was the boy racer's pocket-rocket of choice.
 

ladsonbehr49

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I have to disagree with you folks about Saturn...I personally never had one but I have friends who have them say they are not bad cars if you take care of them. Now if you are the type of person who has a size 15 shoe and weighs 500lbs and literally destroy any car you are with then ofcourse it would be a piece of junk. I have a dodge intrepid full paid for and approaching 200k on it and I have spent money to keep it running and I just love my car big time. And as for eddie bauer or the likes of that crap, I could careless I feel most of those retail clothing dealers like lands end are over priced crap..and I dont spend good money just to wear a bloody label.