The Automakers just don't learn....and history keeps repeating itself!!

As a lifelong car enthusiast I'm amazed at how in my lifetime, the automakers have made the same mistakes over and over, and don't learn from them. I touched on it a little in a past post, but it's worth discussing again. # 1. A carmaker comes up with a great idea that's a thunderous hit. Not content to sell this car like hot cakes, and rake in profits for years to come, they have to "broaden it's appeal" to try to sell even more. What happens is they ruin the car, and people stop buying them. A couple good examples-one American, one Foreign. The 1964 GTO was a smash. It was a simple old hot-rod trick-put a big motor in a light car. Pontiac had hoped to sell 10,000 units. Even though it was a mid-year option, they sold 32,450-more than triple what they planned. In 1965 they sold 75,000 units, more than double '64's total. In 1966 they sold almost 100,000. Even mighty Chevrolet, with twice the dealer network of Pontiac, could only sell 77,000 SS396 Chevelles. Then they decided to "Broaden it's appeal." The car got heavier and more expensive every year. By 1971-five short years later they only sold 10,000 units, and in 1972, half that-5,807. Yes, high insurance rates put a dent in all musclecar sales, but the brass had ruined Pontiacs biggest Cash Cow. They didn't even try to save it. All the performance efforts were now concentrated on the Firebird line. Nissan did the same thing. In the '50's and '60's the British pretty much owned the sports-car market. The 1970 Datsun 240Z was an immediate smash. It had a sexy body, a high-revving six-cylinder engine that would suck up and spit out any British sports car-including the vaunted XKE-and it was reasonably priced. To combat the power lost to the tightening emission controls of the mid-'70's they punched the engine out to 2600cc and later 2800cc-thus the 260Z and 280Z monikers as the years passed. But the basic platform stayed the same until 1978. Then, Yes-The brass decided to "broaden its appeal". The car got bigger and heavier, and more expernsive. Even with a turbocharged engine, the 1983 280ZX was nowhere near the performance car the original 240Z was. Did the brass learn? No. 1984 brought the even larger, heavier, more luxurious and much more expensive 300ZX. By 1994 a loaded ZX cost 45 grand. That's more than a Corvette was at the time.  Gee, why weren't they selling?  In 2003 they brought back the "Z". Now called the 350Z and powered by an awesome 300 hp V6 and with a swoopy two-seat body and a pricetag around $26,000 guess-what-they sold like hot cakes and the enthusiast mags raved. Now they've increased the displacement and the hp is up around the 350 mark in the 370Z, and the base price has crept up to around $32,000. However, when you consider that a loaded Toyota Camry or Honda Accord is over 30K, their still a screaming bargain. Hopefully Nissan won't screw it up again. GM did again-in the '80's and '90's. Musclecar buyers didn't magically fall off the earth in 1973, the automakers stopped making cars that they wanted to buy. That's why the Pontiac Trans-Am was the alpha dog in the late '70's. Yes it was a good car, and "Smokey and the Bandit" certainly helped sell a few-but think-if you wanted a sporty car with a big V8 after 1975-you bought a Trans-Am or nothing. Chevy brought back the Z/28, and Ford wisely scrapped the Pinto-based Mustang II platform and put a V8 in the Fox replacement. Yet, ath the Camaro / Firebird's demise in 2002 a loaded Z/28 or T/A cost almost 40 grand. The people that wanted them-young males-couldn't afford them. Yet Ford sold twice as many Mustangs every year as GM sold Camaros and Firebirds combined. Why? Because you could buy a V8 Mustang for around 25 grand not 40!! And just like the T/A in the '70's-if you wanted a rear-wheel drive sporty V8 car-you bought a Mustang or nothing.  Flash forward to 2009-the reintroduced Camaro with a 300 hp V6 and a sticker of $22,000 duh-sells like women of ill-repute in a seaport full of drunken sailors. Even the SS-comes in under 30 grand-almost 10K less than the one they were trying to sell seven years before. Shocker! It's a success. As is the Dodge Challenger that's looks like the "Vanishing Point" model. Hopefyll GM, Ford and Chrysler won't make the same mistake again and price and pork these awesome modern musclecars into oblivion. Mastermind