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Another old U.S. company closes.

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angelfj1

angelfj1

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Just called my local small engine shop since I needed a tune up kit for the Snow King engine on my snow blower. He told me that <span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">after 103 years in business that Tecumseh was going out of business.</span></span> There are no plans for selling their engine manufacturing business. I need to get to the local bone yard before used engine prices go crazy! This is a bummer!
 
Disappointed, but not surprised. I posted a thread earlier about Tecumseh small engines. My experience was that they were MUCH more reliable than the other brand that is flooding the market. Had lawn mowers in the past that couldn't be killed; indeed, seemed to thrive on neglect - all Tecumseh brand.

Too bad...
 
Mickey Richaud said:
Disappointed, but not surprised. I posted a thread earlier about Tecumseh small engines. My experience was that they were MUCH more reliable than the other brand that is flooding the market. Had lawn mowers in the past that couldn't be killed; indeed, seemed to thrive on neglect - all Tecumseh brand.

Too bad...
Click to expand...

I have had just the opposite experience with Tecumseh engines, but still sad to see go.
 
mailbox said:
Mickey Richaud said:
Disappointed, but not surprised. I posted a thread earlier about Tecumseh small engines. My experience was that they were MUCH more reliable than the other brand that is flooding the market. Had lawn mowers in the past that couldn't be killed; indeed, seemed to thrive on neglect - all Tecumseh brand.

Too bad...
Click to expand...

I have had just the opposite experience with Tecumseh engines, but still sad to see go.
Click to expand...

Me too; NOTHING beats a Honda.
 
Scott_Hower said:
mailbox said:
Mickey Richaud said:
Disappointed, but not surprised. I posted a thread earlier about Tecumseh small engines. My experience was that they were MUCH more reliable than the other brand that is flooding the market. Had lawn mowers in the past that couldn't be killed; indeed, seemed to thrive on neglect - all Tecumseh brand.

Too bad...
Click to expand...

I have had just the opposite experience with Tecumseh engines, but still sad to see go.
Click to expand...

Me too; NOTHING beats a Honda.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but Tecumseh engines were 100-year-old technology. They sucked. My Kawasaki lawnmower engine is bullet-proof. A fine example of old, outdated technology that...needed to go.
 
TR6BILL said:
Sorry, but Tecumseh engines were 100-year-old technology....
Click to expand...

60 year old, anyway. The Tecumseh engines always seemed crude to me. I have one of their ~75 hour~ engines on a snow blower and low cost was the only good feature. It has tried to tear itself apart from day one and I suspect it'll succeed later this winter. Sad to see another one go but they follow about 100 others into the history books.
 
I'm still trying to recover from the Plymouth marque's demise! :cryin:

I had some really nice Plymouth's, and my first car was a '55 Belvedere. Really loved that car.

Looks like we're about to lose a few more American car Marques before this recession is over. What's next? Mercury? Chrysler?

Lots of history in those cars . . .
 
Agreed - lots of history in those cars...

...but little else, of late! They've all become so non-descript/generic that there's very little to differentiate them any more.

And that's as regrettable, if not more so, than allowing them to fade into the history books.
 
Plymouth? I'm still shocked over the demise of DeSoto.
 
I understand that for 2009, there will only be 3 Mercury's, 2 cars and an SUV.......
 
Waxing nostalgic . . .

You guys are probably with me on this . . . these "extinct" (or soon to be) American cars have a lot of history attached to them. Just think of the racing heritage: the '50s era when the big Mercurys and Lincolns were the pride of a generation. All the guys who modified them, made "hot rods" out of them. Really great cars (and, the moonshine runners down here in VA preferred them, too!).

My Uncle Jim Keith was a "Mercury Man". Had a '50 coupe, a '55, and others. But my favorite was the '67 Mercury Comet Cyclone GT. Red, black interior (and Mercurys were know for their nicely-appointed interiors); fiberglass hood. Really a pretty car. And, he always installed an "ooogah" horn on his cars (yeah, I know, but it was <span style="font-style: italic">cool</span> back then).

Plymouths = the Petty family. Think of how many Plymouths Richard Petty sold for GM! The glory days of racing in the '60s and '70s; the old NASCAR races on the sand at Daytona. All that history . . . all the great drivers, and their stories.

This recession will foster the end of an era in the auto biz, I think.

Kinda sad times for a true auto enthusiast. Gone with the wind (or the bailout?).
 
"Change" was something Dee-troit shoulda been doing back in the mid-70's: Re-engineering the suspensions and fit-and-finish issues. Momentum carried 'em thru to the late '80's when things were FORCED. That "force" was market share (or lack thereof). Too little too late. Between the various Boards of Directors and the bargaining units there wasn't a vacant place at the trough. The vacancies were in the "innovation" and "planning" departments.

... but I'll stand and salute while Taps is played.
 
How about the Plymouth Arrow?
 
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