Geoff writes:
Oh Dear, Oh Dear, Oh Dear!!! Now HERE'S a subject that will
REALLY get
me going!
As a limey beavering away in the States restoring British cars, I
get
REALLY upset each time I unwrap a part from Moss and the little
gold
coloured label proudly proclaims the fact that it was made in
Taiwan.
3 years ago I wrote to Moss and complained they had increased
some of
their prices of foreign made parts at a rate greater than the current
rate of inflation, or the rate of exchange, (their excuse for the rise,
published as an apology in their newsletter, was the British pound
had
risen against the weakness of the US dollar). They told me that
they
had to buy forward several months and had to try to anticipate the
variations in the exchange rate. What this had to do with parts
made in
Taiwan, I have no idea.
Later that year Britain withdrew from the EMF and the pound fell
25% in
several weeks. I looked forward to corresponding falls in the price
of
British sourced spares in Moss' catalogue, and wrote to them
saying I
was looking forward to NOTICEABLE REDUCTIONS. No such
thing. When I
wrote again pointing out there had been a fall of 25% in the value
of
the pound against the dollar, and what reductions in the price of
spares
made in Britain could I now expect, I received no reply. I am still
waiting for a reply.
I suppose some will argue that as America is loosing it's
manufacturing
base to third world countries such as Mexico, Taiwan, China etc.,
consumers here will benefit from lower prices. They are probably
right,
but is there then any wonder the US is the biggest debtor nation
on the
face of the earth.
On the other hand, it might be interesting to speculate as to what
the
cost of repairing/restoring an MGB or TD would be if all the parts
were
to be made in Britain or the US? Would any LBC still be on the
road? I
wonder what will happen to the price of spares when the balanced
budget
bill gets through the house.
I have a Chinese jack. It leaks. I have Chinese jack stands. They
look
flimsy and I don't trust them. I have Taiwanese bumpers on my
TD and
they rust, and I have fitted gawd knows how many fuel sender
units, all
made in Taiwan, and they ALL leak.
I could go on!
Geoff Love, The ENGLISH Connection.
Geoff,
I agree 100%!
Maybe we need to get more organised on this group and get a
petition drafted approaching this issue.
I wouldn't mind if the parts performed as original, but they NEVER
do from most of these Oriental countries, (Japan excepted.)
I'm not racist, (which I've been accused of when I bring this issue
up), but the manufacturing quality and technology does not
match North American or European standards.
End of story.
Nick D. Benson
Dept. of Construction Management & Manufacturing Technology
Colorado State University
Fort Collins CO
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