Election year is in full swing, and with a little less than 2 months until the election, it is hard to go anywhere without hearing nasty attacks and soapbox speeches. Since our site covers auto news and tips for car shopping, we don’t usually have the need to go anywhere near politics, but after reading this fascinating little piece over on Jalopnik about George Romney and the auto industry, we thought it was worth a share. You can read the full article here or check out our recap and thoughts on the piece below.
When you think of compact cars and better fuel economy, what names come to mind? George W. Mason, Alec Issigonis, or Henry J. Kaiser are obvious choices, but many young car enthusiasts today don’t know that George Romney was instrumental in making compact cars mainstream. Some people might be surprised that George Romney, the late father of presidential candidate Mitt Romney, wanted to make cars more fuel efficient, calling current models “gas guzzling dinosaurs.” He worried that families were overly burdened by the cost of gasoline, and despite criticism and disdain for compact cars at the time, Romney used his influence to encourage the movement towards smaller vehicles.
While he was president of American Motors Corporation, he wrote an editorial in the News and Courier in South Carolina that shows his enthusiasm for the future of compact cars, specifically the Rambler. He saw the potential of the compact car, and in his editorial, he writes, “Just what is a true ‘compact’ car? Loosely applied, the term has been used to describe a car providing better-than-average gasoline economy, or a particular size of vehicle, or a car in the new lower price range. The compact car concept is broader than these things.” The full editorial is available here.
While Mitt Romney shouldn’t be judged positively or negatively by the actions of his father, I thought that more people should know that George Romney was a pioneer in fuel-efficient vehicles. His actions showed empathy for the American family trying to stick to a budget and also started the slow move away from gas-guzzling cars. I don’t know if his son Mitt has the same enthusiasm for getting “gas guzzling dinosaurs” off the road, but it could make for a very interesting debate question for the decidedly pro-business candidate.
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