2008 was a year of few cheers. There was an abundance of misery to go around. The continuing mortgage meltdown led to the credit crunch and the sinking of the stock market. Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns went bye-bye. Madoff’s $50 billion mother of all Ponzi schemes further shook investors’ confidence. Jobs disappeared. Politics was big this year as Obama’s hope and change resonated with the country, and Sarah Palin’s “you betcha” shtick grew old. The price of a gallon of gas exceeded $4 and resulted in people’s wallets being cleaned out and the sales of SUVs decimated. And then the price of gas plummetted to $1.50 due to the sinking economy. In the land of cheap imports and melamine-tainted food, Michael Phelps won eight gold medals. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan went on. President Bush was assaulted by a pair of loafers. O.J. was sent to prison. Prominent passings included Paul Newman, Charlton Heston, William Buckley, Tim Russert, and Mark Felt, aka Deep Throat.
Amid the country’s financial problems, the entire automotive industry took a dump. Even mighty Toyota took a fall. The Big Three pleaded their case for survival to Congress, and they were given a reprieve, but how much longer will they last?
Here on the boards, armchair-CEOing remained a favorite pastime. Should Pontiac go? Or Saturn? Or Saab? Or Buick? Or GMC? Or all of them? Should Wagoner stay or go? The Camaro is finally on the cusp of arriving at dealerships after a long gestation period. The pesky server problems persisted—C&G would not be C&G without server problems. FlyBrian decided to get a life and largely stayed away. The amount of traffic on the board slowed, and actual industry news has been spotty.
And now, time for the Seventh Annual Cheers and Jeers for Cheers and Gears and all things automotive, with an emphasis on cheers rather than jeers:
Cheers to the Poster of the Year, dwightlooi. He can explain away the intricacies of complex mechanical systems and offer rational drivetrain suggestions.
Honorable mention goes to longtooth for his perspective from the factory.
Cheers to the Best New Poster, gmpartsgirl. The female posters have been few and far between (hi jessi chan, 01LightingGal, and staceface!), but they provide some needed balance to the unbridled testosterone that permeates the place. And who can’t appreciate someone with a love for G-body Cutlasses?
Cheers to the Insiders and Industry Folk such as thegriffon and evok for offering their professional perspectives to counter the blather. evok and AH-HA stopped by a few times over the year to offer some kernals of wisdom. Back in 2006, evok was right about the “Death of the V8” for mainstream cars, but few wanted to listen.
Cheers to GM for the Most Significant Introduction of the upcoming Volt. GM is milking the Volt to convince everybody that the company has a future, and the promise still needs to live up to the hype. Will GM finally deliver the goods in 2010?
Cheers to the Best Post by Makfu about fear, posted on January 1 of 2008. link
Honorable mentions: Dodgefan on accountability link
and Balthazar on automotive design link
Cheers to the Best Non-Automotive Thread, Word Association, by Charger4U (nee Chicken4U). link
When there’s nothing else going on, the trusty Word Association thread will be there, and it offers a glimpse into the psyche of board members.
Jeers to the so-called Cheers and Gears Curse. It doesn’t afflict all members, but it seems to pick on certain members, and Dodgefan experienced more than his share of wrecks.
Cheers to Ford for developing the Best Family Hybrid, the Ford Fusion Hybrid. The insufferable Dan Neil of the L.A. Times got 52 mpg in his test car. Also, some of the styling updates to the Fusion may be questionable, but Ford deserves credit for trying to keep its vehicles fresh.
Cheers to the Moderator/Admin of Merit, Camino LS6. He’s been doing a good job filling the void left by FlyBrian while having trials and tribulations in his own personal life to work through. We’ve been intrigued by his project cars, and he’s kept a very even hand in the moderation.
Cheers to PlumCrazy for Best Concept, a retro Chevelle. PlumCrazy’s contributions are few and far between now, but each drawing remains a treat.
Honorable mention goes to none other than the mostly vilified MRDETROITMETAL with his often misunderstood auto art. But he did make one chop of a Lincoln MKS wagon that garnered quite a bit of respect:
Jeers to the Worst Poster/Troll of the Year. There’s only so much kvetching one can take. The same post over and over and over. Who can that be?
Cheers and Jeers to Satty for Worst Thread, “I have horrible gas.” link
And finally, Cheers to the C&G staff and members who continue to make C&G an enjoyable place to spend our time, talk about cars, and also share our joys and sorrows.
Hope everybody has a healthy, prosperous and Happy New Year!
