noahsdad
04-25-06, 05:02 PM
Thanks again to Sandy for firing up these great memories.
It's September, 1978, a few days after the model changeover (for you younger people, the new model changeover at that time was a very big deal - Sandy can attest to that). A very wealthy customer who owns a manufacturing company shows up at the dealership one day and test drives a brand new Jeep Grand Wagoneer - dark green and fully decked out with leather, CB radio, and acres of vinyl woodgrain - every inch top of the line AMC. He loves it, and walks in to the salesman's office to write a check; not for just one - but for SIX identical Grand Wagoneers at full MSRP. He's had a great year, and is buying one for each of his top salesmen as a gift. The dealership salesman got roaring drunk that night for sure.
A few weeks later, a hauler arrives with all six of these beautiful new matching Jeeps. As soon as they start unloading them, and in spite of warnings from the service manager, the salesman gets over-excited and calls the customer to tell him they've arrived. We clear the service department and each mechanic is tasked with 'prepping' the Jeeps to show them to our new favorite customer.
That's when things went sour. At this time, AMC was really struggling to stay afloat. They were still building decent vehicles, but quality control was weak in many areas. Each of these Wagoneers had stickers on the windows saying "This door aligned by AMC's robotic adjustment system." Apparently the robot had a bad day, because we had to yank and jerk just to get the doors open. Then when they came open, it was almost impossible to get them closed again! The poor salesman was having a cardiac. He paced around the service area wringing his hands and sweating, begging us to just get one car ready to show.
In about 15 minutes, we managed to get all the doors working on one Wagoneer, just as Mr. Rich Customer pulled in with all six of his top salesmen in tow. The dealership owner and the salesman proudly took the entire gang on a tour of the dealership offices to buy us a few more minutes, then paraded them all back to the service department to see the new Wagoneers. They steered everybody to the one with working doors, and started showing off all it's features to the very pleased and excited new owners.
The salesman hopped in the front seat, demonstrated a few things, then turned on the key and pushed the switch to lower the power tailgate window. It went ZIP - ZERP - TWANG! - and promptly fell off its track and smashed into a million little stars inside the tailgate! The mechanics, who had all gathered discreetly in the parts department, broke into hysterical (but muffled) laughter.
Despite all this, the guy still bought the Jeeps. Surprisingly, other than the horrible door alignment and a few other minor issues, the Jeeps performed remarkably well - and at least one of them is still on the road.
It's September, 1978, a few days after the model changeover (for you younger people, the new model changeover at that time was a very big deal - Sandy can attest to that). A very wealthy customer who owns a manufacturing company shows up at the dealership one day and test drives a brand new Jeep Grand Wagoneer - dark green and fully decked out with leather, CB radio, and acres of vinyl woodgrain - every inch top of the line AMC. He loves it, and walks in to the salesman's office to write a check; not for just one - but for SIX identical Grand Wagoneers at full MSRP. He's had a great year, and is buying one for each of his top salesmen as a gift. The dealership salesman got roaring drunk that night for sure.
A few weeks later, a hauler arrives with all six of these beautiful new matching Jeeps. As soon as they start unloading them, and in spite of warnings from the service manager, the salesman gets over-excited and calls the customer to tell him they've arrived. We clear the service department and each mechanic is tasked with 'prepping' the Jeeps to show them to our new favorite customer.
That's when things went sour. At this time, AMC was really struggling to stay afloat. They were still building decent vehicles, but quality control was weak in many areas. Each of these Wagoneers had stickers on the windows saying "This door aligned by AMC's robotic adjustment system." Apparently the robot had a bad day, because we had to yank and jerk just to get the doors open. Then when they came open, it was almost impossible to get them closed again! The poor salesman was having a cardiac. He paced around the service area wringing his hands and sweating, begging us to just get one car ready to show.
In about 15 minutes, we managed to get all the doors working on one Wagoneer, just as Mr. Rich Customer pulled in with all six of his top salesmen in tow. The dealership owner and the salesman proudly took the entire gang on a tour of the dealership offices to buy us a few more minutes, then paraded them all back to the service department to see the new Wagoneers. They steered everybody to the one with working doors, and started showing off all it's features to the very pleased and excited new owners.
The salesman hopped in the front seat, demonstrated a few things, then turned on the key and pushed the switch to lower the power tailgate window. It went ZIP - ZERP - TWANG! - and promptly fell off its track and smashed into a million little stars inside the tailgate! The mechanics, who had all gathered discreetly in the parts department, broke into hysterical (but muffled) laughter.
Despite all this, the guy still bought the Jeeps. Surprisingly, other than the horrible door alignment and a few other minor issues, the Jeeps performed remarkably well - and at least one of them is still on the road.