The Car Shortage Is About To Get A Whole Lot Worse

Jalopnik ^ | October 19, 2021 | Steve DaSilva

[Pilsner]

A critical element in everything from engines to bodies is in short supply

... Essentially, you can’t make cars without aluminum. You can’t work with aluminum without using magnesium. And as of December, you may not be able to work with magnesium much — if at all.

85% of the world’s supply comes from ... China, ... (which) just ordered 35 of its 50 production facilities to shut down. The remaining 15 have been told to scale back operations by half, leaving production drastically reduced.

[dfwright]

Drive old/older cars and trucks. They’re cool.You can work on them yourself

Provided that you can get parts, yes. The same parts problems making it difficult to build new cars will likely affect your ability to keep the beater running as well.

[sergeantdave]

Yay! More FUD clickbait.

[crz]

Now get this. A 3200 pound car, built in 63 with a peanut six, got that much in mileage. They cant build a car that gets that much mileage that weights that much anymore and be as simple as that one.

At least I think it was 3200 pounds..cant remember.

[Dr. Sivana]

We’ve got a brand new slant 6, never been used, and one of the darts has a CRANKIN 318 in it.

The ball joints in those Darts may not do well with a big 318 on top. Do you get rust on them in WA? That's what spelled the end of mine in CT and especially IL (1966 x 2, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1976 models, all 225 slant-six).

Also the self-adjusting cables on the brakes need upgrading or you will likely get brake drum issues. What years are the cars? The '63 is very "cute", the '65 has an ugky front grille. Are they two or four door?

The original small Dart (1960 was a full sized car) was meant to have an aluminum block engine, but it was not reliable. During the '70s energy crisis the Dart Lite and the Plymouth Feather Duster same out, with the first Mopar aluminum hood.

[refermech]

My Duster has a rubber bladder that you press with your left foot to squirt windshield washer fluid. No electrical pump. Still works. So does the 408 cu.in. engine.

[heshtesh]

My dads 74 ford LTD station wagon got 11 mpg pulling our families 32 ft trailer with a 400 2 barrel carb, i’d like to see any of the modern gas powered vehicles match that performance.

[LeoWindhorse]

Yep, still have one...

These modern cars are just trying to be extensions of folks cell phones .

Who needs it?
XYZ’ers

[heshtesh]

So does the 408 cu.in. engine.

Gotta love strokers, I certainly do.

[stars & stripes forever]

Ploy to force the sale of electric cars?

[Dr. Sivana]

Provided that you can get parts, yes. The same parts problems making it difficult to build new cars will likely affect your ability to keep the beater running as well.

If you are concerned about parts availability, stick with extremely popular old models Ford and Chevy pickups didn't change much from year to year, early Ford Mustangs, '57 Chevies and B/E body Mopars have large aftermarket parts markets. Also, there are ways to retro fit a Chevy 350 into almost everything (though Ford people may throw rocks at you).

New car money can take you far in a classic car, especially if it doesn't have the appearance restored perfectly (paint jobs/body work will run you).

[Dr. Sivana]

Yep it’s one of the quizzes that pop up on Small Block Chevy Engines.

The headlight high-beam switch on the floor was also on late '60s Mopars, right next to the manual windshield washer foot squeeze thing.

[redcatcherb412]

Maybe reopen our steel mills and build cars out of steel like the old days that can actually take a shopping cart hit in a walmart parking lot without getting $1,500.00 in damage like these plastic/beer can cars of today.

[Old Yeller]

Car manufacturing and sales affect a huge part of the economy, so of course the NWO is going to destroy it.

[Obadiah]

Buried in the article:

The situation in the US, luckily, is a bit more optimistic. While not nearly on the scale of China, the US is a global producer of magnesium as well. As long as American auto plants can get their hands on enough semiconductors, production shouldn’t quite hit a total standstill.

Won't be an abundance, but cars should be available. Right now dealers are gouging people. Look for that to continue or get worse.

[Flick Lives]

Inflation is now running 8% per year, but on the plus side there’s nothing to buy.

[Flick Lives]

Why are real estate and the stock market rolling along?

—

In 2006 and 2007 I kept asking the same thing about R/E; how can people keep paying these prices. Then the bottom dropped out.

[Old Yeller]

They were bought off.

[maddog55]

Yep... Those were the days. My first muscle car was a 69 GTO

and my best friend's was a 69 Road Runner....

We had a blast racing and burn outs.

[Mama Shawna]

Rather than answer all that, here’s a link to the craigslist ad: https://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/cto/d/graham-muscle-car-on-budget/7392183135.html

[refermech]

You know your Mopars. Mopar or no car! Actually they are all cool. My next project will be a Chevy because they are so much cheaper to build.