Ray Shahan asked:

> Excuse the bandwidth, but does anyone know why no one else uses the
> non-metallic body panels on new cars...especially other GM products?

I don't know why others don't (currently) use the acryllic plastic panels.
My wife had a Saturn when I married her, and it has been a good car.  Her
daughter drives the Saturn now.

Pontiac used the panels on the Fiero back in the 80s.  Back in the 70s, the
first use of the acryllic plastic body panels was the Bricklin
(http://bricklin.org/).  I have one of them, too.  It was a good idea then,
it's an even better idea now.

Maybe it's just ignorance, short-sightedness, and a 'herd mentality' among
automotive executives (just like computing executives).  When they look at
the competion's current hot-selling products, they see cars made of steel,
so they believe that the trend points to a future in steel-bodied cars.
(When Winston/Carly looked at the competition's current hot-selling
products, the saw computers using Windows/Unix/Linux, so they believe that
the trend points to a future in Windows/Unix/Linux-based computers.)  If an
early SUV (or a popular Japanese sedan) would have had an acryllic plastic
body, then we would probably see everybody racing to put the durable, light-
weight, dent-resistant, and rust-resistant panels on their models, too.

Don

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