Word: tanks
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Cumbersome, inefficient and corrupt, the Soviet economy functioned, such as it did, because it had its own internal logic. Moscow decreed the production of every tank, shoe and potato; every working-age person was supposed to have a job; and prices were stable. If the end result was not exactly according to plan -- a long-drawn-out failure, in fact -- at least the command system offered a coherent vision of what the plan...
...fuel-tank controversy may worsen the woes of the world's largest company. In the past few weeks GM has reshuffled its top management, accelerated plans to lay off tens of thousands of workers, and reported a third-quarter loss of $753 million. Analysts estimate that the gas-tank problem could eventually cost GM as much as $700 million in legal fees and damages. So far, the company has paid out more than $200 million in ( settlements, according to the CAS. What remains incalculable is the effect on GM's image at a time when the company is struggling...
...pickups, sold under the Chevrolet and GMC nameplates, are commonly used as recreation vehicles and as workhorses in fields like construction and farming. As in Ford and Chrysler pickups, the gas tank in GM trucks was mounted inside the cab, behind the seats, until federal regulations in 1973 forced the companies to relocate the tank. Ford and Chrysler placed it underneath the vehicle's chassis, inside a set of heavy-steel frame rails. In GM models made between 1973 and 1987, however, the gas tank was mounted like a saddlebag, outside the frame. This configuration made the tank more vulnerable...
...back as 1970. GM submitted 70,000 pages of internal documents to the NHTSA last week as part of the agency's review of pickup-truck safety. In a memo dated Sept. 7, 1970, safety engineer George Carvil warned of possible fuel leaks in side collisions. "Moving these side tanks inboard," he wrote, "might eliminate most of these potential leakers." An internal memo dated Dec. 15, 1983, by product analyst Richard Monkaba, discussed the company's plan to change the gas tank's position with its 1987 models. "The fuel tank will be relocated inside the frame rails," wrote Monkaba...
...trucks meet, if not surpass, federal safety standards. For example, GM notes that the trucks passed the traffic-safety administration's 20-m.p.h. side-impact crash tests. In 1980 GM began conducting its own 50-m.p.h. crash tests, even though they are not required by law. Explaining why the tanks were mounted outboard for so long, a high-ranking GM executive points out that exhaust pipes and other mechanisms usually crowd the center of the chassis, leaving little room for a large gas container. Says the executive: "The perfect place for a fuel tank hasn't been invented...