What I do remember about that event is this: the local Ford union let us use their headquarters to stage out of, and on the blackboard they (the air traffic controllers) had written the words "Your next vehicle SHALL be a Ford." (My dad explained that this was an Air Traffic Control turn of phrase, that "SHALL" was a word with some specific meaning when you were on the radio.)
In any case, I don't think we actually obeyed that directive, but it's all right. Years later, my parents eventually did happen to get a Ford minivan... but for no particular reason beyond "it was the right car at the right time."
This morning, Ford announced its worst year ever, with a $14.6B loss. In the same breath, though, they reiterated that they would not need federal aid (unless blah blah). At a time when GM and Chrysler are clamoring over each other for taxpayer handouts, this is actually impressing me enough to think that my next car may, in fact, SHALL be a Ford.
Too bad I don't expect to have a next car until 2017.
