-=> MICHAEL LOO wrote to DAVE DRUM <=-

 >  ML> Oddly, her car is Japanese, a Mazda 6, which
 >  ML> was built mostly in Michigan.

 > Mazda cars sold in the US - with the exception of the MX-5 Miata are
 > analogous to a Ford model - which makes sense as there is an interlock

 ML> Most interesting. I had to become familiar with
 ML> this phenomenon when looking to buy a car with/for
 ML> Lucille, and we were leaned on heavily by a friend
 ML> who worked on the side for a GM dealership to buy
 ML> a Saturn (~=Opel); we ended up getting a Geo Prizm
 ML> (~=Toyota) instead, also a domestic car with a
 ML> foreign provenance and image and also I believe GM.

The Saturn was *NOT* an Opel (German marque sold by Buick dealers). 
Rather it was an "independent" GM brand with its own assembly plant in
Spring Hill, TN (30 miles south of Nashville) and a separate dealer
network. The bean counters got their hooks into the "noble experiment"
and homogenised it into the blender of General Motors corporate "sharing"
making the results damned near indistinguishable form similar Chevy or
Pontiac models. When Roger the Dodger Penske declined to buy the marque
in 2009 it was given the chop.

The GEO line (also now but a memory) was an assortment of re-badged
Japanese models. The Prizm was, as you note, a Toyota Corolla. The 
"Metro" was a Suzuki Cultus, the Spectrum sedan was an Isuzu I-Mark and
the Storm coupe an Isuzu Impluse. The Tracker SUV was a Suzuki Samurai
XR-7 - rebadged. The Geo line was dropped in 1997 or 98. The Prizm was
quite the bargain (used) as you could buy one for about half what the
Toyota Corolla (same car for all intents and purposes) was bringing on
a used car dealer's lot.
 
 > between the two companies. If you parked the Mazda 6 next to a Ford
 > Fusion and took the badges off you would be hard pressed to tell the
 > difference.

 ML> You're talking to the wrong person. I wouldn't
 ML> be able to tell the difference from a Lincoln.

Surely the sheer size of the Lincoln would be a tip-off.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06

      Title: Crullers
 Categories: Breads, Snacks
      Yield: 18 doughnuts

      4 tb White sugar
      1 ts Salt
      1 ts Orange zest
      4 tb Shortening
      1 c  Hot water
      1 c  All-purpose flour
      3 lg Eggs
  1 1/2 tb Shortening
  1 1/2 c  Confectioners' sugar
      3 tb Cream
    1/3 ts Salt
      1 ts Vanilla extract

  Put 4 tablespoons sugar, salt, shortening and orange
  rind in saucepan with 1 cup hot water. Bring to a boil.
  Mix in 1 cup of flour. Cook until thick, stirring
  constantly. Remove from heat, and cool slightly. Beat in
  one egg at a time, beating each one in thoroughly before
  adding another.

  Using a rose tip, press dough through pastry bag, in
  desired shape, onto a well-greased square of heavy
  paper. Turn paper upside down and let crullers drop into
  deep, hot fat (375§F/190§C). Fry until well puffed up
  and golden brown in color, about 6 to 7 minutes. Drain
  on unglazed paper. Ice with confectioners' frosting.

  TO MAKE FROSTING: Cream 1 1/2 tablespoons shortening and
  continue creaming while slowly adding sugar. Add cream,
  salt, and vanilla and mix smooth.

  Yield: 18 crullers

  RECIPE FROM: https://www.allrecipes.com

  Uncle Dirty Dave's Archives

MMMMM

... "Any man who has $10,000 left when he dies is a failure." -- Errol Flynn

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