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WHffBY FRE PRESS, WYEDNESDAY, MAY 20,1992Z PAGE 21 by-JiI Mclntosh' Taking the taxis In 1896, the Baron de Zùaylen of France took bis new Peugeot bock to the factory for- repairs. A company mechanie made off with it, and the baron went down in history as the fr-et person to repr a stolen car. Wedesto say, w. probablr wont b. able to report the worldsa laet one until every automobile is. gone from -the face of the earth. When I drove a tai in Toronto in the early 1980a, I was always axnazed at how many taxis were stolen. Àfter ail, they were pretty dificuit ta pick, out on a busy street. Each one was painted i bright company colours, and had an illuminatedsign on the roof and large nffmbers on bath front doors, trunk and roof light. Some of thein evèn had two-foot-bigh advertising signe that man the length of the r6ef. Nevertheless, a large number of people seemed ta, want themi, even if te edid't always ralz js how they wrkedL- . On. day, we had one stolen by a teenager who kept talking on the cab- radio while h. was driving around. This was q uit. a- problem, for not only was theca missn ,but no one else could get throuh on the radio wbile he was talldng" the other drivers couldnt, hear their orders. The young lad'e, radio debut proved to b. his downfall. When two taxis are close ta each other and on. driver uses his radio, the other driver often hears a burst of static on his own radio. - That's exactly wbat happened in this case. Hearing the familiar fuzzy reception on this receiver, on. driver turned around - and spotted the stalen cab sitting two cars behind him. Not ail thieves were quit. as brazen and preferred ta work undetected. Troronto's. Cbecker Cab'dealership was a favourite, with thein, because the repair shop was i the very back of the building, out cf sight. One night, it was broken into by thieves who had a lot of tinie oni their bande. There was a Checker- inside the building and the croolca decided ta use it for their getaway car. Checkers were famous for their large interior space, and the thieves'Imade good use cf it. They filled every inch cf that car with tools. Tii. bock seat, the floor, the trunk and even the glovebox were stuffed'with anytbing that wasnt bolted down. We estimated that they spent at least an hour and a half' packing that car. I kriow that becuselIhelped ta unpack it the next morning. They didnt get away with a singe item ane unfortunately, we neyer got a picture cf their faces when they tried'ta, drive the car away. The reason it was inside the shop was, because uts tras- mission was leaning against the far wail awaiting repairs. COhMG EVENTS There are a few treats for automotive enthusiasta .coming up, so b. sure ta mark your' calendar. On Saturday, May 30, Street Dreams Car Club wiil hold a car wash at the Rebel gas bar, corner of Dundas and Thickson roads in- Whitby, fin 9.a.m. ta, 3 p.m. A feton ofthe proceeds will go te SEE PAGE 24 A CUTAWAY SATURN used to show the Motor City Saturn SAAB'Isuzu. steel space trame of the car on dlsplay at Saturn Uni on, company working relationship. pays o-f f By Glen Konorowski Fe yearsago, General Motors (GM) teck a bod step forward with the Saturn division. Tue gal cf the, Satura division was tmake acaron which both the company and the union worked togthe. Ti.prime concera c bath parties wculd be the worker and his teani. That bald stop has sèemed ta work eut fer GM. Over the past five years, tIi. plant has had enly five major grievances. Employee morale aIse seema gocd. 0f the -5,000 staff, there bas enly been a handful cfUtrmnations. A union representative men- tioned that an'equivalent GM plant cf this siz.ý anywhere else would have had 50,000 grie- vances at this point mi time. It shows that co-operation between management and union. can work. On. of' the major reasons why the wcrkers-get along so well is that. they are masters of their own fate. Teains of workers hire their own staff and also, deal with the problemas concerning their. own _staff. Management is looked upon as a resource, ta belp the teain work toward the ultimata coal of better cars. Each S aturn employee is encouraged ta qet a minimum cf 92 heurs cf training or schooling tawards their job. If that isn't accomplished, u? te 5 per cent cf their wage. is in.leopardty. By doing this, bath union and management feel that they can aan make building a car a craft adnot just a ob. Tus training, toc, has paid off, ivehic e defecta, for exaniple. A. ratio cf 1.7 defects per car rnake the vehicle one of the.best i the marketplace. During the tirst year cf production, the output of the plant was lower than expec- ted, because the teanis were stapping the line te, correct their own defects before they becine a problem. To keep up with the, hih demand, for the- cars, the employees voted 87,per cent'in faveur of working-four. 10-heur days ta.keep up with demand. At 980 cars a,-day, the wcrkers have managed ta keep defect othe saine level achieved at a 40-heur week. It is this dedication te, work that has, in niy eyes, made the Saturn vehicles bâter than the rest. Consumer bocks have sta- ted the Satura is as good or batter than maàny Asian. imports. Se, if it'si quality and workxnan- ship youtre -afler i a new car, the Satura might be the place ta, start looking. OWASCO ýVW 2OTHý Vear Model' 1992 Eurovan 1991 ConraI6 1991 Passat GL 1991 Fox 1991 Audi 90 1992 Golf 1992 Jetta 1992 Golff 1992 Golf 1992 Jetta Trank Ssp. Auto 4sp. Auto- Ssp. Auto Ssp. 5SRi Options - cru*1sé, MetaIlk Paint Loaded Roof, Leaher Air, Red Peau Whâe, Audi Card 4 Door, MetallcPalrït 4 Dor, Pwr. SteeringifIt Gil, Air, Roof, Cnjlse i;j Sports Seats, Sun Root Seq. 1837 0986 9838 7894 7126 6486 7862 527T Price $18,000, $22,500- $19,900 $ 9,812 $26,9W 0 $ 9,748 $12,148 $10,624 $13,760 $12,028 20 CARS, SPECIALLY PRUCED. FOR 1THIS CELEBRATION!! STARTS ON MAY 201H, LASTS FOR 20 DAYS No charge freight, PDI on new cars. Ail applicabletaxces on aIl cars. Ad must be presented at time of sale. N h ANNIVERSARY SALE! 1990 Fox 4, p AM M Cassette 18 1990 GAuto Air, 4 Door. Pwvr. Steering 6354$ 1991- Passât GL > Auto Locks,Wndows etc.. 3256$ 1991' Passat Auto Rooft :>'1 9188$ 1992 Eurovan- Auto FulIt EquiXped ---2435 1990 Vanagon Bus , Auto- Air, P.W. PL 0358$ 1988 GMC Auto 12 SeatAir. PW, PL 1858$ 1990 GMç Camper Auto Air, PL,* PW 2457$ 1988 Gogf Auto Sunma2f, Mags 6104$ 1990 Audi Quattro Coupe 5sp. FulIy Loaded 8W21$ q ~&.ê.*s*.&ê-..a *U&6* £4* béé A&A&1 LMégg.LaKwa4,t.L8auwE,2.r./' 'rice $ 5,900 $ 9,500 $15,800 $13,900 ,21,500 $12,900 s 8,995 $21,900 $ 5,400, $17,995