Chrysler came up with a couple of really good concepts for cars back in the 80s, just after their last bailout. The invented the minivan, which I thought was brilliant, and the "K-car" was a pretty decent "American-size" economy car.

At the time, the fuel-efficient Japanese cards were all considerably smaller than US-made cars; not like today, when the most popular Toyota and Hondas are just as big as similar models of American cars. The Chrysler K-cars were precursors of today's Camrys, Accords, Sonatas, etc.

If the transmissions in those vehicles weren't so prone to failure, Detroit might not be in such bad shape today.

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My grandfather had a wonderful, big, comfortable 1952 Studebaker Land Cruiser. It's the first car I can remember riding in, and I still have fond memories. The Studies of those years were the most futuristically designed of all American cards. Later on, as the company was fixing to die, their designs became very boring and boxy (except for the Avanti, which continued the tradition of radical streamlining all by its lonesome).