Word: bmw
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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GEMACHT IN THE U.S.A. Worried about Japanese entries into the luxury car market, BMW will abandon a 40-year tradition of crafting cars exclusively in West Germany. American suppliers have been told that the company plans to open an assembly plant in the U.S. in the mid-1990s to cut delivery time. But will a BMW not built in Bavaria have the same snob appeal...
Ideally, an emblematic passage would provide the unambiguous evidence of awfulness. Alther's opening three words ("An ivory BMW") and her initial description of her middle-aged, open-married Manhattan heroine ("Clea Shawn was a sophisticated woman . . . she'd been in love so often that her heart felt like a sponge mop") are certainly warning signs. So is Alther's early summary of the passions that bind two women "Elke felt like a pile of nails being pulled to pieces by a magnet residing inside Clea." But such maladroit introductory passages could be dismissed as the ironic setup...
Designed with the smoggy Los Angeles basin in mind, the battery-powered prototype accelerates from 0 to 60 m.p.h. in 8 seconds -- faster than a BMW 325i -- and has a range of 120 miles between recharges. The Impact would cost about twice as much to operate as an average car, primarily because the batteries would have to be replaced every 20,000 miles...