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News Flash! Jerome Gets His Licks In With Jalopnik!

Ekh

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Spoke with Jerome Vassallo. Jalopnik showed up at the Elio display in Detroit, and they did a Facebook Live video ... Jalopnik learned a great deal, and his confrontational style smoothed out as Jerome patiently walked him through the car (which he'd never seen in the flesh), straightened him out about the engine (no, it isn't a reworked Metro engine), and generally gave him a smooth, comfortable education ... live, so they can't edit it too far or make it look like something it wasn't.

Go, Jerome! Go, Elio!
 

Coss

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Wouldn't it be funny, if GM went to Elio and asked to buy right to produce the motor so they could use it in the Spark?
(The Spark is like what the Metro used to be) A Spark, using an Elio motor, kind of like Elio using the Metro motor; this way to could come full circle.

Sorry, just a random thought.
 

larryboy

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I bet Jerome would like a do-over on this interview. I know I would like him to have one. When Jalopnik kept asking him why Elio developed a totally new engine he could have brought up the 4 must haves. It's hard to build a car with 90% North American content if the whole engine is built in Japan. Also, the new engine may very well become an export item because it is a nice combination of economy and power. Jerome could have also emphasized the point that the Elio is not just a conglomeration of any part that will fit. It is a combination of off the shelf parts with newly designed and manufactured parts where ever necessary. If Paul wanted a compromise that did not drive, handle or perform well he could have had the Elio in production by now. I am expecting my Elio to show the results of his attention to detail and dedication to excellence.
 

Ekh

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He's aware that he had options for dealing with the "build your own engine why" question. Yours are good answers too. I wish he'd said what he told me going on 3 years ago: because we want the car to deliver the mpg at highway speeds without revving itself to death. No engines out there have the necessary stroke for the needed torque." "Also," he told me then, "it's actually cheaper to do it ourselves. We don't have to pay a markup to the supplier, and we don't have to hope they can build in the numbers we need."

I thought on the whole he did very well, taken by surprise. His good manners never failed. And here's the other good thing: jalopnik came across as needlessly agressive and twerpy, while Jerome came across as friendly, patient, and mature. Guess who won the personality battle?
 
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