Chrysler starts from scratch?

Some memorable moments with Chrysler.

Long ago, before my mom and stepfather split, he tooled around the streets of Honolulu in a muscle car -- a white Chrysler with a black top. Drove her crazy. He didn't care. It was 1970, gas was cheap and most American men loved to burn rubber in their U.S.-made burners.

In the mid-1990s, Chrysler fell on bad times and merged with Daimler, a company I'd never heard of. That day, I bought my first stock: C. Bought at 40 on the news and sold at 46, did it all over the phone. (I was a day or so away from trading online on my fancy new computer.) That same day, I bought C again, this time at 43, and sold again at 46. It was too easy, but it was real.

Today, Chrysler is officially part of Fiat, or is it the other way around? It's called a surgical bankruptcy and Obama blames the greedy of hedge funds and bondholders for this drastic measure.

Fiat? An old friend from the basketball days at Ala Wai Park, Eric, drove around in a red Fiat. Tiny little thing and he drove it like time was ticking down for every second he spent in that car. Maybe three of us could fit in it. I haven't seen many Fiats in Honolulu since. Talk about an instant speeding ticket waiting to happen. Red.

I haven't bought Chrysler stock in all these years. But I do like my Ford shares. While the rest of the market is schizo, F just moves up or down (mostly up lately) in an orderly way. Like a stately grandfather surrounded by a dozen of his most hyper grandkids. He's just smiling and having fun. Ford will survive as America's only automaker. Besides, they make the Mustang. Coolest American car out there.