I have an old wheel loader, a backloader called Volvo BM 222 that’s almost 50 years old. The BM series was very popular, but mine is a bit of a rare model, with only 39 made. Though the paint job doesn’t look as good as when it rolled out of the factory and it has some bumps and bruises, it works as good as when it was new (at least it will when I get a new battery). I love my BM222, and it’s a pure pleasure to move snow with it.

Best of all: It will work as well in 50 years, as it’s all mechanical and can be repaired. The wheel loaders made today have lots of electronics, and within a few decades, spare components will not be possible to find, but my wheel loader is “heavy metal”, all mechanics, nothing fancy, and if something should break, a new part can be improvised by just about any decent mechanic.

Soyuz-FG is considered a member of the R-7 family, but it’s lengthened, it has additional upper stage elements and, of course, there are many minor updates to the system – even if the design is basically the same, control and telemetry systems now use IC’s and not analog data transmitters and vacuum tubes.

Although, you could also say the same about Proton. Even if the Proton rocket is basically the same, it would also have updated electronics and such..

So… call that an honorable mention?

It’s not always a cut and dry kind of thing…

        DV82XL said:

Well isn’t that statement pregnant with most of the reasons why I am glad I am retired. In my day “incredible abuse” and “scrap bin” were not a terms used in reference to high precision machine tooling.

However my point still stands, yes these units start out as very good machines – they just don’t last. I doubt that any of them will be running for half a century, like their predecessors did.

I suppose “abuse” of high precision machine tools would be the kind of thing that ought to get someone fired, but there are plenty of things that take abuse because of no one person’s fault. Given the example of the streetcar, what kind of public transportation vehicle is not going to take a lot of abuse from passengers and occasionally a driver who is a bit heavy handed with the break? Something like an AK-47 is bound to get abuse sometimes. It’s not like these are restricted to indoor shooting ranges. In a battle they could easily have to get dragged through dirty environments and go for long periods without getting broken down for a proper cleaning.

        Steve said:

Many Japanese machine tools are considered the best machines built, ever. I fully expect brands such as Mori Seiki to last generations, but considering the incredible abuse they receive because of their sturdiness, you’ll see plenty in the scrap bin.

Great post, and great discussion!

Well, it’s not an exclusively American or Western thing. Yes, I agree that there are things made in Japan or elsewhere that are of extremely high quality. I think the reference has more to do with the quintessential “made in china” product that you find at your local Walmart or whatever and has been made as cheap as possible and stamped out. It’s not like “Made in the USA” means quality either. My family had a Zenith television – the last brand to stop manufacture in the US and it was pretty damn shotty thing. When it broke (after just a few years) I opened it up to find the thinest gauge wire and shotty construction I’ve seen.

Another story from my family: My parents bought a television when they got married. A Sony Trinatron in the year 1978. That was the family television until the early 1990’s and was used pretty frequently. After that it was moved to the playroom where it was on a shelf and ended up falling off several times, landing flat on the floor from a fall of a good four or five feet. It’s now in my brother’s room in my parent’s house. Still works and has as good a picture as any standard-def SDTV.

Anyway, that’s anecdotal, I know, but Sony built their stuff very well in the 1970’s and 1980’s, although less so these days. In the postwar era, Japan got a reputation for producing crappy fall-apart products and eventually the companies realized this and this caused them to really work to overdo quality in the 70’s and 80’s to win back a descent reputation – which can be very hard to do.

Now mind you, this post is not just about things that last a long time and are durable, but examples of where the capabilities of an old technology are as good as or better than new. Something like the DC-3 is simply the best plane to transport a few tons of cargo to a landing strip in Alaska. It was in 1940 and it is now, even despite all the progress made since then in aviation. The PCC is about the best street car going today as it was when it first rolled out.

When it comes to stuff that is overbuilt there are a few areas where you see it a lot: Stuff made in Russia has a reputation for being overbuilt; anything that is mil-spec; stuff intended for use in railroad applications.