They weren't destroyed in many cases; they were sold overseas
Proof? One of the stipulations of C4C was that the engine get permanently destroyed by pouring "liquid glass" into the crankcase and running it till the engine is seized and every internal part rendered useless. A last minute scramble was made to exempt rare old cars with difficult to find parts, not sure how effective it was.
I was at a Ford dealer parts counter during that time. Behind the counter were THREE pallets of the "liquid glass," which had no place on a repair shop's shelves before or after C4C. I also lots full of beautiful cars in perfectly good condition, waiting to be destroyed and disposed of.
Letting the domestic car industry fail would have had terrible ripple effects long term on our economy. The bailout, while controversial and with problematic aspects, was probably worth doing in the big picture.
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