Grog makes a good point. I remember when if your car made it to 100K miles, it was not only a big deal, but the engine was usually totally ready for a complete rebuild.
Today a car with 100K miles that has had any care at all is merely used. Chevy and other makes make cars that are better engineered than anything even thought of in the 60's.
I love 60's and 70's cars, and have driven many of them. Their body styles were often wonderful and distinctive, much more so than today's cars.
Regardless, today's cars are more durable, more economical to drive, and FAR more powerful for comparable sized engines. It blew my mind when I heard that Mustang V6 engines had more than 300 HP. I never thought I'd hear of that in a production passenger car.
I personally think that rescuing GM was a good idea. I think the economic disruption and the negative perception caused by its failure would have added such bad news to the recession that the effect would have made it considerably worse. Perception is almost as important as reality when it comes to a recession or depression.