Court Upholds GM on X-Cars

WASHINGTON — Three federal appellate judges today upheld a lower court’s finding that there was no evidence General Motors Corp. knowingly sold 1.1 million 1980 X-cars with alleged brake defects.

The panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington affirmed U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson’s 1987 rejection of government claims that the cars had an inherent defect that caused rear brakes to lock up prematurely and spin out of control under certain circumstances.