Topic: Question for Deltarider

[Deltarider]

Kelly, I wish I could find that BBC documentary again that was about US trying to sell cars in Japan. In spite there was no import tax then, only some 10.000 cars were imported. Interviewed was a lady that had bought one of them, a Jeep Cherokee. She had had nothing but repairs with that car. I admired her when she giggled in the camera about the list of repairs and her bad luck.
That same type of car has been in our garage for a couple of years. It was owned by an American couple that has lived here for three years to offer their 18 year old daughter a very lengthy treatment for her deadly skin cancer- the verdict in the US was she had only 20% of survival - which she could only get in our local princess Maxima hospital. In those years parts of their car broke down, that I never had thought possible to break down. Their second Cherokee was as bad as the first and I remember having seen even a worn drive shaft lying there. In the end they realised they didn't need a car at all and bought two bicycles. Oh, the daughter still lives and now travels the world.

[calj737]

I remember an Audi model, I believe it was the 5000 that had sudden acceleration issues causing hundreds of injuries and accidents. Late ‘70s to early ‘80s models were involved. So, by your analysis, ALL European cars are crap and anyone who buys one is a dolt. (Here’s the reference for you https://www.autosafety.org/audi-sudden-acceleration/)

Audi since recovered and makes millions of great cars globally today as a quality brand. Funny what time does to manufacturing experience.

[Kelly E]

I remember an Audi model, I believe it was the 5000 that had sudden acceleration issues causing hundreds of injuries and accidents. Late ‘70s to early ‘80s models were involved. So, by your analysis, ALL European cars are crap and anyone who buys one is a dolt. (Here’s the reference for you https://www.autosafety.org/audi-sudden-acceleration/)

Audi since recovered and makes millions of great cars globally today as a quality brand. Funny what time does to manufacturing experience.

Hey cal, remember VW and their "Clean Diesel"?

[ofreen]

Is your life's mission to spend all of your time insulting America?

I think delta is just having a little fun.  His use of the 2CV as an example is good evidence of that.  It was funny watching them go around curves with the body roll looking like they'd flop over at any time.  And we know racing at 30 mph isn't representative of European racing.  So well done, delta.

Different needs for different markets. Not better, not worse. Just different.

My european experience is limited to 2 1/2 weeks spent in Germany last spring.  But from what my daughter (who has traveled in many of the surrounding countries) tells me, the road environment in Germany is similar everywhere.  What I saw were small roads barely a lane and a half wide by US standards going through towns with the same streets they had in the Middle Ages.  Houses and buildings are right up against the road.  People literally step off their steps onto the road.  In between those towns are fields connected by narrow winding 2 lane.  The big cities weren't a lot different.  Streets were laid out in a haphazard manner, narrow as well.  The autobahns were the only roads that resembled a typical US highway, but even they had some features that had me scratching my head.  My daughter drives a Volvo (forget which model, but basically a small station wagon) that at times seems to big for the roads.  So, a different environment for sure.

...a Jeep Cherokee. She had had nothing but repairs with that car. I admired her when she giggled in the camera about the list of repairs and her bad luck.

Yep, Jeeps are problematic, have been for decades.  Their quality control sucks.  I wouldn't have one.  (Well, except for my '73 CJ5.  Reliability on that is nothing to brag about either) However, I know lots of people who bought BMWs, Mercedes, VWs, Volvos, Porsches, and other european makes.  They had plenty of nightmare stories about weird issues, expensive fixes and waiting for seemingly nonexistent parts.  The reality is that cars have become too complex.  Too many weak links in their design and construction.  I noticed independent suspensions held up as an ideal.  They are better for handling than a solid axle for sure, but they are fragile in comparison over the long haul.  My old first gen Toyota 4x4 pickup is an example of that.  The suspension on that is bombproof, the later Toyota pickups not so much.

[PeWe]

Before I found my CB750 K6  January 1979 I had ideas about a Mustang. Fastback with 351 engine late 60's-early 70's.
I read in the magazines with US muscle cars where shops had several for sale.

No one compared US muscle cars with european cars.
US muscle cars in its own league, dream cars for summer, use like a motorcycle.

I remember discussions which car that we liked without complaining on the other cars.
Mustang with V8 (straight 6 sedan, hell no!!)
Camaro earlier or later. Z28 something hotter like Challenger or Charger and which year they looked better.
Firebird also interesting but not as interesting as the other.

I knew one guy that had a Challenger 440 sixpack in the  early 80's, screaming green. I met him a few years ago still owning it. I think he had used it on the strip.

I can still not find any European car that is possible to compare with US muscle cars, even today with the later models.

I heard a hot engine revving at my usual gas station last year. Thought it was a modified US muscle car.
I saw an Audi S8..
Understood later it must have been an Audi S8 5.2 V10 FSI quattro.

I rode back home and saw the car in the mirrors before it passed me. I followed it in heavy side wind.
He did not floor it, I could follow on my K6, speedo showed 180-200kmh.
Other cars and 2-1 road so important to give when 2 lanes and pass the slower driving half speed

Nice car that must have good handling and 4WD with a hot engine.

Still not as a US muscle car.
Different cars.

Modern Mustangs, Challenger SRT Hellcat and Charger still dream cars !
600-1000hp!!!

Newer Corvette or an Audi R8? Still different cars.
Or a Porsche GT3???

I'll continue with my Friday drink.....

[calj737]

Hey cal, remember VW and their "Clean Diesel"?

Oh I do indeed. Thought about referencing that tale too, but to be honest, I applauded them and couldn’t believe they capitulated to the EPA and DOJ to write a 27BN check. Not a single palm tree, polar bear or ice cap was harmed in their programming, so WTF was the penalty for other than Greenie SIGs? Corruption to leverage funding a false promise…

[scottly]

[...]
My family's car growing up in the '60s was a 1959 VW bus. My dad set it up as a camper for all seven of us to sleep in, and it hauled us from California to Colorado and back more than once, as well as a trip to the Seattle Worlds Fair.
Early air-cooled VWs are still quite popular here, even more than SOHC Hondas.
[...]

Scottly, if you had read on the origin of the VW van, meaning, the chasis it was based on, you would realise what an inferior design it was.
Have you never wondered what the engine was doing... in the rear?! Isn't it there, where one is supposed to load the cargo?!
The "design" proposed by the Dutchman was inspired by a utility vehicle cobbled together from a Beetle chassis, to haul parts around the VW factory after the war. He was not an engineer, or even an employee of Volkswagen. The bus that was actually sold had a ladder type frame, and had a payload of up to 2200 pounds, depending on the model. The VIN tag on my '61 shows a capacity of 2090 pounds. The weight is carried in the center of the vehicle, where it belongs. 

[scottly]

Scottly I'm liking the plastic stackable chair seats. Did they survive the hard launches?

No, they barely survived the maiden voyage around the block.

[Kelly E]

Scottly I'm liking the plastic stackable chair seats. Did they survive the hard launches?

No, they barely survived the maiden voyage around the block.

As I suspected 

[Deltarider]

I never mean to bash countries. I can make fun of attitudes though, especially if people show no sense of humour. When an old pal from California came to visit me, I told him I'd collect him at the airport in a limo. I showed up in my neighbour's Smart*. To make good for it, I promised him that the next day I'd rent a convertible deluxe and I showed up in the 'Rasta' 2CV in the pic.
Although personally I don't like the appearance of Porsches - they all look like a flattened beetle to me - I must admit technically seen, they're about the best sportscars in the consumer market. Much to my surprise, recently in a periodically published test overview about which cars live longest and give the least problems - a list where one would expect only Toyota's, Honda's and the like - Porsche came second. Doesn't help me, I still find them ugly.
Years ago a friend of mine decided he wanted a car, built in the same year he was born and found an abandoned Skoda (1952) somewhere in Poland. What may look like rust in the pic, has been treated with something special and the car just keeps on running.
About roads. On holidays I always prefer countryroads over highways. In countries like France, Germany, Switzerland etc, you can expect a perfect turmac and they are a joy to tour. In the US I made the mistake to maintain my habit choosing minor roads. Alas..., we were going from pothole to pothole and repairs were sooo primitive it's a bloody shame for a country that is supposed to be so wealthy. 
* The irony of that Smart. I am 6'4 and the first I always do when I enter a car, is grab for the handle to bring the seat in the farthest position it will go. The only time I found myself at a too far distance from the wheel was - believe it or not - in that Smart.

[PeWe]

When I bought my now old Audi I saw other cars in the shop like 1 or 2 Ferrari, Porche etc.
I talked with the shop owner when I was drooling over the Ferrari engine inside rear window.
What a car!

The owner said he has newer Porsche as his favourite. A car that can be used for  commuting, to the nearby shop etc as a normal car. Reliable quality.

Ferrari a different animal.

[Deltarider]

[...] My family's car growing up in the '60s was a 1959 VW bus. [...]

Scottly, I don't know how extended your family is now, but here's an option to consider...
It's for sale now in the UK. Engine has been replaced by a 4 cyl. Audi S3 turbo engine.

[jlh3rd]

"I never mean to bash countries."....quote DR.
"About roads. On holidays I always prefer countryroads over highways. In countries like France, Germany, Switzerland etc, you can expect a perfect turmac and they are a joy to tour. In the US I made the mistake to maintain my habit choosing minor roads. Alas..., we were going from pothole to pothole and repairs were sooo primitive it's a bloody shame for a country that is supposed to be so wealthy. "...quote DR.




ok...um...what is that?...so, glossing over the obvious hypocrisy......

The U.S. has about 3.6 million sq miles of land. ( not counting inland lakes and the great lakes.)
We have a population of  250+ million people. With a massive rolling wheel based economy stretching from harbors and manufacturing to individual homes. It is massive.
    France, on the other hand, has a population of about 62+ million with a sq miles of a paltry 200+ thousand.
Do we need to delve into the other miniature countries you mentioned?

 This being said. Does it have to be further explained to you the vast difference in maintenance and upkeep?
However, THAT being said, from the time I got my first bike in 1972 till my last riding bike in '09, I've traveled all over my country's back roads and experienced many little towns and do not ever recall potholes after potholes .
There are  a minutiae of sparse sections where that may be encountered, but by far the back roads of the U.S. are a motorcyling AND driving paradise..........bar none!...
 
And furthermore, especially if you ride a harley, maintenance help is a phone call away or a dealership is close by.
And practically every little town in the U.S. has its individual business that can lend help to a motorcyclists' dilemma.
What are you trying to say, that out in the middle of a nevada desert there's not a big, shiny vintage honda dealership?........well, guilty as charged...

My limited exposure to roads in paris, coast of normandy, rome, venice showed me narrow, sparsely marked, and ...hmm... potholes......
I find our states' highways ( not interstates which are vastly superior in services and convenience ) and local 2 lane highways equal if not better than some of what I saw of the main highways overseas....

[Deltarider]

jih3rd, you clearly had more luck than we had.

[RAFster122s]

In America you can have this if you really want to and have the money to build it...bet you wouldn't in Europe

https://www.facebook.com/reel/341419301756970?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

[Don R]

In America you can have this if you really want to and have the money to build it...bet you wouldn't in Europe

https://www.facebook.com/reel/341419301756970?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

 I saw that van a few years ago at Cordova Dragway. The guy was learning to wheelie.  Per the beach boys comment on the last page, the engine sound in the song 409 was reportedly made by a friends 352 ford engine.

[calj737]

The U.S. has about 3.6 million sq miles of land. ( not counting inland lakes and the great lakes.)
We have a population of  350+ million people. With a massive rolling wheel based economy stretching from harbors and manufacturing to individual homes. It is massive.

FTFY 

[jlh3rd]

sorry...339,000,000...

[carnivorous chicken]

Have you never wondered what the engine was doing... in the rear?! Isn't it there, where one is supposed to load the cargo?!

I had a 1963 VW Variant (one year before it became the Squareback, from what I understand -- VW heads correct me if I'm wrong) when I was 18, cost me $350. Drove it from Seattle to Snoqualmie Pass to go snowboarding a bunch (anyone who snowboards -- I had a G&S Slicker!), and I would load some firewood in the back. When I bought it it had big al terrain tires, and I think out of ten times or so I had to put chains on once. I usually just chugged up the mountain while others slipped and slid around. This helped me understand the logic. Broke down near Palm Springs on a road trip (to skate Del Mar and other spots) the next year -- learned my lesson about air-cooled vehicles in the California desert during summer -- and sold it to some guy name Jimmy the Greek for $300. As a first-year car, from what I understand, it would be worth something today if I held on to it.

My family had a van, imported from Germany, and it took me and my 5 siblings and parents down to Oregon once a year for a few years to go camping. Fond memories.

*** Should add that the Variant was the first car I bought. My parents bought me and my twin a '67 Cougar with a 289 V8 for $500 when we turned 16 because they didn't want us driving their cars, including my mom's VW bug.

[Bailgang]

Does anyone know why the Jag E type is called an XKE here in the states but an E type pretty much everywhere else? Was it some sort of marketing gimmick by the US importers? 

[PeWe]

I could not resist to search.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_E-Type

[scottly]

 

[Stev-o]

Great clip, Scott!  Havent seen that movie in a long time, both cars had nice CHROME bumpers!!

[dave500]

open top jags with no seatbelts are very safe aswell,see how that driver just stood up unscathed,its
lucky he had that rodger ramjet (or was it boings from super six?)crash helmet on though?