Any of you guys on the other side off the "Pond" have American cars? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

truckinik · #1 03-27-2007, 11:44 AM

Any of you Brits, Aussies' or anyone else on the other side of the "Pond' have American cars, in your stables?

t walgamuth · #2 03-27-2007, 01:16 PM

don't hold your breath on this one.

tom w

R Leo · #3 03-27-2007, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

don't hold your breath on this one.

tom w

Granted, there are zillions of Holdens but, I also saw a lot of old Detroit iron in Australia. Plus, it was manufactured for that market because they were all RHD.

I saw:
a mid-60s F100 that looked just like the TOAD
several mid-60s Ponitacs...Bonneville etc
and a few Chevys..can't late 70s maybe early 80s issue???

Jim B. · #4 03-27-2007, 06:11 PM

Lack of right hand drive, high petrol prices, general
perception of American cars as "crap" cars, difficulty in handling in tight city quarters, lack of dealer and service support are some of the things that conspire against them. Also, they are taxed and subject to the MOT insection and rust that afflict all cars in England. Typical cars and minivans are usually kept on the road for just a few years, then discarded like kleenex, after being bought new.

There was an effort to sell Cadillacs and Corvettes there for a while but it collapsed. Still, they are seen from time to time, but usually specialty type cars, like the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Corvette, Camaro, Mustang, Cadillac Seville, (I once saw a new Olds 88 sedan near the US embassy in London) Ford Explorers are only bought by die hards.

Many of them are just too ungainly, and the engines too large and thirsty, and the build quality too shoddy, to interest big car fanciers there. They tend towards BMW 7 series, Mercedes S class, Jaguar/Daimler, for those desiring large luxury rides, some of which are available with smaller, or diesel engines not available in the USA. You would think a car like the Ford Crown Victoria with a name like that, would sell. But I never once saw one in England. Not ever.

There are some collector clubs there, but the cars aren't daily drivers
http://www.american-auto-club.co.uk/

here was a 1957 Ford Skyliner that got blown apart by a rocket launching BSA 650 motorcycle in James Bond's "Thunderball" (1965) in a chase scene

http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_4506-Ford-Fairlane-500-Skyliner-1957.html

Interesting subject, Nick.

Jim B. · #5 03-27-2007, 06:29 PM

The big American boats of the '50's and '60's are especially loved and cherished in Scandanavia. The filmmaker Aki Karismaki loved to use them in his films. In "Ariel" (1988) the car star was a white '61 Cadillac convertible
http://www.imcdb.org/movie_94675-Ariel.html
that travelled from Lapland south towards Helsinki. Some of his movies featured cars like the huge '71 Buick wagon with the clamshell tailgate, Dodge Aspen, '55 Packard, and several others.

I visited the Mercedes dealer in Hyvinkaa (north of Helsinki) and there was a '71 Plymouth 'Cuda 440 parked outside, I was REAL surprised to see that, in such a quiet little place, where my old pen pal lived, when I visited him.

Cadillac club of Finland:
http://www.cadillacclub.fi/

Mustang Club of Germany, that has German owners re-creating the '68 Mustang used in the Steve McQueen movie "Bullitt"

http://www.ponysite.de/

t walgamuth · #6 03-27-2007, 08:25 PM

i saw some american cars in luxemburg, holland and belgium. cant remember seeing any anyplace else exept the odd one owned by american service men.

this was in 1973.

tom w

Eberhard Weilke · #7 03-27-2007, 08:29 PM

...US cars are pretty rare.

GM tried in the years ago to sell Buick Park Avenue, Cadillac, Corvette.

No big success. Some Cadillacs are on the road, some Corvette, almost no Buick.

The Pontiac TransSport had some followers, when it was the original thing, but they comletely disapeared.

Chrysler had some success with the Voyager and the Cherokee an Grand Cherokee, but with the passenger cars they failed.

If you want to see US cars as daily drivers, you have to go to Switzerland. They even used them as cabs.

The only US car I would really love to own was never sold here: The Crown Vic heavy duty long wheelbase with CNG engine.

Kind regards
Eberhard

danwatt · #8 03-28-2007, 03:30 AM

Richard Hammond had a Dodge Charger, now he has a Mustang. Obviously that represents all of Britain.

Ara T. · #9 03-28-2007, 06:17 AM

Actually Ford does quite well in Europe... they have the Mondeo over there with is a good car with a good suspension (aka not Americanized). Many Europeans don't like the Japanese cars because they're viewed as frumpy and boring.

tc20 · #10 03-28-2007, 08:32 AM

Hi all,
although i dont own a yank tank, at some point i'd like to have a Mustang ( a rel one of course, 64-68model) and there quite a few over here. You may be aware that the Irish economy has been thru a pretty good phase for the last 10 years or so (the Celtic Tiger they call it, tho things are starting maybe to just falter, so we may see the emergence of the Celtic Trout) Anywho i digress, but this unprecedented level of wealth has led to an upsurge in the amount of classics on our roads. 10 or 15 years ago you would be lucky to spot a Porsche, now they're nothing special, along with Ferraris, Lambos, Bentleys, Aston Martin et al
With regard to US cars, the only modern ones really are usually attached to the Embassy. There a few F150s and Dodge Rams on the road, the 300C is a welcome sight (love the sinister looks of those)
Theres quite a few classic cars from the US of A here too. have a look at this
www.geocities.com/aaairl
I actually got in touch with these guys, very friendly people too, to use one of their club members cars as our wedding car. Being a petrol head, i didnt want the normal run of the mill wedding cars that folk normally use here (Daimler Landaulet/Rolls etc) so we got a beautiful '73 Caddy El Dorado convertible. If you like you can check out some of the car (plus meself and herself) at www.willoreilly.com - we're the very happy couple in gallery 1.
Will is the brother of Annies best friend, who is also in one of the pics.

truckinik · #11 03-28-2007, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

don't hold your breath on this one.

tom w

No Seriously.. These are exactly the answers I was looking for. This is perfect. I know I've seen Jeeps, and Hummers, all over Tanzania, and Yemen. Even a few other odd American beasts over in Amsterdam, and such. I was just curious as to who might have what, in their garage, or know of any. I'm sure, a lot of the American vehicles in these countries were brought over, and then left behind by servicemen, over the years.
I once talked to a guy, who brought his then new '78 "Bandit" Trans-Am to Germany when he was in the Navy or something. 4 years later, he sold the car, before leaving there, to a German guy who was in love with it from the day it was brought over. I just wanted to know how common it really is, to even see them out in these other countries. These were the answers I got..
I travel a lot of the world regularly now, but don't always get a lot of time to check out a lot of the scenery. I generally work, the whole time I'm wherever I am. Get in, and get out. I'll get some photos though, next time I see a Chevelle, sitting in front of the Eifel Tower.

Jorn · #12 03-29-2007, 02:47 AM

There is a Cadillac diesel in Europe...

t walgamuth · #13 03-29-2007, 08:08 AM

you mean it is offered there new?

or there is one there period.

cause we had a lot of them here in the eighties.

tom w

tc20 · #14 03-29-2007, 08:48 AM

I haven't seen ant new Caddys here, diesel or otherwise, tho i know the Escalade sells quite well amongst the overpaid primadonnas in the Premiership (top league in UK soccer).
The Chrysler 300C is offered in Ireland with either 3L diesel or choice of two petrol engines (5.7 hemi being the larger). You see a few Chrysler PT Cruisers around too, tho not that many. The Corvette has just been launched on the market here, tho i aint seen one