Germans can be strange by our standards for sure!

I had a couple of odd things happen while driving in Germany thirty some years ago (maybe not odd but perhaps characteristically German):

1. I was entering the autobahn and ahead of me on the entrance/ acceleration ramp a car was crawling along. I just swung over and passed it on the inside shoulder (plenty of room no issue there). The driver honked madly at me.....I thought...WTF? I am supposed to stay behind someone crawling on an entry ramp? Germans are very very much into following the rules to the letter.

2. Another time I was in heavy traffic in my clapped out but fine running 59 VW. It had a hole in the muff and was fairly loud. A german came up beside me and said ...."You should fix your muffler....etc.". I said...."Thank you"....and thought "WTF, if I had money to fix it I would, but I was a penniless college student trying to see the old world and its lovely Architecture. Running a loud muff was against the law there.

Running a car with safety weaknesses is verboten too. I had an acquaintance who was pulled over and his car impounded because it had a bald tire.

And if a car has any rust that is unfixed it will be taken off the road and you either fix it or you cannot run it there. At that time the rusty ones could be exported to other countrys where the road laws were not so strict, like Italy.

I am mostly German ancestry but I find the attitudes perplexing. I do share some of the characteristics of the ancestors but am uniquely American in many ways too.

I always say "the best Germans immigrated to the US".

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.