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Does American Junk Food Define American Cars?

Agent009 submitted on 09/17/2007 Official AutoSpies Timestamp: 11:12 AM
from: www.telegraph.co.uk

[52] user comments | category: New Cars

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Does American Junk Food Define American Cars?

Since I'm still in the States this week, I thought I'd have another go at headbanging that old chestnut about American cars and why they never work in Europe. Because, let's be honest, they generally don't. There have been one or two surprising successes in recent years, such as the Jeep 4x4s, but on the whole you drive an American car only if you're an Elvis impersonator or a dealer in vintage Wurlitzer jukeboxes. That is, a bit unhinged.

I've been driving a few this week; not just the ludicrous "recreational vehicle" I told you about last week, but also the Dodge Grand Caravan (a large MPV, or what the yanks would call a "minivan"), the Dodge Ram 1500 Big Horn Edition (no, honestly, it's a pick-up) and the new Mustang convertible. And there is a common characteristic that is apparent in all of them and in every other mainstream American car I've ever tried. They don't seem to be very good.

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DaHarder - 9/17/2007 11:27:32 AM

+1 Boost

Dumb/Obvious Question...

Of Course... DUH!

Big Fat Butts Require Big Fat Vehicles.

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EnnNorak - 9/17/2007 11:11:22 PM

0 Boost

I've lost some weight in my old age but I still like those great big cushy living room seats for comfort. My wife is a lot skinnier than I am and she prefers those big seats also.

DaHarder - 9/17/2007 11:31:50 AM

+4 Boost

... In addition, as someone having been stationed/TDY in Europe many times during my 20 years in the USAF, many American cars are no less 'Rubbish' (from a quality perspective) than the vast majority of vehicles I drove over there.

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jl3787 - 9/17/2007 12:38:44 PM

+2 Boost

Im 1979 my uncle had a brand new Dodge car and had alot of problems.

He went to the dealership complaining about claping noise he was hearing in the lower part of the driver's door.

The mecanic took off the inside panel and discovered a Pepsi Cola bottle.

Is that incredible or what!

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EnnNorak - 9/17/2007 11:19:35 PM

+2 Boost

I'm not surprised. Its the UAW. When I drove home after picking up a brand new 1963 Ford convertible from the factory (they had factory predelivery in those days fo a nominal fee), I was in a hurry to get the top down and discovered that the UAW had left a pair of pliers in the canvas top mechanism which promptly punched a hole through the canvas. The UAW was famous for sabotage in those days.

I know of another case where the UAW represented workers in an electronics firm and they threw oil in the wave soldering machine as a deliberate act of sabotage. This happened in the eighties so there is at least a 20-year history of UAW sabotage that I'm aware of.

Jonathan - 9/18/2007 12:04:20 AM

+1 Boost

Did your uncle get to keep the bottle deposit? :)

jl3787 - 9/17/2007 12:45:22 PM

+2 Boost

Im a big fan of muscle cars from the 60s and 70s.

The only american car i would seriously buy is the 2008 Dodge Challenger.

But this car would only be a weekend's car.

My every day car would be european or japanese.

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EnnNorak - 9/17/2007 11:22:05 PM

+2 Boost

MY everyday car is a leased A6 Quattro but its replacement next spring may well be a 2008 CTS which I plan to purchase.

EL34 - 9/17/2007 12:55:14 PM

+2 Boost

Well I would have to say American cars are big, but it's not because we're fat from eating junk food. If you think about it when the first European settlers came here there were no ancient civilizations, like there was no Stonehenge, Giza Pyramids or Great Wall of China. There was wide open spaces in every direction and when cities were built the streets were build wide and big, unlike the streets in England and Italy. Now it's time for me to go out and get some deep fried fish and chips with about 10 pints of Double Diamonds and top it off with a Sticky Toffee Pudding and a Spotted Dick!

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EnnNorak - 9/17/2007 11:28:25 PM

+1 Boost

America is big and beautiful. Everyone in North America should drive I-15 South, cross over to CA on I-80 and drive North again on I-5 or along the Pacific coast.

M35MT - 9/17/2007 1:16:16 PMView My AgentSpace

+7 Boost

American cars, for the most part, are "dumbed downed" for the mainstream. This goes for ALL American products, including television, music, food, etc.

They are capable...of building a decent car, the majority just isnt interested.

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M35MT - 9/19/2007 8:47:08 AMView My AgentSpace

+1 Boost

I'm an American. I HATE American pop culture with a passion.

henbmw - 9/19/2007 6:21:34 PM

+1 Boost

Yeah you Europeans can take Britney Spears if you like. We wouldn't miss her.

Shredmo - 9/17/2007 1:16:56 PM

+4 Boost

Tell me it isn't so, an Englishman that does not like American cars????

So he doesn't like the Dodge truck, van or even the Rustang. What is he comparing these cars too. Surely nothing English. If you use these vehicles in the manner they were designed, they are just fine. Wow, a 3/4 ton truck rides rough. That is nearly equal in size to the lorries in the UK.

Also, a shepherd's pie tastes like ass, EVEN if it is made in an RV. EVERY American knows this. Maybe this certain pie sucked as the author's tastebuds were infected with unwanted American taste. Duh!

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M35MT - 9/17/2007 1:53:33 PMView My AgentSpace

+5 Boost

British food is the worst in the world for sure. And you make a great point about the English cars. Isnt it great the way they group all European cars together?

Htay7500 - 9/17/2007 4:22:59 PM

+2 Boost

I agree, good pt about fullsize trucks.

no1listensanyway - 9/17/2007 1:19:46 PMView My AgentSpace

+2 Boost

That guy is an Ass, along with the whole top gear team. They are not by any means respectable journalists, they are just British Nationalists who are still pissed about the Revolutionary War.

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jl3787 - 9/17/2007 2:43:20 PM

+3 Boost

I think he is a British Nationalists who is jealous about the american relax way of living.

The same goes with the french visiting Quebec.

There is something about old europe hating the new world.

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alfistiDK - 9/17/2007 3:35:12 PM

-2 Boost

"There is something about old europe hating the new world"

Rubbish....We just dont like your bloody cars, since we dont need to haul 10 tons with huge trucks...nor do we want crappy gas milage from ancient engine designs...or leaf springs from a ox chart.

Allmost all US cars gets bad reviews in Europe...is that because we hate the US ? Hardly...The US just dosent produce cars that appeal to us...whats so hard to understand about it ? Its quite simple....

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Shredmo - 9/17/2007 3:54:22 PM

+2 Boost

The review of American cars by this mullet wearing bastard is equal to me testing out an ocean going freighter for a fun Saturday at the lake.

Maybe this "journalist" needs to put his test results into perspective. If you don't need to haul 10 tons, don't use a tool that hauls 10 tons.

On a side note: Why is it that on "The Worlds Worst Drivers" TV program, 30% of the vehicles are English compacts towing 6,000 lb trailers? They are always wrecked as the vehicle cannot handle the task. Is there possibly a difference between appropriate and appealing? Seems too simple

M35MT - 9/19/2007 8:50:14 AMView My AgentSpace

+1 Boost

Ancient engine designs???

Before the Discovery 3 came out, the Disco2 had a block from the Soviet-Era! Pathetic!!

alfistiDK - 9/17/2007 4:12:50 PM

+1 Boost

Yes Top gear certainly is a entertainment program more than a factual car show. But its not top gear in general that test US cars in Europe is it ? Allmost the same results all the time anyway....

All this "all is giving us bad reviews cause they envy us" bullshit is just that, bullshit. We certainly dont envy gass guzling slow dinosaurs...we do envy your low car and gaz prices though :)

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Shredmo - 9/17/2007 4:25:16 PM

+1 Boost

You make a good point, but I feel my post is more entertaining :)

alfistiDK - 9/17/2007 4:56:08 PM

-3 Boost

Midengine:
This isent a pissing contest...if you want me to list what the Euro brands have won through time then go ahead.

You might been able to fool us with spin doctors and media manipulations with your nutty president, but your not gonna fool us with your cars ...Even though one of them has won Le mans in the lower GT class :)

About nobel prices....so if your contry gets enough prices, your gonna make great sportscars automaticly ? :)

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Shredmo - 9/17/2007 5:07:44 PM

+2 Boost

Europe or English?

I won't ague that there are many good euro brands available, but they certainly are not English, as the author happens to be. His hair is absolutely horrible, BTW.

While we are at it, can Americans claim Japanese and Korean cars made in the US as American?

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alfistiDK - 9/17/2007 10:10:21 PM

+2 Boost

I have not written anywhere that Americans are fat, lazy non innovative people. I like the US and its people and has nothing against them, and a little joke sidenote about Bush isent anti American in any way..

I keep talking about the cars, and you keep talking about how cool stuff your inventing :) , we all know that the US is creating lots of great stuff, but lets discuss the core, your cars...not your fighter planes :)

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cdoke - 9/17/2007 11:12:07 PMView My AgentSpace

+1 Boost

Midengine,

I do not believe that anyone in their right mind would argue that Americans are not innovative.

I have heard all of the particularly uninformed opinions of the self-hating freshmen engineers who argue that the United States is not a scientfic power or is losing the position they once maintained. Often the primary thing they cite in terms of fundamental science is teh Large Hadron Collider being built at CERN.

Of course these people are too young to remember that in 1992 had Bill Clinton not had a propensity for cutting or cancelling military and scientific spending and keeping social program spending, the issue would have been resolved. He also had some exterior pressure to implement the ISS, which relative to teh SSC is a fundamentally superficial scientific endeavor. The Higgs Boson issue could have been resolved about 13 years ago.

The United States government and educational institutions were building what, had it been completed, would have been the largest single machine ever built by the human race- The Superconducting Super Collider (SSC). This device to be quite frank makes the CERN LHC look like a tinker toy. The LHC is 17 mi across and capable to a total collision energy of 14 TeV. The SSC was planned at 54 mi across and would have been capable of 40 TeV total collision energy.

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jl3787 - 9/17/2007 4:37:51 PM

+2 Boost

Im from Canada and have a cell phone store in downtown Montreal. 35% of my clientele are europeans visiting the city.

Alot of them are complaining: "its to expensive, you have old phones, its better back home, ect..."

I think its more natural for europeans to complain.
Especially the french and brits.

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Jonathan - 9/18/2007 12:08:50 AM

+1 Boost

The cell phone thing is true though... Europe seems to get all the good phones years before we do.

XYZZ - 9/19/2007 9:08:32 PM

+1 Boost

in asia too.

is the u.s. the most backward, of the technologically 'advanced' nations?

AgentOrange - 9/17/2007 4:48:38 PMView My AgentSpace

+5 Boost

Does American Junk Food Define American Cars?
Ummmm, no. But it does define Americans..

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alfistiDK - 9/17/2007 6:42:10 PM

+2 Boost

have you even tasted sake ?..nothing perfect bout that taste :)

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alfistiDK - 9/17/2007 10:16:49 PM

+1 Boost

"the gap that already exists between German cars and Japanese?
German cars are wonderful, but Japanese cars also wonderful"

That dident make any sense to me, if they are both wonderfull, who has the gap ? :)

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JWalkerLegrande - 9/20/2007 2:00:03 PM

+1 Boost

I beg to differ...

Sushi is raw fish full with lead, germs and bacteria. In Japan you can buy it on every corner, one of the cheapest food after noodles.

Perfect food comes from France, however this does not necessarily mean they have good cars.

Sake: don't bother looking at how and what is it made of. Somehow a great French or Californian wine is much more prestigious - using your words again: perfect.

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toolatetorace - 9/17/2007 10:19:44 PM

+1 Boost

Here's a riddle , why don't Europeans mind drinking warm beer????? They have Lucas refigeration systems ,the same company that make electrical equipment for automobiles that fails when least expected

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spadog55 - 9/18/2007 12:21:30 AM

+1 Boost

It looks like the author, James May could stand to lose a few lbs.... He has a big fat red face, which is a good indicator of having high bodyfat. Very hypocrital porker. It's like saying most Brits have nasty yellow,decayed teeth....

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moto - 9/18/2007 1:54:13 AM

+4 Boost

All modern industrialized nations are seeing the average size and weight of its citizens increase. With prosperity and low fuel prices since the last OPEC embargo, the size and weight of the average car model increased by a greater percentage than the average driver.

So, yes, Americans are getting fat, like everyone else on the planet. ...and yes, cars are becoming VERY fat, in proportion to the disposable income that we have. is this news to anyone?

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Kostin - 9/18/2007 5:38:42 AM

+1 Boost

You know what's funny? The fact that all Americans who know something about cars agree that when you compare them to European or Japanese cars they don't stand a chance.Even on this website,everybody bashes Ford,Chrysler or GM everytime they can.Let's face it,American cars are most of them crappy cars,cheap but crappy.I said it before: How can you build good cars,with lots of features installed,build them in the US (pay big salaries) and still sell them MUCH cheaper than European cars? You simply can't because it's against basic laws of Economy.You have to make compromises in order to do that and compromises are not good especially when you build cars witch involve a lot of technology.Let's take an example: Why do you think that Ford Europe is selling so well and is a preety well appeciated brand over there while Ford USA goes down the drain?

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XYZZ - 9/19/2007 9:12:27 PM

+1 Boost

good points. i'm often amongst those who bash american cars. but i WILL ADMIT detroit can build half way decent stuff DOWN to a price.

Porschinator - 9/20/2007 12:49:05 PM

-1 Boost

Big surpries...UK bloke talking trash about US made vehicles. OK, lets talk about Land Rover and Jaguar, even before Ford bought both. They were marvels of how NOT to make electrical systems in a car and how to add as many defects as humanly possible.

Give me one UK auto that does not have problems. The US auto bashing stems from the 70's and 80's when US automakers were truly cutting quality for quantity. Things have changed but nay sayers neglect to recognize it.

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moto - 10/5/2007 1:06:39 PM

+1 Boost

But don't you think you're being a bit too stereotypical when you group everything underneath one flag? UK hasn't made a high-value car in a long time, true. But it's not because they don't have some excellent, class-leading models. Aston Martin is one brilliant example. McLaren produces amongst the finest vehicles in the world, ever. Lotus practically owns the market segment of simple, light track cars with the Elise and Exige. And while you may not recognize it, TGV made some very impressive vehicles too. Stop flag waving and start recognizing good engineering when it is placed in front of you.

ALL cars have strong and weak points. Country bashing, which is ridiculously out of control on this site, shows only the narrow-mindedness of the poster, not the reality of the situation.

Oh, and while I'm no fan of James May, I don't believe he's defending Jaguar or Land Rover. He never mentioned them in this article. He's actually correct that the Caravan, Mustang, and Ram are laggards in their vehicle classes. Other vehicles - American, Japanese, and European - have long since surpassed these models by most objective measures. Sorry you can't take the criticism in proper context.

Porschinator - 9/20/2007 12:56:55 PM

-1 Boost

Another point. The idiot was prolly driving rental cars which have Mustangs and Caravans. So he is basing his opinions on all US cars on rentals which have little to no options added...total jackass.

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