With All The Great American Cars Coming Out, WHY Do The UK Car Magazines Have So Much HATE For Us?

America bashing has always been popular in GB. Jealousy. Jealous we still have a car industry, if just barely. Jealous that the electrics in our cars almost always work.
It is easier to rally around a common enemy to make yourself feel better. Worked for Hitler, seems to work for British journalism.

— chemo (View Profile)

Posted on 9/27/2009 8:57:37 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 5   

Its funny that quote complimented the Corvette, it said its not any of those things its a great sports car, its no denying the corvette has a few to many cheap plastics on the inside even American mags agree with that but at the same time at the price point its kinda hard not to cut costs somewhere. Again another let down lol, Top Gear he even lauded the ZR1s ability, as have other Mags across the world and not just the ZR1 the CTSV as well, clearly these are 2 cars that are world class and that is recognized globally.

— bmwdrvr (View Profile)

Posted on 9/27/2009 8:58:01 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 5   

They're conditioned to prefer nothing but German 19 cylinder monstrosities?

— huu76 (View Profile)

Posted on 9/27/2009 8:59:14 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -3   

They're just like the people who run AutoSpies...to start flame wars and more traffic!

— Carboy (View Profile)

Posted on 9/27/2009 9:21:08 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 14   

Now that I think about it... GM only needs to speed money on the interior for the new model - and perhaps the ride quality of the Z06. It's great looking, has a wonderful drivetrain layout, got lots of thrilling power, and handles well. They don't need to spend all that money on all the stuff that is right about the Corvette. When the time is right, they can just borrow some bits from the ZR1 and from future models.

Wow... those guys bothered to put the Lexus LF-A concept on one of their covers. I'm surprised; weren't they Lexus-haters too?

— WorldofLuxury (View Profile)

Posted on 9/27/2009 9:38:54 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

I figure that the British are the new French when it comes to hating America.

— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 9/27/2009 9:58:29 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

THE IRONY is that the English cant make a decent car, jealousy.lol

— truckman (View Profile)

Posted on 9/27/2009 10:25:25 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 7   

I don't blame the Brits downplaying the American cars, we DO have cheaply made cars. And as for the Z06, a sport car with a top speed of 200mph, you DO NOT build it with cheap material, and you DO NOT call it a bargain. With such performance you need to make it wow the people when they see what material its made of, but it doesn't. Now, going back to the Brits, their Aston Martins are expensive, very sexy, but WAY overpriced for the performance they provide, compared to an M6 or 911. Do they have quality? yes, are they reliable? HELL NOO... So if the American car magazines downplay the Astons for bad reliability they have the right to do so just like the Brits have the right to talk bad about our quality. But do we do that? hell noo, and why? because we're idiots!!

— Designer1 (View Profile)

Posted on 9/27/2009 10:25:44 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -2   

I feel sorry for english people, most of then won´t tell you but within they think they are the best people in the world but they are not doing anything to backup that thinking, americans at least have a big auto industries.....Tata owns Jag and Land Rover and next year one of those will be killed cause they have no will to fight for their industry. Not all english are like that, but most of them....Americans thing almost in the same way, Japanese, Germans, Italians, Argentina, Brazil, Call it: NATIONALISM....Stupid but true...

— Yonder7 (View Profile)

Posted on 9/27/2009 10:31:02 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

why the hate? our cars went from being winged space craft in the 50's, to big block burnout-mobiles in the late 60's, to cars in the 80's with 350 cubic inch engines only producing 200hp, to fwd mushy sedans and suvs for urban commuting in the 90's.

how long did disc brakes and overhead cam engines lag behind in american manufacturers?

our cars have long been the poster-children for impracticality and inefficiency.

but as stated above, at least our goddamn electronics worked.

i don't think the magazines are trying to claim that british cars are the best, but are just taking an opportunity to dig at american cars of past.

these days are limited. gm is just months away from offering the best model lineup of any volume manufacturer in the history of the automobile. the volt, cruz, malibu, camaro, corvette, cts, ats, srx, etc...all will be near the top of their respective segments.

— 1995e34 (View Profile)

Posted on 9/27/2009 11:24:11 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

Hey 001, I submitted an article on the new BMW M1 a few weeks back but it never saw the light of day. Could you install a system which tells us if our articles have been published or not?

— synx (View Profile)

Posted on 9/28/2009 5:00:38 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

I'll reply to this, as the first paragraph is, untypically for here, on the money.

There are still many easy ways be derisery about US cars and more-so US motoring, not least IMO the apparent neccesity for individuals to drive around in 3 ton SUVs and pickups. US fashioned cars have rarely overlapped in style, taste, technologies, size, economy or practicaly with corresponding trends in europe - at any point in time any US-only (non-global) model will seem outlandish and alien on the streets of the UK. How the british _public_ reacts seems usually to be relative to the vehicle's age - everyone smiles at a Bel Air or a classic Mustang, even some '70s boats, few people (myself included) would see the point of a '90s or '00s left-hooker (although Mustangs are gorgeous IMO), and the Escalades, Jeep SRTs etc. you see in town are just gauche.

As for journo's, well you know they have inches to fill, and god-help any who breaks ranks with what they think the public wants to hear. But do they dominate the public's buying decisions? Not as much as they'd like, I'd like to think - when a US car is practical (RHD!), characterful and competative (and why can't they be?), they seem to sell well enough.

Hence all the PT-Crusiers, Jeeps etc you see around. And the 300C I am looking at now, which is a fine looking car, and I would really like one. But I wouldn't trade an XJR for it ;9

One thing I do 'hate on' - US netizen's habit of repeating, ad-nauseum, some nonsense phrase they saw on the interwebs - goodness I 'hate on' that!! :)

— Mugwump00 (View Profile)

Posted on 9/28/2009 6:56:33 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

BTW I was refering to 1995e34's post...

— Mugwump00 (View Profile)

Posted on 9/28/2009 7:05:40 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

I think it’s because Americans are clueless when it comes to cars while at the same time spewing crap out about cars as if they are speaking facts. Americans as a group are probably the most car dumb nation among industrialized countries. How else can you explain a brand like Lexus having success in the USA while the rest of world doesn't seem as impressed and are not buying them? It’s either the Americans are uninformed, or the rest of the world that is uninformed. I’d go with Americans being uninformed.

— LexSucks (View Profile)

Posted on 9/28/2009 11:30:24 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

It's all compensatory. The British have just as many problems, if not more. Granted designers across the pond have a bit keener eye, they still have no leverage to bash.

— Sarcastic1 (View Profile)

Posted on 9/28/2009 12:04:12 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

I think http://tinyurl.com/ye9fuz9 explains a lot -

(yeah, I secretly wannabe the 12.8L king of the gypos!)

— Mugwump00 (View Profile)

Posted on 9/28/2009 12:20:41 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

America is the GREATEST country the world has ever seen (no offence intended) I am not saying that America is perfect either but I will always be proud be an American. Naysayers be damned...

— theman440 (View Profile)

Posted on 9/28/2009 3:39:26 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

America is the greatest and Dinosaurs are ment to internally combust!!!

— bfghemicuda (View Profile)

Posted on 9/28/2009 6:06:51 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

theman440,
America the country and ideal may be the best but Americans (including Canadians) since 1980 are retarded.

— huu76 (View Profile)

Posted on 9/28/2009 8:13:38 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -1   

The original post was mine, both as the Editorial Director of automotivetarveler.com and the Editor of Chevy Enthusiast, coming this November from Amos Automotive (publishers of Musclecar Enthusiast and four other titles.) I wrote the original post on automotivetraveler.com as I read -- or try to read -- about 50+ magazines a month, automotive, travel and lifestyle, even food magazines. I scan them to look for ideas both for my web site as well as for Chevy Enthusiast.

I really enjoy reading all the UK pubs, no matter what they say about US-made cars, but their unfair and biased commentary is getting old. The British have basically sold-off or killed-off their native-based auto industry. It started in the sixties and is just now concluding. And what happened in the UK can happen here; we got a taste of it this year with the virtual nationalization of two of the Detroit Three. The UK auto industry never recovered and the powers that be, especially at GM should view what happened as a cautionary tale.

The Chrysler-Fiat alliance needs to look at the ultimate demise of the Rover Group after its divestiture from BMW. Unlike Daimler, who after taking over Chrysler (and with it its accumulated cash hoard back in 1999) basically gutted the company, BMW tried to turn things around, then basically gave away the company, in much the same way as did Daimler. Unfortunately for Rover, no one, not even the Chinese stepped in to save Rover. Chrysler came very close to suffering the same fate and is still not out of the woods yet. Fiat-engineered cars are still 12 to 18 months away. That we didn't see any cloaked in camo this summer would seem to indicate that 18 months is more likely.

Back to the topic at hand, the quality of US-built cars and in this increasingly competitive market. For the most part American cars are as well built, economical, and as safe as their imported counterparts. Our British cousins like to point out, in Car and Top Gear especially, how horrible the interiors are in the Chrysler products that are sold in Europe. No secret here -- one of the by products of the mismanagement and cost engineering by Daimler over the last seven years -- but I think we're already seeing change, albeit slow. Some of the cars the Brits seem to gush over, especially at the price points they're marketed at, are equally terrible. It's all relative.

In terms for bang for the buck, value, or whatever you want to call it, the Corvette and CTS are world class, especially the CTS when compared directly to their competition, specifically the BMW 3-Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. The issue, and I've said this many times, is that here in the US, because of cars built in the seventies and eighties, that two generations of Americans won't consider a domestic-branded car, not even go into a domestic showroom, no matter how good or competitive the car is, the current Malibu being the best example. If we don't buy our own cars, how can we expect them to sell in

— autotronic (View Profile)

Posted on 9/29/2009 12:38:12 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 5   

So many of the comments within this post are so typical of AutoSpies mentality. Argue first, read the article later. What Agent001 is saying is that American cars are almost never mentioned, but when they are given any accolades the words seeiningly come with a lot of pain and effort. The truth is that the Corvette is giving many a sportscar maker sleepless nights. Envy? No, more like frustration. If you lay the 'Vette out on paper it should not really compete. The thing has leaf springs front and rear for Christ's sake! That's something truck and SUV makers are now shunning! Yet, it runs rings around the Porsches and the Ferraris. It's somewhat crude, but it works, and works well. That said, how many American vehicles were really worth being exported? About 1/3 of the world drvies on the left side of the road. How many American vehicles were built in right hand drive? Many countries have engine-size-based tax systems. How many American cars have engine sizes less than 2.0L? The list goes on and on. These are some of the inherent reasons why Europeans shun them. They make no sense for their environment. We all know these things to be true, yet the moment somebody else says it the "Americans" in here cow them down. Those same "Americans" who take it upon themselves to be suddenly defensive are the same ones in here talking about how they want GM to fail so they can prove Obama to be a failure. I know I will get a flood of negative votes for this post but guess what. Who gives a shit? I have already spoken.

— tango (View Profile)

Posted on 9/29/2009 3:01:13 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

Our Cars in America are not as refined as eurosnobbish unreliable marked up hoots-pa! Yea American autos might not corner as good but they F@ching start!

— pennfootball (View Profile)

Posted on 9/30/2009 11:14:25 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2