Car culture differences between Europe and America

by Simon 59 Replies latest social current

  • Gregor
    Gregor

    Maybe the time we spend in the damn things has something to do with it also. When traveling by auto in the UK I noticed a perception of driving distances much different than the western US where I grew up. For example, London to York is a little over 200 miles. It seemed to me that locals considered that a pretty major auto trip. In California it would be no big deal to go visit a friend 200 mi away in the AM and drive home in the evening. Can anyone from the UK vouch for this or am I mistaken?

    PS. Simon, When visiting there I loved the ability to drive from Calgary to Banff for dinner. Beautiful!

  • jgnat
  • IP_SEC
    IP_SEC
    Maybe the time we spend in the damn things has something to do with it also

    Good point! I drive upwards of 400 miles per day for work. I wouldnt want to do that in a Clio.

  • hillary_step
    hillary_step

    Stilla,

    Lotus Elan - HS - The wonderful Diana Rigg (Emma Peel) in The Avengers sprung immediately to mind. Sexual frustration coming out of me again!!

    Yes, it was a nifty little car, though the fiberglass body always made me feel a little nervous. I am not very much of a 'car person', my wife normally makes the running in that department. She has great affection for Lancia cars (not available in North America I believe), and I must say that the Lancia Beta was a beautiful car, every bit as sumptous as a top end BMW but with a sports engine. I just remembered, I had an Audio Quattro for a year in the early 90's. Cannot remember too much about it apart from the fact that it was black.

    Did you know that I once partied with Diana Rigg in the very late 60's? Believe it or not I was introduced to her at a jazz club by a quite brilliant JW saxophone player and we all tripped off to Spike Milligan's place in Buckinghamshire for the evening. Happenings like this were quite common in the 60's when social barriers fell like Italian Governments. Of course, I was too young and foolish to understand the privilege of the situation, but have a feeling my invite depended on this very fact.

    Yeah, she was stunning looking in those days.

    HS

  • Gregor
    Gregor

    I thought the Lotus Elan body was very thin gauge aluminum. I recall being told not to lean on one for fear of denting.

  • hillary_step
    hillary_step

    Gregor,

    I thought the Lotus Elan body was very thin gauge aluminum. I recall being told not to lean on one for fear of denting.

    Nahh. The body was fiberglass, at least mine was. You may be thinking of the Lotus Europa?

    HS
  • juni
    juni

    Have any of you heard of a little car called a Singer ... '55 Roadster? Believed it had an aluminum body

  • hillbilly
    hillbilly

    Not to sidetrack ... any of you guys in England ever break in a new Mini the way I broke in my last couple of Pickups?

    Half frozen newborn calves do pretty well with the heater on full-maximum... of course the wife will "let" you keep her new truck for a long time after.

    Hill

  • RubaDub
    RubaDub

    Half frozen newborn calves do pretty well with the heater on full-maximum...

    Hillbilly ....

    Maybe I'm not up to speed on all the details but aren't there things up there in Michigan called barns ???

    Rub a Dub

  • hillbilly
    hillbilly

    We used to see Lancias all the time in South Florida... Palm Beach to Miami is a daily exotic car show.

    Hill

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