One thing which always amazes me at overseas events like this is how vehicles differ from country to country, and how some familiar nameplates take on a whole new look once you cross over the water.
Take the Chrysler 300, a car which I greatly admire. Although it is looked upon here with due respect, in the UK it has become almost a status symbol. In fact, several of the UK's famous soccer players choose to drive them, many favoring them over the traditional players' rides like Jaguar and Mercedes.
The Jeep Cherokee also seems to be a hot item over there, and you occasionally see the odd Cadillac Escalade and Hummer. How those owners can afford to drive these vehicles with fuel costing around a pound per litre beats me. To put that into perspective, my little rental, a Ford Ka (Ford UK's smallest vehicle), cost me nearly $100 to fill up!
Of course, several of the North American vehicles which one sees in Britain are actually diesel-powered models. I personally find it quite astonishing that N.A. manufacturers would produce and supply diesel units for the European market and yet not offer them to their home market.
A good way of explaining this is that Ford and GM each have commercial van units in the UK similar to the Dodge (Mercedes-Benz) Sprinter sold here, and yet neither has made any move, so far, to bring them to Canada.
Then there are the GM passenger vehicles on sale over there. Boy, do I wish that GM would bring us some of those, especially their V8-powered Vauxhall VXR8 which is based on the Australian V8 Holden. I tell you, that car could give our Dodge Charger SRT8 some competition in the looks and performance stakes. (You can view the VXR8 and GM's complete UK range at www.vauxhall.co.uk)
Of course, there are several European models which are also unavailable to us. Now we've all seen the lovely little Lotus Elise on the roads here, but I yearn for the day when that company sees fit to bring us its Europa S model, or its amazing Lotus 2-Eleven. The latter is basically a racetrack car made road-legal. It is simply wow! (Take a look and see for yourself at www.grouplotus.com)
Take the Chrysler 300, a car which I greatly admire. Although it is looked upon here with due respect, in the UK it has become almost a status symbol. In fact, several of the UK's famous soccer players choose to drive them, many favoring them over the traditional players' rides like Jaguar and Mercedes.
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| Chrysler 300 |
The Jeep Cherokee also seems to be a hot item over there, and you occasionally see the odd Cadillac Escalade and Hummer. How those owners can afford to drive these vehicles with fuel costing around a pound per litre beats me. To put that into perspective, my little rental, a Ford Ka (Ford UK's smallest vehicle), cost me nearly $100 to fill up!
Of course, several of the North American vehicles which one sees in Britain are actually diesel-powered models. I personally find it quite astonishing that N.A. manufacturers would produce and supply diesel units for the European market and yet not offer them to their home market.
A good way of explaining this is that Ford and GM each have commercial van units in the UK similar to the Dodge (Mercedes-Benz) Sprinter sold here, and yet neither has made any move, so far, to bring them to Canada.
Then there are the GM passenger vehicles on sale over there. Boy, do I wish that GM would bring us some of those, especially their V8-powered Vauxhall VXR8 which is based on the Australian V8 Holden. I tell you, that car could give our Dodge Charger SRT8 some competition in the looks and performance stakes. (You can view the VXR8 and GM's complete UK range at www.vauxhall.co.uk)
Of course, there are several European models which are also unavailable to us. Now we've all seen the lovely little Lotus Elise on the roads here, but I yearn for the day when that company sees fit to bring us its Europa S model, or its amazing Lotus 2-Eleven. The latter is basically a racetrack car made road-legal. It is simply wow! (Take a look and see for yourself at www.grouplotus.com)
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| PGO Cevennes |