BMW 745Li
Bentley Continental GT
And the Rolls Royce Phantom
i got expensive taste lol 
1967 Shelby Cobra GT-500. The sound of that V8 starting up makes my knees weak 
Here’s a photo of the 1967 version next to the 2006 or 2007 prototype.
I loooooooove Mustangs!
the 06/07 Shelby GR 1 Concept is sweet, i saw it at an auto show a few months back 
Hmph, American cars. I bet the Roller goes round bends better than any so called sports-car from America :twisted: .
I drove a Ford Focus once on a trip to America and its was awfull! How do you take one of the best handling cars in Euro spec and turn it into a barge?
I’m afraid I have to admit to ownership of a Series III Landie as well, I had a V8 one but the LPG I ran it on (officially it was drier fuel, but what C&E don’t know won’t hurt 'em) seems to have done it no good at all so I’ve got a diesel running on chip-oil (cheap aren’t I?).
Also kicking around in a barn is a ~1980 Reliant Scimitar, if I could think of a way to make the handling less 1970’s I’d do it up. Any ideas?
A good old reliable Toyota will always do!
Ford Focus… You’re using one of the cheapest-made economy cars in all of America to represent all American cars?
I’ve got a diesel running on chip-oil Very Happy (cheap aren’t I?).
I was looking into this, but it seemed to be more hassle than it was worth with dual tanks etc. How have you got on with it, and what kind of system do you use?
Temujin : Yep, because while they may be cheap the last model European Focus was one of the best cars to drive without forking out for a BMW or a specialist sports car. The ride might have been a little firm (not aproblem on country roads though, really) but the handling was spot on. The US version, although based on the same chassis, seemed to have had all the pointability and sharpness kicked out of it and the interior was nasty too.
If that’s what Americans do to good cars designed for the global market how bad must cars designed exclusively for their domestic market be?
Edited to add:
Ale: You don’t need two tanks for “biodiesel” (unlike LPG) all you do is get some cooking oil (preferably used - but filtred ) and thin it down with some solvent and let it stand for a bit. I can’t remember what solvent I use at the moment (it’s down in the workshop and I’m sick of the sight of knackered balers) and I have a little cup calibrated for a 5 gallon drum so i can’t remember the proportion, it’s on the web somewhere though I just can’t find the link.
The treated oil should work almost as well as diesel and doesn’t seem to mind being mixed with regular DERV - (disclaimer:D) you should tell Customs you’re doing it though and pay the tax - about 35p/litre.
IIRC they did it on Top Gear a while ago and it worked perfectly in a newish car. Certainly mine running alright, it has got a Perkins combine engine in it though.
With the different Foci, I didn’t know European and American versions are that different! Thanks for sharing it.
Probably has something to do with the different image Ford is pursuing in the two different markets? In the US Ford is “just another domestic car manufacturer” while in Europe Ford is “an import”. So maybe in Europe, Ford’s brand is slightly more luxurious than here in the US?
Fords are definitely not explicitely considered as “imports” - they’re thought of just the same way as every other normal car mfg with a large European presence. They’re definitely not considered luxurious - for that you go to BMW, Mercedes, Rolls Royce etc - they’re considered very very normal.
I notice American market cars with supposed “wow” factor frequently get panned by the European press for handling like dogs. I’m surprised they messed with the handling of the Focus however… I mean, the handling of the Focus is something of a legend. When I was looking at buying cars, I got sick of reading “Drives well. Not as good as the Focus though”.
Looks nice.
Where do you fit the wife/kids and stuff? :idea:[/quote]
the flying car can contain 4 people, in the latest design
As Stoat says there is no brand premium associated with Ford, they’ve been in Britain and Europe for nearly as long as the US and are pretty mundane, they also build a lot of cars in Europe. As has been pointed out though, as a drivers car the Focus was pretty much unbeatable for anywhere near the same money and IIRC it was the best seller for several years running. When it came out even the “new edge” styling (of the hatchback at least) was praised.
The US version seemed to have done away with all the best bits, 'twas ugly (but that’s probably because it was a saloon/sedan), rode stodgily, handled badly and - despite having a bigger engine - was nowhere near as nippy. Cabin quality wasn’t good either.
Why all of the above should be that case I don’t know, particularly given the legendary pickiness of Americans, you would have thought that they would demand better. When Australian company Holden makes a better American “muscle car” (the Monaro) that it’s parent company GM things are getting bad.
Yeah, General Motors {GM} isnt doin that great, they recently laid off about 11,000/110,000 people, i cant remember which, even though tehres a huge gap inbetween the numbers :? but the American Auto Market is being invaded by the Japanese with their cheap sucky hondas n nissans n toyotas. The German market is also profiting on teh American market with BMW, Audi, and Mercedes Benz, which are doing quite well
They might be invading but has anyone considered that the Japs are doing better because they make better cars? Japanese quality and attention to detail is legendary and their ability to inject “personality” into some of their cars has improved a bit, witness Subaru’s Impreza, Maxda’s RX8 and MX5 (Miata) and Nissan’s X-Trail. Even if they are a bit bland I can’t see as they would be any worse than all the generic Ford/GM boxes-on-wheels I saw in America (and as for all the fecking huge, but otherwise crap, SUVs… :evil: ) and if they are better built than the domestic product, why put up with unreliable blandness over reliable blandness?
fire bird is my fav car
My best car is BMW Hamman and BMW AC Schnitzer ,but Porshe is not bad 
My favorite car is a 1962 Chevy corvette with the WWII willys jeep a close second.
The new average american cars suck and are not made to last, this last year we had to replace 2 transmissions in our cars. ( dodge dakota at 39,000 miles and ford explorer at 79,000 miles) My next car will be a toyota.
Proper gearboxes or poxy automatics?
Nowt wrong wi’ automatics!