End of the era

[alex87f]

Originally Posted by soundman98

iirc, didn't that also have to do with the engine displacement/tax rate?

same reason v8 muscle cars never sold much over there.

i think it more comes down to how much vehicles cost and are taxed. car enthusiasts are everywhere, but external forces like tax rates tend to determine which vehicles are ultimately most popular.

The displacement tax in Europe is mostly a myth. Most countries abandonned them decades ago, and the few ones left make up for less than 5% of the market.

It mostly comes down to practicality (we love hatches), and gas cost (awfully close to $8/gal right now). Plus, big engines get terrible mileage in city driving, which is most of what we do.
Oh and we have huuuuge gaz guzzler taxes. Buying a Mustang? Yeah that'll be 30 grand please. On top of 20% tax.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by alex87f

The displacement tax in Europe is mostly a myth. Most countries abandonned them decades ago, and the few ones left make up for less than 5% of the market.

It mostly comes down to practicality (we love hatches), and gas cost (awfully close to $8/gal right now). Plus, big engines get terrible mileage in city driving, which is most of what we do.
Oh and we have huuuuge gaz guzzler taxes. Buying a Mustang? Yeah that'll be 30 grand please. On top of 20% tax.

And a PILE of very narrow streets and roads, especially through the old towns. North Americans that have never driven in Europe probably can't even imagine just how tight some of the roads are. We are used to wide streets on road systems that grew after the car was well established not narrow little lanes in towns that developed when ox carts were the normal mode of transportation.
When I was stationed in Germany one of the guys had his '76 Trans Am brought over. We drove that thing all over Germany (well West Germany at that point) and France. It was fine out on the highways but some of the older towns were an adventure to get through. There are valid reasons most European cars are on the smaller side!

[Spektyr]

Yep. We took a bus tour in Scotland in one of those 16 passenger busses that's more like a giant van.

Manual transmission - and not because it was old, it was a new bus they just still make nearly everything with a manual over there. Absolutely flying up/down the twisty backroads in the highlands in that small bus until we caught up to one of those huge luxury tour buses creeping along because it couldn't make the tight turns without blocking both lanes.

Outside of the major highways the roads are just smaller in about every way you can think of. Giant muscle cars are popular here because there's enough room just about anywhere to get clear road in front of the nose and open it up. Hot hatches are popular there because there's almost never such an opportunity, so you need to be able to make better use of tighter spaces.

And when you're not hooning it, you still have to be able to park it somewhere.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Spektyr

Yep. We took a bus tour in Scotland in one of those 16 passenger busses that's more like a giant van.

Manual transmission - and not because it was old, it was a new bus they just still make nearly everything with a manual over there. Absolutely flying up/down the twisty backroads in the highlands in that small bus until we caught up to one of those huge luxury tour buses creeping along because it couldn't make the tight turns without blocking both lanes.

Outside of the major highways the roads are just smaller in about every way you can think of. Giant muscle cars are popular here because there's enough room just about anywhere to get clear road in front of the nose and open it up. Hot hatches are popular there because there's almost never such an opportunity, so you need to be able to make better use of tighter spaces.

And when you're not hooning it, you still have to be able to park it somewhere.

This is someplace in the Bavarian Alps. Many times I had to pull the mirrors in just to get down a road.

[alex87f]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

This is someplace in the Bavarian Alps. Many times I had to pull the mirrors in just to get down a road.

What's that tank on the bed? For emptying septic tanks?

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by alex87f

What's that tank on the bed? For emptying septic tanks?

Fuel module tank. You can see the "Mo G" chalked onto the tailgate which means I had "motor gas" in it at that point. The whole tank could be just lifted off and swapped for diesel, aviation fuel or jet fuel. This allowed one vehicle to do multi roles without flushing the tank out each time.

[Overdrive]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

More like this:

https://twitter.com/jim_jordan/statu...MiuyxafZ6ejL7w

I feel like I need context, otherwise it's just pointless alliteration. Unless this was his way of saying he opposes the thing that that article is about...then it's pointless alliteration on top of being stupid.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

This is someplace in the Bavarian Alps. Many times I had to pull the mirrors in just to get down a road.

you were die gas pumper haha

[Teseo]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

There were several "reports" that came out about this time last year that stated "The GR 86 is done". They were spurred by the simple misunderstanding that arose when they closed orders for the model year by using the terminology "production has ended for the 22s". What was meant was "orders are closed for the 22 MY production run".

I doubt that the salesman said it to make a sale. More likely just a carry over of that misunderstanding.

Over the years I have had salesmen tell me:
"The BRZ is AWD turbo and the FRS is not" - Subaru
"The BRZ is AWD and much slower than the FRS" - Toyota
"There will be a convertible BRZ out next year (2017) I have seen it in person" - Subaru dealership owner
"This is the last year for these cars" - Several times by both
"The 2017 facelift will be hybrid" - Toyota
"The second gen of both will be hybrid" - Both
"The second gen 86 will have a Toyota engine" - Toyota

And my very favourite:
"Who did you have paint the car green and do the custom interior on your 86? Hakone edition? Never heard of it." - Sales manager and 2 salesmen Toyota.

Salespeople as a whole don't know nor care about the back stories about what they sell. Why should they really? Does everybody really think that they know everything going on in the background of their jobs?

Don't lie, your car was wrapped.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

you were die gas pumper haha

[jeepmor]

So just the GR line dropped, not the platform? I hear all sorts of reasons why not, and honestly hope that's true, new high dollar infrastructure. Was just sharing. We'll see, hoping to be wrong and thought the same thing, why after a new model rollout, that's a big loss.

But I'm from semiconductors and solar. I've seen working factories shut down before. Some right before they were slated to open. A couple times 100s of millions invested were just shut down and sold off. The solar factory I worked in that used to be Komatsu. Now even solar is gone and it's a giant server farm.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by jeepmor

So just the GR line dropped, not the platform? I hear all sorts of reasons why not, and honestly hope that's true, new high dollar infrastructure. Was just sharing. We'll see, hoping to be wrong and thought the same thing, why after a new model rollout, that's a big loss.

But I'm from semiconductors and solar. I've seen working factories shut down before. Some right before they were slated to open. A couple times 100s of millions invested were just shut down and sold off. The solar factory I worked in that used to be Komatsu. Now even solar is gone and it's a giant server farm.

It boils down to there not being one single good reason to stop production and many many to keep it going for it's planned run.

[alex87f]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Fuel module tank. You can see the "Mo G" chalked onto the tailgate which means I had "motor gas" in it at that point. The whole tank could be just lifted off and swapped for diesel, aviation fuel or jet fuel. This allowed one vehicle to do multi roles without flushing the tank out each time.

This made me want to watch a video about deuce and halfs (halves?). Weird shift pattern but cool vehicles.

[dragoontwo]

Originally Posted by alex87f

This made me want to watch a video about deuce and halfs (halves?). Weird shift pattern but cool vehicles.

I got yelled at for driving too fast in one. I was doing the 55 speed limit.