Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

Afternoon all,

Where do you stand on American cars, or indeed any US-built vehicles? Are they fine with you, or just too showy/brash/OTT/big for your palate?

RJ
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[Rootes75]

Pre-war definitely, cars from the 40's and the very early 50's too.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[Minxy]

I do like American cars, I have, in the past, owned a firebird and a trams-am. For me the issue is their sheer size when used in a country where roads, car parks etc are designed for smaller vehicles. The Trams-Am I had was a bandit car which attracted the wrong type of attention, I often got abuse thrown at me, it got deliberately damaged on more than one occasion - in all the constant little issues was not worth the agro of owning one but I do pine for another from time to time

[Ashley]

America made the best cars in the world until the fifties, but I agree about the size of later ones from the Forties onwards.

Rolls-Royce copied Cadillac's hydraulic Tappets into the P3, GM front suspension and auto box, they knew the Americans were doing far better for less money and mass producing it. Or those that visited the company did, the rest were too arrogant to accept it.

I'd love a three window 1936 Ford deluxe Coup

[Ronniej]

In the late '50s and early '60s America was in a boom period and I suspect the cars of the period reflected the national mood.
They are big, brash and ugly but I just love them. Having said that, they are not suited to British roads and I can say with some confidence that I will never buy one.

[Ray White]

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=studebaker+golden+hawk&biw=1440&bih=716&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjZyZG41sjLAhWKIJoKHRvwCqcQsAQIGw

These are rather nice cars, I think.
Some export models were available in RHD.

http://oldcarandtruckpictures.com/Studebaker/1961_Studebaker_Hawk-aug19a.jpg

[goneps]

Over 11 years, in South Africa, I owned four Australian-built Ford Fairlanes—1969, 71, 72, and 76. This was the period when garish excess in styling had given way to the clean and simple lines of the 'coke-bottle' style, and to my eye they were really good-looking cars—sleek and graceful. They were well suited to that environment, where the roads were wide and often straight, with long distances between main centres.

With luxurious seats and oodles of space one could settle in for a long, relaxing, air-conditioned drive with the cruise control doing the work. Inclines, even at high altitude, were scarcely even noticed. I covered 60,000km per annum, and I doubt there would have been a more comfortable means of doing it.

With a set of good dampers (Spax adjustable) and radial-ply tyres they handled reasonably well and could out-accelerate most other traffic of the time without even trying. They averaged around 19mpg., which is not bad for a 5.8litre V8.

To stay in tip-top condition they did require regular fettling that would be unacceptable nowadays, and the soft suspension had to be treated with respect on all but the best-maintained unsealed roads.

Now, however, in this country and considering much-different circumstances, I wouldn't give a thank-you for an American car.

Richard

[V8 Nutter]

I love them. I have owned them for more years than I care to admit. Having L.H.D is part of the fun especially when your car is 19ft long and 6ft 8 wide. The sound of an American V8 is like music. I hate to say it but the Stag is the only European car that managed to get the right burble.

As Ashley said in his post Rolls Royce used a great many G.M. parts. I have often thought a late 60's or 70's Rolls Royce is a Cadillac with a tailor made coat on

[Rick]

[peter scott]

I like the sound of the V8 and I totally agree that US engineering has shown us here many good lessons and is generally pragmatic. I also like some of the wild body styling of the past. I also hate plenty of their body styles such as those from the Reagan era.

Now for other dislikes:

1. Automatic transmission.
2. Poor fuel economy.
3. Poor handling.
4. Engines that look pragmatic rather than beautiful.

(I admit much of the above has been greatly improved in recent years.)

Peter.
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1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[Ashley]

I prefer 1936/7 but these are built like tanks and last for ever.

http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/ford/deluxe/1811946.html

They're also a sensible size and will keep up with traffic unlike Brit cars of that era.

[Rootes75]

I like seeing a lot of the older American cars on 'Chasing Classic Cars'. I have a particular liking for late 30's Ford V8's. Also, whilst flicking through the channels on the TV the other day we saw a bit of the Waltons, I definitely like the cars from that era.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[Keith D]

IMHO
Between the wars American cars were so much better than anything made elsewhere in the world. The engineering was generally basic but incredibly reliable. The cars looked good and were generally very well built. During this period American styling led the world, everybody else copied.

I enjoy my 1932 Austin Seven but in truth the engineering was pathetic and medieval and the styling was hardly modern, even for 1932. Given that it was built down to a price limit, but so were Fords and Chevrolets in America.

Obviously there are exceptions. Like every other car enthusiast on the planet I would love a W.O Bentley, but I'm realistic enough to know I'll never be in the position to buy one.

By the late forties U.S. styling became dreadful, but unfortunately everybody still copied them. To me the 1948 Ford deluxe was one of the most attractive cars built. Then in 1949 the mudguards had disappeared and the horrible age of flat bonneted cars with acres of chrome had started. And it seemed to just get worse from there until the attractive Japanese curves of the early nineties.

As I said earlier - just my humble opinion!

Keith

[Ashley]

Arguably Herbert Austin was Britain's best car designer/manufacturer, his Wolseleys are highly prized, the Edwardian Austins we as good as you got and his post War Austin 20, more than a match in build quality and longevity than R-R's smaller car. He also did his own coachwork amd they didn't, so we're never as well made. Herbert Austin had spent time in America and learned from them.

The Austin 7 was what people could afford as was the case with most Brit cars of that era. The Americans have always had more money and cheaper goods through economies of scale. They had five times the population and some of their own natural resources.

After WW2 a Buick wasn't much over half the price of an Armstrong Siddely in Australia and it was a better car.

[jacobcarl]

No,i like more UK cars like Morgan 4/4, Morgan Aero 8, Bristol 401