As I headed towards the British Isles for my vacation, first and foremost on my mind was all of the cars that I would expect to see while I was there. No, seriously: after watching bootlegged copies of Top Gear for a decade I expected that Mercedes, BMW and Audi would be the mass majority of what I would see over there…not a ton of Ford Focuses, Renault Lagunas and Peugeot 508’s. But that was the joy of it all, taking in what I usually don’t get to see. But for all of the new cars on my radar, there was usually the “one sight” that stood out compared to the others. Which of these things just didn’t belong here? Let’s take a look…
11. Lamborghini Gallardo
If I were on the European mainland, especially anywhere near Italy, this wouldn’t have made the list. Hearing one of these completely overrule traffic noise in front of the shops that run along the City Quay was something else altogether. Compared to the sounds of all of the little black taxis and diesel sedans, the Gallardo cruised by making noises that sounded like a stray Peugeot was being mauled.
10. Jeep Liberty Cherokee
Oh, the humanity. Yes, over in the U.K. that cute puppy of a Jeep that we saw as the Liberty was indeed the Cherokee. The only nice thing I’ll say is that they had better access to the diesel version, so MPG claims can be had. After that I’m keeping quiet.
9. Ford Super Duty tow truck
A Super Duty is a big vehicle in the U.S. In Ireland it was nothing short of amazing to watch this monster navigate side streets like it was nothing. And it didn’t have one solitary scratch on it. The brilliance of it all is that a Super Duty can handle pretty much anything Transit-sized or smaller, so there’s a wide array of customers that money could be made off of.
8. Renault Twizy
When one of these drove by our tour bus, Pat, the Irish driver, quipped over the PA system: “That’s not a car, that’s a golf cart with a superiority complex.” Couldn’t have said it any better myself. If the Super Duty was a monster, the Twizy was a mouse, taking up only half of a lane.
7. Ford Mustang GT
In the U.S., a Mustang GT doesn’t garner much attention. In the U.K., it’s noise was rivaling that of the Gallardo. While heading down a motorway, a GT similar to the one pictured flew past the bus making a noise not heard since Henry II decided to go after Ferrari on the track with revenge on the mind.
6. Dodge Stratus
Many auto journalists in the UK pan American cars for being brash, unrefined and generally to be avoided. When they get stuff like this, no wonder they hate our cars…
5. Dodge Journey
What’s not to love about a swollen Dodge Caliber with the gauge package of a 1990 Dodge Shadow? To our UK friends, please, don’t judge us based on the cars even we didn’t want. Somehow, this thing, renamed the Fiat Freemont, sold like hotcakes.
4. Chevrolet Camaro
Ah, that’s better. The gray SS with the nasty exhaust that rumbled down Georges Street as we left the Pitt BBQ restaurant in Dublin sounded just as full-race as the Mustang had. I’m thinking a good bit of exhaust work was done…or removed.
3. Smart Forfour
As if the little penalty box ForTwo wasn’t bad enough, they also get the ForFour. I’ll eat my own hat if four full-size adults can fit in that thing. You know it’s a statement when it’s a tiny car by European standards, and there’s an exclamation point involved when a local resident says it. At least it will fit in a parking spot.
2. Dodge Ram 1500
Easily the biggest surprise, a 2002-era Hemi QuadCab Ram really stands out in Ireland. About halfway into the road from it’s parking spot, in fact. I sold a 2001 Ram when gas hit $1.85 a gallon because I thought it was becoming too expensive. When fuel is about $8 a gallon, that adds up fast, regardless of whether or not you can cross the entire country in under three hours.
1. Chrysler Voyager
Easily, the Chrysler minivan was the most abundant offering from the U.S. market that I saw over there. The surprising factor of it all is that the owners take pride in owning them. Most minivans in the U.S. are used and abused to death, but in Scotland and Ireland they appear to be treasured, with the paint looking fantastic, the vehicles cleaned spotless (which is more than I can say for other cars) and driven in a respectful manner in traffic. Who would’ve thought it?
Oddly the only exotic I saw while in eur for 14 days was a freakin viper, in france doing a Bill down the freeway
When I was in the UK I saw plenty of American cars my favorite was a 74 Trans Am I saw go screaming by the westminster tube station. That made my day. I saw a Corvette club in France from the Eurostar cruising down the highway too about 10 of them.
When I was on a Russian island I saw an H2 there that looked like a friggin mobile house on wheels in the parking spot next to the little econoboxes that dominated the landscape.
Growing up in tiny, mountainous SW virginia, the only excitement for a budding gear head was the occasional restored, or warn slam out muscle car on the road to Walmart. Luckily I had Chevy nuts on mom’s side, & Ford guys on dad’s, (they don’t know any better). So, you can imagine the jaw dropping I did for about the first year living in Australia when a new ferrari, lambo, or other exotics pulled beside me at the lights!!! But yes, here also, mini vans, & oddly named American shit boxes are valued, & treated like prized possessions.
I have a tumblr follower who lives in Switzerland and is restoring a 1970 AMC Ambassador SST coupe with a 360. I really wanna know how an AMC Ambassador SST ended up In Switzerland and how you go about restoring one there, because parts are hard enough to find here in the US
In Italy 2 years ago, the oddest American derived car I saw was Dodge Magnum wagons with Chrysler 300C front ends, rebadged as the Lacia Thema. It was quite impressive next to all the (sub)compact eurotrash parked everywhere.
There are indeed lots of US cars here in the UK, or maybe I see them as I’m into them? At the end of my road is Prowler, kept out in the open on his drive although he has just built a carport over it, ready for the winter.
Voyagers tend to be used as taxis or chauffeur cars so will be kept in good condition, as do Mercedes Vianos & Ford Galaxys (not the car version you know)!