Ace Cafe London - June 29th - 2013

[Jan Larsson]

Fred (my son) and I took the TTA to the Ace Café in London yesterday (Welcome to the Ace Cafe London
) ... loads of events pretty much every week for different car and motorcycle clubs .. yesterday was the "all American cruise in" and with the weather being really nice for a change we took the TTA out for a spin

Not that many cars turned in total but a nice day out and the TTA got lots of attention with the hood open So we educated a few people on what they were actually looking at :cool1:

Took a few pictures; enjoy !

June 29th 2013 - Ace Cafe London Photos by janlarsson | Photobucket

 

[pont1230]

cool pictures is nice to see our cars in another country,yeah man:thumbup:

 

[WS6]

Ive always been curious about something...how do European auto enthusists perceive American built muscle cars? Do they covet them or do they ridicule them?

 

[Jan Larsson]

Ive always been curious about something...how do European auto enthusists perceive American built muscle cars? Do they covet them or do they ridicule them?

You get both camps really; the American car scene always been really strong in Europe in general and its the whole life style rather than just the cars specially those into the 50/60's cars.

Then you have the big interest in muscle cars of all sorts for those into fast cars and big V8's as this is really the only option (even though here in the UK there's a lot built on the Rover V8 in pretty much anything you can imagine).

General public always do appreciate the American cars as they are different and many times brings back memories of all sorts.

However then of course you get the Japanese crowed that would not look at anything else than the "fast 'n furious" line up of cars ... or the people that do stick with European sports cars (but that is much more money as you know) ....

Problem with the American cars in general is poor build quality, poor handling, even late model cars look "cheap" compared to European built cars ....

 

[WS6]

Interesting....So there's a perception that American cars are of a lesser build quality, say...fit and finish? or everything about U.S. cars from powertrains to interior ammenities is cheap? Are they less expensive to buy used than say, thier European counterpart? I mean like late model cars, not collector cars.

Do you see allot of U.S. cars in Europe? or is it a rare sight like maybe 1-3 a day if you were out and about driving all day.

What about eastern Europe? Many U.S. cars? any collectors in former Communist countries?

And one more question,

Are there American car dealerships in Europe?



..

 

[Jan Larsson]

Yes build quality like fit and finish .. specially "older" cars so say prior to 2000 ... but even the later cars are just so "plastic" looking so looks cheaper if you like.

Late model American cars are not overly cheap to buy however there's not that many models that are sold over here, we get the Chrysler 300's, some Jeep's, the Corvette (very expensive) and the new Camaro (also expensive) for instance ... GM do sell some models across Europe (even former Eastern Europe) and you have independent dealers that import their own and sell new or used imports ... still expensive .... however compared to European equivalents (read powertrain) they are relatively comparable or cheaper sometimes (so compare a late model Corvette vs. Porsche, Ferrari or similar so more bang for your buck if you like).

There's a fair number of US cars (this excluding the GM brands built in Asia or Europe as well as the same for Ford and Chrysler) and you see cars like the PT Cruiser, Corvette, Chrysler 300 etc on the roads most every day. This do differ between the European countries ... more rare to see any 50s and 60s cars as well as 70s and 80s but again depends on country (Germany always had the US military bases so more US cars around there for that very reason and more GM dealerships in Germany vs. Italy for instance).

Also a practicality issue due to the size of the US cars vs. the roads (and parking) in the UK for instance ... 50-70's US cars aren't the best to drive around on these narrow roads and finding somewhere to park (or own a garage long enough) is a challenge

Jan

 

[Turbota6]

In the past few years I've had the opportunity to travel to the UK (and visit with Jan), France, & Italy. In places like Milan & Paris what you tend to see almost more than anything else is scooters & motorcycles. And from my personal experience, it doesn't seem like they regulate the amount of noise those little scooters put out! I'd easily say a TTA with stock exhaust is much more quiet than the average scooter over there!

Anywho, from what I've seen cars that are built in the same country (assuming they have manufacturing) tend to be popular in the same country. Fiats are of course popular in Italy and elsewhere. As are most smaller cars. Their compact size, gas or diesel mileage, and low cost make them an easy choice. Renault & Peugot are popular in France. But I always keep my eyes open for something different and every so often I'd spot an Opel (GM's European brand).

On my first trip to Paris I spotted a Chevy / Cadillac dealer. They even had an old 2nd gen Camaro on the showroom floor. On my next visit I was saddened to see it was closed. Upon further inspection they were just in the process of moving. See attached pic.View attachment 5371

 

[Jan Larsson]

The scooters are interesting; spent most of the week before last in Milan and they are everywhere and to be honest the best getting around town due to the heavy traffic ... and you see everyone from business men (in suits) to students using them.

But yes depending on country you see the "local" brand cars dominating the streets most of the time ... or other European brands ... but also loads of Japanese cars that do have factories over here (tax and duty reasons) like Nissan with their European plant here in the UK ...