An interesting comment in one of today's newspapers. The (German) chief engineer at Bentley is asked which cars are cooler: German or English? English, definitely, he says. "In German cars quirkiness is engineered out in the quest for perfection. They are like a person perfect at everything, but not very engaging, witty or charming. English cars have more emotion. more charm, more soul."
So that's why a Jaguar or an Aston look so good, next to a Merc or Audi. Anyone want to discuss?
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>> The (German) chief engineer at Bentley is asked which cars are cooler: German or English?
>> English definitely he says.
Well he won't have seen many Maxis, Allegros or Itals blemishing the roads in Germany.
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>> Well he won't have seen many Maxis Allegros or Itals blemishing the roads in Germany.
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History is for learning from........NOT re-visiting!
MD
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I think the chap was clever with the words he chose, the English eccentric springs to mind and mainly Bertie Wooster and his chums in the Drones club....charming courageous witty and ever glad to help and good company but unfortunately generally useless.
As for Jaguar or Aston Martin being good looking that may well have been the case in years gone by, the recent examples do nothing for me having lost that British individuality of even the S type Jaguars (pre facelift lovely looking car) and following trends set by others.
Thats not to say i find anyone else's recent top price offerings attractive either, individuality has all but gone... if i had to choose any high priced executive car now it would be on likely reliability which would probably mean Lexus.
My own opinion obviously, others find the new styles attractive, be a sad day when we all liked the same things.
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I don't find perfection "charmless". Nobody is actually there yet anyway. What we are really talking about is the good reputation of German Engineering for being both solid and innovative.
I freely acknowledge that you can point to recent examples of extreme "ordinariness" to rival the worst of the bad old days of the British Car Industry., e.g.
- Mercedes injectors
- Audi Multitronic gearboxes
- BMW Turbos, Wheels and Swirl Flaps
- VW Electric Parking Brake
Despite this, and Audi still ticks all the boxes for me.
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There was a multibike test in Ride this month - R1200GS and Triumph Tiger were featured - a similar comment was made,,, I have to say that there is something slightly sanatized about German and Japanese bikes - maybe the Triumph does have that little bit of "character" we all feel it should.
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And yet, PU, didn't the reviewer prefer the GS?
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I love my GS - it has got character - It became a real wrench to think of parting with it when I bought my RT - so much so that after some man maths I decided to keep it. Well it owes me nothing it costs around 10 quid extra to insure it on the same policy and the £200 a year in servicing etc.....I love it's industrial like bleakness.....it's might make me an odd bod. It's also ugly described somewhere as a Horned Cow of the Apocalypse - but I love it.
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Wasn't it this English 'character' that BMW were trying to get in Rover (using 'efficient' BMW parts)? Didn't work too well, although second time around (with MINI) they are doing better.
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Actually British classic cars are extremely popular here in Germany, especially Jags and Triumphs and the prices seem to be higher here than in the UK, even for RHD models.
Equally popular though, is the tendency to remove the quintessentially English character of these machines by, for example, replacing the Lucas Prince of Darkness electrical and fuel injection systems with Bosch components.
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German cars in general are like Nora Batty - very efficient and get the job done well, but not something you lie awake at night dreaming about. In some ways, being slightly flawed makes a car more human. Thats why people like Alfas.
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charmless perfection in German engineering - Bagpuss
