Greatest Automotive Nation?

[isurujosh]

Greatness is such a subjective thing, isn't it. So your choice is as good as mine. So please take some time out to vote for the greatest automotive nation in your book and state why.

I have included...

UK: This is my choice. More I read about great cars more I am inclined to believe that Brits are the best in building cars. Be it the Mclaren F1, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Lotus, Caterham, Aston Martin they all are very British and have some mystique greatness. Most other car makers in the world borrow expertise from british, sometimes eventhough the nameplate might read non-british the technology and philosophy really come from Britain. I recently even read that although Audi is renowned for 4WD quattro, the first 4WD cars were from Britain. But like all British car makers thay had not made profits and been forced to shut down. I don't think greateness has to be associated with "profits" so I vote Brit

Germany: Need I say more... Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, Audi, VW ... (Or eventhough Bugatti is really a French nameplate, I consider Veyron German more than any other)

Italy: Characterrised by the ever so raging and fierce battle between Farrari and Lambo.

Japan: They certainly make things perfect.

USA: I remain silent and let you decide.

France: Oh! they made the Bugatti Royale and they own the nameplate.

Sri Lanka: At the end of the day, we make the most out of the least . And how can I not give any choice for the Patriotic membership of our forum.

I hope I have not missed any other serious contender for this title. (PLZZZZ not India Ok!)

[hrm]

Just voted for Japan. They helped automobile technology grow as a mass industry.

Edited May 2, 2012 by hrm

[CARBON B4]

Only 3 votes for the US of A ? , considering Henry ford, the hot rods, NASCAR and all that American muscle car culture I am sure they deserve a bit more votes...

Japan just copied America in the way they made cars, they may have all the technological advances of mass production but I doubt a lot of Japs are passionate about their cars as the Americans are....

[terrabytetango]

I remember voting for Japan as well, simply because of everything it had to overcome to come after WW2, including the fact that they have next to no natural resources. Americans are not passionate about their cars, just look at their current line up. I drove nearly every American compact sedan made between 2007 and 2009, and they don't even come close to the build quality of their Japanese counterparts. Their main selling point is more bells and whistles for a lower price.

[MasterDon]

The Japs have made some great cars yes,but they have a long way to go to catch up with the Italians,Brits,Germans or even the Americans.And how can anyone say the yanks are not passionate about cars?I bet you get more petrolheads per square mile than any where else in the world,it's just that their tastes in cars and motorsport are a lil' bit differant to ours...Just ask Mani or Meangreen...

[liya]

German precision wins over the Italian flamboyance for me. Love the compact, complicated highly planned precise engineering right down to the last nut and bolt

[jdnet]

And how can anyone say the yanks are not passionate about cars?I bet you get more petrolheads per square mile than any where else in the world,it's just that their tastes in cars and motorsport are a lil' bit differant to ours...Just ask Mani or Meangreen...

I completely agree. I have not seen a people more passionate about cars than Americans. I've been in three different forums and in those they had atleast one meet a month and did some amazing things. One guy actually spent 12 hours creating custom tail lights for my dodge intrepid as a trade off for a set of factory rotors and a chrome shift knob from a specific year and model of a chrysler car. It's not about what car they are passionate about. For example the intrepid is a four door family car, the club for that model had an almost cult following with people who could not afford anything more to people who could afford a nicer car but they loved it too much to even think of something else.

I've seen them do everything. On their monthly meets. From installing manumatic shifters on each others stock spec cars to swapping engines. All during the course of a weekend.

Oh yeah and I really don't want to get into all the things the Jeep guys do.

You would really have to join one of those forums to actually get a glimpse of what it's really like.

[Amila G]

Just watched this and couldn't resist posting here

Clarkson's Car Years Episode 2 - How Japan Took Over the World... And Then Lost It (Part 1)