Idunno, it would seem the meaning would depend on the salad? Taco salad good. Fruit salad bad.
bravenrace wrote: Idunno, it would seem the meaning would depend on the salad? Taco salad good. Fruit salad bad.
Not necessarily... how much rum was dumped into the fruit salad?
bravenrace wrote: In reply to Bobzilla: I can't stand when different fruits touch each other.
I ain't touching that with a 10 foot pole!
Getting back to something vaguely related to the original topic. The question ‘Why Don’t Americans like hatchbacks?’ I actually think I see that changing a little, but it’s still true. I think part of the issue is how hatchbacks came into being here as opposed to the rest of the world. Over here the Golf (Wabbit), Escort etc. have always been seen as small cars, first cars, budget cars or kids cars here. Over in Europe and the rest of the world they were/are family cars. That’s partly because of available space over here, stupidly cheap petrol prices and far bigger family sizes over here. When I was a kid in the 70’s back in England most families had 2 kids, a few had one kid and very very few had more than two kids. Talking to people of my age over here most families in the 70’s were 3 or 4 kids. So a family car over here was the family trickster type station wagon, while in Europe it was a Ford Escort or similar. That carried on when hatchbacks became the norm. Then when hot hatches came on the scene it was more of the same. In the 80’s in Europe hot hatches were seen as rich Yuppie cars. No way was your average recent college grad going to afford a Golf GTI or Escort XR3i, they were simply too expensive to buy, let alone insure for average people. Over here they were comparatively far more affordable. From Road and Track in November 1982 the 83 Rabbit GTi was going to be $8,500. The average US wage in 1982 was $14,500. So a Rabbit GTi cost 58% of the average income. From January 1981 WhatCar Magazine the Golf GTi cost £5,700 the exchange rate in Jan 1981 was $2.40 = £1.00 so that £5,700 was $13,680 !!!! In the UK the average annual wage was £7,000 or $16,800. So that means in 1981 a Golf GTi cost 81% of the average British salary. That’s a big difference between relative affordability of the car, so it sold to a different market. I think that has carried on to today. Hatchbacks are still seen as cheap cars over here and the MINI seems to be the first car that is trying to seriously challenge that paradigm.
Bobzilla wrote:bravenrace wrote: Idunno, it would seem the meaning would depend on the salad? Taco salad good. Fruit salad bad.Not necessarily... how much rum was dumped into the fruit salad?
So with enough rum, you'll get with the fruit eh?
HiTempguy wrote:Bobzilla wrote:So with enough rum, you'll get with the fruit eh?bravenrace wrote: Idunno, it would seem the meaning would depend on the salad? Taco salad good. Fruit salad bad.Not necessarily... how much rum was dumped into the fruit salad?
I never had a problem with it before... wait.... what did I just admit to?
alfadriver wrote: It's still funny that people are arguing over the popularity of the top selling car of it's segement. One that puts the car in the top 10 of all cars sold in the US. Dunno, but that sure seems like a popular car- be it ugly, poor handling, and cheaply made or not.
We can't help what the mindless masses buy.....I know people with them because "Well, my dad taught me to always drive honda" The sad thing is, they could build an open top horse drawn buggy with heated seats, nav system, and 13 speakers and people would buy it.....without even knowing they needed a horse to pull it.
Adrian_Thompson wrote: Getting back to something vaguely related to the original topic. The question ‘Why Don’t Americans like hatchbacks?’ I actually think I see that changing a little, but it’s still true. I think part of the issue is how hatchbacks came into being here as opposed to the rest of the world. Over here the Golf (Wabbit), Escort etc. have always been seen as small cars, first cars, budget cars or kids cars here. Over in Europe and the rest of the world they were/are family cars. That’s partly because of available space over here, stupidly cheap petrol prices and far bigger family sizes over here. When I was a kid in the 70’s back in England most families had 2 kids, a few had one kid and very very few had more than two kids. Talking to people of my age over here most families in the 70’s were 3 or 4 kids. So a family car over here was the family trickster type station wagon, while in Europe it was a Ford Escort or similar. That carried on when hatchbacks became the norm. Then when hot hatches came on the scene it was more of the same. In the 80’s in Europe hot hatches were seen as rich Yuppie cars. No way was your average recent college grad going to afford a Golf GTI or Escort XR3i, they were simply too expensive to buy, let alone insure for average people. Over here they were comparatively far more affordable. From Road and Track in November 1982 the 83 Rabbit GTi was going to be $8,500. The average US wage in 1982 was $14,500. So a Rabbit GTi cost 58% of the average income. From January 1981 WhatCar Magazine the Golf GTi cost £5,700 the exchange rate in Jan 1981 was $2.40 = £1.00 so that £5,700 was $13,680 !!!! In the UK the average annual wage was £7,000 or $16,800. So that means in 1981 a Golf GTi cost 81% of the average British salary. That’s a big difference between relative affordability of the car, so it sold to a different market. I think that has carried on to today. Hatchbacks are still seen as cheap cars over here and the MINI seems to be the first car that is trying to seriously challenge that paradigm.
I think that's a great analysis. However, I don't think it is just the family size that has driven Americans to larger vehicles. In this country there has always been an emphasis on traveling comfortably very long distances over straight, wide highways. Which is contrary to the European model of mostly twisty, narrow roads where handling is important and short distances are more the norm. So the culture tends to bigger cars here. When the Chevy Impalas and Pontiac Catalinas of the world were no longer available the SUV became the replacement. I once had an argument with a female colleague that she didn't really need a 5000 lb Chevy Tahoe to haul her 250 lb (total) two teenage boys around. She just wasn't buying it. She absolutely needed a vehicle that big. So there is a big gap in culture that tends to perpetuate itself. Many folks won't have a small hatchback because they feel at a safety disadvantage to all the large SUV's wandering the lanes with their mocha-drinking, cell phoning, texting, distracted drivers.
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