Sterlings and Acura Legends were essentially the same car except for
coachwork, interior, electrics (and possibly some mechanicals like brakes?)
and marketed (in the US) as the best of both worlds (Japanese reliability
and British luxury). The Sterling was assembled in the UK... and
apparently that was one of the problems. The Japanese built their
Legends as solid as a rock, but the Brits didn't. There were numerous
flaws in construction (reported by several US auto magazines) like body
panels not flush together, interior parts not "tight", etc.
I sat in one at the Hartford Motor Show a few years ago and was impressed
with the luxury aspects (pity I couldn't test drive it!), what with all
the walnut trim and leather seats.
For some reason (I can't remember why) Consumer Reports type magazines
say that the 1987s are particularly bad cars. I don't remember any other
year receiving such criticism. Any time I've checked the used car ads,
there are always 1987 Sterlings for sale, perhaps with good reason! I
don't see too many of the other years for sale.
I just read that Sterling are pulling out of the U.S. market. They
simply cannot compete, they say. However, they have promised full
customer support for all Sterling cars in the U.S.
So who do we have left in the U.S. new car market? Jaguar must be our
major marque now. Rolls-Royce/Bentley, Aston Martin Lagonda, Rover (Range
Rover), Lotus, TVR and Morgan are about the only ones I can think of.
Garry Archer Esq. {yale, uunet}!hsi!archer -OR- archer@hsi.com
3M Health Information Systems, Wallingford, Connecticut, U.S.A.
"An Englishman never enjoys himself, except for a noble purpose." - A.P.Herbert
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