Just returned from a 2 week vacation (?) in Portugal some observations of LBCs
follows:
I was surprised by the number of Lnad Rover Discoverys (and Range Rovers)
that I saw. I think I passed one every 15 minutes which rather surprising when
you consider how expensive they are in Portugal (you thin $40,000 is expensive
for the Defender ? most Discoverys start at $60,000 !!!).
All of them were the TDi (Turbo Diesel Injection) model, and although I never
saw a Range Rover and Discovery side-by-side, the Range Rover looks small.
They seem to cruise pretty well, I was on the autostrada doing 120 kmph (about
75 mph) and would see Discoverys cruising at the same speed.
It was rather strange to see carpetting, walnut door caps and dash-boards on
a Land Rover, but I suppose such is progress.
I saw 1 Midget, 1 MGA, Sinbeam Alpine, 3-4 Coopers (the new ones),
6-7 Rover 2200 TC and loads of Minis 850/1000 and almost NO Japanese cars.
Cars and gas ($1.10 per LITRE !) are VERY expensive, I saw and MGA
(condition 1.5) for sale for $45,000 !!!.
It's a shame that some of the European manufacturers do not send some of their
models over to the USA. There are a variety of Hot Hatchbacks available,
which you just can not get over here. I drove my brother-in-laws Renault 5
Turbo ( an updated Le Car ), with 120 HP stuffed under the hood, this thing
was one of the fastest cars that I have ever driven. the only thing that
I did not like about it was the Turbo kicked in like an ON/OFF switch.
There are plenty of Citroen AX GTs around (again 120 HP stuffed into a small
car), Opel Corsa GTs, VW Polo GT, Peugeot 209 GTi etc etc the list goes
on.
Something has gone wrong at FIAT (who own Lancia and Alfa), all of their cars
are just plain UGGGLY. The Fiat Uno is ugly, the Fiat Tipo is ugly, the Fiat
Tempura is ugly, the Lancia Y40 is even uglier, all of the Alfa range is ugly,
What ever happenen to Italian design ?
The Portuguese are fantatics on anything related to cars, especially
competition.
Gerry
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