Paphos Life

My Dad loved Japanese cars and I have bought a couple in my time and currently run a couple of Toyotas- love my Hi Lux and wife loves her AYGO

I have also bought European cars in the past - Mercs and Porsches mainly and they were also great, but I have also contract hired French vans for the business and they were crap!!!!!!

Wallace wrote: ↑Mon Jan 30, 2017 9:04 pm

Wallace wrote: ↑Tue Jan 24, 2017 10:20 pm Pound dropped following Supreme Court judgement, but has recovered and increased to 1.1658. Still not great, but better than prophesied post brexit vote. Interested to see where it will go when article 50 is triggered.

Wallace

This was what I would like to have seen discussed when I posted this thread.
Many interesting comments, but we seem to have drifted a bit.

Wallace

Fire-up the Quattro Wallace!

Ha ha, had an Audi Quattro years ago, but the pound euro exchange was favourable then.,!!
It was the limited edition manflue edition!

Conoflex wrote: ↑Mon Jan 30, 2017 9:25 pm My Dad loved Japanese cars and I have bought a couple in my time and currently run a couple of Toyotas- love my Hi Lux and wife loves her AYGO

I have also bought European cars in the past - Mercs and Porsches mainly and they were also great, but I have also contract hired French vans for the business and they were crap!!!!!!

I love my Pajero!

When Japanese cars first came to Europe/UK they were a revelation. the comparable British stuff was appalling, the European stuff not much better (except the exclusive top of the range Mercs)

It was the Japanese that dragged up the European standards, not the other way round

Conoflex wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2017 9:37 am When Japanese cars first came to Europe/UK they were a revelation. the comparable British stuff was appalling, the European stuff not much better (except the exclusive top of the range Mercs)

It was the Japanese that dragged up the European standards, not the other way round

Exactly!

And more pertinently, Japanese cars were not forced on the market by government or EU legislation!

Conoflex wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2017 9:37 am When Japanese cars first came to Europe/UK they were a revelation. the comparable British stuff was appalling, the European stuff not much better (except the exclusive top of the range Mercs)

It was the Japanese that dragged up the European standards, not the other way round

Not so in the 60's

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture ... e-of-junk/

By the 70's they got their act together but rust was still a major problem on British roads (as were most British cars).

It was only by the late 70's that they surged ahead.

Would have been the 70's my dad started buying them.

My dad liked Datsun/Nissan estate cars (got his golf clubs in the back) and in the 90's my Mum bought a lot of Hondas (she opted for a Prelude 2.2 vtec over a Merc convertible once and still rates it as the best car she has ever driven) . My Dad sold a Sunny Estate car he had for 4 years to some friends of mine and to this day they swear it was the best car they ever had- totally reliable and they ran it for at least another 12 years. It developed a rust problem after someone had broken into it by forcing the locks and that was the only reason the had to get rid of it

The first car I ever bought was a Toyota Supra Turbo-that was just a wonderful motor and as first cars go it was as good as it got - every bit as quick as a 911 at the time and infinitely more comfortable

Never had a mechanical break down of any sorts in any of them, but as i got a bit older I went for things a bit flashier than the Japanese were producing (although I did almost once buy an NSX)

I imagine the European stuff is just as equally good these days, but I still associate Toyota and Honda with utter reliability and they would be my first choice again today (unless I start suffering from a mid life crisis and fancy a German willie on wheels )

Pound having a good day v the euro, no reason, just a bit of profiteering by the traders

The £ may have appreciated in anticipation of tomorrow's Bank of England rate meeting - will the BoE revise upwards their forecasts for growth and inflation? Probably.