[MattTheMudder]

Ok, I was reading this month's copy of Motor Trend and was reading an article on cars they should bring here, but didnt. One of them was the Ford Falcon, sold in Australia. It's a RWD, V8, 380HP sedan for about 30 grand or so. If I needed a family car, that would be it. Even though I'm a Chevy person, that's a great car. They said Ford considered bringing it here, but unlike the Australian Pontiac GTO, it wasnt set up for left-hand drive. So since it was right-hand drive only, they didnt bring it over.

But, in England, they sell left-hand drive cars all the time. That doesnt stop them from selling them in the UK. Why couldnt they do the same here? (except with rhd cars) I guess it'd have to do with demand for a RHD car, but that probably wouldnt stop everyone

I'd like to see more Australian cars come over here. They've got a bunch of great RWD, V8 powered modern-day muscle cars over there. They've got some great cars over there.

[Texan4life]

They can sell more LHD in England because the rest of Europe drives LHD cars. The only practical LHD car here is the mailman's car.

[adamonearth]

Because they want you to move to Australia and bring your family to help populate the country in order to gain access to their awsome V8 mad max type cars.

[rowdy1]

Originally Posted by adamonearth

Because they want you to move to Australia and bring your family to help populate the country in order to gain access to their awsome V8 mad max type cars.

If I wanted to live on an island,I'd move to Maui. Most beautiful place I've ever been and the steering wheels are where they are supposed to be

[MattTheMudder]

Yeah I like LHD better, but if you had a choice which would you take?

LHD Accord
or
RHD Falcon with RWD and 380 horses?

[Rob99]

Imagine being stopped at a busy intersection waiting to make a left turn. If you're in a RHD car, you couldn't see oncoming traffic.

[PDX_XJ]

Because all the drive-thrus are set up for left hand drive cars. I wouldn't drive a car if it meant I couldn't reach my burger!

I really don't know why they don't import them. I'd buy a RHD.

[Twisted]

It actually has nothing to do with what side of the car you are driving on. The reason we don't see a lot of those cars in the US is that we have a lot more safety and emissions standards than other countries. For them to bring that 380hp car here they would probably have to tune it down quite a bit and add a lot of safety equipment. Which I'm betting basically turns it into the Marauder which we do get over here.

Same reason we don't see Nissan Skylines. By the time Nissan spends all the money to redesign it to american specs, tune it down to meet our emissions, add all the safety equipment, you're basically down to a 350z which we already have.

[Twisted]

Originally Posted by PDX_XJ

I really don't know why they don't import them. I'd buy a RHD.

Buying the car over seas and getting it here isn't the problem. Its actually real easy and inexpensive. Its getting a VIN issued to it so you can title/license it is tricky. It can be done, and there are loop holes that aren't exactly legal but work. Just for starters you have to replace all the glass with DOT aproved safety glass which means all the windows and such. Not a big deal as long as there is an american version of said car to get glass out of.

Then you have to do whatever it takes to meet emmission standards. Once again not bad if there is an american eqivelance to get parts off of.

Hard and expensive part is that the car has to pass US crash safety standards. Which means you have to take said model of car and run it through goverment crash testing. So you will need several cars to test as they are totalled by running into brick walls and such. Once you are able to pass the tests and prove the car can stand up to the standards you get a certificate for that model of car.

[MattTheMudder]

Originally Posted by Twisted

For them to bring that 380hp car here they would probably have to tune it down quite a bit and add a lot of safety equipment. Which I'm betting basically turns it into the Marauder which we do get over here.

They wouldnt have to tune it down because there's no horsepower limit over here, unlike Japan. They wouldnt have to tuen it down specifically to have less horsepower, though it might be a by-product of tighter emission standards. The Falcon is also it's own platform, not a Crown Vic.

Btw, there's a great burger place called Carolina Cookout that has pick-up windows on both sides of the restuarant, so there's at least one place that RHD car owners could go to and not starve

[Twisted]

Originally Posted by MattTheMudder

They wouldnt have to tune it down because there's no horsepower limit over here, unlike Japan. They wouldnt have to tuen it down specifically to have less horsepower, though it might be a by-product of tighter emission standards. The Falcon is also it's own platform, not a Crown Vic.

Btw, there's a great burger place called Carolina Cookout that has pick-up windows on both sides of the restuarant, so there's at least one place that RHD car owners could go to and not starve

Yeah, guess I wasn't clear but thats what I meant. Usually to meet our tough emissions will require a big HP loss. And lets not forget that California accounts for nearly half of all auto sales in the US and their standards are even tougher.

It all comes down to money. Its just not worth it to the car company to go through all the hassle and expense to bring such cars here.

[Alec]

....I will say this again and again ....


get a Dodge Magnum

32k spanking new after all the haggle and taxation

[ProfessorCRX]

Because idiots and ricers would by them and we't have 10x the accidents on the roads that we do now. Try making a left hand turn onto a busy street without being able to see who's coming from your right.

[Twisted]

Originally Posted by Alec

....I will say this again and again ....


get a Dodge Magnum

32k spanking new after all the haggle and taxation

I seen several Chargers at the dealership this week also. Was talking to my dad last week and he wants to sell their 2000 Stratus RT so he can get a Charger for him and some other small car for my mom.

[Oman Jeep]

Originally Posted by PDX_XJ

Because all the drive-thrus are set up for left hand drive cars. I wouldn't drive a car if it meant I couldn't reach my burger!

I really don't know why they don't import them. I'd buy a RHD.

With some practice, you could get pretty good at reversing through the drive-thru lane

And in true Aussie V8 muscle car style by "with practice" I mean doing a hand-brake turn as you pull into the lane, swinging the back around and lining up perfectly, reversing through the lane and then once you have your burger, doing a J-turn as you leave to get the car facing the right way again




ProfessorCRX - I think the goal is to actually get LHD forms of cars that are made in RHD - not to actually get them here as LHD.


Twisted has a point on all the DOT stuff - emmissions etc. - that's the problem my friend is looking at as he's trying to decide if his Middle-East spec Jeep goes home with him to America, or gets sold.


To the original poster, Matt, if you're a Chevy guy, look to the Middle East for your car. We get a 4 door version of the GTO - it's cheap, and it has the same GTO engine as an option



Unfortunately they spent a lot of time on it before bringing it to the USA in 2-door form so that's a bad sign, they must have been changing some design aspects to pass crash testing, otherwise I can't see why they delayed it just to give it new badges. Also, while the back door glass would definitely be a problem, all the other glass isn't compatible with the GTO because the GTO / Holden Monaro / Chevy Lumina Coupe version has the roof 2 inches lower than the 4-door version, so different shape windows.

You might be able to apply a certain film to the glass to make it meet specs.



Going to the Dodge dealer to check out the Magnum does appear to be the easier option by far.