First of all, England was our mother nation; and just as teens have to assert their autonomy from their parents, we had to do the same with England ,although many colonists were aginst the revolution. Given our closeness to England, after we licked our wounds, it was inevitable that we would make up with our mother country; and England has been our closest ally forever. English citizens also own more land and businesses in the U.S. than any other nation, but we don't even raise an eyebrow over that as we almost don't even perceive them as a foreign power. I have many English friends and we don't seem foreign to each other, and we went drinking together during the Persian Gulf War as we toasted to us fighting together again. It was an almost overwhelming experience. No, I'm not a hawk, I'm pretty much anti-war; but the first Gulf war was completely justified and preemptive of fighting them with nukes, later.
The true national battles were in the Grand Prix races, and I would have to give the Italians the edge there. For all of you who wonder why there is so much respect for Alfa Romeo, it has to be realized that they dominated pre-WWII racing with many wins in the Mille Miglia, Targa Florio, and of course, Grand Prix. They won the worlds first ever World Championship, and were so dominant that Fiat (who had dominated ) immediately withdrew from Grand Prix. When the '30's came, Alfa couldn't develop too many new cars as they had very little money; so they had to fight the Germans who had gone to massive engines and over 600hp with the older, much smaller engined cars of the past. Their finest hour came in the 1936 German Grand Prix ( I think it was 1936, but maybe 1935 ) when Tazio Nuvolari ( the flying Mantuan ) out drove the massive German Mercedes and Auto Unions (designed by Ferdinand Porsche ) to win the race. Hitler was very upset by this, only to be further crushed
by the victory in the Olympics that same year of Jesse Owens ( definitely not Aryan ). There is a great story about a French Grand Prix in the '20's when the Alfa's were dominating the home favorite Delages, and every time the Alfa's came by, the French crowd booed them. Jano ( the chief engineer and race team leader, and in my humble opinion, the all time greatest Chief Engineer) called the whole team in for a pit stop. He had set up a fine dining table, and while the cars were being serviced and washed and waxed, the drivers were eating a fine muti-coursed dinner that even included wine; and every time rthe Delages came by, they would toast them. After their leisurely lunch, they went back out and won the race!
alan5o5 <alan5o5@hotmail.com> wrote:
It is rather hard to separate politics and nationalism from cars, but in the
day and age of the global car we are coming close to having truly
international cars.
The car you drive not only makes a personal statement, but a national
statement. Cars are sold using sex, and people purchase them to send a
message about themselves.
For a person living in North America that drives a Citroen, Renault, or
Peugeot; you cannot say that your vehicle choice is derived from a rational
need for transportation. Anyone that owns and drives French or Italian car
in 2006 probably has a little bit more passion than the average Joe.
If you take this on a national level it becomes about strength,
intelligence, and might.
Look back at Germany's Silver Arrows in the 1930's campaigns at Le Mans.
The first battles of WWII were fought on the racetrack between Delahaye and
Auto Union. The French government offered big money to a French manufacture
that built a car that would beat the German Silver Arrows. Delahaye built
what was known as the "Bulldog", and Rene Dryfuss defeated the Silver Arrows
at Le Mans.
Given the symbolism that cars represent they are often items or pawns in the
various trade disputes/discussions/wars that exist between nations.
Fortunately the collective mind of the public is fickle and forgetful.
No matter how you slice it the countries of the world have had conflicts or
serious issues with one another throughout the course of history.
As far as I can tell the burning of the White House in 1814 by the British
has not had much impact on the sale of the new Mini Cooper.
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Received on Wed Jan 25 10:44:59 2006
