Ford Mustang

[Hans Deventer]

Driving through Den Haag (The Hague) last Friday, we saw a Ford Mustang like in the picture below (though this one was blue). Now these cars are not too common in our country, but what was especially uncommon is that it had a Connecticut license plate! I guess the owner shipped his car to Europe.
I don't know how often you see a European license plate, but we rarely see American ones.

[Jim Severns]

I suspect it was someone in the American military stationed in Europe. There are some who are able to ship cars there, usually officers in the upper pay grades. Of course, they have to ship them back when they return.

Of course, some American tourists want to take a driving tour of European countries and actually do ship their cars there just for that purpose.

There are a substantial number of German Air Force personnel stationed at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, New Mexico. It is quite common in that town to see an Opel or a euro-version of an Audi, Mercedes, etc with German plates.

Of all the problems American car manufacturers are having, the Ford Mustang is one bright spot. It has been a runaway sales success.

[Jim Franklin]

Hans, a few years ago here in Boise I was approaching a shopping area near an intersection and a vehicle somewhat like a Volkswagen minibus pulled out of the shopping area and started to drive on the left side of the road and when I looked closer I noticed a British license plate and a Union Jack decal so I patiently waited until the driver recognized he was not driving American style and gave him space to pull over to the right side. As globalism increases perhaps the UN will come up with a standardized pattern of driving cars and highway signs etc. There would probably be some trade offs/compromises such as we''ll try to learn the metric system of weights and measures if the left sider drivers pull over on the right side.

[Hans Deventer]

Hans, a few years ago here in Boise I was approaching a shopping area near an intersection and a vehicle somewhat like a Volkswagen minibus pulled out of the shopping area and started to drive on the left side of the road and when I looked closer I noticed a British license plate and a Union Jack decal so I patiently waited until the driver recognized he was not driving American style and gave him space to pull over to the right side.

It's really a weird experience to drive on the wrong side of the road. I've driven to London back in early 80's, and two years ago I drove with Brad and Roland for something like a mile in Dover. In both cases, in my own car! I still don't like it. Give me a motor home to drive in the States any time, I really prefer that!

[Garth Lahana]

Hans

Define "wrong side of the road" :basic05

Garth

[Hans Deventer]

Hans

Define "wrong side of the road" :basic05

Easy! English is a great language. It clarifies what Dutch fails to do. In English, there is such a thing as the "right" side of the road. Which gives you by implication what the wrong side of the road is.

[Terri Knoll]

I am partial to mustangs :basic05

[Brad Mercer]

Our Swedish friends the Hiorts, who are now US citizens and a part of the NewStart-Frisco church, lived in the Netherlands for a while between Sweden and the US. They had Swedish friends living in the US who were moving to the Netherlands for their job. They had a full-sized Chevy Suburban SUV in Texas and shipped it to the Netherlands. The Hiorts warned them not to, that many roads in the Netherlands were so narrow they simply would not be able to drive a Suburban many places they'd want to go. The friends shipped it anyway. When I visited there, I saw what the Hiorts meant. I can't imagine how their friends fared, but I suspect the SUV wound up being very much a second vehicle for them.

Brad