Tim (drabik@solaris.gatech.edu) writes:
> I just got back from a vacation during which I spent some time in Vienna.
> The street was littered with brand new Mazda 121s, which have got to be
> the cutest 4-door cars produced today. [...] I'd actually like to
> gray-market one in, if the costs wouldn't come too close to the
> price of the car; it's clearly an economy auto, which is probably
> why we haven't seen them stateside (not in keeping with the upscale
> Mazda image).
Mazda probably couldn't be bothered to spend a ton of money getting that
model certified for the U.S., what with emissions stuff (Do the Europeans
have catalytic converters now? Methinks they do.), safety regulations (e.g.
air bags or those gawdawful motorized belts; 5-mph or 2 1/2-mph bumpers;
high-mount center brake lamp; side marker lamps...), parts inventory network,
and a myriad other details. After all that, you have to persuade the U.S.
public to actually buy them. It's not easy.
My favorite little Euro-car was a Peugeot 303 (I think), which looked an
awful lot like the old VW Rabbit/Golf, only cuter. This does not include
the upside-down airborne one which I may tell you about some other time...
Andrew C. Green
Datalogics, Inc. Internet: acg@dlogics.com
441 W. Huron UUCP: ..!uunet!dlogics!acg
Chicago, IL 60610 FAX: (312) 266-4473
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