Andy writes:
>In case Strange Amercian Car Slang doesn't always drift eastward over the
>seas to the mother country, a Q-Ship is what some people call the various
>high-end, high-dollar (and, to me, high-pretense) Mercedes, BMW, [maybe]
>Jaguar, Lexus, Acura, Infiniti and other big luxury sedans. Me, I call
>them out of my price range!
To elaborate further, the term originated from special merchant ships in
a convoy that had guns mounted on them and hidden behind drop-down
panels, etc. I believe it was in WWI due to the method of attack.
An unsuspecting submarine would surface in order to use its deck gun
on the "helpless, unarmed" ship, and the Q-ship would expose its guns
and blow the sub out of the water.
Later on, the term was applied to cars which were faster than they looked.
A similar term is "sleeper". Things like Frick-Tappet modified '50's Fords
with big Cadillac engines (the Fordillac), VW bugs with Porsche 911 parts,
and I believe I've heard of a British variant -- Jaguar saloons modified by a
company called Coombs? Hope this sheds more light on the matter.
Dave Williamson (silikal@aol.com) Spits in bits
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