an observation about european cars vs the rest of the

[Ti Kan]

Larry C Leung writes:
> Acura in Camel Lights (also of IMSA RIP), Infinity in that "other" US
> open wheel series.....?
> 
> On Thu, 6 Sep 2001 21:11:14 -0700 (PDT) Ti Kan <ti at amb.org> writes:
> >Larry C Leung writes:
> >> Tho I'm unlikely to own any Japanese car, I'd hesitate calling them 
> >less
> >> than real. 
> >> [ Honda, Nissan and Toyota's racing history ...]
> >
> >No argument there, however I wasn't saying that Honda, Nissan or 
> >TOyota
> >are not real.  It is their "upscale brands" Acura, Infiniti and Lexus
> >that I was referring to.  There is nothing genuine about those names.
> >Their "brand" and "image" are all quite contrived, compared to their 
> >European
> >competition.

Larry, you missed my point.  Sure, Honda can put the Acura name on
some cars and then go racing.  But the sort of heritage I am talking about
is not mere racing involvement.  It's the fact that the very name "Acura"
being something contrived by Honda's marketing folks...

If you haven't noticed, the marques that are so celebrated at each year's
Monterey Historics earned their place usually because those brands embody
the soul of one or several enlightened and charismatic individuals, be it
the founder or the chief architect/engineers.  Not a faceless marketing
group.  I might imagine the Honda name being celebrated some years from now,
because Honda is a real company building a real history as we speak.
But Acura?  I don't think so.  That name is synthetic and nothing more
than marketing gimmickry to fool public perception.

-Ti
01 S4 2.7 biturbo quattro
84 5000S 2.1 turbo
80 4000 2.0
-- 
    ///  Ti Kan                Vorsprung durch Technik
   ///   AMB Research Laboratories, Sunnyvale, CA. USA
  ///    ti at amb.org
 //////  http://www.amb.org/ti/
///