Our regular columnist, Chester Winchester, asks whether we have an inferiority complex toward the Europeans.
I'm getting rather sick of the inherent inferiority complex displayed by the average US European automotive enthusiast. It seems no matter what the topic, US owners automatically assume that owners of European brands who actually live in Europe tend to modify their cars better than we Americans.
It's easy to understand how we got our sense of being second-class citizens. For the longest time, we Americans got the short end of the stick when it came to European automotive selections. European manufacturers either don't offer many of their tastiest models here, or if they do they water them down to the point where any self-respecting European won't even recognize them.
We can't always blame the manufacturers, though. Strict US regulations, currency exchange rates and different buying habits are typically behind most of these decisions. As such, American enthusiasts lust after what we can't have, and soon we're spending all kinds of money buying cool European bumpers, lighting, interior items, etc.
For the record, I have no problem with such trends, and have imported my fair share of Euro OEM goodness. Let's face it: much of the European-market items genuinely are better than the stuff that's shipped over here.
The problem for me is that somewhere along the line we Americans started assuming that anything offered in Europe but not here is automatically superior and should be coveted. This type of logic is tragically flawed, and has resulted in countless American VWs running around with retrograde black plastic trim, rear foglights in a perpetual "on" position, or badges bearing silly names such as "Vento" or "Bora."
As if that's not bad enough, we've gone to the extent where we assume European aftermarket trends are also superior to our own, so we copy them religiously.
Fess up - do you truly think last year's European obsession with chrome wheels, air ride suspension and airbrushed graphics was a trend worth following? (Surely that was American-inspired in the first instance? - Ed) Seriously, you can't need more proof that even the Europeans sometimes get it wrong.