While driving through Iowa yesterday

"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg) 04/18/2014 at 15:38 • Filed to: None

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I came across this. No, it's not parking enforcement. This fully marked Chevy Sonic is a one-car speed trap, equipped with all the gadgets to make it a fully automated speed camera, like the one they use in Europe but not here. Although I think it would also make an excellent riot-control vehicle or high-speed tactical pursuit car.

(Note: I did not take this picture. It is off the Windsor Heights PD website)

Meatcoma > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 04/18/2014 at 15:42

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Jayhawk Jake > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 04/18/2014 at 15:44

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Now I really want to plastidip my doors white

haveacarortwoorthree > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 04/18/2014 at 15:47

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As no tourist ever actually visits Iowa, the cops try to give out as many speeding tickets as possible on I-35 and I-80. And other highways. Full disclosure: born and raised in Iowa, got the hell out as soon as I could!

Svend > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 04/18/2014 at 15:50

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If it makes anyone over in The States feel any better about not getting certain Euro-cars well we won't be getting anymore of these Chevys as Chevy are pulling out of Britain and Europe.

http://www.chevrolet.co.uk/owners-area/im…

(I don't like the term 'We are working with our dealers and authorized repairers to continue to offer an adequate availability of service points for our customers moving forward'. Doesn't sit well with me).

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > haveacarortwoorthree 04/18/2014 at 15:51

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On the stretch of I-80 between Council Bluffs and Des Moines, we passed two cops running radar, five cops on the road and six, yes six, cops with folks pulled over. On the way back, another radar trap and four more cars pulled over. Almost all of the cars that got stopped were either luxury cars or had out-of-state plates.

multiple wheels for each day of the week > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 04/18/2014 at 15:54

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Why would this is any way be a good "high-speed tactical pursuit car" 0-60 in 4 mins is not catching shit

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > multiple wheels for each day of the week 04/18/2014 at 15:56

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…it was a joke. That and the "riot-control" thing.

multiple wheels for each day of the week > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 04/18/2014 at 16:02

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Riot control makes sense.They are mobile roadblocks cheap to replace when people pick them up and toss them out of the way.

Jayhawk Jake > multiple wheels for each day of the week 04/18/2014 at 16:02

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It it's a turbo it does 0-60 in like 8 seconds.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > multiple wheels for each day of the week 04/18/2014 at 16:06

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I suppose. But when I think riot control, I think this . I think what you're thinking of tends to be more "riot collateral" than "riot control".

Mercedes Streeter > Svend 04/18/2014 at 16:22

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Whaaaaaaaaaa? Is the European car market that bad? I mean, it's one thing if they killed Opel or something, but Chevrolet? Wow...

jkm7680 > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 04/18/2014 at 16:49

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So Scured.

Svend > Mercedes Streeter 04/18/2014 at 17:13

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Opel (GM Europe) won't be killed off. There would be too much uproar to do so. Chevy was a new player essentially after taking over from Daewoo years back (I still recall the advert 'if you have just bought a new Daewoo you can bring it to us and exchange it for a brand new Chevy'). Chevy never really caught on, sure the Captiva, Cruze and Aveo did quite well, but probably not enough to retain such a large presence over the whole continent. Like many things in Europe it can be hard to brake into as most like to stick with what they know. Skoda had a bad rep before they were bought by VW (23 years ago last week) but even now there is still quite a stigma about Skodas and there owners. The old joke of 'what is the best option to get when buying a Skoda? Heated rear window, so your hands are warm when your pushing it'.

The car market isn't as bad as many make out. There are bad figures for some cars but at the same extent there are great sales for other cars. You have to look at the whole picture rather than just segments.

Mercedes Streeter > Svend 04/18/2014 at 17:22

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Interesting! I thought Chevy had a larger presence in Europe than they actually do! Wow, funny to think they took over after Daewoo...I don't think anyone would want that distinction...

Svend > Mercedes Streeter 04/18/2014 at 17:50

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GM bought Daewoo in 2001 after Daewoo went into financial difficulties. I guess Chevrolet wanted to use the readily established presence of Daewoo in Europe to launch Chevy into Europe. The tragic thing is, is that Daewoo were creating a name for themselves as a cheap, average quality product and if they were left alone could probably of done well. Chevy buying them and then wanting to stamp their own identity probably damaged all of what Daewoo had done and put doubt into peoples minds of just how long they will be around. Plus to be honest American brands such as Dodge, Cadillac, Chevrolet, etc... don't really carry much weight in Europe where they are often seen as oversize, in-efficient, un-economical, poor quality, etc... (none of those could be true but doubt is still doubt and to get rid of that is quite a job. Look at Skoda, 23 years on it still has a stigma) (lets put our cards on the table and be honest and say probably many in the U.S. see European cars as poor quality economy boxes that have no reason to be on U.S. roads of 'buy American and be patriotic', etc...).

Mercedes Streeter > Svend 04/18/2014 at 18:11

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Oh, most definitely. I know about GM's and Daewoo's relationship, which is why I giggled at the thought of Chevy replacing Daewoo in Europe. Not a very good move.

Personally, even though I'm an American, I view European cars as superior to the domestics. It seems to me for the most part, the import competition has higher standards of quality.

desertdog5051 > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 04/18/2014 at 18:18

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They use those stationary speed monitoring vehicles where I live. I love to see all the citizens slam on their brakes when they see one. They were not exceeding the limit in the first place. And, the local PD even said that they had a tolerance level of 10 mph over. *get the fuck out of my way, asshole*

Svend > Mercedes Streeter 04/18/2014 at 18:35

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Personally, even though I'm a Brit. European cars usually have to compete quite hard to remain relevant and stay ahead of the game especially with the Asian brands doing such a great effort (usually down to the European design houses that effectively make them European) where I see the U.S. market as a 'we've got them, sure they may lust after some European cars, but they can't have them so we'll keep doing what we've been doing'. GM and Ford have shown there is a market for Euro cars like the Vauxhall/Opel Mokka and Insignia (Buick Encore and Regal) and Ford Fiesta and Transit Connect, but like many Europeans, Americans can be set in their ways too and want large automatic petrol trucks that are only useful to a small number of people for more than two weeks a year. I guess in some areas of the U.S. it would be just as bad to show up in a small diesel 1.4litre manual Euro hatchback as it would in some places of Europe to turn up in a large petrol 5.0litre V8 automatic American truck.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > desertdog5051 04/18/2014 at 18:46

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yeah the article on this said that fines start at 11 mph over.

Mercedes Streeter > Svend 04/18/2014 at 18:52

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Completely agree! Ford is actually completely discontinuing the iconic (well, for America) E-Series line in favour of the new line of Transit vans and GM is doing quite well with their captive imports.

And you're so right about having the wrong car in the wrong place. I drive a smart fortwo. Most of America is still having problems grasping the concept of a city car.

Svend > Mercedes Streeter 04/18/2014 at 19:19

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The Transit is our E Series, and has a great history (for Britain anyway).

There is more range now though (though the old ones had endless configurations) with the Transit Courier, Connect, Custom, Torneo Custom, Drop sides, Minibus etc...

Ford had a big decision to make in trying to diversify its range and either killed the Transit or the E Series. Though the E Series is highly relevant to North America, Transit is relevant to everywhere else and Ford knowing it basically has a captive audience in North America and has an established market elsewhere, where new comers are always waiting in the wings with substitutes should Ford drop the ball for a second. The fact that Ford has to play this massive game to get Connects into the U.S. with seats and windows before it can strip them out and turn them into vans shows just how protected the U.S. market is.

Its hard trying to teach people something different from what they grew up with.

Sometimes its best to just get on with things and let others get on with their own things.

I would like to see the Fiesta Van make it to the U.S. I think that would go down really well for inner city use where small cargo space is needed.