Steam trains also have some serious safety problems of their own; they have to be retrofitted (in an awkward way) with some modern signal/control systems, and steam-enthusiast drivers might not pay as much attention to newfangled gadgets & procedures, and so on.

“The thing about heavy duty trucks, bless their hearts, is that they lack thenumber one ingredient needed for true off-road capability: favorable geometry.”

Collaborations like that are pretty common in European commercial vehicles. Mercedes’ Citan is a rebadged Renault Kangoo; the Sprinter is also sold as a VW Crafter; and so on.

Never forget.

Parts availability is painful, if you’re in a region where Jeeps were never big sellers. Wheels in particular - after you destroy a couple of rims, that’s not a good time to learn that nobody within 500 miles ever used a vehicle with the same PCD. (I learned that lesson quite painfully, in the Sahara).

It’s not a cheap option at all; there is already very widespread availability of cheaper vehicles, known as “used cars”. Mass-market cars are already reliable, and have great parts availability - unlike this thing which has been developed from scratch, on a small scale. It looks ugly, too.

For example, making…

Should have:

So pretty.

Of course a mustang can fit under a trailer.

I know the car/relationship metaphor is overused and it’s not very politically correct, but... this Thing really is like my ex.

Greek characters sound sciencey, and it worked for Lancia.

Brexit is:

As a European, I debadge some of my cars, but rebadging is more common. The C-class was always dirty after doing epic mileage, so I rebadged it with a very naughty phrase related to dirt. The S-class got a more self-effacing word on the back. I haven’t decided what to do with my current Volvo yet, but it’s got prancing…

put championship trophies in his case behind the wheel of an F40

They’re available with manual transmission in other markets. I had two (black and red, not blue). They really are a great all-round car.

I fear we’re going in circles. Why should partnering with a manufacturer in a different country be a PR problem?

“Seen as”? Why should that make them cross good candidates off their list and only consider candidates from one arbitrary country?

Google is a global business; global customers, global staff, global business partners. Why should they obsess over partnering with a carmaker in one particular country? (Apart from trying to mitigate the harm of import tariffs, of course)

This deserves a thousand stars.