That is because Germany is a very car-centric country and realize that if you can cross the T’s and dot the I’s you don’t need to destroy it to prove it works. It’s a cultural thing.

Passing the German TUV is one of life’s greatest challenges even for the work a day sedan. Anything out of the ordinary is very well scrutinized. Custom Harley’s? A whole separate nightmare of it’s own.

Ref: “BAE Systems’ new Expeditionary Light Tank that features a huge gun”, sounds to me like somebody is reinventing the Sheridan which was a light tank with a huge gun that was air transportable. It was also a piece of crap.

Does anyone actually make a functional lever action shotgun? And if so, why?

Whatever “glamping” is, I suspect I don’t want to do it.

I would say that the deployment of the Hind is a good example of why we should be using the hell out of the A-10 in the middle east. Yes, they are apples and oranges but the mission is the same.

All other thins aside, you have to give him a point or two for creativity.

Reference #9, as a former Marine trained in various forms of insertion of forces to include amphibious, vertical envelopment (helicopters) and other variations, I can say that it would have taken a pretty big stick to get me to willingly/unwillingly climb aboard an ICBM along with 1,199 other souls.

Quite the little egoist isn’t he.

Neutral: Yes, but more importantly, I would like to be able to buy a new TDI at a significant savings and sign a waiver agreeing that I won’t take part in any retrofix plans.

I don’t think we can say the software was faulty. It performed nearly flawlessly for what it was designed to do. Someone with too much time on their hands is what blew their cover.

Before you dive totally into my shit, hear me out. While stationed in Germany, I acquired a brand new mil spec aviation helmet as worn by pilots, etc. Just on a whim, I started using it for cruising and touring. It was incredibly comfortable, well ventilated, and fit like it was made just for my gourd. I still have it…

If I remember correctly GM and Ford both made lots of money during the war from their European subsidiaries, and even more comically were able to get war reparations for the damage done to their factories by the allied forces. Gotta love big business.

Maybe we don’t hear about them because we’re not supposed to.

I have never admitted this before, except to my wife. In the early 70’s I was working at a shop called Five Flags Foreign Automotive, located in San Bernardino, CA. It was a good shop that did quality work for very fair prices. One fine Saturday morning, a fellow brought in a nice clean Opel GT for a tune-up. I was…

Hey, thanks for the info. I had a suspicion that the technology was earlier than the military usage but I was too lazy to research it.

Back in the 50’s the American military decided that it wasn’t wise to limit their fuel choices to either gasoline or diesel. So, they developed a whole series of multi-fuel engines that would run equally as well on either fuel as well as any other petroleum distillate that you cared to pour into the tank. It actually…

As an English major and retired technical writer, I couldn’t agree more. It particularly annoys me when I get some written missive from my son or D-I-L. What did all that college money actually buy?

And it was one of the most fool proof designs ever made. If you kept them lubricated properly, that is.

I do like the name as it is so totally appropriate. They could improve the name though by adding an exclamation mark.