Oh yes, well aware, that’s what happens in any new industry involving a new technology. Same thing happened with computers in the ‘70s and ‘80s, and in China with cars again during the ‘00s (I think the government is encouraging consolidation, but it isn’t really happening and they keep launching new brands).

The original purpose was to protect the investment made by dealers in opening up a franchise from abuse by their automaker. EG, to prevent the automaker from opening up their own company-owned store in the same territory to muscle the franchise out of business or pressure them to play ball with whatever new demands…

That’s what I would wonder about, the newest ones are 6 years old, and it would have to be reliable for 400 miles a week commuting. 

Have you considered just upgrading to a newer GTI, either new or used with a remaining warranty balance? The current version gets up to 34 mpg highway, and that would keep you in a fun to drive car that you obviously enjoy, and retain the practicality of the hatchback.

Are there even any miners in Britain anymore?

I had thought about doing that to my 2013, but never pursued it. Carpet and upholstery would be expensive, but doable, decent trim kits are available. The wheel is probably the hardest, nobody makes one, and it would be hard to fabricate and keep the airbag and buttons.

Mustangs would be a great base for a classic British-style GT upgrade - thick wool carpet, soft leather seats with contrast piping, burlwood dash, wood wheel, tasteful chrome accents. Affordable American Ford outside/Bristol inside. Considering how hard it is for small manufacturers to comply with crash testing, that…

If HUMMER were still around, GM would be selling every one it could build and raking in money hand over fist, you can’t have too many SUV/crossover models or too many SUV/crossover brands in today’s market; and HUMMER, being a lifestyle/image oriented brand, would command solid profit margins.

Oh, there’s definitely a market, its just a barely profitable one that the Big 2.5 are not interested in pursuing, when they can be using their resources to churning out cowboy Cadillacs.

This is Detroit using the exact same playbook they used with large cars in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Take a pretty simple, conventionally engineered, BOF, V8, RWD vehicle and gussy it up with all sorts of option packages (preferably accompanied by plush seats, ornate trim, and lots of chrome) and charge ridiculously inflated…

Enough to finish this one. It would have worked the same way it did when MG Rover went under. The administrators would have taken the last few, nearly complete cars still sitting on the line when it stopped, and finished as many of them as they could with the parts stocks left on hand.

Every country has pockets of deep poverty. Well, no, that’s not quite true, not every country - I don’t think Monaco or Liechtenstein do, but basically all others. The difference is, in the Soviet Union, the vast majority of the population lived a sub-middle class existence by our standards, poverty was the rule, not…

Not a paper bear, a bear with a population that had average living standards well below western countries, who also had a very well equipped and nuclear armed military. They put nearly everything they had into their military, neglecting everything else. The rest of their economy and society was essentially at a…

Its not just the run down and sketchy ones (which, I feel like is every single one that’s independently owned outside a big convenience store chain, when did that happen anyway? That every single gas station became such a dive?), they’ve found plenty of card skimmers at places like Wawa, Royal Farms, and Sheetz. Can…

I think the trouble is the design language doesn’t scale well. Stretch it out and add rear doors, and it looks way bigger than it is. Also, the Golf is at least one full size class above where most people are used to MINI competing. 

I’ve never really been that big into small cars, either, and have never owned a FWD car before, but, lately, I’ve been thinking it makes a lot of sense. I’ve got a small driveway and a small garage, and getting a smaller car would allow me to store other things in there (and open the door to the utility room without…

The whole thing is quite infuriating, because, as you said, civil asset forfeiture is one of the rare issues that has large amounts of opponents on both the right and left, so, theoretically, should be easy to reform. The problem is that its become such a big money maker for different jurisdictions, governed by both…

Unfortunately, Putin never got the memo that the Cold War was over, because Yeltsin accidentally vomited on it and threw it away.

Russia, and, really, the Soviet Union before them, has always been essentially a developing country trying desperately to maintain a military on par with a developed super power. They have an economy the size of Italy, and Italy can't afford the sort of navy they used to have, either, let alone one the size of the…

I’ve actually been toying with getting a late production 2013 or 2014 Clubman, but it seems there aren’t any low mileage examples around. The current model just seems too big and ungainly for me, I like the idea of a MINI with a little extra space in the back, but they just took it too far.