Yup; where "cellulose fibres" = rags, AFAIK.

I've heard the same story from a friend who grew up in the GDR. What he added, though, was that on the faithful day when one of the family could collect their treasured Trabi, half the clan would come along, with tools, to VEB Sachsenring.

German has a great word for this: Hineininterpretieren.

Is there any evidence that W124s are not as solid as W123s?

Great stuff, but for all out, acid trippin' futuristic awesomeness, Disney's '58 'Magic Highway USA' remains the pinnacle.

indeed, but it's those camber changing swing axles that are really vicious. The Ford Capris and BMW Neue Klasse slide all over the shop, but rarely flip. The VW beetles, NSU Prinzes, SIMCA 1000s and particularly the Renaults 8 and 10 flip like ballerinas if you overcook it just slightly.

Nice dress, and some more good ones in the collection.

The question is ...

My other takeaway: rear engined family sedans are not a good idea...

Hmm. Over here in the UK, LandCruisers start at £32,000.- or about the same as a nice, $35,000.- BMW 3 series. Which is indeed about twice a hilux. Series 70 are not sold here, but Australian prices seem about where you put them.

The pink Hello Kitty Nissan Micra of Shame in Carfreitag 1 had me laughing out loud

Die Nordschleife; punishing the over-confident since 1927

Ah, like Corten steel in ships.

I'm not an an expert on off-roaders, but wouldn't the LandCruiser (preferably a series 70) be a better Toyota target for the new Defender?

"Once this truck's mechanical needs are attended to, this Suburban could be a super cool original cruiser as-is."

Wow.

Truly incredible. Can't imagine what the response must have been when that thing appeared in the streets of war time France...

I can't say I have direct experience of them myself, but it might well be that these souped-up Renault hatches are the biggest thing American Jalops miss out on.

I think I prefer the pints in my local: 568.261285 ml

Except when talking about body weight, when all of a sudden people talk about 'stones', or body height, which requires feet and inches, or when it get's a bit hot, when people start talking about it 'being in the 70s' (but not when it's cold, then it's 'near zero'), or when buying 4 pints of milk in a shop (but not in…