The point about people standing out doesn’t make much sense when you consider the following. If a service member brings over their Dodge Challenger, a car that is not common in Germany due to its ridiculous fuel consumption, they too will also stand out. What about a Ford Mustang GT? Or maybe a dual cab F150 in any of the millions of trims available?
Germany is quite content with some ridiculous vehicles and invented most of them.
What stands out is say civvies driving on military number plates (UK until the 80s). In this case, anyone driving a banned vehicle - these beasts have sharp edges and are banned.
No one has a problem with a Ford Musty GT - its just a car and not sharp.
Just today I noticed a Cadillac SUV in a Dutch parking space (multilevel parking garage). The car didn't fit (not even close) and protruded well into the driveway.
'USA-size cars' have absolutely no reason to exist in Europe. Our infrastructure isn't built for them and that's a good thing.
The Promaster (Fiat Du-whatever) is just as bad as the Sprinter.
The Transit is basically doing a best effort at making the same but not sucking and they go, ok, but just ok.
Like don't get me wrong, they all do the "bod on wheels" thing fine but if you're not some high end airport shuttle service turning your leased fleet over on a rolling 3yr basis so you can "look sharp" they fucking crush you with maintenance and the TCO winds up being shit.
And in more "serious" service they suffer a ton more downtime and cost because the little employee driver oopsies that formerly had a 1/500 conversion ratio into downtime now have like a 1/100 ratio on these lighter vehicle platforms, but the CAFE number goes and what are you gonna do, not buy? So the OEMs don't care.
The American OEMS tried these family of designs in the 70s-90s and went BACK to more traditional designs because they just kinda sucked at the margin.
Ironically the mini versions of these (Transit Connect, Nissan NV200 or whatever they called it) that they started importing around the same time were actually pretty cool because they were filling an otherwise unfilled market niche.
> 'USA-size cars' have absolutely no reason to exist in Europe. Our infrastructure isn't built for them and that's a good thing.
American infrastructure also isn't built to accommodate "USA-sized" cars. A recent car will not fit into a space in an American parking lot, and it makes it a nightmare to pass through toll booths, parking garage ticketing gates, or any other scenario where you're supposed to roll down your window and reach out to something outside the car. Going around corners is problematic too. I now park by looking for a stretch of several empty spaces in a row. I can (just barely) technically fit inside one marked space at my local grocery store, but I can't maneuver into a space if there are cars in the adjacent spaces.
American cars have very recently become much, much, much, much fatter, and they use that extra interior space to... place a bunch of empty space between the seating and the side of the car. As best I can tell, this is a response to crash safety requirements. It is definitely a bad thing.
> American infrastructure also isn't built to accommodate "USA-sized" cars.
I don’t think this is true. Everyone was driving around in the Toyota Tacoma in Hawaii and that was fine. You couldn’t drive the thing in Tokyo. You’d just immediately get stuck at the first corner.
The US is definitely built to facilitate cars, and plus sized cars by extension.
I park in recently striped parking lots with pickup trucks that practically touch both lines. In parking garages these things can extend well into the traffic lane making traversing the garage extremely tight. It's really annoying having to share space with these monstrously sized trucks everywhere.
I am a bit confused... your car sounds miserable to drive, why don't you find a smaller one? The US certainly has a shit market for ultra-compacts, but you can still find (new) sedans or hatchbacks that comfortably fit existing infrastructure.
Germany didn't really exist as an independent country with its own laws from its surrender in May 1945 to May 1949 (When the Western powers decided to create West Germany in their occupied area and a few months later the Soviets created East Germany in theirs).
There are a lot of reasons for banning this beast and frankly some of the lessons are rather old.
For example, in the '80s the UK military stopped using military number plates on "family" vehicles outside the UK. Yes, we used to rock around in Germany in a family car with UK military plates - that's pretty daft. We switched to UK standard plates. So you had left hand drive cars with UK plates. lol
Anyway, its now modern times and we now have cars that would challenge a 432 for mass.
A Cybertruck is sharp edged, cruel and hard and will kill whatever it hits - "It will cut". That is not welcome outside the US. If you want to drive an armoured car then buy a proper one. I suggest something like a Saracen - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvis_Saracen or "Warthog".
Forgive my ignorance, but why is it a problem for UK military number plates to be put on vehicles in Germany? I'm sure the answer is probably obvious, but I still don't see it. Sorry.
The article mentions that the distinctive penis compensation vehicle would be very noticeable in Germany, and it'd be a sign that the driver is with the US military, compromising security... I'd imagine UK plates had the same function.
Interestingly US servicemen are discouraged from travelling in uniform, even domestically, but they do that anyway..
Just look at the body counts of people dying because in crashes either they can't get out due to doors not opening, or people can't get them out due to doors not opening.
Good for Germany. If there were any integrity left in the US, Teslas would be removed from market too.
"Tesla door handles have been at the center of several other crash lawsuits because the battery powering the unlocking mechanism can be destroyed in a fire and the manual releases that override that system are difficult to find.
“The backup mechanical release for that door was concealed beneath the liner of the map pocket at the bottom of the door – hidden, unlabeled, and impractical to locate or use in the smoke and chaos of a post-crash fire,” said the Nelsons. “As a result, the Cybertruck’s design left Jack and the other occupants with no practical way to escape.”
"
The "trick" is registering as argo equipmet. No, Im not kidding. There is a special EU T3b agricultural tractor vehicle category with very little requirements. The most painful one once you inevitably get stopped by police will be 90km/h hard speed limit everyone breaks/removes after certification process.
This is how people make ATV/Quads/custom 4x4s legal in strict countries like Germany where normally you cant even put a non TUV approved sticker on car bodywork.
The point about people standing out doesn’t make much sense when you consider the following. If a service member brings over their Dodge Challenger, a car that is not common in Germany due to its ridiculous fuel consumption, they too will also stand out. What about a Ford Mustang GT? Or maybe a dual cab F150 in any of the millions of trims available?
Safety? Yes, agree.
Germany is quite content with some ridiculous vehicles and invented most of them.
What stands out is say civvies driving on military number plates (UK until the 80s). In this case, anyone driving a banned vehicle - these beasts have sharp edges and are banned.
No one has a problem with a Ford Musty GT - its just a car and not sharp.
I rented a car in germany, they gave me the "bon jovi" limited edition golf, likely because I'm American. It was tasteful, but odd.
Was it an automatic?
it was slippery…when wet
They have Dodge challengers in Germany. Watch some Nurburgring videos and you’ll see nearly every car.
Yep they're rare but there's a dealership selling them just a few blocks from my home.
"not common" is not the same as "well known to be literally illegal without the US Army leaning on the government on the driver's behalf"
In addition to this article:
Just today I noticed a Cadillac SUV in a Dutch parking space (multilevel parking garage). The car didn't fit (not even close) and protruded well into the driveway.
'USA-size cars' have absolutely no reason to exist in Europe. Our infrastructure isn't built for them and that's a good thing.
Europe soils the US market with unworkable work vans.
The US soils the European market with absurd SUVs.
Seems fair to me.
(joking, but also very much not joking)
What’s unworkable about those work vans? Clearly people like them enough to buy em.
Guessing it’s a joke that as many end up as campers as in working roles.
I assume they're referring to the Sprinter, which is not only very unreliable but extremely difficult/expensive/annoying to work on.
The Promaster (Fiat Du-whatever) is just as bad as the Sprinter.
The Transit is basically doing a best effort at making the same but not sucking and they go, ok, but just ok.
Like don't get me wrong, they all do the "bod on wheels" thing fine but if you're not some high end airport shuttle service turning your leased fleet over on a rolling 3yr basis so you can "look sharp" they fucking crush you with maintenance and the TCO winds up being shit.
And in more "serious" service they suffer a ton more downtime and cost because the little employee driver oopsies that formerly had a 1/500 conversion ratio into downtime now have like a 1/100 ratio on these lighter vehicle platforms, but the CAFE number goes and what are you gonna do, not buy? So the OEMs don't care.
The American OEMS tried these family of designs in the 70s-90s and went BACK to more traditional designs because they just kinda sucked at the margin.
Ironically the mini versions of these (Transit Connect, Nissan NV200 or whatever they called it) that they started importing around the same time were actually pretty cool because they were filling an otherwise unfilled market niche.
They’re closer to golf carts than actual “work vans”, especially when stepping down from the GM and pre-global E-series Ford vans.
> 'USA-size cars' have absolutely no reason to exist in Europe. Our infrastructure isn't built for them and that's a good thing.
American infrastructure also isn't built to accommodate "USA-sized" cars. A recent car will not fit into a space in an American parking lot, and it makes it a nightmare to pass through toll booths, parking garage ticketing gates, or any other scenario where you're supposed to roll down your window and reach out to something outside the car. Going around corners is problematic too. I now park by looking for a stretch of several empty spaces in a row. I can (just barely) technically fit inside one marked space at my local grocery store, but I can't maneuver into a space if there are cars in the adjacent spaces.
American cars have very recently become much, much, much, much fatter, and they use that extra interior space to... place a bunch of empty space between the seating and the side of the car. As best I can tell, this is a response to crash safety requirements. It is definitely a bad thing.
> American infrastructure also isn't built to accommodate "USA-sized" cars.
I don’t think this is true. Everyone was driving around in the Toyota Tacoma in Hawaii and that was fine. You couldn’t drive the thing in Tokyo. You’d just immediately get stuck at the first corner.
The US is definitely built to facilitate cars, and plus sized cars by extension.
I park in recently striped parking lots with pickup trucks that practically touch both lines. In parking garages these things can extend well into the traffic lane making traversing the garage extremely tight. It's really annoying having to share space with these monstrously sized trucks everywhere.
I am a bit confused... your car sounds miserable to drive, why don't you find a smaller one? The US certainly has a shit market for ultra-compacts, but you can still find (new) sedans or hatchbacks that comfortably fit existing infrastructure.
really, why do you think its crash safety that's gotten fatter rather than americans themselves? (obesity prevalence 40% and rising )
The seats haven't gotten wider. The cars have gotten wider, but the seats are the same size.
Well technically the US Army can if they really want to.
I'm not sure Willy Jeeps were "allowed" in Germany in 1945, but it happened.
Germany didn't really exist as an independent country with its own laws from its surrender in May 1945 to May 1949 (When the Western powers decided to create West Germany in their occupied area and a few months later the Soviets created East Germany in theirs).
[flagged]
There are a lot of reasons for banning this beast and frankly some of the lessons are rather old.
For example, in the '80s the UK military stopped using military number plates on "family" vehicles outside the UK. Yes, we used to rock around in Germany in a family car with UK military plates - that's pretty daft. We switched to UK standard plates. So you had left hand drive cars with UK plates. lol
Anyway, its now modern times and we now have cars that would challenge a 432 for mass.
A Cybertruck is sharp edged, cruel and hard and will kill whatever it hits - "It will cut". That is not welcome outside the US. If you want to drive an armoured car then buy a proper one. I suggest something like a Saracen - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvis_Saracen or "Warthog".
A CT is missing two letters.
Sorry for missing something probably really obvious, but what two letters is the Cyber Truck missing?
They probably mean c..t. A common British word usage.
C
(U)
(N)
T
Forgive my ignorance, but why is it a problem for UK military number plates to be put on vehicles in Germany? I'm sure the answer is probably obvious, but I still don't see it. Sorry.
The article mentions that the distinctive penis compensation vehicle would be very noticeable in Germany, and it'd be a sign that the driver is with the US military, compromising security... I'd imagine UK plates had the same function.
Interestingly US servicemen are discouraged from travelling in uniform, even domestically, but they do that anyway..
Ah, okay. Thank you for explaining!
I believe they were concerned that Northern Irish terrorists might use the distinctive number plates to target military personnel.
On the topic of left hand drive cars with UK plates, I've seen a press McLaren in continental Europe with LHD and UK plates.
Just look at the body counts of people dying because in crashes either they can't get out due to doors not opening, or people can't get them out due to doors not opening.
Good for Germany. If there were any integrity left in the US, Teslas would be removed from market too.
Can you provide a link to data for the body counts you are describing?
I can't provide a count but lawsuits are starting. There ha see been issues opening the doors after a crash.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/03/tesla-cal...
"Tesla door handles have been at the center of several other crash lawsuits because the battery powering the unlocking mechanism can be destroyed in a fire and the manual releases that override that system are difficult to find.
“The backup mechanical release for that door was concealed beneath the liner of the map pocket at the bottom of the door – hidden, unlabeled, and impractical to locate or use in the smoke and chaos of a post-crash fire,” said the Nelsons. “As a result, the Cybertruck’s design left Jack and the other occupants with no practical way to escape.” "
And not only is the physical latch hard to find inside, there is often no outside physical latch option on many Tesla car doors.
Yeah, it wouldn't be such a big deal if the driver with the easy manual release could open the rear doors from the outside.
It's the most incoherent design strategy for a door handle you could come up with.
Here was the latest just shortly ago. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45458768
You can google "tesla door handle death fatality" for more, people forget but I've seen a steady rash of incidents over the years.
Some are around still: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEuEQ9VsnGd/?l=1
The "trick" is registering as argo equipmet. No, Im not kidding. There is a special EU T3b agricultural tractor vehicle category with very little requirements. The most painful one once you inevitably get stopped by police will be 90km/h hard speed limit everyone breaks/removes after certification process.
This is how people make ATV/Quads/custom 4x4s legal in strict countries like Germany where normally you cant even put a non TUV approved sticker on car bodywork.