I might be wandering slightly off topic here but BT touched on it earlier with the idea that there is a similar comparison between NZ and Australia here.
Although Aussie Fords and Holdens have been popular since the start in NZ, their inception in Oz was due to the very long distances and straight roads, hence their similarity to American motorcars. NZ being very hilly, Aussie rear-wheel drive V8s were very popular for doing the typical Kiwi pastime of towing the boat round the country. However a sign of changing times is that Ford Australia are looking to axe the Falcon V8, which is an iconic symbol of Australia-ana. It will be the end of an era.
I'm a fan of 8s, many mates and cousins back home have had Aussie muscle cars, but the truth of the matter is that with technological advances and fuel concerns, smaller capacity engines are the way that things are going. Also longevity is less of an issue now with higher revving engines due to advancements in alloys and metals. Although I wouldn't say they could last as long as traditional big displacement blocks.
Performance-wise, there's something wonderful about being in a V8 or V12 engined motorcar and the surge of power and torque. It's sublime. I've been lucky enough to have driven and been driven in a lot of high performance cars and still the one which was the fastest, and I mean, terrifyingly, awesomely stupidly fast, was a tuned Lancer Evo VII - way quicker than a Lotus, Ferrari, Porsche, and all those traditionally "fast cars". That really opened my eyes to what was capable with modern automotive engineering. Would I buy one, no bloody way, it really scared me. I'll stick to a nice 50s or 60s British sports car thank you
Although Aussie Fords and Holdens have been popular since the start in NZ, their inception in Oz was due to the very long distances and straight roads, hence their similarity to American motorcars. NZ being very hilly, Aussie rear-wheel drive V8s were very popular for doing the typical Kiwi pastime of towing the boat round the country. However a sign of changing times is that Ford Australia are looking to axe the Falcon V8, which is an iconic symbol of Australia-ana. It will be the end of an era.
I'm a fan of 8s, many mates and cousins back home have had Aussie muscle cars, but the truth of the matter is that with technological advances and fuel concerns, smaller capacity engines are the way that things are going. Also longevity is less of an issue now with higher revving engines due to advancements in alloys and metals. Although I wouldn't say they could last as long as traditional big displacement blocks.
Performance-wise, there's something wonderful about being in a V8 or V12 engined motorcar and the surge of power and torque. It's sublime. I've been lucky enough to have driven and been driven in a lot of high performance cars and still the one which was the fastest, and I mean, terrifyingly, awesomely stupidly fast, was a tuned Lancer Evo VII - way quicker than a Lotus, Ferrari, Porsche, and all those traditionally "fast cars". That really opened my eyes to what was capable with modern automotive engineering. Would I buy one, no bloody way, it really scared me. I'll stick to a nice 50s or 60s British sports car thank you