B M Troubleyou

Paolo wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2012 5:30 am Maybe one of these Russian tanks is what I need?!

Absolutely not! I know you....

Arab Nights (imported) wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2012 2:12 pm Thanks for bringing back the memory of reading about some battle somewhere. Somehow the Russians used their T-34s like it was a demolition derby. Poor Germans.

The pictures that ran thru my mind cracked me up.

There is a book out there not about the tank war but about snipers during the Siege of Leningrad called "WAR OF THE RATS" and it is the most horrific piece of history and drama I've ever read. The Russians beat the Nazi's in so many ways and simply demoralized them in so many ways. Russia was a country of peasants on farms with pitchforks and rifles from their fathers... and yet they were determined not to be conquered. The "hero" sniper of the story hunted rabbits from childhood and that is where he learned how to shoot to kill. Rabbits were food for the table. Nazi's died in his sights.

It is a great book, exciting BUT it is a horror story of war. The Nazi's had every advantage except one -- Russia was not their homeland and the Russians were determined never to lose the ground. And don't think I am saying the Russians were good guys. They were cruel bastards to the Nazi's and gave much harder than they got -- consider that last statement well when you hear of Russian deprivation in WW2. The would be conquerors got worse.

Sorry, this is, of course, way off topic.

Thought everyone knew that BMW stands for "Broken Most Weekends".

Seriously, I had a BMW dealer service department as a customer. They received on average 1200 service bulletins each week. That is absurd.

Speed

I had a couple BMWs back in the 70's and 80's. They were company cars, so I drove them under orders, not by choice. But based on how often the vehicles had to go in for "routine" service, I concluded that they weren't built as well as the marketing hype would have us believe. In contrast, we have a 1971 JEEP pickup (original Willys motors) out on the ranch that routinely gets rode hard and put away wet. The odo has wrapped more times than a Sheik's turban. Never had a head pulled or cracked the tranny. Just change the oil every six months.

Back in the 1950s, BMW made a fun little car called the Isetta 500. The entire front of the tiny vehicle was the one and only door. I say "fun" because four reasonably strong guys could pick the car up and walk off with it. Our high school football coach had a cute little red Isetta that some of us used to carry over to a big pine on campus, and "park" it with the front against the tree trunk. Coach couldn't open the door to get in till we moved it back for him. The ingrate always returned the favor by making us all run sprint laps.

I had a buddy back in high school whose Dad was a Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church minister. They had an Isetta which they took back to summer meetings of the church. When they crossed the Rockies (back before the interstate), they had to back up the Rockies. Reverse was the only gear ratio that would move the car up the mountains. Later he traded up to a Ford Falcon.

In defense of the Isetta, we were at the Barrett-Jackson car show in Scottsdale a couple of years ago. There was an Isetta next Citroen 2CV (which looks like a VW made with corrugated sheet metal). There were two guys standing next to us looking at the two cars. One made the comment: "There is the difference between French and German engineering."

Paolo wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2012 5:30 am Maybe one of these Russian tanks is what I need?!

Something like this (http://www.beter.sitext.ru/photofiles/11301_b.jpg)??

fhunter wrote: Sun Aug 19, 2012 2:03 pm Something like this (http://www.beter.sitext.ru/photofiles/11301_b.jpg)??

The California Dream Vehicle for gridlock. How well does it cruise at 75-80 MPH?

BMW, like VW suffered and never recovered when it went into multiple models production.

They were good for one or two models that did not change much, if at all, year to year.

BMW has displaced Lexus as the Snob-Mobile around here.

Usually driving 20MPH below the limit to make their multi tasking safer.

A tap on the horn or a flick of the headlights often results in "zoom away" behavior.

I never liked BMW because it always felt too stiff for my taste. I believe Ford gives the best quality cushy ride of any manufacturer. I my big bad mid nineties 4WD, big 8, Ford Expedition.

And I grew up in a GM family.

Moi

fhunter wrote: Sun Aug 19, 2012 2:03 pm Something like this (http://www.beter.sitext.ru/photofiles/11301_b.jpg)??

Damn right!

Why do blonds prefer a BMW?

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Because they can spell it.