Lou Deeter wrote:
> I think all of those smart French component engineers who understood
metallurgy and stuff like that migrated to the French automobile industry to
build Citroens, Renaults and Peugeots. By the way, anybody know of a French
car that is imported into the U.S. now? Hmmmm, for that matter, how many
Italian cars are imported into the U.S. now.......I'm still searching for
classic content on this, but...
There are more French and Italian cars in the US than American cars in either Italy or France. French and Italian cars are also sold in more countries than are the big 3 Americans. What does that signify to you? What about engineering prowess you ask! Have you ever looked at the two most universally accepted examples of engineering expertise in automotive competition and the big winners. In Formula 1, the big engineering prowess comes from Britain (virtually all modern Formula 1 teams are based there) France (See the dominance of Renault engines for close to a decade) and Italy (Ferrari). In World Rally Cars, the true leaders over the last 30 years have been almost exclusively French and Italian: Citroen, Peugeot and Alpine from France and Lancia (a division of Fiat) from Italy. Were it not for German Ford, Subaru and Mitsubishi, you would need to go back to the 60's to find anybody but Italians and French winning the world championship. Lancia's wins alone outdo all non-French or Italian brands wins.
With regards to bicycle equipment, the French do indeed have a valid history
of engineering firsts. What they lacked were the marketing prowess of Tullio
Campagnolo and his love of his area of expertise. As the French watchmaker,
Alain Silberstein, so poignantly puts it: Happiness is to have one's passion
as a profession. (see http://www.a-silberstein.fr/
Steven Maasland Moorestown, NJ
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