CC reader magnus sent me a few snapshots of American (and one Franco-American) cars taken in Holland. As always, the contrast is what makes them so compelling; this fine Corvette is snuggled up next to an East-German 2-stroke Wartburg 323.
I should point out again that American cars had a lot of appeal and prestige value in certain European countries, The Netherlands being one of them. These are countries that commonly had little or no domestic auto industry, and thus chauvinism was not a factor. In fact, it was probably more a case of reverse-chauvinism (if that’s a thing), as in a statement to countries like Germany, Italy and France that no, we are not impressed.
The situation was a bit different in the ’50s and early ’60s, when big American cars were also a viable alternative for those looking for a roomy car, like these Chevys. And note that both of them are six cylinder versions, as they were of course cheaper as well as typically had lower taxes, often based on displacement. Given the lack of freeways at the time and the generally low performance of most cars, these sixes were seen to be quite adequately powered.
Like so many things, that changed in the late ’60s, and performance-oriented American cars became a hot item with a somewhat different crowd than those buying six cylinder sedans in the ’50s. This all pretty much started with the Mustang, which made a big impact on Europe, and led to a huge transformation towards sporty coupes and such of all kinds. Like in the US, four door sedans fell very much out of favor.
Here’s a Mustang (with almost obligatory driving lights) with a Chevelle Malibu.
At first my eyes only saw the Facel Vega HK 500 parked on this narrow street. But then I realized that it’s parked behind a Falcon sedan. I can’t make out what’s behind the F-V, but the sheer size of it strongly suggests another American.
Just curious — is there any way to reliably speculate about the impact of US GIs on the availability of American wheels and the appetite of the locals for the same? I’m assuming that a fair number of them shipped their cars over the pond when they were stationed to Europe, and that many of those cars stayed in Europe when they were re-assigned elsewhere.
Maybe the answer to the question is “no” or my assumption is flawed…or both.
Not really. But I question your assumption that they would leave their cars behind, since the military offered free shipping, IIRC. probably some did, but then some undoubtedly bought cars locally too.
On the other hand, there’s absolutely no doubt that American cars were exported to Europe in not insignificant numbers, and even assembled there, although that declined in the ’50s. There were dealers networks, and ads in the media, especially car magazines. Certain cars like the Mustang sold in pretty significant numbers. The current and prior generation Mustang still sells/sold in pretty decent numbers.
It would be interesting to have a detailed analysis of those historical numbers, but that would take some serious digging. I would say that the impact from GIs and such was a relatively minimal factor.
During my time, the military offered free 2-way shipping. If you shipped a car overseas, you could bring a car back. It didn’t have to be the same car.
It was not uncommon for higher ranking soldiers on a 3 year tour to to ship over their American car and return with something else – often a German car that could be purchased at a discounted rate vs American prices. According to my Dutch colleagues, Netherlands has some of the highest vehicle taxes in Europe. Not sure about other countries.
Regardless, under SOFA (Status of Forces Agreements), American soldiers did not have to pay those taxes when purchasing a car in Europe. This, lack of shipping expenses and the ability to offer pricing to soldiers that did not affect home market pricing could make buying a car overseas quite a bargain.
New cars were still expensive for most soldiers, so the market was usually limited to officers and senior NCOs. At a time when every sale counted, it appears there was quite an incentive for European manufacturers to develop military sales.
Probably changed now.
I have no way of proving it, but I think I might own one of those GI shipped back and forth cars. My ’66 Mustang has none of the characteristics of an export model. On the back window is a decal from a GM service center in Madrid. Under the seat the broker I bought it from was a newspaper clipping from 1967, also from Madrid, showing the schedule for a movie theater. The car was built in Oakland, California in May of ’66. There is a plaque on the dash below the radio with some guy’s name on it. I googled it with no results. As you always say, every car has a story. I don’t know much about that chapter in it’s life, but I have made plenty of memories with it in the past 16 years I have owned it.
@Rob Excellent description of the car process for US military.
What percent of GIs would you say shipped their cars from the US to Europe?
My dad was stationed in Greece in the 1970s, where I spent my childhood. And I started getting into cars.
My sense was that half the GIs drove cars that were shipped from the US (which meant domestic cars, or imports with side-marker lights) and half were cars bought locally.
And some GIs did bring their big cars to Greece. Parking was not yet a problem where most GIs lived (no base housing).
Any number I could put forth would only be a guess.
The policy the military paying for POV (Privately Owned Vehicle) shipping changed over time and varied by rank, length of tour, family vs unaccompanied and duty station.
My aunt was with the Canadian Forces and spent the majority of her career station in Germany. I visited her many times in the 60s and 70s. She owned several cars over the years, starting with a beetle and then a series of VW Squarebacks. My impression was that they were all Canadian models, and they were not registered in Germany, but had “CANADA” plates on them. She brought a couple of them back to Canada when she was transferred back. I doubt that she could have sold them to a German, but she could sell to another Canadian. Her husband, who was also in the forces, had a Dodge Swinger in the 70s. There were some tax savings in bringing back a car, which encouraged sales of more expensive models.
” I doubt that she could have sold them to a German, but she could sell to another Canadian.”
Don’t know if there were internal restictions for members of the Canadian or US forces concernig sales to Germans.
But: A German buyer would have been obliged to pay an import tax for the car. Allocated on the new car’s price (additional to the negociated sales price, of course).
A not too interesting affair, I’d say. In particular, if there were a thousands of other squarebacks available around.
At least in Germany, where the US had some large bases, this theory ads up; a bit.
But I can acount for the fact that US cars really had a nice niche-market in Europe from the ’50s towards the mid ’70s.
In Holland they were very affordable in the early ’70s because of the cheap $. Lots of grey imports. Switzerland was a US car Walhalla, in particular, Sweden also.
Demand dwindled after the first oilcrise.
Later on, the Fox Fords and the GM X cars got some favorable reviews in the motoring press, but by then they weren’t cheap and were hardly sold.
I lived in Geneva for two years – ’79 & ’80. Soon after my arrival, I met a fellow who drove a 1957 Cadillac Brougham in great condition. He let me sit in it and check it out.
I had a mo-ped which I like to take out in the lesser populated areas around the city. On a ride, I came across a 1957 Cadillac DeVille convertible sitting in a field by itself. Very good condition, paint a bit faded though. It was still there shortly before I moved back to the USA.
As an aside – I almost bought a used BMW 2002 Touring intending to bring it back with me to America, but bailed at the last moment fearing it wouldn’t have passed USA regulations for licensing.
Not all American cars sold in Europe after WWII really were American made. Some models were assembled in Europe. GM had a factory in Biel ( fr.: Bienne), Switzerland. Ford assembled certain US-models in their plant in Genk, Belgium.
Tesla builds their cars in Europe and sells a lot of them. I think Tesla Model 3 had become the top selling car in Germany.
The five most frequently new registered cars in Germany in November ’23 were:
1. – Volkswagen Golf (72.400 units approx.)
2. – Volkswagen T-Roc: (47.000 units approx.)
3. – Volkswagen Tiguan (44.000 units approx.)
4. – Tesla Model Y: (33.000 units approx).
5. – Mercedes-Benz C-Klasse (30.000 units approx.)
Source: de.statista.com
Impressive performance by the American.
Tesla Model Y was the best-selling electric car in Germany in September 2023.
Reverse chauvinism hits the mark. DAFs were common in the ’50s and ’60s but I don’t see any in these pictures!
When in Holland 1976 American cars were relatively common compared to the other countries I traveled through. In 1976 when living in Florence with so many tiny Fiats… like my brother’s 500, this first time I saw a Volvo 245, my reaction was, “my that car is big.”. That was quickly outsized by one car that i came across on the Pitti Palace side the Ponte Vecchio parked right near the exit of the bridge was a 73-74 Pontiac Lemans with all the trimmings from Holland. It looked so out of place, like from another dimension (pun intended).
Florence was 1977
I visited A’dam several times during my German military term in the mid-60s, & marveled at the skill it must have taken to manuver these “Ami” barges through the narrow cobblestone streets. I’d done 180 degree conversion as to Detroit metal, & drove a Fiat 850 coupe at the time.
The elephant in the room is obviously that 10 or 15 years after the war, people hadn’t quite turned the page on the war yet and German cars were more likely to be shunned by all who had endured the hardship and horrors of the war firsthand. By the 70ies that feelling had mostly faded and Mercedes and BMW began their march to stardom.
That doesn’t add up with the successful Volkswagen operation in NL, starting immediately after the war.
The thing is this. If you had made it in life (financially) in the fifties and sixties and you wanted a big, luxurious, comfortable and powerful car, what else was available besides Buicks, Chryslers, Lincolns and the like? (forget Cadillac, way too flashy).
After circa 1970, American cars got a rather sleezy image. A second gen Camaro with a big chicken decal on the hood? Bad boy! Mothers keep your daughters in da house. And the average ‘koppelbaas’ (look it up) in the Dutch/German border region bought a big Chevrolet sedan. Traded in often for a brand new one, always paid in cash, earned illegally.
All this coinciding with the rise of Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi (in chronological order).
“After circa 1970, American cars got a rather sleezy image. A second gen Camaro with a big chicken decal on the hood? Bad boy! Mothers keep your daughters in da house.”
The same here in my corner of the continent. By the way – the Camaro could even have been a new ‘Stang. And the evilest of the evils would have been a ‘Vette driver.
Edit: the correct spelling is ‘sleazy’.
I should have clarified that smaller European cars like the DAFs were indeed much more numerous due to their lower cost and good fuel economy.
But I thought it would be fun for American readers to see that the cars they grew up with were sometimes the same cars quite a lot of west Europeans grew up with, like my family, who have had a large mumber of Chevrolets, Buicks, US Fords since the early 50’s.
What models? Inquiring minds want to know!
I believe that the bright panel between the taillights indicates that the Chevelle is a ’76-’77 model in Classic trim. That would imply that the Mustang is 10+ years old in the photo. It must have been cherished and well cared for.
Not sure about Europe but definitely saw US cars being driven around the air bases in Scotland as a kid, and I’m sure that’s how some of the less desirable cars made it here, as it’s unlikely anyone went to the expense to import a k car or similar at least not until fairly recently.
There was also a not insignificant amount of US military support vehicles sold off in the 90s post cold war as they downsized the presence here. Stuff like busses trucks, pickups, Weren’t exactly common but did see a noticeable amount of olive drab pickups around the 90s and 00s.
In the 1950s and early 60s, US cars were the equal or better in terms of quality and technology to most anything made in Europe. Full-size American cars were also reasonably fuel efficient and sized for uncrowded European streets/roads until they started to bloat in the late 1950s. I believe the decline in US car popularity in Europe was due to their increasingly bloated size and increasing thirst, lack of progress in technology (i.e. slow to adopt disk brakes, fuel injection, OHC, independent rear suspension, FWD, unit body, radial tires), and declining build quality as the 1960s progressed, which made them increasingly uncompetitive with the rapidly improving European offerings in a tax environment that also bloated their prices.
It is interesting to speculate how a European built Corvair, Mustang, or Dart would have done in the 1960s, especially if made available with slightly more upscale interiors, disk brakes, and radial tires. Such US models were European sized, offered luxury/convenience options that even upscale European brands often didn’t have, and if volume built in Europe would not have faced high taxes, transport fees, and import duties, and might even have been able to be shipped to the US for a lower cost than building them in Detroit, Flint, or Dearborn – at least until exchange rates went wonky in the early 70s.
Chrysler had an assemply plant in Antwerp (1926), moving to Rotterdam in 1958, and the popular Dart was one of the models assembled; Sweden used Rotterdam – produced Valiants as police cars. Some interesting history:
Chrysler / Kaiser-Frazer Rotterdam Assembly Plant (NEKAF): 1958-1970
https://www.allpar.com/threads/chrysler-kaiser-frazer-rotterdam-assembly-plant-nekaf-1958-1970.229411/
“…One can say that Benelux (Belgium, the Netherland, and Luxembourg), Switzerland, Sweden and, to a lesser degree, France were the best markets for US products…
Chrysler International decided to buy this plant from Kaiser-Frazer, closing the Antwerp plant after 32 years… The first United States-designed models were produced at the end of 1959. A wide range of 1960 models, similar to the American versions, were made in low volumes. In the first year, even the big Chrysler Windsor/New Yorker were built… the new Valiant (and later Lancer) compacts had a good reception with the public and would soon become the mainstay of the plant…
In 1963 Rotterdam introduced Quality First in line with the US 5/50 program. More emphasis was put on export and to complying with European taste; after a thorough benchmark of European competition, the compacts got additional equipment like reclining seats, grab handles, clock, trunk light, central rear arm rest, etc. under the name of “European goodies.” In the opposite part of the market, a very basic Valiant two door sedan was introduced. This kind of business coupe was the cheapest US car on the market…
Compact styling, including the new Barracuda, was much appreciated…
Although the plant had celebrated the production of the 50,000th car (including Simcas!) in November 1968, Chrysler conventional models already stopped in 1969 and compact production stopped with the 1970 models…”
They even built an “American” car that was not available in the States. It was a Plymouth Belvedere eight seater, advertised as the “Chrysler Coronado”.
The car was lauchend in 1958 and assembled in Antwerp, Belgium. Later on, production swept to the Chrysler plant in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Production ended in 1962.
Coronado would have been a great name for a Chrysler B-Body intermediate, if they’d had the sense to do so for 1965.
That Malibu is really fitting in with the trailer hook.
Now the (literally) big thing in NL from America, besides Teslas, are RAM pickups. I believe Johannes had a post describing how Rams are the best selling pickups in NL, even though they aren’t officially sold here. All gray market imports, converted to LPG, and registered as business vehicles by independent contractors. I was amazed how many I saw on the roads when I first came here in 2016, and still it’s not unusual to see at least a couple per day lumbering about. Occasionally you’ll see a Chevy, Ford, or a Tundra, but for whatever reason most of the gray market big pickups are Rams.
I’ve always wondered why the RAM 1500 beats the other US V8 pickups by such a wide margin, I can’t put my finger on it.
Just an example, exactly in the form as you described it, caught three years ago.
I had thought they were officially imported by Stellantis, and that made the difference with Ford not wanting to potentially dent Transit sales and GM having hardly any presence in Europe after selling off Opel.
Stellantis (and al of its predecessors), Ford and GM have always stayed clear of the official import of US pickups.
Those pickups are in a segment/niche-market of their own. A potential Euro-buyer of a RAM 1500 isn’t interested in a Fiat Ducato or Iveco Daily flatbed truck (single or double cab) at all. The same goes for Ford and, in the past, GM.
The Ford organization does offer the Ranger pickup, but not the F-150, let alone the bigger ones.
Well, not unless he’s the owner of a large engineering company or similar. The Ducatos or the Transits are worker ants, the boss has the Ram… I see this on a regular basis here in Austria.
Quite right, but the boss himself -in this case the potential buyer- still isn’t interested in driving a Ducato/Daily as a RAM alternative.
Hey I just noticed that 1959 Chev is double parked. The driver of the ’57 has noticed that and is taking notes of his displeasure. How do they get away with this?
Speaking of US cars in the Netherlands, my current classic ride, a 1964 Chevy Bel Air four-door with the 230 Six and Powerglide, was assembled at GM’s Continental plant in Antwerp, Belgium, and spent most of its life in the Netherlands, which is where I bought it in 2021.
My knowledge of the car’s history and its origins is still rather sketchy. Apparently, the GM Antwerp plant was originally located in an abandoned abbey beginning in 1925 and moved to its subsequent location in 1929. There, it operated through 2010, when it was shut down.
For the most part, Opels and Vauxhalls were assembled on-site, but also a fair number of GM’s American models. According to the sources I’ve been able to dig up so far, 78,162 Chevrolets were built from CKD kits in Antwerp between 1946 and 1959.
Also known are the numbers of Chevys (all models) assembled there in 1967 (1,497) and 1968 (1,139). After that, local CKD assembly was discontinued because it was no longer profitable. Instead, complete vehicles were imported from the States.
Attached find a picture of my car’s VIN plate located on the passenger side of the firewall.
Talking with my BIL, there were “Lemon Lots” on most military bases. For those in the military who were transferring or wanted to sell their car in general. He indicated that there were a fair number of North American and Euro spec vehicles available at NATO bases. Inexpensive cars (VW Beetles, Falcons, etc) could change hands several times.
Haha well Randerson, it started with my grandfather buying an early 50’s Hudson which likely was a Commodore 6 cylinder which was followed by a white 1956 Bel Air 4 door sedan, these were used cars.
These were followed by a mixture of new full size Chevrolets and Fords like the early Mustang and 4 door Thunderbird. Somewhere between 1968 and 1970 he started the habit of buying a new full size Buick every 2 years, while starting in 1966 my grandmother would get a new sportscar every 2 years like the Alfa 1300 GT Junior, Triumph Stag, Ford Capri, Porsche 924, 944 and 911. She has owned (often sporty) Saabs from 1993 until she stopped driving last year.
My mother and aunts often told the story of one of the annual road trips to Saint Tropez somewhere in the mid 70’s with my grandparents. They stopped at a gas station along the route and when they were ready to hit the road again my grandpa found a paper under his windshield wiper. It said something along the lines of “f*** off filthy capitalist – greetings from a 2cv driver.”, written in Dutch.
My grandpa was furious, he speeded along the highway until he found the Dutch 2cv filled with a few student hippies. Knowing he had a big chromed bumper with shock absorbers behind it he started ramming the 2cv! Poor students must have almost crapped their pants with that big Buick denting up their bumper.
Same thing in Israel. American (and Canadian) cars were bought because at the time (30s-70s) they were the most reliable things one could buy plus offered a more luxurious ride than the Europeans for the same price. Then came the malaise years…
Thanks for this interesting read. The Wartburg is called 353, not 323, by the way.