For those of you who drove a Japanese import in the 60’s/70’s/early 80’s, did you get any heat from family/friends/coworkers/general public about your choice of car? How bad was it? What were some of the consequences and what was the most extreme example you’ve seen or heard of?
This question applies to americans as well as some western europeans, whose auto industries were also in decline with the exception of germany.
This discussion might also be a good predictor of what will await the first owners of chinese cars when they do arrive in north america.
70s early 80s, almost every car rusted badly back then.
American cars could generally hold together a little longer, not necessarily because rustproofing was better, more that it was just thicker steel that took longer to get through. And even that started going away in the '80s.