The Farmville herald and farmer-leader. (Farmville, Va.) 1934-1957, 1956-12-21
Special to the Herald

Cologne, West Germany Tht
autobahns in Germany provide the
driver who wants to step on il
plenty of opportunity. The surspris
ing thing-to most Americans-is
that there is no speed limit. YOU
can turn on the afterburner ane
pass everything on the road if you
feel like it-along most of the
stretches of these beautiful super.
| highways.
Actually, the autobahn is not any.
thing more deluxe than many high.
ways in the United States. especi-
ally many toll roads recently built
in this Country. 1t is merely two
strips of concrete, each carrying
two-lane traffic in only one direc-
ton.
speed in most cases.
i German cars-the popular cars
the common man can afford-are
not capable of speeds comparable
to those attainable in most Ameri-
can models. But the expensive cars
made in Germany. for the wealthy
can usually out-perform anything
encountered on the autobahns.
The tradition in Germany is still
20 build good cars for the wealthy
which will be used for ten or more
years-maybe fifte m. So, while
prices of $1,000 or even $4,000
sound exhorbitant to the Americans,
when the value received is ap-
praised over period of ten years,
The cost OF the car is brought down
They are separated nicely, so that
head-on crashed are not common.
However. in Germany's bad winter
weather, accidents pile up on some
stretches up the autobahns. as a re-
suit of skidding. poor visibility, and
the like, brought on by excessive
to less than thousand dollars a
year,
The smaller cars. IKE the Volks-
wagon. sell tor less than the cheap
est American car-but they offer
less, too. Smaller cars predominant
IN the autobahns, but a surprising
number Of expensive German cars
are in evidence
Many American cars are also en-
corntered, Occasionally, though,
big. high-poWered German make
will scream up from behind and
leave just about anything On the
road This-to the German hot-rod-
der or racers highly impressive
II reminds him. perhaps of the
DAYS of the big 30o-plus horsepower
German land yachts" offered the
rich in pre-war Germany
These modern German luxury
cars are capable Of speeds up to $50
miles an hour. With no speed limit
to slow them down on long straight
stretches. they sometimes roll up
amazing speeds But, through hillv
country at least (which includes
most Of West Germany such speeds
aye impossible for a sustained
period.
New American models a'e c3pa-
Bile Of greater and greater speed
and come very close to matching
the expensive German makes in
performance figures. They conSti-
tute good buys to most Germans.
but there are still many who say
they Will not last long enough to
constitute a m j or inVestm9
American cars. these Germans say,
are not built to run but few years.
especially the lower priced models
But there is no doubt that the
American cars have the style edge
over everything in Europe True.
there are still those Europeans who
like the more conservative and ira
dtional lines of European cars This
is carry-back' to the past. and
these Europeans do not break with
the past as easily as Americans
But most Germans in the lower
and middle classes admire u S.
styling and frankly admit h
would like to own an American car.
AS their standard CT living rises,
more and more American cars are
likely to be sold Also, the building
of super highways (autobahns) in
various parts of the country encour
ages the use of the larger-s sized
U. S. cars