Indeed it is! When Aus. went metric many years ago, it was possible to buy a MPH/KMH conversion sticker to place over the existing MPH dial face (assuming you could be bothered to get the gauge out!). They were produced to fit most popular models of the time, but retro fitment was never compulsory.

 

Here in Victoria there is a sign at the side of the highway that leads from the ferry terminal (Victoria sits at the south end of a very large island and it is accessible only by ferry or air); the sign is for American tourists and it tells them that "80 kph is 50 mph", 80 kph being the absurdly low speed limit on portions of that highway.
My 1966 Mk 2 is virtually entirely original: positive ground, one-speaker radio that seems to play a lot of Petula Clark and Beatles songs, and the original pre-metric mph speedometer. So I simply follow the traffic flow unless a BMW comes up behind me, in which case I show him what the 3.8 can do. Quite surprising!

 

With the risk of pushing up an old obsolete topic:

Horsepower is not horsepower.
In continental Europe we have DIN HP (metric), opposed to the US / British HP.
Actually 310 DIN HP equals 305 US BHP.

To compare it would be wise to look at KW instead of HP.
310 DIN PS would be 228 KW, which would translate to 305.75 BHP

The stated 288 BHP would translate to 214.76 KW, what would be 291.99 DIN HP

Just my 2c.

 

To each it's own never bothered me.


In 1952, I got to go to Germany, all expenses paid, courtesy U.S Army !!! I was able to take my USA 49 Mercury. MPH vs KMH, not an issue. Our Army vehicles were also MPH.
We managed just fine. Then, I sold the Merc and sought a Jaguar. Out of my $ league as a shave tail second louey!! Promoted to 1st Louey, not into Jag country, but OK as to a new MG TD. In the MPH thing still. No issue.


As a platoon leader, I led my half tracks around using German maps in kilometers and my Jeep in miles. We got to the destinations just fine.


Then, as I now had a wife and child the MG had to go!!! Swapped for a Belgian assembled 50 Chevrolet four door sedan. Wowee, the radio and heater that was absent in the MG. Oh, oops speedo in kilometers !! Reverse mental computation. Fine. Easier.


Time to go home. Drove it from NY to El Paso, durn near nonstop in 3 days. KMH to MPH mental computation not an issue.


I still think yards, feet and inches, but can handle metric as well.


Carl

 

The biggest issue I have with Euro spec cars is that their indicator stalk's on the wrong side & I'm always flicking on the wipers when cornering. The worst part is, because I switch between so many vehicles in a day's driving, I forget which vehicle I'm driving, & so I now do it in ALL cars, which is most annoying!

 

Errr, the biggest issue with European cars, especially UK ones is RUST!! an added "feature" that Californians and Australians don't suffer from too much.

Engine specs, cats etc come way down the list in considering what car to buy. Begs the question, why did I buy the rustiest XJC ever?????

 

my RHD Jag V12 XJS 1978, was imported from Kent around Feb. 1986.

i never gave much thought that the speedo was in MPH(not Kmh).

it being a Euro car , right hand drive, the Vin # numbers are England, so wonder why it would have MPH speedo?

 

Our Brit friends can confirm or deny but back in the 70s I think the UK was still in "MPH" mode.

Cheers
DD

 

They still are, all road signs are still in MPH even though they went Metric in the 70's.

Measurements are all metric but for some reason it's still MPH not KPH.. Never could quite work that bit out

 

A fair observation indeed. We seldom have to deal with rust, it's virtually non-existent compared with older cars that have spent their lives on UK roads. The downside is, we pay a hefty premium for older cars (sorry, I mean classics!) and XJ6's are a good example. Looking at prices in general for these models I'd say we pay around double the UK prices. So, we pay more up front but less on tin worm issues, may be it balances out, providing the oily bits are in reasonable shape!
Also interesting that there is quite a healthy business of repatriating Australian delivered British classics back to your shores. I guess the bonus is that the cars we imported here are in UK/Euro spec, and RHD.

 

That depends on where the car's lived in Oz Jagent, Down your way rust might not be too bad, but up here in tropics it can be a real killer, especially if the car's lived on the damp east coast. Car's that have spent most of their lives west of the Great Dividing Range are usually rust free, & the place to start the hunt. Though the dirt roads out there are so badly pot-holed & corrugated metal fatigue is a real consideration. So it's worth tracking down a car that's spent most of it's life on bitumen. SA & WA are the best places to track down a rust free classic. Especially as many years of cashed up Miners has left the landscape of both states littered with all kinds of exotica, from rare Italian Stallions to classic Yank Tanks. I was given a 68 Chevy Impala by a Miner in Broome once who couldn't be bothered driving it down to Perth to trade it in. I soon found out that it was because it used more oil than fuel (& it used a heap of fuel), so it didn't stay with me for long. But hey, it was a 68 Impala, for nothing! & I made a tidy profit from it These kind of things aren't unusual either. Especially now the mining boom's over (or at the very least stalled) & all those ex-cashed-up Miners have collapsed the luxury car market by dumping all their unaffordable exotica on the market at the same time. Cheap Lambo anyone?

 

Europe drives on the right side of the road and uses Km/hr.

UK drives on the left and uses MPH.

UK is not part of Europe, brexit will just make it official.

 

Metric vs SAE. I think it was about 1963. My employer "promoted" me to Claim Supervisor in the LA, CA office. Commute issues arose. My 61 Ford V8, just ate too much gas, even at the price of the time. Home town pal was the ***'t Claim Manager.
He touted me on Smog boundaries and a temp place for family to live. Not bad a nice motel with pool and all the trimmings. Wifey and kids ultra pleased. That is always good.


Bob bought a VW beetle for his 35 mile run. I found place at the edge of the SMOG belt. Sepulveda, CA. 23 mile run, one way.


Shopped up a nice 56 VW. Cheap, but with a "clutch" issue. Nope, it was a blown transaxle!!! Ugh, shopped up a good used replacement.


First venture into a metric car!!! But, a couple of my SAE tools were "close" enough.
Those plus vice grips and a crescent wrench enabled the swap!!!


Fun, 36HP on the hills of the freeway. No gas guage. Just a lever under the tank to engage the reserve. It did massage my driving skills, a lot....


Bob and I engaged in quitting time racing from the roof top park lot to the freeway. it took a time or two to see he was using the "cop start". Bob did some time as an El Paso, Texas cop. Stick the car in gear, on with the ignition, then crank!!!


Now, I have many more tools, some metric and some SAE. One small box of mismatches. I found the short Torx socket I needed there/??


Super rain storm starting up. Strut swap on Jeep hatch on hold...


Carl

 

Yes, that's the reason I say virtually. However the vast majority of these cars dwell in the S.E. states where most of the population is. The rust prone exceptions arguably exist in any state where the car is constantly subjected to coastal salt air, and undoubtedly it gets worse further north. Rust is a comparative stranger in most of Vic, NSW, SA, Tas. The problem in SA and Tas is too little supply. My previous Jag was bought sight unseen by a guy in SA and shipped to his home in Adelaide, he hadn't found enough to choose from over there. Cheap XJ6's are to be found in Perth, but hauling them out of there is expensive and to attract buyers nationally they need to be offered cheap.

 

An example of a rusty XJC, looks worse than mine.

JAGUAR XJ6 COUPE | eBay

Still going for £2800!

 

Man that's rusty! I'd hate to see what was left of it after an acid bath. 2800 quid to watch it dissolve in front of your eyes. No thanks. I'll pass

 

It is good to see that our ex-colonies are watching the escape from Europe. We will, I am sure, hold hands with our old friends in the not too distant future. However, we are all still governed from Switzerland and its trade bodies

 

Europe's very fortunate to be called a continent at all, as it's more like an archipelago that's been grafted onto Asia, & Britain is very much a part of that landmass. I think it only got called a continent because it was Europeans who were doing the classifying at the time, & they didn't want to be known as an Asian Appendage!