Been a long time lurker here, but thought I could add some input into this topic. Personally, I reckon its got a lot to do with cultural heritage and all as well. I'm Chinese, my dad drives a Toyota, and the two cars he owned before that were also toyotas. Dad always told me how he loved the way his toyotas were reliable, how they never broke down, and how they're nice, small and efficient. All my relatives drive japanese cars of various sorts - mazdas, hondas, and the like. My parents always scoffed at holdens and fords, passing them off as inferior cars with shocking build quality and all that. When I told my cousin (who owns a lowered 323 with interior neons and "fully sick mate!" exhaust and all that ) that I wanted a XR6T, he shook his head and said "I hate big cars" With that sort of upbringing being pretty much the norm (at least in my case), it wouldn't be surprising if an average asian bloke would have a natural tendency to sway towards the imports. On the other hand, it is also worth noting that many of those with asian backgrounds may have grown up overseas. I've spent a good 15 years out of my 18y.o. life living in hong kong, and hell, I still AM in hong kong right now. returning to sydney early next year though. Over here, jap imports rule the streets. Every man and his dog owns a stocko civic with a type R sticker with an illegal exhaust. In my younger years, my dream car would've been a honda of some sort, and for some people, some dreams just never change eh? The only australian cars ever imported to this country would've been a couple of HSV VT R8s which ran the blown ecotec instead of the 5L (as it wouldnt pass local emissions.) They cost the equivalent of AUD$100K, so it was no surprise that nobody bought them. Oh, and we got a couple of LPG AUI Forte Wagons as taxis too - theyre extinct by now. The main point being, in my case, a mixtrue of cultural heritage, where I grew up, SHOULD have resulted in me liking the average jap import, front wheel drive with a loud exhaust, and the stereotypical asian stuff like that. Whatever went wrong, I dont know, because I love my aussie fords too! From the XR6T, the phoons (not much of a fan of the way the BF looks though!), and also the classics - would kill for a XB coupe with a 351! Not a fan of anything 4cyl really, has to be a 6, preferably an 8. Probably has a lot to do with the fact that I'm absolutely sick of small cars, and also because corollas (and most other jap imports) over here come with a 1.5L 64kW engine. 0-100 in around... 15 seconds? probably too optimistic! japanese cars just do nothing for me. They're nice pieces of engineering, but that's where it ends - no soul, no passion, no torque, no displacement, and therefore no fun! I would love to see the look on my dad's face when I own a ford some day
