Right...Got it now.

It often surprises those who live in LHD markets how far people will go to convert to RHD, for markets such as Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK etc.
Personally driving a left hooker in a RHD market doesn't bother me but often there is a downside when it comes to selling.
Thats not so bad as it used to be with the channel tunnel and more and more people driving on the continent.
The conversion can be a real headache.....One of the biggest problems is converting the dash, so all the instruments etc are reversed.
Most vehicles these days are designed so that foot pedals and linkages can be reversed.

There was a famous incident some years ago though....You know how some passengers like to brake with their feet even though they are not driving...Its an involuntary action with some nervous paseengers.
Well...there was one car...can't remember now which one...the passengers were bracing their feet against the floor and the cars were accelerating !!
(There was athrotlle linkage under the floor ready for a RH/LH conversion, and they were inadvertently pressing on it !!)

Of course now some US manufacturers have realised they are missing out on marketing opportunities and such companies as Chrysler are now doing well in the UK with RHD 300's !
I'd quite like one myself !

 

It's got to be an ENORMOUS expense to manufacture both LHD and RHD vehicles! I'm especially puzzled that places "close together", such as the UK and Europe didn't get together on this back at the start of the industrial age.

I remember way back riding in an "unmodified" MG here in the states. I don't think I've seen a RHD vehicle here since.

Remind me, since you probably know. Which northern European country was it that changed from "drive on the left" to "drive on the right" all at once on one midnight? That must have been a lot of fun! I wonder how long it took to become "automatic"?

- Jack

 

You hit on 3 interesting points.

The difference between the UK and the continent was all to do with conflicts....Clue, Jousting and spiral staircases.
(Any offers...might seem obtuse, but obvious when you think about it)

Strange that you mentioned MG's.
My second ever car in the 60's was a LHD MG Magnette ZB imported back from Canada to the UK.
http://www.magnette.org/

I have had more MG's over the years than I can count and still have 2 unique cars....but don't go there...the rest of the forum will rise up !!

You are correct about the country that switched driving from L to R at midnight. Caused a hell of a problem, what with road signs etc.
I can't remember with certainty which one it was but I'm sure it was one of the Scandic countries.

I was right....I just googled it....Sweden !!

http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/history/...on_right.shtml

 

The cost thing (LHD to RHD) certainly must be a 'mucho dinero' modification. The engineering alone to make such a beast happen must be extremely costly.

Heck, around here, if they decide to manufacture an appliance with a 'European' plug, it's nearly a full redesign. Then again, after working as a consultant within this beast for better than a year now, it's not the model of efficiency.

In short, this wouldn't be a place to parade 'high dollar investors' around to show them the model of the business. Duct tape and WD40 keep this place running...

 

Great links Lenny! The MG IS a pretty motorcar isn't it?

I was going to say something about most people being right-handed (not me though) in reference to your "jousting" hint and I see it was mentioned in relation to swords in the Volvo link. And, for swords, it makes sense to have your enemy towards the right - closer to your "pointy" thing. I guess then, the same logic could hold for jousting.

But, passing on the right (putting your enemy on the left) puts your shield on the side of the oncoming jouster, in the way of his lance (which makes sense to me - but I'm an American). If you hold the lance in your right hand and pass on the left though, your shield becomes pretty much useless.

What you're saying I guess is there were different philosophies regarding warfare. You bloodthirsty Brits were all "offensive" and were out to kill all comers, regardless of the toll on yourselves. Whereas we more thoughtful types decided it might be better to live to fight another day in spite of the fact it might take longer to become victorious, right?

It must have really helped in Sweden that most cars were already LHD. Pretty clever of them too to stop traffic and hold it there for a while before letting it go again at greatly reduced speed.

- Jack

 

It was also to do with 'Defence of the Realm'

Places that were likely to be attacked such as castles, had spiral staircases that were climbing in a right hand spiral. Since 'most' people were right handed it meant that defending the stairs was easier since as you came down at your enemy your right hand and sword naturally went 'round the bend' the correct way.
Much more difficult for attackers who were right handed to come against you, fighting round a right hand bend.
I don't know if I've described that very well, but I well remember an English Teacher wjhen we were at school developing our descriptive skills by telling us to describe in spoken word a spiral staircase...without using hand gestures....not easy !!!!

Now how far off topic are we.....King ranch trucks to Spiral Staircases....who'd have thought ??!!

 

You described it masterfully! I understand completely now the reference to staircases.

Doesn't really seem to make a whole lot of sense in jousting though.

Who cares if we're off topic? The forum's alive!

- Jack

 

And, after thinking about it some more, what in the heck do defending staricases have to do with which side of the road you drive on?

Did they drive warhorses down those staircases?

Sorry I'm so slow on the uptake. I know the one about the width of railroad tracks relatiing to Roman chariots (and horse's asses), but this?

Now you DO have some explaining to do, or we'll think you were just being "stubborn".

- Jack

 

Sorry for the delay...Us going to beddy byes 6 hours before you and all that !!

I admit the spiral staircase was a bit of a red herring although it did make a small contribution to the overall picture.
We kept defending our castles down spiral staircases with our swords in the right hand and continentals started to attack more successfully coming up spiral staircases with swords in their left hand.....
Clear as mud isn't it ?!

 

Saw this on a different forum recently.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=110228563311

 

Thats very interesting...Thanks for the link.

Amazing that Ford would do that for the domestic market and then not think to offer it to RHD markets.

Some very bizarre marketing decision there !!

And for all who thought the thread had gone way off base....

It just came back !!

 

But.... Since I started this thread (with no particular topic in mind other than to wake the forum up) (or maybe using sandpaper to clean the seats - no one has responded to THAT idea yet!) I don't see how it ever went "off base".

But Lenny, you're quite right about "bizarre marketing decisions" from our beloved KR automaker. However, I see it as just another act of stupidity from the same team that fired Lee Iacocca, the man who gave them the Mustang and saved Chrysler. The executive offices of some companies (and countries) are not always composed of the "best and brightest" are they?

- Jack