Ah, I have been looking for a free license shot of one of these beasts. It was license built as the Standard Twenty in India, later with a locally developed angular body. When I get around to it, I will write a stub article so that this photo gets a proper home. Mr.choppers (talk) 06:40, 27 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, I've been looking out for one of these for a few years, too. It does indeed deserve an entry of its own, especially in view of its Indian afterlife. (It was always a relatively rare beast in England.) If you're (even halfway) interested in British delivery vans ... there was also a Commer competitorCommer competitor which when last I looked still didn't have a stub article and would appreciate one. Though the Commer has the added complication that I'm still not quite sure what to call it. "Half ton delivery van" lacks poetry. I used to think it was the FC, but I'm still not quite sure.
That Oldtimer show was the other side of Birmingham and further afield than I usually venture, but as it was Easter Sunday I figured the 20 mile car park that is what normally passes for the highway past Birmingham might be uncharacteristically free-flowing. And it was. And I found several vehicles that I've been "after" for a few years: I guess their owners don't usually fancy struggling across to the east of the country for just a six or eight hour AutoFest.
On the Daihatsu, and near the top of 101 things you didn't need to know, the Netherlands is usually one of the cheapest places to buy diesel fuel in western Europe (unless you consider Luxembourg which may people don't) while their petrol (that's gasoline in US English) is currently even more expensive than in England (which normally has the most expensive petrol in Europe so the Dutch have an above average diesel:gasoline differential. Of course it's all a function of tax levels, and German truck owners complain bitterly that (several aspects of) the Dutch tax system enable(s) Dutch truckers to undercut German operators and it just isn't fair. The Dutch would say that road haulage is one of their strategic industries, just as making cars is a German strategic industry, and that since Hamburg lost most of its Hinterland to the Russian(-surrogate)s in the 1940s, Rotterdam became Germany's largest port despite not being in Germany. And two decades after Hamburg got back its Hinterland, lots of German exporters still seem to be happy enough with the rates they get at Rotterdam to keep on using the place. Anyhow, by US standards diesel fuel gets favourable tax treatment when compared to petrol/gasoline in most of Europe (though not in England). Manufacturers respond accordingly. See how well Mercedes and Volkswagen do with diesels. Much of the time I drive a diesel Toyota mpv which is very slow, but if I go to Australia the equivalent vehicle is available only with gasoline and it's not particularly slow (though still, I suspect, not overwhelmingly pleasant to drive). Anyhow, please spare a second, as you mourn the days of cheap fuel, to weep for the English. Every time I work it out our fuel price looks worse in US (also UK) terms, and the comparison isn't made any easier by the fact that British "Imperial" gallons aren't the same as US gallons. But the last time I worked it out, we were paying above 8 US dollars for a US gallon. Somehow driving a diesel doesn't feel so dumb these days, even if the UK government doesn't give diesel the tax advantages available elsewhere in Europe.
Haha, that is indeed an extensive answer. I'm from Sweden, so I am familiar with most European situations (although the bit about Dutch truckers getting an advantage from the lower diesel pricing was news to me). I have also seen a disturbing number of old petrol cars in Holland which are converted to natural gas, presumably for the same reason. As for US petrol pricing: I ride a bike (don't even own an operable car right now) and would welcome more expensive gas - to fill some of the deficit and to lower carbon dependency. $8/gallon might be a bit excessive, though... Mr.choppers07:08, 29 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
