Foreign cars
This I have to disagree with. European cars are actually more suited to driving twisty country side roads. That's why they always blew up on the highway :) Have you ever seen the roads in Europe? Thats all they were is small windy country roads, and that is exactly why they were built as nimble and small as they were.
Well, I was referring to gravel roads in the hills of this country. The gravel roads beat the ever loving hell out of light weight cars.
All those sintered muffler bearings will disintegrate.
A 72 Galaxie will last for ever, 20 + years on gravel roads. My friend had one still going strong is the 90s so, thats a good 20 years. All factory and just basic maintenance. Sombich would do 120 on a straight stretch of gravel. Got a solid 12 mpg fully loaded to the max spitting gravel like dual rooster tails off a jet boat, would carry 6 passengers, gallons of alcohol and an extra long block and transmission in the trunk, safe as a tank. Good luck with that on a little euro car. I have seen 60s and 70s US cars bounced off boulders at 50 miles per hour, high centered on 12 foot rock piles, run thru ditches and down fence posts, took out miles of highway signs, jumped off 10 foot cliffs and onto an adjacent gravel road, all with zero mechanical maladies and minimal cosmetic issues as a result.
Okay, one time, one time, a rock went thru a radiator and that 6 foot snow man we hit at 65 mph cracked the windshield pretty good and removed my windshield wipers.
I just dont understand where this concept that US cars were not built well comes from. They were absolutely indestructible!