Daimler loses court battle over shuanghuany thingey...

[PerryA]

I guess you have to trademark a prominent design element. Take the black or silver "swoop" and make it part of your logo or identity. Instead, Smart used the C> rather than an element of the car. I looked at Smart gear at the dealer today and it's almost all the C> not the silhouette of the car - which is the logo I like.

[AlanPerry]

Originally Posted by Old smart

The Soviets routinely engaged in reverse-engineering immediately after WWII. To some extent, the Russians still do.

I was watching an episode from Top Gear from 2004 and during the news segment they said that VW execs believed that the KGB were hacking their computer systems, getting confidential technical info on new cars under development and then selling the info. Two years later, VW would scan the new models from their competitors and guess who bought the info.

alan

[59MIKE]

13-14K for this thing.

Former Chrysler dealer touts teeny Chinese-made car at fair | DesMoinesRegister.com | The Des Moines Register

Same dealer sold Yugo.

[Big Panda]

Originally Posted by Old smart

The Soviets routinely engaged in reverse-engineering immediately after WWII. To some extent, the Russians still do.

Look at the 1967 Volga and compare it to a 1952 Ford......

[Mud Pie]

Heck, I own one of them russian reverse-engineered jobs !!

My Ural Gear Up is CONSTANTLY confused with an early BMW. I bought it brand new in 2005 and I had a guy TELL me it was BMW because he "knows bikes" and "has been riding longer than I've been alive". When I insisted that it was Russian, he only muttered, "you don't know what you're talking about".

Even when his wife said, "Honey, he bought it brand new, he should know who made it !" The dude said, "No sweetie, that's where you're wrong."

Amazing.

[Old smart]

Originally Posted by Mud Pie

Heck, I own one of them russian reverse-engineered jobs !!

My Ural Gear Up ...

Dang, just Thursday evening I came across a compact VHS tape of a short trip I once took from El Puerto de Santa Maria around to Cádiz and back in a Ural sidecar (I was in the chair) It was a little hair-raising, with the old "piloto" half-lit and the foot well full of empty Cruzcampo cans. Maybe I had a few too many vinos y tapas myself for accepting the offer.

We have a Ural dealer here in the Williamsburg area, but I haven't gone by to see them. I have a great fondness for sidehacks.