German Police Are Repeatedly Fining American Soldiers Over Their 'Extreme' Muscle Cars
German police are clamping down on American soldiers driving modified muscle and pony cars around the town of Kaiserslautern.
Incredibly strict German rules on what is and isn’t legal when it comes to modifications are at odds with the freedom of expression brought in by the army men at Ramstein Air Base, whose cars have reportedly been targeted by the police and clubbed with fines for a huge variety of what we’d call petty offences.
Jalopnik reports that the chief of the town’s police department had said the Americans’ cars were more heavily modified and “extreme” than German cars, even going as far as to say that the big V8s in the resident muscle cars weren’t especially welcome. That guy sounds like he’d be a riot at parties.
Other infractions that have been reported include yellow fog lights, window tinting and loud exhausts, with one soldier apparently being repeatedly stopped over the cooling vents in his bonnet, which are a standard feature on the unnamed model.
The full post makes interesting reading, essentially boiling down to a cultural difference between the Germans’ naturally controlling nature based on strictly-enforced laws, and the ingrained creative freedom enjoyed by Americans, especially when it comes to modifying their cars.
Modified German cars have to have every change noted down in a registration booklet, and if it makes the booklet then it’s passed the infamous TUV test and it’s legal. American cars’ log books don’t have anything like that, which is apparently causing the police some difficulties in determining what is legal and what isn’t.
We’d like to ask the opinions of our German CTzens, or anyone from the other side of the French border who knows the system in Kaiserslautern. Are the police being too heavy-handed or are the Americans taking liberties? Is it a bit of both?
Comments
I believe the USA is 2-0 against Germany. Let the soldiers have their cars. Or, have you all forgotten why the USA has a military presence in Germany in the first place?
Because of something that happened 72 years ago? Come on, the Brits left, the Frenchies left, even the Russians already closed down their military bases here. It sounds like you are trying to justify the American occupartion just so some guys can cause trouble in illegaly modified cars
Im so glad the US Military is still in germnay because hitler lives in the underground and when you leave he will instantly get the power back and Start WW3.
Geeze guys, I was just jabbing in fun. Sorry!
As far as i got to know the TÜV, most of the rules male sense, some aren’t fitting in our time anymore. It does make a lot of sense to restrict any deep changes to the cars by a thorough inspection to ensure your wheels don’t come off. Don’t forget we have the autobahn where you can thrash your car as fast as you want so having stricter checks does make a lot of sense. They should just get them checked and registered in germany, depending on how long they’ll be staying. once they’re checked, most mods should be fine.
America is protecting Germany. They need to chill out.
This is the dumbest sht ive seen on here.
Honestly, I hate German laws in this regard.
As a German, I agree with you.
People are saying you have to follow a country’s laws with a car that is regestered somewhere else. To an extent, yes. However, just as an example, say I imported an R34. I’m canadian, so they’re legal. If I were to cross the border to the U.S. in said R34 there wouldn’t be a problem. I know that isn’t the same thing, but still. Germany is too strict.
If you look carefully the cars where imported and had German number plates.
If they had kept their American plates, it would be legal.
All I can say about this is news is
USA!!USA!!USA!!🙆🙋🙌🎆🎆
Pulling somebody over because of stock cooling vents, how is that a thing.
Probably looks aftermarket.
Or the car in general didn’t look like it was stock/OEM.
Also, a lot of US-soldiers drive around with american license plates, and since that LOOKS LIKE driving without a license plate (although US soldiers are allowed to do that) they tend to get pulled over a lot.
Oh it’s such bullsht, i used to live on kinsbacher strasse(literally right outside the airbase) the Germans in Kaiserslautern get paid by the USA government the for noises of the planes. You would be inclined to think that all Germans are respectable people and yours be mostly right. But in Ramstein they bithc and bithc, they also have an existing exotic car dealer right across where i lived with Ferraris and lambos (or landlord’s son owns it (he also owns the esso station there)). Honestly now that I’m back in the USA i can say it’s way better than Germany is (cept the food, god the food is great in Germany).
If this guy gets it, why don’t the Germans?
I’d say it’s excessive intervention, up until you remember the fact that the autobahn exists and that American cars, built for American markets, aren’t necessarily designed to be driven at such speeds in such a manner. Your mood be fine at like 100, even 150kmh, but what will happen at 200?
Being a German, I think the Police could be a little less strict.
I mean, I assume the soldiers are within a rather restricted area, and it’s not like they intentionally modified their cars to break German law/anger the cops.