7 Awesome Cars We Need In The UK But Will Never Get

Americans routinely complain that we Europeans get all the best metal. And granted, they may have a point; not that’s it’s our fault. Attempts to introduce Americans to European-style, non-German cars have traditionally been met with indifference, and at worst, outright hostility. Citroën withdrew from the US-market in 1974, Fiat in 1983, Renault in 1989, Peugeot in 1991, and Alfa Romeo in 1994. Now - as Alfa prepares for its 2014 re-entry into the US market - Americans are finally starting to play ball.

Yet, just as there some cars that will never be available in the US, a surprising amount will never be available here in Britain, either. Chief among carmakers’ excuses for not selling certain cars here is that they can’t be bothered to engineer a right-hand drive model. And it’s not just American stuff we’re missing out on, there’s plenty of cars that can’t even make the crossing from mainland Europe.

Here, in no particular order, are seven awesome cars we can’t get in the UK.

1. BMW M5 Manual

Why BMW should only offer the M5 with a manual gearbox in a country that, broadly speaking, loathes manual transmissions (it's estimated less than 10 per cent of cars registered in the US every year are manual) remains a mystery. BMW M Development Chief Albert Biermann says “there’s still sufficient demand in the US”, but that “nobody in Europe” would buy one. 15 per cent of US M5s are specced with a manual ‘box. Bet we could at least match that.

2. BMW M550d

Another 5-Series BMW, this one not even available stateside. The M550d is a four-wheel drive, 376bhp, tri-turbocharged diesel monster with enough torque to uproot the New Forest. It’ll hit 60mph in 4.7 seconds, and in the real world is not insurmountably slower than an M5. In the UK you can have this engine in an X5 or X6, but you don’t really want either of those. Do you?

3. Mercedes E63 AMG S 4Matic Estate

We get the E63 Estate in the UK, even in 570bhp ‘S’ guise. However, we have to make do with rear-wheel drive - and in the E63, this means departing, traveling to and arriving at your destination sideways, concealed by a cloud a tyre smoke. With Merc’s 4Matic all-wheel drive system, the E63 is brutally fast - 3.6 seconds to 60mph - but still usable. Want.

4. Hyundai Genesis Coupe

Before it was killed off a few years back, Europe’s Hyundai Coupe (or Tiburon, as it’s known elsewhere) did rather well here. It wasn’t a bad car, either, with decent handling and an attractive RRP. Hyundai hasn’t yet replaced it - and we think the Genesis Coupe would make the ideal candidate. Good looking, fast enough with its 348bhp V6, and reasonably priced. Make it so, Hyundai.

5. Jaguar XKR-S GT

Come on, Jag...You’re supposed to be on our side! The XKR-S GT is a limited-run special designed to commemorate 25 years of Jaguar’s R division. Only 30 are due to be built, none of which will find homes in the UK. It retains the XKR-S’s 542bhp, 5.0-litre V8, but a host of weight-saving carbon parts, new über-wide tyres and a track-spec suspension help it hit 60mph in 3.9 seconds - half a second faster than standard.

6. Shelby GT500

The all-American icon that is the Ford Mustang will go on sale in the UK, in right-hand drive, in 2015. When it arrives, the archetypal V8 will almost certainly be missing from the line up. Current thinking suggests the Euro ‘Stang will be powered by either an EcoBoost V6, or two-point-something four pot. Ford, this will not do. Let us have the GT500. We’ll be good, promise.

7. SRT Viper

Though more sophisticated than its forebears, the SRT Viper remains quintessentially American, thanks to its massive V10, lengthy bonnet and angry face. Yet, we think it’s matured just enough to warrant a stint on UK forecourts. What could go wrong?

Non-European readers, what cars do you wish were available in your country?