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
The Germans strict they should try the Netherlands 🙈
Well, technically you can make everything legal, like your Bodykit or Carbon Bonnet, but it doesn’t matter, because if the police officer is in a bad mood, he can say that this isn’t legal, and your car gets confiscated.
If you want to install a mod, it has to have a certificate, a “Gutachten” so that it can get legally installed.. For a bit of money of course.
In most cases, most mods don’t have those certificates and the only way to install it, is to make a “Einzelabnahme”,which usually costs more than the part itself.
Living as a Car Guy in Germany sucks.
That’s just the laws in Germany, yes they are overly strict. But that is the reason why Germany has such well-kept cars. And the last thing we need on our roads are things like this:
Unfortunately the “legitimacy” of an aftermarket part is only proven via expensive testing, which most overseas manufacturers do not want to do for such a small market.
Owners can register the parts themselves through the contacts of special tuning companies (SPS Motorsport/Geiger/RHD Speedmaster and others), which is expensive but mostly worth the effort. Or the hard way through the TUV testing regime (mentioned earlier) which entails multiple thousands of Euros and a few broken aftermarket parts.
The only thing I can say, If the GIs want to drive their cars on german roads they have to follow the rules they entail, nevermind how harsh they are. In their case, specialized export companies might help with the papers. Or get their cars inspected at DEKRA or GTÜ, who compared to the TÜV have both eyes closed during inspection :D
What a pile of drivel this post is. Germany isn’t some “controlling nanny state oppressing americans freedom”.
It’s actually stupid american soldiers breaking the law with illegal modification to their vehicles. If a german would import a car into the US that doesn’t meet regulation or uses illegal parts, they’d be fined too.
If your car isn’t ROAD LEGAL, face the consequences…
Weak biased article by the way.
If you don’t like our cars then maybe we should withdraw from NATO, see how you like that when you get invaded by Russia
Guess we have to kick there ass again
Importing my kenyan marathon version
Their just salty that we’re back to back world champs, and let freedom ring through our design, expression and sound of our muscle cars. They’re soldiers let them bring a piece of home. 🇺🇸
Battle of the bulge…
..... in my pants.