Gallery: 8 Foreign Cars That Are Totally 'Murican
Mercedes-Benz01Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6x6 Showcar, Dubai 2013
With the G-Class, Mercedes made the SUV look both sexy and utilitarian. Then it gave the truck to AMG, its high-performance division, which made it go from 0 to 60 mph in 5.3 seconds. Then AMG went further, giving it two extra wheels and a pickup bed, creating the AMG G63 6×6, an outrageous luxury truck born to rip through deserts and create its own sandstorms. It’s over the top in every way: it weighs 9,000 pounds, stretches 19 feet long, uses 37-inch tires, and costs over $600,000. If it weren’t for the 3-pointed star on the dash, we’d assume this beast was American-born.
AvtoVAZ02VAZ-2106
This car went by many names. VAZ-2105. VAZ-2104. VAZ-2107. Lada Riva and Lada Nova. The Soviet vehicle was so lackluster there are [top 10 lists of jokes](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/picturegalleries/9211301/Top-10-Lada-jokes.html) mocking it, but that doesn’t diminish its importance: This thing was the Model T of the USSR, the vehicle that made the road open for millions of people, in the Soviet Union and beyond. And what’s more American than that?
Vauxhall03Vauxhall-Maloo-VXR-276457-LR
Take a look at the cars roaming the Outback, and it’s no surprise the Mad Max movies came out of Australia. Holden Special Vehicles, the performance vehicle partner of the Australian automaker, is behind the Maloo, our favorite vehicle on the island continent. With a 6.2-liter, 8-cylinder supercharged engine up front and a pickup bed in the back, the Maloo is like a powered up El Camino, without the classy touch.
Aston Martin04lagonda-exterior
For more than a century, Aston Martin’s been making sexy, sleek, high-performance sports cars and grand tourers that are synonymous with British élan. Then there’s the Lagonda Series I. Shaped like a doorstop and powered by a 5.3-liter V8, the four-door sedan could hit 148 mph. And the inside looked like a Stanley Kubrick project, packed with solid state digital instruments and gas-plasma displays. It was excessive in a way that makes it feel totally American.
Lamborghini05267581
Yes, Lamborghini’s making an SUV, following luxury brands like Porsche, Aston Martin, Bentley, and Rolls-Royce into the segment Americans love so dearly. But let’s remember that the Italians first went big in 1986. The LM0002, better known as the Rambo Lambo, carried a 5.2-liter V8, cranked out 444 hp, and ran to 60 mph in 7.7 seconds.
Nissan06JapaneseFairladyZ1970
Millenials may not remember it, but there was an age when Japanese makes had no presence on US roads. But before it could win over American buyers with affordable reliability, Nissan had to make an impression with something more. That’s why late exec [Yutaka Katayama pushed for the 240 Z](https://www.wired.com/2015/02/todays-automakers-learn-exec-treated-cars-like-horses/), a cheap take on the Jaguar E-Type that combined Japanese engineering with the American love for driving. A true pony car.
Toyota071998001-1995-Camry-Wagon-LE-color-LR
It doesn’t have a big engine. No fins. No outrageous sound or speed. It’s practical conservative, reliable. But if the measuring stick of “American” is how popular it is in the United States, the Camry’s the ultimate winner. It sells hundreds of thousands of units each year, the most popular four-door (in sedan or station wagon form) in the country for more than a decade.
Getty Images08GettyImages-102109146
The Pantera was the product of Italian automaker De Tomaso, but it feels totally American. A muscle car with better looks, it was based off the Ford GT, designed by American Tom Tjaarda, and powered by big Ford engines, including the 4.9-liter Windsor V8 and 5.8-liter Cleveland V8. Elvis owned one. Then [he shot it in the midst of a tantrum](http://jalopnik.com/5859519/elvis-shot-this-car-because-of-a-girl)—because it wouldn’t start when he wanted to drive away in a smoky burnout.
