Guilty!

[Cam]

Toyota engineers convicted of stealing secrets from Ferrari

Linky (http://www.autoblog.com/2007/04/25/toyota-engineers-convicted-of-stealing-secrets-from-ferrari/)

[Hard Driver]

Couldn't have been very good ones, because it certainly did them no good.

[manic mechanic]

When you get right down to it, Toyota has tried to "bulletproof" some technology that was designed to last a finite period, thus making it reliable, but less competitive.

I have always maintained that Japanese manufacturers have never really designed anything revolutionary, but they have taken proven designs (old Austin/MOWOG engines in old Nissans/Toyotas, the blatant ripoff of the MBz OHC 6 for the original Z car, the old Chevy 235 clone in the original FJ series Land Cruisers, etc.), made them reliable to a point of real-world liveability, then built enough of them to make them cost-effective to the end user.

Now, the NECKCAR V-8 is a different story... That one is a "cheater" part from the word go. :yuck:


manic

[chop456]

I have always maintained that Japanese manufacturers have never really designed anything revolutionary

Maybe not invented, but put into production cars; 4 wheel steering (Honda), variable valve timing (Honda?), double wishbone suspension (Honda?) Passive rear steering (Nissan and Isuzu?) (corrections welcomed and expected.) The first nav system I ever saw was in a Subaru concept car about 25 years ago.

Not to mention the ol' fuel cell inside of a fuel cell trick. ;)