[livi]

dd, do you mean that the fact that Europe is a continent divided in many small countries creates a climate of entrepreneur 'racing' against each other ? A regional pride that stimulates a patriotic urge to beat the neighbor.

Certainly fits in Italy. With the tractor manufacturer Signore Lamborghini having a fit from his Ferrari not working properly. Feeling short changed by the Ferrari factory he drives home in anger, determined to build a better sports car. Or so the legend has it at least. Ferdinand Porsche had a hard time too during and after the war, having to hide out in the bushes in an old shed developing the embryo for the 356.

Maybe it has simply been up to a handful of ingenious men that just happened to live in Europe ?

OK, now I have lost track of my own thread. Where were I ?