Being a WW2 vet, would Higgins really drive an Audi?

[Jay-Firestorm]

I have (or had) several distant relations who refused to buy anything German or Japanese. But that was quite a time ago, it would be harder to avoid them nowadays.

As for Higgins...
I don't know. As pointed out, he has no problem with Japanese culture - in fact in several episodes is shown to embrace it, so maybe as the years passed he didn't have such trouble with driving a German car.

...Sorry, a pretty simplistic answer after some of the thoughtful comments in this thread!

[ConchRepublican]

...Sorry, a pretty simplistic answer after some of the thoughtful comments in this thread!

Occam's razor - “The simplest explanation for a phenomenon is most likely the correct explanation."

I think you have it right.

[MACattack]

My grandfather fought in WWII and hated asians his whole life. Odd thing was, his business partner in real estate was Japanese!

I think Higgins liked Audis. Notice he never drove a Volkswagen, though!
The Volkswagen was a TRUE Nazi car. Hitler actually had them manufactured as a reward of the German people.

[K Hale]

I agree with the first part of your comment but not the second. Higgins seemd to be a total loyalist. I am not sure he could find fault with many or maybe any of the British imperialist actions. Remember the recounting of the Mao Mao uprising during '53 in Kenya (Black on White episode)? Higgins actually defended the actions of the troops and said the lads suffered by 'having to live with what they did' excusing the lack of formal punishment.

Not at all. He recommended formal punishment at the time even for himself, and thirty years later still thought they should have been punished.

Higgins describes the event this way: "We had been in the bush a week when Privates Holmesby and O'Rourke were ambushed whilst scouting a wadi. We found them at sunset, mutilated. But that word cannot possibly describe what had been done to their bodies. There was a full moon so we were able to stay on the Mau Mau's track. Around midnight we found them. There was a brief skirmish and two of them were killed. But I was slashed by a panga in the thigh and couldn't go on. I ordered the lads to press on. When I caught up with them the next morning, they had tracked the Mau Mau to Biribi and leveled the village. A number of innocent Africans were killed, including some women and children. But it was my responsibility. I should never have allowed the lads to go on without me."

The Kenyan police officer says, "Sergeant Major Higgins reported the massacre, assumed full responsibility and recommended a court-martial for everyone involved, including himself. Naturally, he was absolved. Unfortunately, the others were simply reprimanded and moved out of the country."

Higgins says, "The army did them no favor by not court-martialing them." Later he adds, "They were decent lads, you know. Young. Clutterbuck couldn't have been more than 18. They were brutalized, they'd seen their mates killed. It was just too bloody much for them. It would have been far better if they had been court-martialed and punished. It would have given them a chance to pay their debt. As it is they just had to live with it."

As for driving a German car, I agree with those who say he would have put it behind him and driven a nice, practical car, regardless of what country it was manufactured in. My father fought the Japanese in World War 2 and had no issue with driving a Mazda.

[MagnumsLeftShoulder]

Can't believe I never saw this thread before! Thanks for bringing it back to the top K Hale!

I don't know if Higgins would drive an Audi or not, but for what's it's worth I had an extended family member who saw major combat in Europe in WWII and then made a career of the Army. When he retired in the early 60's and came home for good he was driving a baby blue Volkswagen Beatle. He was my grandparent's neighbor and when he would pass in front of their house on his way to work, one of them would always say "There goes Jr. in his bug." He was still driving his bug into the 90's. I think a lot of people in the community(there were a lot of WWII veterans) thought it was weird, but I guess frugality won out over any war bitterness.

I have wondered why Audi was the car they used on the show. You'd think it would have been the more popular Mercedes or BMW for the sedan, but maybe the show got some sort of deal with Audi.

[K Hale]

Well, they had Rick driving a Mercedes. Can't have too many of the same thing, I guess!

[Mad Kudu Buck]

I don't think Higgins would have a problem driving an Audi. I think it's nearly the perfect car for him - classy without being showy, solidly built and reliable. It's not British though and the Jaguar he drove in the 70's (1976 flashback in the episode "Holmes is Where the Heart Is") probably suited him more, but by the late 70's/early 80's Jaguar had lots of reliability problems.

The thing is - these were Robin Master's cars, not Higgins'. So the question is: Would Robin Masters really drive an Audi? I'd say no. He'd want something flashy like a Rolls Royce - like the one destroyed by Mad Buck. My theory is... after Mad Buck destroyed the Rolls, Robin Masters told Higgins to buy something appropriate for his duties at the estate. Robin didn't really spend much time in Hawaii, so he didn't need a nice car for himself. Higgins chose a sensible, reliable, classy but not too expensive car.

[K Hale]

Totally concur. And that begs the question... who picked out the Ferrari?

We never see Robin drive it or even ask about it; Higgins is very protective of it, prefers it parked in the driveway but occasionally drives it himself with obvious enjoyment...

It must cost a ton to import a car like that to Hawaii.

[Mad Kudu Buck]

I'd say Robin Masters started buying Ferraris years earlier - the kind of car a successful young playboy-like writer would get to impress the chicks. By the late 70's, he had become older and fatter, more interested in being comfortably chauffeured around than driving himself. He still got the latest Ferrari out of habit, but left it at the estate as a showoff/toy for guests and eventually as incentive for Magnum to stay as live-in security.

[K Hale]

Also it did occur to me that Higgins does own German dogs. Why not a German car?

[Marcus the Lifeguard]

My dad fought in the Battle of the Buldge, was awarded a Silver Star, and liberated a concentration camp. Like General Patton, he thought after the surrender we should have allied with the Germans and taken care of the Russians. I think there was a certain respect for the German soldier and technology. After the war he owned a German Shepherd and over the years a few volkswagens bugs. Apparently, he also had an Austrian girlfriend he was so supposed to go back for. Lucky for me he never did.

[Steve]

My dad fought in the Battle of the Buldge, was awarded a Silver Star, and liberated a concentration camp. Like General Patton, he thought after the surrender we should have allied with the Germans and taken care of the Russians. I think there was a certain respect for the German soldier and technology. After the war he owned a German Shepherd and over the years a few volkswagens bugs. Apparently, he also had an Austrian girlfriend he was so supposed to go back for. Lucky for me he never did.

Great story, another one of the "Greatest Generation".....My father was a fighter pilot and always said the true heroes were on the ground.

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

My dad fought in the Battle of the Buldge, was awarded a Silver Star, and liberated a concentration camp. Like General Patton, he thought after the surrender we should have allied with the Germans and taken care of the Russians. I think there was a certain respect for the German soldier and technology. After the war he owned a German Shepherd and over the years a few volkswagens bugs. Apparently, he also had an Austrian girlfriend he was so supposed to go back for. Lucky for me he never did.

Great story, another one of the "Greatest Generation".....My father was a fighter pilot and always said the true heroes were on the ground.

Marcus's Dad and Patton should be respected for their service but the idea that we should have attacked the Soviet Union in 1945 is insanity and wasn't doable in any event.
You can be a serving soldier and not have the vaguest grasp of Geo Politics and history and the big picture. The Soviet army was the world's largest by then and while facing over 80% of the Axis forces had reduced them to a ruin, learning the Art of Blitzkrieg thru payment in blood. It had legendary generals like Zhukov(the Russian Patton), winner of the greatest armor battle in history at Kursk. Their T-34 tank was superior to the Sherman. That said, we supplied most of their food(spam) and aviation fuel and the trucks(plus train engines and rolling stock) that enabled them to launch their great counter offensives while we were building our armies from scratch. In other words, 20 million Soviets died (buying us time to build up our tiny army)killing Nazis who other wise would have been available to fight the Western Allies, perhaps killing my Dad and 5 uncles as well as Marcus's and Steve's Dad.
As odd as it may sound, the monster Stalin had a sort of moral edge over the Allies when he constantly threw up to us how much the USSR had paid in people, and in one third of its total national wealth.
No GI who somehow lived thru a world war after 4 long years away from home wanted to start a new war against an opponent who would have inflicted far more casualties than Germany did. Our guys wanted to go home, period.
Our Allies would certainly not have helped us either, nobody wanted more slaughter, Europe was a basket case.
Patton was not a plaster saint but a deeply flawed human being who happened to be a great general. His long affair with his niece was so tawdry and foul all mention was deleted from the movie.
Patton's advocating for a war against 'dem commies' in 1945 in the movie Patton wasn't meant to get the viewer to stand up and cheer Patton's sage leadership, but to illustrate his downright bloodthirsty nuttiness.
As soon as the last shot was fired in 1945 they should have sent him home to a NYC ticker tape parade, have the president honor him with more decorations and then retire him.

[MHTR]

Re. Patton: The affair was alleged (never confirmed), and it was said to have been with a niece by marriage, just to be clear since both those points weren't mentioned.

[K Hale]

This thread has certainly escalated.