ITALY is renowned the world over as the land of the exotic sports car. Most world famous luxury super-sport brands are of Italian origin. They include the Maserati, the Ferrari and the Lamborghini, all of which have become the ultimate toys of the rich and the famous, who are given to obscene displays of wealth. Italy is also home to more down-to-earth and affordable marques such as Alfa Romeo and Fiat. Both makes were popular brands in Rhodesia up to 1965 when sanctions against Ian Smith's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) dealt a death blow on the importation of cars of European or American origin, except for Peugeot, Citroen and Renault, which continued to come in through sanctions busting by France, leaving the highways wide open for the entry of Japanese newcomers such as Toyota, Datsun and Daihatsu.
The newcomers have dominated the market since then.
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