“...The mechanic told me the British didn’t design the cooling system for the heat in the desert southwest.
...
Seems the British naval destroyers are not their only creation that doesn’t do well in warmer conditions. …”
Some of their automotive systems haven’t done so well in cooler conditions either.
During the early-to-mid 1970s, I was a cadet at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. We were allowed to own cars only during our final (First Class) year. Cadets who bought MGs, Triumphs, or anything Italian were afflicted with endless startup trouble any time the overnight temperature dipped into the low 30s F. More precisely, their auto would start, but refuse to keep running until some ten to fifteen minutes of warmup idling had transpired.
In fairness, it was a time of severe upheaval in the automotive industry: safety systems, emission controls, the First Oil Shock, inflation, wild swings in currency exchange ratios, skyrocketing costs all made life difficult for automakers - and cadets trying to pay for newer models.
I stepped away from the herd to purchase a Saab 99 from my hometown dealer (400 ft above sea level); after climbing to 7280 ft above sea level, it refused to run until I had it tuned up.
All was well until February; my roommate talked me into swapping cars for the weekend, so he & four buddies could make a ski trip. Through operator error, they damaged one set of axle boots; I drove his Triumph Spitfire, which came down with inexplicable malfunctions in the slush & snow around C Springs. After we paid the repair bills, he owed me about $70.00 more than I owed him. That Spitfire was - sadly - an all-too-typical example of lackluster British engineering and indifferent workmanship of the time.
Three months later, I had to rescue another roommate, who’d bought himself a FIAT X1/9: hot performer, but no room for luggage larger than a briefcase. Breakdowns left him at the side of the road twice, before we graduated.
A trip to the local German auto mechanic and then another to the auto parts store, fixed the problem with nary a tool.
Seems the 30 wt. oil I was using was too "thick" when it got too cold for the starter to turn the flywheel over. An oil replacement to 10W30 did the trick and she started every time after that.