Of course its the right speed
They are just two different standards ;
PAL is 25 Fames / Sec, and 625 lines
NTSC is 30 Frames / Sec, and 525 Lines.
You cannot play PAL encoded video on an NTSC machine, or vice versa.
(unless they are dual standard, or have a conversion system).
Neither is "faster" than the other, they just have differing frame rates.
This old thread seems to have burst into life, it must be one of the few on the internet still talking about VCR's
i seem to remember (as you say) that dual standard machines in the UK played PAL and NTSC, most of the ones I had did just that and they weren't high end models except for one quite expensive svideo one I splashed out on. I'm not sure machines across the pond were as flexible when it came to playing PAL content.
NTSC = Never The Same Colour