The Driving Philosopher

Kodak - a famous brand fades away

2012-01-06T12:41:00.000-08:00

Kodak is probably one of the most well known brands of the world. Almost a hundred years Kodak dominated the photography or influenced it substantially to say the least. And now the end of this empire seems to have come close. Unbelievable!
Why would a car buff like me talk about Kodak? What does Kodak have to do with cars? A lot, yeah! On a substantial share of all the black and white films, the Kodachrome and Ektachrome slides and all the other film materials Kodak produced cars were pictured! Our fathers used a Kodak Retina camera, the generations in the Sixties and Seventies grew up with a Kodak Instamatic or a Kodak Instamatic Pocket camera and yes, of course, the took pictures of cars and a lot of them. Many of them have survived thanks to the quality of the Kodak products, otherwise the pictured cars maybe would have gone forgotten just like the cameras that took the pictures.
Yet another puzzle piece of the good old times vanishes, it's quite sad!

Colorful Porsche World in the Seventies

2012-01-03T09:21:00.000-08:00

You could't imagine such a world today. Porsche sportscars in yellow, bright blue, organge, red, green, etc. But this is how buyers ordered their Porsche in the seventies. To make my point I have added two color portfolios of 1974 and three pictures of Porsche sportscars from 1976 und 1971.
Make up your own mind, wouldn't you rather want to live in a Porsche world full of wonderful colors, compared to the silver, grey, black, dark blue trends we have today?

Goggomobil - more than modern 60 years ago

2011-12-24T07:06:00.000-08:00

What you see here under a Christmas tree is a Goggomobil T 250 from around 1957. This was a very small (less than 3 meters long), light (around 415 kg) two door four seat limousine favored for its good performance, excellent handling and state of the art economy.
Mind, that this little thing could do more than 50 miles per hour, but it was more economical than a Smart today.
Now, the point I want to raise is, that with this tiny vehicle people were able to commute, to take a vacation trip with their family and to even start at hillclimbs or circuit races. It satisfied all transportation demands. Today, people buy a two ton vehicle accelerated by a 300 hp engine to basically do the same. And they wouldn't arrive much earlier with their SUV than they did with a 50ies Goggomobil. Great progress, isn't it?
Anyway, merry christmas!
P.S. If you want to know more about the Goggomobil and you read German, then here's a worthwhile article to read.

Aston Martin V12 Zagato - what a car

2011-05-24T13:36:00.001-07:00

Aston Martin presented the V12 Zagato in Cernobbio last weekend. It was entered into the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este and won its category, the concept cars and prototypes of 2010/2011.
It's quite an impressive machine, clearly a race car. The red one will be driven by Ulrich Bez himself at the 24 hours of Nurburgring in July. Ulrich Bez told me that he is looking forward to it.
The V12 Zagato continues a tradition that had it's best time in 1960 when Zagao produced the DB4 GT Zagato, a truely iconic early super car. But today's version is impressive as well, especially when you start the engine. Its sound is amazing. Have a look at the pictures to see the elegant shape ...

What colors did you get with a Porsche 356 in 1963?

2011-04-22T02:26:00.001-07:00

Have a look at the color card of the 1963 Porsch 356. Not a lot of choice, really. Only four colors with a metallic scheme. And 7 non metallic colors. White certainly was popular, black as well. And the campagne yellow can also be seen quite often.

Driving a 1956 Messerschmitt KR 200

2011-04-10T02:47:00.000-07:00

This week I had the pleasure to drive a microcar called Messerschmitt KR 200 built in 1956. It looks a bit like the top of an older airplane with three wheels beneath it. You enter it by lifting the glass top. Driver and co-driver sit behind each other. The controls are a mixture of what you are used in a car (pedals, gear stick) and what you know from motocycles (steering, sequential gearbox).
It's really exciting as it feels to different to anything else I have driven. It's not fast and I didn't try to reach the 92 km/h it should be capable to do. The sound is typical two stroke single cylinder. The highlight is the view, 360 degree and to the top. It's understandable that these small cars fetch 25000 Euros at auctions these days! A more detailed report can be found here (in German language though, but with soundfiles).

Geneva Car Show 2011 - Hybrid, Electricity, and ..... ?

2011-03-02T12:23:00.001-08:00

So, what's new at the Geneva Car Show 2011? Well, if you need the newspapers, then they claim that 170 new cars are shown by 700 exhibitors. Hmmh. What does "new" mean? I have seen lots of hybrid and semi-electrical derivatives of known cars. I have seen a number of interesting concept cars and a number of quite ugly ones too. I have seen new versions of sportscars.
So, what do I really remember after 8 hours of constant walking around and taking pictures? Yes, the BMW Vision concept car is quite impressive. The Alfa Romeo 4C concept car hopefully never makes it close to production, it's clearly not my cup of tea. I certainly will remember forever the highly attractive Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato (from 1962) at the Aston booth. It probably was the most beautiful car of the show. I was quite impressed by the Mazda 4 door saloon concept car, nice design and good presentation, really! And then the Bertone Jaguar 4 door saloon car. First I really liked the car, when I spotted it in a newspaper. But now, having seen it in the real world, I am not so sure anymore. Would the design really last well over time? I doubt it. It's too short term oriended in my eyes.
Wiesmann showed a design concept that makes you like the current designs even more. I was positively suprised when looking at the Carozzeria Touring design for a potential new Gumpert. The existing car is quite functional and beauty probably wasn't high on the criteria list, but the Touring version could make it one of the better super cars in my eyes.
Giugiaro showed a Volkswagen that makes the existing fleet of Volkswagen look quite old and outdated. Yes, that's a direction I could support! The Saab concept car makes you hungry for more, while the Lamborghini Aventador sort seems to be more of the same, no real quantum leap that I would have hoped Lamborghini could do (think Miura versus Countach). De Tomaso surprised with a comeback presenting the de Tomaso Deauville. There's a good and a bad message here: The Deauville is not pretty at all and really nothing you would dream of, the people from de Tomaso announced that they will present a new Pantera later this year, so we still can hope for better things to come. Some nice displays with old cars were shown as well, I mentioned the Aston, but there was also a Jaguary E Type from 1961, a Mercedes Simplex and a Lehner-Porsche. Too bad Renault only tried it halfway, cutting a 1961 Renault R4L in pieces ....
What would I want to buy? I honestly don't know!
More and other pictures can be found here!

Ferrari F40 vs Porsche 959

2011-02-27T21:53:00.000-08:00

In the last episode of the current Topgear series Hamster had the pleasure to drive both the Ferrari F40 and the Porsche 959, the mid 80ies super cars. What a wonderful movie! As usual the pictures were marvelous, but the sound track was even more exciting. Amd Richard got it right by summarizing the characteristics of the two cars. And of once he and Jeremy even agreed on what the better car was, both voted for the F40. But Richard made a good point, that the Porsche 959 actually was the car to show where the future would be, not the Ferrari. Funny, that at the end both cars apparently collapsed on the fast lap with Stig, but anyway the track was damp and ....

Does the Volkswagen XL1 stand a chance?

2011-01-27T22:19:00.000-08:00

Volkswagen has presented the VW XL1, a car doing almost 100 km with 1 litre of diesel fuel. So yet another prototype. Let's turn the page. But stop, Volkswagen also announced that they will be producing this car in two years and everyone can buy one. Surprise! If Volkswagen really is able to produce this prototype style sports two seater then I will be putting it on my wish list. Honestly, it looks good and stylish, it has the gullwing doors I love and I can drive it to save the world. Great, isn't it? Of course it's a question of pricing too. I would not want to pay more than let's say 40'000 Euros for a car with the performance of an 80ies saloon car despite all the styling bells and wistles. But clearly this is the most advanced thing Volkswagen has presented in a decade and I will follow its progress closely

100 Years of Rallye Monte Carlo

2011-01-26T05:02:00.000-08:00

100 years ago the first Rallye Monte Carlo was started. Challenges, rules and setup changed from year to year and initially it was more a reliability and regularity test than a speed race. Only in the 60ies they invented the special sections where speed was king. From time to time they invented funny rules, such as the more people you have in the car you more points you gain, or a design evaluation where Coupés were more valuable than Convertibles. Most of us probably remember the times of the Mini Cooper, Alpine A110, Porsche 911, Lancia Stratos, Audi Quattro and the Group B.
On zwischengas you find an article for each year and plenty of pictures (in total more than 200) and it's quite interesting to see the winners and losers coming and going.

The beginning of speed control - Ford Thunderbird

2011-01-11T08:57:00.000-08:00

For the 1964 Ford Thunderbird you could order a new speed selector device. Ford claimed that motorists could save up to 20% fuel and that the system would reduce driver fatigue and lessen engine and brake wear.
Well, I wonder whether this was really true. If you really want to save fuel you actually turn the speed control off. Interesting was that the system would take control as soon as you are driving with the speed you have selected with the little wheel, different to today where you have to restart the system when you are ready.
But anyway, in 1964 this system was quite an innovation as you can imagine

Forgotten Fiberglass - great resource for research and inspiration

2011-01-02T01:23:00.000-08:00

During the 50ies and 60ies a lot of cars and car bodies have been created using fiberglass (others may call it plastic, but it isn't really, polyester was another term). Thanks to this material even small production runs could be made profitable and much more variety was possible.
Especially the US had a strong fiberglass era, resulting into brands such as Brooks Boxer, Glasspar, Ascot, Woodill Wildfire, Irwin Lancer, Scorpion, Wasp, Edwards, Grantham Stardust, Venus, Meteor, Kurtis, Maverick Sportster, Victress, BMC Singer, Vale, Allied, Atlas, Multiplex, Bosley, Lasaetta, Chicagoan, Lightning, Rockefeller Yankee, Triplex, Hollywood Plastics, Snohomish Plastics, Almquist, Alken, Sorrell, Bangert, McCormack, La Dawri, Kellison, Byers, BoCar, Devin, LeMans Coupe to name just a few.
For people interested in these cars and components there's a great online resource: Forgotten Fiberglass. Have a look and you'll be amazed of what has been built during these years.
For German speaking people there's a summary and an interesting gallery on this era on zwischengas.com.

What and how would you an iPad Classic Car Magazine to be?

2010-12-30T02:53:00.000-08:00

The Apple iPad is quite a famous gadget and after many companies missed the hype around the iPhone lots of media companies are investing into iPad applications to be part of the game this time. Wired for example set some sort of a benchmark.
As we are thinking about bringing a zwischengas-iPad-application sometimes during 2011 we are wondering what the features would be that iPad users would look for. Of course the App needs to make use of state-of-the-art multimedia, i.e. sound, video, images, but that's probably not enough. It must be more than a website with different navigation patterns and controls, right? But what exactly?

www.zwischengas.com officially launched

2010-12-22T22:43:00.000-08:00

It was a lot of hard work, but now its available for public use: www.zwischengas.com. It's targeted towards German language readers, but the pictures are of course multi language. Have a look and you will understand that my blogging frequency went down over the last weeks.

What we can celebrate next year (2011)

2010-12-15T04:24:00.001-08:00

Soon we will swap 2010 by 2011 in our calendars. So I started to think about what cars have been presented 50 years ago. Here's a first list:
Renault 4
Jaguar E-Type
VW 1500
Peugeot 404
NSU Prinz 4
Fiat 1300/1500
Daf 600
Devin VW (Devin D)
Citroen Ami 6
Fiat Coupé 2300 S
Simca 1000
Jaguar Mark X
Triumph TR 4
Ferrari 250 GT(E)
Alfa-Romeo 2000 Sprint (Bertone)

Yes, I agree, not all of these have the same relevance ;-)
So, here's a list for cars presented 30 years ago (so 1981):
Alfa-Romeo GTV 6
Audi Quattro
Audi Coupé
Talbot Murena
Porsche 944
Renault 5 Turbo
Ferrari Mondial
Mercedes 380/500 SEC
Opel Ascona (front wheel drive)
VW Jetta
Talbot Tagora
TVR Tasmin
As always, I am open for feedbacks and corrections.

Devin D restoration project for sale - now on ebay

2010-11-28T20:58:00.001-08:00

I have been writing about this Devin D restoration project before. It's a very rare find! It has been with the same owner since 1973 and comes with a clear title identifying the car as the number 20 of totally 49 Devin Ds every built. It will make a splendid vintage racer, but could also be finished as a street car. Of course, there's some work to do, but the components are available.
The odometer apparently reads only 1139 miles. The car had been raced in original red with black interior and also with Porsche silver with burgundy accents. The car had been prepared to re-paint when the current owner bought it. The instruments, wipers, windshield and other components where remove to sand and refinish. The car has remained in this condition to this day. There is an additional windshield glass from 1956 Porsche Speedster, full top, bows and side-curtains. There are other additional parts, such as exhaust and muffler and other sundry parts.
So, if you are in the market for a rare vintage racer (I know of only two D Devins in Europe) then here's an opportunity to acquire a fantastic platform to start with.
As said, it's on ebay now. Have a look.

The Classic Car Season is over

2010-11-27T22:47:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I posted a comment on my last trips with my cars for this year, and I was right. In the meantime the winter has visibly arrived, with snowfall and cold temperatures.
So for the next couple of months it will be more about reading books and magazines, watching movies and maybe working on the cars, than driving our cherished classics. Well, that's how it is when you live in central Europe.

When you have to pay more to NOT get an aircondition

2010-11-17T06:39:00.001-08:00

This is the Porsche Cayman R. It's a lighter and more powerful version of the Cayman S. To save weight, the Porsche Engineers got rid of the radio and the aircondition. They also got rid of some other comfort accessories and items. They increased power by 10 HP, which shouldn't cost them much more as it's probably chip tuning only. So, you get almost the same, but less and you pay a lot more for the package, Euro 7'300.- to be specific. Okay, the lighter wheels may be a bit more expensive, but honestly, why would you pay so much more to actually get less? True weight saving must start with the basic concept of the car, not by removing convenience.

Auto Zurich 2010 - McLaren MP4-12C Ferrari 599 GTO Aston-Martin Cygnet ...

2010-11-14T04:05:00.000-08:00

Auto Zurich cannot be compared with the Geneva car show. But looking at the range of new cars presented in Zurich it must be said that it's still an impressive show. New cars on scene were the Ferrari 599 GTO (for people with a lot of money) , McLaren MP4-12C (for people with a need for exclusivity), Volkswagen Passat (for people with families), Aston-Martin Cygnet (for people who want to pay twice the money to receive a Toyota IQ), Ranger Rover Evoque (for people who thing the BMW X6 isn't nice enough), Brabus Mercedes-Benz SLS (for people who thing the standard thing isn't expensive enough), Mercedes-Benz CLS (or people who only know short people to get into the back), Porsche Carrera GTS (same as a standard 911 for the GT3 price when fully loaded), new Veritas (if convenience is not an objective), Mitsubishi MIEV (if electricity is available where you park), and so on. The Zurich show is also a good show, because you can see all the cars in roughly 90 minutes ...

Has been here before - 4 door Coupés

2010-11-11T05:55:00.000-08:00

Pininfarina designed this Lancia Florida Four Door Coupé in the mid fifties. It really looked sharp! So, what we see from Mercedes (CLS), Volkswagen (Passat CC) Aston-Martin (Rapide) or Porsche (Panamera) isn't really that innovative and new, isn't it? By the way, Rover and other brands continued this tradition of building 4 door coupés through the 60ies and 70ies, into the 80ies.

One that you can buy - Amilcar C6 Grand Prix Car

2010-11-08T12:10:00.000-08:00

Here's again a car, that is for sale. It attracted my attention because it has a lovely patina and combines Grand Prix feeling with a road registration. It's a 1927 Amilcar C6 with a straight six cylinder engine with a double overhead camshaft, a dry sump system and a compressor. When the C6 was launched in 1926 it achieved no less than 74 victories in that year, such as the Italian Grand Prix, the Provence Grand Prix and the Brooklands 200 Miles. The C6 was also the first 1100ccm car to go reach speeds above 200 km/h.
The car for sale at VDV is in completely original state, with a fully reconditioned engine. There's no mentioning of the sales price, but it won't come cheap, but could be worth every penny!

The best ever driver's car? Not an obvious choice

2010-11-07T12:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture from Pistonheads. Actually they sort of borrowed it from Classic and Sportscars. C&S is celebrating the best ever driver's cars in a coming issue and that's where the foto is coming from. As you can see in the picture, the top 5 are the Alfa 8C, the McLaren F1, the Mini Cooper, the Porsche Carrera RS 2.7 and the Lotus Elan Sprint. Now, the question of course is whether we agree with this selection (and the winner RS 2.7). Difficult to say, as I haven't yet driven four of the five, at least not in the proposed disguise. But I wonder whether they didn't miss a couple of additional candidates, i.e. the Dino 246 GT or something from the 50ies for example. And, three out of five are British, but only one German and one Italian car? Seems to be a bit harsh. No Japanese car, not even the iconic Honda NSX or the Toyota GT 2000? No French car, not even the multi-times-Monte-Carlo-winner Alpine A110 1600S or one of the sought after Bugattis? No American car - well, maybe that's okay.
But, if given the choice, which of the five would I take? Probably not the McLaren and neither the Mini. Rather the Lotus or the Porsche. But my winner would be the Alfa-Romeo. Yes, I am slowly getting mature enough to fancy pre-war cars ....

Last Classic Car Blast before the Winter

2010-11-06T07:59:00.000-07:00

One thing we, central European Classic Car drivers, share is the winter issue. At the end of every good classic car season there's the day where you take your car out for a blast the last time before you prepare it for the sleeping period over the winter. The last drive is always a great experience even if there's also some sadness combined with it. Why can't the Autumn just last forever, why can't we have more days like the ones we just experienced? Ten to fifteen degrees of Celsius, dry condition, wonderful Indian summer colors, that's a great combination for the last drive. Well, soon we'll see snow, salt on the streets and limited daylight conditions. That will be the time when you read all the old motor magazines, new books and test your reflexes on the Playstation 3.
Well, at least I had the opportunity to take out my cars once more. And they all seemed to respond to that last drive very well.

Picture of the Week - Abarth

2010-11-02T11:05:00.000-07:00

Carlo Abarth built some of the best sportscars in the 60ies and early 70ies. Many won big races despite a engine size deficit. And many great driver was a works driver with the Abarth team. Many of the cars were beautifully shaped, but efficiency was more of a concern for Carlo Abarth than beauty. When he sold his company to Fiat the end was soon to come, too bad. Today you can again buy Abarth cars, but they are mostly tuned Fiat derivates. However there's a rumour that a new lightweight sportcar might be arriving!

TVR Grantura Restoration - Stage Four - more difficulties!

2010-10-31T05:40:00.001-07:00

Since the last post on this very topic almost 10 months have passed. Initially my dear TVR Grantura should have been restored and back on the road by now, but as always, things didn't develop as planned.
At least, in the meantime we have been able to separate the chassis from the body. Before we were able to do so the body had to be stabilized and partially fixed. What we found when we were able to look at the chassis the first time without fiberglass around it, was quite shocking! Longitudinal tubes were missing or totally rusted away! Others were not where they should be and some were repaired in a fairly bad way. So there's quite a bit of work that has to go into the chassis, we even have to consider a replacement item, if we can find one. But, the good news is, there can't be many more bad messages coming from now on. So, next stage will be all about fixing the chassis and in parallel, fixing the body as well. Only then we can start to reassembling the car. And hopefully it will go back on the road in 2011 still!

Have we gone beyond the tipping point in automobile engineering?

2010-10-29T02:29:00.000-07:00

Recently I was involved in a discussion on whether we have gone beyond the tipping point in automobile engineering. The question discussed was whether future cars will not be "truly" better than the cars produced today and points mentioned where things such as engine downsizing, cars getting heavier and heavier, more and more electronics taking away the fun from driving, noise restrictions, emission regulations enforcing direct fuel injections, etc..
Of course you can have many different perspectives here. Let me just mention a few:
(I) The best cars are the ones from the last decade. Cars like the Audi RS4/SE, BMW M3, Porsche 911 Carrera GT3/GT3 RS, Audi RS8 V10, Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggiera, maybe even the Bugatti Veyron, etc. have set the bar and shown what is feasible. With new laws and restrictions you can only make it worse, but barely better.
(II) The best cars come from the 50ies and early 60ies, as then racing and competition cars (especially GTs and prototype type two seaters) could be driven on the road and offered maximum driving pleasure and a great sound spectrum. Take a Jaguar C-Type or a Porsche Carrera 6 as example. And don't think about convenience and usability.
(III) The best cars are still to come as with modern computer technology they will be extremely safe, extremely convenient taking over most/all of the driver's activivities and offer full access to web, TV, sound and entertainment while moving from A to B.
All of the three perspective have some "raison d'être". And for all there are exceptions and counter arguments of course. It's all a matter of what you want and value.
However there are some facts out there as well. The Volkswagen V6 engine built into the R32 for example offered an incredible sound, which the new 4 cylinder Golf R can't match. On the other side modern sound engineering and computer controlled exhaust systems in cars such as the Maserati coupé or the Aston Martin DBS/DB9 enables interesting noise patterns as well. Or just listen to a Ferrari 430 Scuderia. And it's obvious that the current cars offer superior road handling thanks to electronics, modern tyre technology and great suspension design. And it's also clear that weight spoils driving pleasure to some extent, so a 600kg sportscar of the 60ies has certain advantages against a 2 ton Aston Martin, even if the advantage doesn't translate to better lap times.
So, it's a wide topic or as you can say in German "das ist ein weites Feld". Enjoy what you like best and let room for the others with different opinions.

German electrical car with a range of more than 600 km

2010-10-27T02:38:00.000-07:00

It's not first of April, so maybe it's true. Apparently German companies (lekker engery, DBM energy) built an electrical car that can go more than 600 km (they did 605 km to prove this) and can be recharged within an hour (or in 5 minutes under optimal conditions). The technology used for the battery is new and is based on lithium metal polymer structures. The whole battery weighs only 100 kg. The car used is an almost vintage Audi A2 and still offers seats for 4 people and space for the luggage. This almost sounds like a miracle! Sadly enough the battery technology is not yet production ready and of course many questions can be raised. But if eventually something like this can be manufactured in large numbers then this provides interesting parameters for the design of future cars! Think about small electrical motors, relatively small and light batteries. Let's see!

Picture of the Week - Porsche 904 Signature

2010-10-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

What you can see here are two things:
a) the "signature" on a Porsche 904 GTS with true patina
b) classic car design at its best
They don't do signatures and brand model like this anymore. And it looked so good. The car (or better part of it) pictured is probably one of the few unrestored Porsche 904 in existence. And it's good that something like this still lives!

Do all cars look alike? How car makers are giving up on individual characteristics and design attributes

2010-10-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

What you see here are station wagons of two design brands that give quite a bit for their distinctive characteristics and design attributes. But you really have to look for the details to see the differences! The "man from the street" probably couldn't tell which car is coming from what brand, if you removed the batches. Don't understand me wrongly, both cars are pretty and certainly well shaped and designed, but they lack differentiation. And it's not just these two cars, it's the whole lot we can buy today. Aerodynamics, safety and apparently today's tate influence what the designers can do. Too sad!
By the way, if you haven't been able to identify the two cars: BMW 5 Series Touring 2010 and Citroen C5 Tourer 2010.

With the GT40 at Le Mans - difficult to beat this

2010-10-19T13:35:00.000-07:00

The Ford GT40 is one of the all time best sportscars ever. Not only did it win Le Mans more than once it also successfully competed on many other racetracks around the world. And you could even drive the car on the road. It looked good as well, but, Gee, the sound was just incredible, as the enclosed (not new) video from a lap at Le Mans (Classic 2008) clearly points out:

Google's robot cars and what it may mean for classic cars

2010-10-18T01:01:00.000-07:00

So, apparently Google has cars driving around guided purely by computers. Robot Cars. The idea has been around since the 60ies, but few years ago the electronics/hardware still took most of the passenger and boot space. This is getting better by the day. Google's cars are Toyota Prius and obviously there's still at least enough space to seat a control person and a passenger, maybe more. Now people say that this may open a new development similar to the impact of the internet. With robot driven cars you can reduce accidents, put more cars on the road on less space and make cars lighter and more economical as they will prevent accidents rather to have a lot of passive safety built inside. That would be good news as such. But obviously this only makes sense if all the cars follow the same logic and if we have less software errors built into these cars than into the odd MS Excel or Word. And I am a bit afraid, this is not good news of us who keep classic cars on the road and try to mesh into daily traffic. These robot cars will not know that a vintage automobile may easily take 100 meters to brake from 100 km/h to 0, or more.
But anyway, until we have these robot cars on public roads, a lot of legal and technical hurdles need to be removed, so let's get excited when it's here ...

Tyres have changed a lot, so has the advertisement

2010-10-17T08:55:00.000-07:00

Tyres are one of the products that have changed dramatically during the development of the automobile. So has advertisement for tyres. Here's one from 1949, most people probably don't even remember the brand "India". It probably disappeared a long time ago. Interestingly though some of the very early tyre makers such as Michelin and Dunlop, having influenced the development quite significantly from the beginning, are still here and still successful. And mind, it's the square of four postcards that connect your car to the street, so maybe picking the right tyres should be as much an important consideration as picking the car as such.

Radar speed control detection in 1961

2010-10-16T02:28:00.000-07:00

A long time ago, in 1961, the company Hamos (New York) introduced a radar (speed control) detection unit to be installed in cars. Given that cars barely were able to go beyond 100 km/h and the low probability of a speed control exercise the purchase of such a (expensive) unit may sound a bit "beyond" today. But it's interesting to know that the "problem" was acknowledge already 50 years ago, isn't it?
And it's also funny to see that the company already in 1961 claimed to increase road safety with this device.

Volvo P1800 - a car, that almost looked like a Ferrari

2010-10-15T06:42:00.000-07:00

Here's an ad from 1961 showing the Volvo P1800. It was a gorgeous sportscar that combined Swedish solidity with Italian design. The front almost looked like a Ferrari, the side and back was probably influenced by the Americans. It drove well, even if it was not that fast. Many people admired it, including Simon Templar in the so called TV series. When I was young I lost a tennis match against a P1800 driver, but the ride home was worth it.

New Volkswagen Passat looks a bit very much like expected

2010-10-14T21:01:00.000-07:00

Could you trust a computer to design a new car? Well, hopefully not. But in this case it may have worked. This is the new Volkswagen Passat. It's quite pretty and much smoother than it's predecessor. It basically made the same transition than the Golf going from V to VI. So, if you had a good morphing software and you could instruct to do a similar evolution with the old Passat that was done with the Golf, you would pretty much get what you see here on the picture. That's not only bad news and it's certainly good for the business of the German car manufacturer. But it's a bit boring too.

Tucker - the untold stories

2010-10-11T11:57:00.000-07:00

Remember the movie "Tucker"? It's about a visionary man reinventing the car and coming up with something quite revolutionary considering the year 1948. The story behind the movie actually is quite true. Tucker existed and the (prototype) cars as well. Not only was these car more aerodynamically shaped than almost anything else, it also had a few engineering ideas incorporated that made it special, i.e. a small helicopter engine taking much less space in the back than the usual 6 or 8 cylinder engines and leaving a lot of boot space in the front. But the car had also a few problems, including not being able to reverse. And the development was funded by people putting a deposit. And these people, and there were some even in Switzerland, never got their car, but the deposit of course had gone. The illustration here is an actual ad for the car in a car catalogue in 1948. It really looked good!

Advertising the BMW 507

2010-10-09T11:54:00.000-07:00

As you probably have found out, I really love old car ads. Here's one showcasing the BMW 507. It was BMW's attempt to compete with the mighty Mercedes 300 SL and it actually had a magnificent 8 cylinder engine and the gorgeous design of Goertz. But it didn't sell well in the 50ies and disappeared after only few cars produced. I know of people having been able to buy one for less than 40k Euro and selling it for ten time as much a number of years later.

Remember the Ford Capri RS 2600?

2010-10-07T22:06:00.000-07:00

In March 1970 Ford presented the Ford Capri RS 2600. It delivered 150 HP with its 2.6 liter engine, quite something at that time! It was derived from the touring car and at the same time the basis for many racing versions to come. With its twin lights and the Kugelfischer injection it was steps ahead from the rest of the Capri range. Everybody wanted to have one.

One that you can buy - Lotus Europa S1

2010-10-06T05:39:00.001-07:00

It takes a special fan to buy such a car, but it's certainly a worthwhile investment. Here's a Lotus Europa S1, 1967, for sale in Switzerland. It comes from the very first series, chassis number 149 and is one of the few still existing cars of the first year of build. It still has the closed windows, specific chassis and its original wheels. It's great that such cars continue to exist in its standard version. And it certainly need to be preserved in this condition! Freshly restored it comes with all you need.

Soon available - zwischengas.com - online portal for friends of classic cars and historic races

2010-10-04T22:41:00.000-07:00

We have been working a lot over the last months, but soon we can present the results of our efforts: www.zwischengas.com. This will be an online platform for German reading classic car addicts and friends of historic racing. We have scanned and digitized more than 120'000 pages of historically important documents, have searched through large archives and edited sound and video documents to create what we think the most comprehensive online information repository covering 100+ years of automobile history.
If you want to get a sneak preview, have a look at the video shown here.

New Lotus Esprit revealed

2010-10-03T09:17:00.000-07:00

What Lotus did in Paris, came quite as a suprise to many. We all had expected the new Elite, but Lotus also presented a new mid engine Esprit a new Elan, a new Elise and the new 4 door saloon Eterne. Obviously they seem to share a lot, engines, drivetrain, etc. They also seem to talk the same design language. Now, having been an admirer for many of the old Lotus (Elite, 11, 23, 17, Elan, Europa, Esprit S2.2 and Elise/Exige), what do I think about this new model range? I honestly think that Lotus makes the same mistake as the others, Aston-Martin, Maserati and so on. More and more power, more and more weight and similar design patterns. This is, in my eyes, not what Lotus made great. So, having seen the lot now, I will continue to stick with the classics, once more.

Hudson Hornet - a nearly invincible car in stock car racing

2010-09-30T08:37:00.000-07:00

Remember the Pixar movie "Cars"? Most of the cars in this computer animated film were modeled after real cars, i.e. the Fiat 500, the Porsche, and the Hudson Hornet. The local judge was the Hudson Hornet character, a grumpy old cars having been highly successful in racing in its better days. And it's actually a true story. The Hudson Hornet proved to be almost invincible in stock car racing during the early 50ies. Despite this racing success, sales didn't really follow and the car has almost disappear from the landscape. Even more exciting is it therefore when you can actually see one racing up the hill in Switzerland (Europe), as it happened last weekend at the Steckborn-Eichhölzli classic car hillclimb 2010. It is an impressive car, even if you can't really spot the racing genes.

It IS possible - Lamborghini Sesto Elemento with less than 1000 kg

2010-09-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

Lamborghini presents the Sesto Elemento, a concept car, in Paris. It's sort of a next version Gallardo, built with (probably expensive) lightweight materials. The result though is staggering: 990 kg, 570 hp, 0-100 km/h in 2.5 seconds. Well my key take away: Even with a heavy drivetrain and big engine you can get the weight of the car below 1'000 kg. So with more sensibility (smaller engine, only rear wheel drive, etc.) you actually can build a modern car below 800 to 900 kg. So, engineers, go to your drawing boards and build these modern sportscars that take less and driver better!

Hillclimb Steckborn-Eichhölzli 2010 - driving the Devin-TR up the hill

2010-09-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

The hillclimb Steckborn-Eichhölzli is organized only every third year, so this was the first event since 2007. While the first day was extremely wet and cold, the second day enjoyed drivers and spectators with sun and more acceptable temperatures. The "track" is 2900 m long and climbs 127m. Best times were below 1:10, which means an average speed of more than 160 km/h, but even 2:00 means more than 85 km/h average speed. Three more challenging curves and three chicanes limit higher speeds. How this feels, you can watch yourself in the video:

Ferrari SA Aperta - already sold out

2010-09-24T04:35:00.000-07:00

Isn't that how you want it to have as a car manufacturer? You create a new car, and even before it's officially presented, it's already sold out. Exactly this is what happened with the Ferrari SA Apperta, the open version of the 599. It's a good looking car and with the limitation to 80 examples to be built it's clear that there's at least initial collector's value. Whether the money will keep the value, that's another question, but we will see. By the way the "SA" goes back to Sergio and Andrea Pininfarina, and the "80" comes from Pininfarina's 80st anniversary.

Lotus reveals new Elite

2010-09-23T08:31:00.000-07:00

So, finally, Lotus has revealed its new sportscar, called the Elite. It's a 2+2 coupé with an 8 cylinder engine and 500ish hp, 1650 kg heavy, with aluminum doors. It looks good, a bit like a mixture of Aston Martin and Honda.
So what's wrong? A lot!
It carries a famous name. The Lotus Elite was Lotus' first coupé, a revolutionary car with full fiberglass body (no chassis!) and 1200 ccm Climax engine. It was extremely handsome! It was successful in racing as well, winning the efficiency category in Le Mans for example. It was successful in the hand of many amateur racing driver of the late 50ies and early sixties. It's a legend! And now this. A car that is twice as heavy as the early Lotus Elise (MK1), almost as big as a 5-series BMW. For me, this is like another brand, i.e. Lotus (H) versus Lotus (L) - H standing for heavyweight, L standing for lightweight. It will be expensive as well, I fear. Not that I don't like the car as such, it would have been a good baby Aston or let's say a new baby Bristol. But for Lotus I would have wished something different, much lighter and more revolutionary. Too bad!

Lancia Fulvia Zagato - neat coupé from the sixties

2010-09-21T22:12:00.001-07:00

The Lancia Fulvia probably was one of the most successful Lancias over all. 320000 cars were built of which roughly 147000 were Coupés. The rarest of the breed is the Fulvia Sport with Zagato body, only 7120 cars were produced. It wasn't as successful in racing and rallyies as the Fulvia Coupé (HF and so on), but it certainly was a pretty car. Here's a picture from the sales leaflet, and it's really a wonderful foto, isn't it? Before the times of Photoshop the artist was able to capture the touch of history and tradition, combine it with a lifestyle ambiente and even include a bit of love and women's touch. Wonderful! They don't do pictures like this anymore, and they don't do cars like this anymore neither ...

TVR 2500M in time warped condition

2010-09-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

We don't see many TVR 2500M in Europe, as most of the roughly 950 cars were exported to the US and Canada. Probably 400 of them still exist, a couple of handfuls in Europe. Here's one, that is almost a sensation. It has covered a bit more than 15000 miles during its 36 years and is almost untouched. It still stands on the original Pirelli Cinturato CN32 tires and everything is as it was when the car was imported into the USA. You see this very rarely, as most of these cars have been modified and "improved". The 2500M wasn't a particularly fast car with 106 HP from 2500 ccm. But it has a nice sound track and the engine is strong enough to make the car fun to drive. The car is for sale in Switzerland, but needs a bit of work to be concours. It should get into the hands of a real TVR fan and not end as race car or be modified or so. If you want more, just contact me.

Langwies-Arosa in the JWF Milano GT - Arosa ClassicCar Hillclimb 2010

2010-09-18T00:37:00.000-07:00

It's certainly one of the more selective and challenging hillclimbs in Europe. 7.8 km long, 78 curves, 450 m up the hill and a 1.2 km downwards section. No wonder the local guys are usually faster than the ones travelling from abroad. How does it feel? The video showcases the five and a half minute drive with the JWF Milano GT.

Arosa ClassicCar 2010 - exciting cars and optimal conditions

2010-09-15T22:13:00.001-07:00

This year's Arosa ClassicCar hillclimb enjoyed almost optimal (weather) conditions. Except for some rain on Friday for the training the sun was shining and temperatures were just right for classic cars. The Arosa hillclimb is one of the most selective and challenging ones I know off. 7.8 km long, 78 curves (though some say 76). The fastest cars, for example my favorite, the Porsche 906 (Carrera 6), run in approximately 4 minutes and 40 seconds up the hill. But even if you take 5:30 you are still doing an average of approximately 90 km/h, regardless of the three hairpins and many narrow bends. The event features regularity and competition classes. As usual most of the cars are in the regularity class, but even these pilots are trying to optimize their uphill time. As said Friday was rainy, resulting in quite some crashes during the training. My JWF Milano GT showed some misfires because of high humidity, but then got much better on Sunday finally. I actually managed to become 10th of more than 140 drivers on Saturday in regularity, by pure luck though. Sunday I successfully tried to improve my lines and speed up the hill, so didn't give anything on regularity any more. Interesting was the comparison of the JWF with the Ford Galaxie 500 starting just behind each other. The JWF almost fits into the trunk of the Galaxie, probably has only half (or less) the horsepower, but on the bendy road is clearly faster than the Falcon, no wonder, right.
Everybody I talked to was very happy and excited about the race and most probably will come back next year again. I am still in the process of compiling a little movie that I will post later on.

Forgotten cars - Technical Exponents TX Tripper

2010-09-08T10:26:00.001-07:00

Don't say you remember this car! It's a Technical Exponent TX Tripper. Here's some background: Convertible, 4 seater, 635 kg, engines sourced from Ford and Triumph, for example with 129 HP from 1998 ccm, 3,7 m long, 1,45 m wide, 4-gear-transmission with overdrive, max speed 200 km/h, said to be in 6.6 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h. The factory said it would consume 7.8 to 10.8 liter of gasoline per 100 km. The name was certainly not suited for the German speaking market, as "Tripper" is a bad illness you don't want to be connected with. Also design wise it wasn't probably a beauty and so this British product disappeared at some point of time. But good to know that these cars existed should I once spot one.

Does time heal bad design?

2010-09-06T12:28:00.000-07:00

When I recently was waiting for the bus (yes occasionally I do use public transport ...) the new Mercedes E Convertible in white drove by, just as pictured here. I thought, what an ugly car this is! Well, it's not really ugly, but it's not a beauty neither. I specifically dislike the back of the car. It just doesn't look right. Well, what I thought was, whether I will like this car maybe in 3, 5 or 20 years in the future. I must say, I can't remember a car design that I didn't like when it was new and appreciate now that it's old. I still don't like the Ford Scorpio and I still don't like most of the Peugeots of the 21th century. So, my answer to the question in the title is: No. But let's see what other people think ....

Hittnau Oldtimerclassic 2010 - airplanes steal cars the show

2010-09-04T11:26:00.001-07:00

It's a wonderful concept! Bring classic cars, old motorcycles and vintage airplanes together in one event. This is what the guys in Hittnau are doing every two or three years. Today was the 7th Hittnau Oltimerclassic. And they came, especially the airplanes. It's rare that you can see such impressive airplanes land and start on a piece of grass. I am not an airplane expert, but I really liked what was shown. In my eyes the participants in the airplane category were much more impressive than the ones in the car or motorcycle discipline. There were a number of beautiful cars, but all in all, there's much more in Switzerland that what was shown in Hittnau! Same with the motorcycles. But anyway, it's cool to see them all pass by, on a simple race track using standard roads. There was a corso as well with a numerous almost forgotten cars. And the parking was an attraction as well, with many classics parked side by side. Whether CHF 30.- as entry fee is justified that's another question, I heard a lot of people complain. But if it helps the MSC Hittnau to organize this every second or third year, it's money well spent. Have a look at the pictures!

One that you can buy - TVR Griffith 500

2010-09-03T04:25:00.001-07:00

Here's again a classic car that you actually can buy. You don't find a TVR Griffith often for sale on the market in Switzerland and Central Europe, here's one from 1998 with 49'000 km for CHF 54'000, approximately £ 28'000 or € 40'000.- (bad exchange rate, huh!). It's the model you want to have, as compared to the 430/400 it's vastly refined and the Rover 5 liter engine in its TVR Power tune is an all time great. The color scheme (blue, red interior) might not be your first preference though. TVR Griffith models can suffer from not being driven frequently, but with this mileage that should be okay. On the other side the larger bills come usually with 70'000+ kms. Mind that in the UK these cars go for £ 10'000 to 20'000, but in RHD disguise, which is not really an option for Central Europe. Importing one into Switzerland is very difficult and I wouldn't suggest to do this.

Do we still need something like "ueberhol-prestige"?

2010-09-02T11:00:00.001-07:00

In German we have the word "Ueberhol-Prestige". Translated 1:1 this would mean "overtake prestige", it basically says that if you are driving a slow car on a highway and then a car approaches and you see it in the rear mirror, you move to the slower lane immediately to let the fast car, that comes with a lot of "ueberhol-prestige", pass you. In the 60ies this was quite important, because the standard car was able to get to 120 km per hour or so, while your Jaguar E-Type or Ferrari was able to go beyond 200 km/h. So it was much better if people that you wanted to overtake spotted early that you are driving a faster car. Today though everybody drives a fast car, even a family station wagon is able to get to a speed of 200 km/h or 250 km/h. If you really own a sportscar that is substantially faster you rarely can enjoy it, be it because of speeding limits or because of heavy traffic at all times. So, in that sense, "ueberhol-prestige" is something that was important in the past and that car designers tried to embed into the shape and face of the car.

Which is the best 911 or the best TVR?

2010-09-01T01:04:00.000-07:00

Very fashionable topics for articles in car magazines seem to be "best of" of specific car marques or even series produced. Octane is doing exactly that in its new issue. They ask, what the best Porsche 911 is and also drive every TVR. That's certainly worthwhile to read, even if you don't agree with the findings. Obviously the Octane editor likes the Porsche 993, and I agree that it's a great car. They also prefer modern TVRs (like the Griffith or the Sag), but appreciate the older cars as well. So it's something for everybody. I certainly appreciate the fact that the covered TVR on so many pages, being a TVR addict myself!

Coming Arosa ClassicCar - Sept 9 to 12, 2010

2010-08-31T01:21:00.000-07:00

In roughly 10 days this year's Arosa ClassicCar 2010 will going to attract again many classic car fans and an impressive list of participant cars. It's somewhat the Nurburgring of the Alps, in a hillclimb setup. Have a look at the advertisement and you can spot the black JWF Milano GT (right side) being entered again this year! Hopefully the weather will be as nice as last year of better!

British Car Meeting in Mollis - Riley, Connaught and many others

2010-08-29T07:54:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest car meetings in Switzerland every year is the British Car Meeting in Mollis (Glarus). Situated at an airport it offers both the drivers/owners and the spectators an overview on basically any car ever produced in Britain. This years guest of honor was Riley and it was quite a gathering of (mostly post war) Rileys, rarely seen here. But whatever you are interested in concerning British cars, you probably would have been able to spot one - Lotus, TVR, Nash, Hillman, Vauxhall, Triumph, MG, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Aston-Martin, Rover, Land-Rover, Jaguar, Morris, etc. they all were there, about 1'300-1'500 of them. And, probably for the first time ever, the brand new Connaught V10 GT was shown in Switzerland, as a protoype. The weather was perfect, not too warm so that most cars even survived some queuing at the entrance, sunny and dry. See you again, next year, same time!

New Lotus Evora S - is this the Evora we dreamt for?

2010-08-28T23:29:00.001-07:00

Finally Lotus revealed details about the coming Lotus Evora S (presented at Paris Auto show soon). It comes with 350 hp and active exhaust, meaning it will provide the noise we tunnel addicts usually go for. And of course it will show better performance. It's still heavy however and compared to other super sportscars is still underpowered and fairly heavy, a Corvette brings 500 hp and more at roughly the same weight. Here's what Lotus gives as performance data:
0-100 km/h: 4.8 s, power output 350 hp / 257.5 kW @ 7000 rpm, max torque 400 Nm / 295 lb ft @ 4500 rpm, maximum speed 172 mph, fuel consumption - urban 14.5 l/100km, extra urban 7.4 l/100km, combined 10.0l/100km, CO2 Emissions 235 g/km.
Not bad, but good enough? It all depends on the price ....

Parking with classic cars is really much easier!

2010-08-27T23:34:00.000-07:00

It's now official! Auto Motor and Sport compared a range of cars including the Volkswagen Touran, Mercedes E-Series Convertible, Toyota Prius, BMW 5-Series Station Wagon and a number of others in how easy it is to park them. They measured how much you can see from the driver position, how big the car is, how easy it gets into a 5.5 m parking spot and a number of other criterias and they also looked at the electronic gizmo to help with parking. Well, the winner is, the BMW 3-series E30 limousine from the 80ies. It actually has beaten the modern cars by a factor, thanks to the smaller body, the great 360 degree view and the fact that you can actually see the end of the car when you sit in it. Despite the fact that none of the modern accessories was on board, i.e. park distance control, parking assistance, cameras, etc., the people at AMS found it much easier to park this car compared to the modern rivals. I am really happy that they brought in this 80ies benchmark when comparing the modern cars, as this now so transparently shows how cars got worse along these criteria over time. Of course there are reasons, why modern cars are as they are, one being safety. But even with today's standards cars could have larger windows and better visibility today, if the designers didn't think differently.

It's not easy to make money by investing in cars, but it's possible

2010-08-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

One of the most often read blog posts on "driving philosopher" is talking about today's investment opportunities in the automobile space. 10 cars are presented that have good chances of gaining in value. There's something to say however. Gaining in value isn't enough to be a worthwhile investment if the only objective is to make money. The chart here shows a very simple model. Assume you buy a car at € 20'000, 30'000.- or 500'000. Assume it will gain 10% in value every year over twenty years. Assume you spend some money to keep the car road worthy and properly stored and insured. At the end of the period your total gain was € 14'318 if you bought a € 20'000 car. This means you average interest rate per year was 3.6% if you kept the car for so long. But only after 17 years you actually are in the positive zone. Before that you lost money. What this chart also says is that it's easier to make money with more expensive cars. The reason is that maintenance and storage don't influence the figures as much as with less expensive cars. But, very few cars really gain 10% in value very year. It probably has been true for a Lamborghini Miura, few Ferraris and some rare racing and sports cars. But the well loved Mercedes 280 SL Pagoda (R113) for example gained only 30-40% in the last ten years, so less than 4% per annum. So this is a tricky business. Anyway, I stick with my argument mentioned earlier, buy your car because you like it and love to drive it, take any money you win with it as an expected up-sight.

From the RAID Prolog in Zurich

2010-08-25T02:52:00.000-07:00

Accidentally I ran into the opening ceremony of this year's RAID Prolog in Zurich today. It's refreshing to see so many classic cars in the center of Zurich where usually only 2010 Mercedes and Porsche drive around. Already in the morning the cars gathered at the Burkliplatz were impressive with Alpine A110, Lancia Flaminia, Facel Facellia, Alfa-Romeo Giulia SS, collections of Jaguar XK and E-Types, Porsche 356 and 914 and even a Citroen DS transporter with a Dino 246 GT loaded. If you want my opinion, they could do this every day!

Highlight - World Sportscars Master race at this year's AVD Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nurburgring

2010-08-24T22:41:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights in this year's AVD Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nurburgring was the World Sportscars Master race showcasing a number of Porsche 904, 906, 907 and 908, as well as many variations of Ford GT40, Lola T70 and Chevron B8/B16. What a sound! And how beautiful the cars of that age were! Have a look yourself and enjoy the movie!

Picture of the Week - Chevrolet Impala

2010-08-23T21:21:00.000-07:00

There are cars I would never consider purchasing. Like this one, it's a Chevrolet Impala. It's huge, it's amazing. I do admire it and I can understand that many people fancy such cars. But it wouldn't fit my garage and neither my driving style. But that's the good thing about the oldtimer car scene, people with a variety of tastes and preferences own very different cars and if they bring them to a meeting you can see almost the whole tradition of car manufacturing. Great!

Will the longplay die asked hobby in 1962

2010-08-19T11:40:00.000-07:00

Here's one that is not really about cars, but still a nice "milestone" in history. In 1962 the magazine hobby asked whether the longplay (the black 30 cm disc we used to listen to Music ...) will die! Well, it actually almost did die, but much later than anticipated. And the alternative offered in 1962 didn't win the hearts of the consumer neither. And yes, the lady on the picture also looks pretty out of fashion today. And yes, there are two cars as well, and you probably recognize them easily.

All cars are the same

2010-08-18T11:18:00.000-07:00

The latest issue of Auto Motor und Sport makes the point again (unwillingly) - all cars are the same. Not overall of course. But whenever I read a comparison test of let's say three to five different cars, the differences are small, very small. It's almost arbitrary and down to the mounted tires or the accessories included. It was very different in the sixties and seventies. Some of the cars of that time were really flawed, you don't see that today. As more and more components (and platforms) are shared between car models and even brands, less and less differentiation on the technical level is possible. The pricing differences have more to do with marketing than with technology, value is relative. We never had so many different car models as today, I think. And we never had so many niches filled. But it's basically just always a variation of the same theme, with very little differentiation.

Picture of the Week - Monza Lister Jaguar

2010-08-17T02:12:00.000-07:00

Isn't this a great picture? It shows a historical formula car, called Monza Lister Jaguar. It competed in the AVD Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nurburgring 2010 against other historical formula 1 cars, but clearly outshined most of them with its impressive chrome type body. It's a great object to take pictures from. Though I must say, I am glad that I don't have to clean it after a partially rainy weekend.

Amazing night race at this years AVD Oldtimer Grand Prix

2010-08-15T13:25:00.001-07:00

This years AVD Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nurburgring showed again amazing cars and races. One of the best for me was the race for two seater sportscars on Saturday night, started at 20:30 and ending 1 hour later, so going into the night. Not only was the field of cars impressive and exciting (you can spot two Maserati Birdcage, a Lotus 19, Lister, Ferraris, HWM, Lotus, Mercedes Gullwing, and many other precious sportscars), but the sound and light were just impressive too. The drivers gave their best and made the race a thrill. That's historic motor sport as we love it. But let the pictures speak!

Lucra LC470 combines retro design and modern sportcar genes

2010-08-13T07:18:00.001-07:00

You may think that retro design is not a good think, and partially I would agree. But if it brings up such cars like the Lucra LC470, then I also see some positive aspects. I truly like lightweight sportcars with no thrills and good design. And this one offers a lot of that. Up to more than 600 HP power a light chassis with a carbon fiber body. And it is road legal and even comes to Europe. For roughly 100'000 Euros you can own such a car with a bit less power and limited weather protection. Cool, isn't it?

Forgotten cars - the Standard

2010-08-10T01:01:00.000-07:00

Few people probably remember this car, the Standard 8, a British car built in the 1940ies. It came with 4 cylinders, 28 HP and a compression of 6.7:1. With four gears, of which three were silent, it was quite modern at that time. Thanks to a low weight of 800 kg the car was pretty economical with 6-8 liter of fuel per 100 km, while offering 4 seats in its 3.5 m long limousine body. It used about 0.1 liter of engine oil per 100 km and there was of course the need to grease the chassis. All in all quite a modern car that could reach almost 100 km/h (96 km/h to be exact). Looking at this you may wonder how much progress we really have seen.

We need more race tracks! Like this one.

2010-08-09T10:33:00.000-07:00

A couple of investors are building a new race track in Germany, integrated into a natural scenery, leveraging an old military area. They will rent it to private drivers, car manufacturers and its own members. Sounds like an interesting concept, but doesn't come cheap. They are looking for some 30+ million Euro in financing, you can contribute starting at 100k. I like the idea and hope that hopefully soon somebody will implement a similar concept in my neighborhood. With all these traffic monitoring, speeding cameras and more and more regulated streets, the race track is the only place where classic sportscars really can driven as they should!
I wish all the best to the chaps from Bilster Berg, make it work, it looks great on the investment brochure!

Great Classic Car weekend with wonderful weather

2010-08-08T14:07:00.000-07:00

This was really a classic car weekend. Not that I am aware of any famous meeting or gathering, it was just great weather and obviously many classic car fans thought so and took their car for a ride. I spotted several E-Types, Alfa-Romeo Spiders, Triumphs and many other more or less rare classics and apparently everybody enjoyed his drive! Good so!

Will the latest "super radar" make driving and traffic more safe?

2010-08-07T01:01:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of discussion these days around the latest radar traffic supervision technology coming from Multinova in Switzerland. The new technology is able to track multiple cars (i.e. 18 or more) concurrently and to find out whether one of them is too fast, neglecting a traffic light or a stop sign and probably other mistakes as well. In general these things get cheaper and better in parallel with other technology developments and Moore's law. Soon, you will be able to basically detect any mistake people can make on the road. Nice vision for the future, isn't it. But does it make traffic more safe? Partially it probably does, as speeding can be dangerous, not keeping enough distance to other cars can create accidents as well, neglecting stop signs and traffic lights of course is not good as well. But sometimes it can be more safe to be a bit faster than what is on the signs, for example when you overtake. Sometimes it would be better people would look ahead and observe the traffic than looking for radar cameras. Sometimes speed limits just don't make sense at all. Before we leverage all available technology to observe car drivers, maybe we should think about tolerances and exceptions as well?

Here's one to buy - Crosslé 9S 1962

2010-08-06T01:03:00.000-07:00

Fancy a roadgoing race car? Here's a unique opportunity to buy a 1962 Crosslé 9S 1962 with road registration (Switzerland)! Crosslé is an Irish race car manufacturer, similar to Lotus or Elva, but much less known. The Crosslé designs were quite comparable to what these bigger car makers produced in the 60ies and thereafter. The car advertised in Switzerland produces a roaring 220 HP and weighs 540 kg, sounds like a good basis for great driving pleasure! I am not sure about FIA HTP though.

Very rare British classic cars in TopGear

2010-08-05T01:20:00.000-07:00

So, here's my last blog entry about the episode 6 of TopGear. When Jeremy was talking about the good old times of British motoring a number of classic cars were shown sitting in a large hall. Have a look, you can spot a Ginetta G4 and a mid engine Ginetta G12, a Lotus Elan, an Ace, and .... Great classics, would be interesting to take a closer look ...

Classic sportscars safety isn't as bad as you thought ....

2010-08-04T01:58:00.001-07:00

... if you watch the crash test TopGear showed in its last episode. The setup was taking a truck, driving a traditional hatchback or a sportscar against it and see the difference.
And if you take a really flat car and tweek the height of the truck a bit you can proof anything of course.
But, of course, this is not to be taken seriously. Safety of classic cars is primarily dependent on the driver, as the car will not offer a lot of passive and active safety features. If you are aware of this, then all is fine. So drive carefully, look ahead and plan for safety tolerances.

British classic sportscars in TopGear

2010-08-03T01:02:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday's TopGear episode showed Jeremy, James and Richard buying three British classic sportscars and prove that they are better than the hot hatchbacks that basically replaced them on British roads. With £5'000 each they bought a Jensen-Healey with the Lotus Twincam engine, a TVR S with a Ford V6 2.8 liter engine and the front wheel driven Lotus Elan (M100) from the 90ies with the Isuzu 1.6 l engine. As usual nothing can be taken too serious and the "challenges" presented rather proved the contrary of what the three chaps said. But of course it was highly entertaining and the three cars, often neglected by collectors and mainstream fans, were mostly shown in the best light. None of the cars severely broke down and all of them were able to get from London to Blackpool. Which brings us to another interesting element of the film. The three TopGear presenters visited both the former Jensen factory as well as the Blackpool TVR factory. Both seem to be unused today and around the TVR factory you can even still find body parts from a 3000M and other models. It's so sad! But anyway, if you have access to TopGear 6/15 then it's a must for fans of British classic sportscars.
Now, here's a question: Which one of the three cars would you take? For me, this is not 100% clear. I love the twin cam Lotus engine of the Jensen and I like the fact that it's already 30+ years old. But I am also a TVR fan, so the S might be the car to pick for me. Clearly the Lotus Elan isn't my preferred choice. But, again, what's yours?

Picture of the Week - Classic meets Modern

2010-08-02T01:01:00.000-07:00

Seen recently at an oldtimer event (with cars and motocycles), this looks like a still live where tradition meets modern times. Funny enough barely anybody was interested in the Mercedes SLR while people really enjoyed the old motocycles (and cars).

Oldtimer Sunday Morning in Zug - great variety and really rare cars

2010-08-01T06:56:00.001-07:00

Finally I found the time again to visit the Oldtimer Sunday Morning Meeting in Zug. It usually takes place on the first Sunday during the summer months. Usually there's a special topic, today it was "Alfa-Romeo - cuore sportivo". And with probably 100+ Alfas there was a great selection ranging from Giulietta Spiders, to GTAs and other rare types. There was even an Alfasud, that many of you probably remember. I also found quite a selection of Lancias. What really makes this meeting special is that there's everything at one place. You can see Volkswagen Beetles side by side with a Ferrari 250 GT Lusso or an ASA race car. And you can find big American classic cars, Italian and English cars just sitting side by side. It's all about bringing your car and watching all the others. It's a lot of fun.

Driving a Lotus 11 on a narrow oval bicycle racetrack

2010-07-31T01:02:00.000-07:00

Once per year a number of older race cars reconvene on a narrow bicycle racetrack forming an oval in Zurich-Oerlikon. The race cars are a show block for the bicycle races, but for the spectators often it is the highlight. And so it is for the drivers! It's quite something special to drive a classic race car through the steep curves. About 3 g downforce isn't something you are used to with an old car. But apparently it's a lot of fun and that's why the drivers happily return every year. To get a feeling what it means to drive these cars around the oval have a look at the presented video showing a Lotus Eleven (1956) in the oval. Impressive!

The new Ferrari 458 Challenge - better, but better?

2010-07-30T01:01:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is the brand new, just announced, Ferrari 458 Challenge. It beats its predecessor (430 Challenge) by 2 seconds in Fiorano and that's a lot, it's kind of a racing light year! So, these new cars get better and better, faster and faster, but is this really better? Do all these electronic gizmos really help to make the good driver look good and the bad one suffer? I doubt it. And it's not even that exciting to observe as it's so bloody controlled. Let's go back to less electronics, smaller tires and more fun, that's why I still prefer old racing cars.

Are Audis a renaissance of the body in different sizes like Devins or Buchanans?

2010-07-29T01:01:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is the brand new Audi A7. You wouldn't have noticed? It looks like all the other Audis, specifically the A5 Sportsback or the A4? No, it's really a different car, even if you don't notice. For example, it's longer than the other mentioned. But having been mistaken myself, I honestly must say, they really look alike a lot.
It's almost as if the successful practice of Bill Devin producing many different (fiberglass) bodies with the same shape fitting different chassis and sizes is coming back. You want an Audi? Do you want 4.2, 4.5, 4.7 or 4.9 meter length? Well, then take this one or that one, they all look the same basically. It's like buying jeans, you have picked the brand, now it's about size. I think this is the wrong strategy with cars, especially with such expensive cars. And it's a bit boring and lacks imagination and innovation as well. BMW does a bit the same, but at least the different cars have more unique design features, same with Mercedes. I prefer cars that look unique and special, that's probably the reason why I like older cars so much ....

Do car restorations make economical sense?

2010-07-28T03:36:00.000-07:00

In my life I have financed the restoration of multiple cars and in none of the cases this resulted into an economical gain for myself. The truth is that there are very few cars where the enormous cost of a full restoration really can be justified with increase of the value of the car. You probably couldn't even restore a Lancia Stratos (nuts and bolts) for example for the total value the car fetches today. Of course it all depends on with what you start with. But I have seen people spending many hundred thousands of dollars to get a car right. And in my cases the restoration usually equaled the value of the car plus/minus, but I also had to buy the restoration basis on top. Why did I still do it?
1) it's fun to see how a car rises to its old glory
2) you know what you have as you have observed the process yourself
3) your connection to the car is much tighter as you know so much more about the car
4) the process as such is interesting and you get to know many people you need to ask for help or part or so
5) you preserve an important piece of history
6) you actually create local value add for specialists, something to feel good about in the times of financial recession
7) you can influence the end product, be it by the choice of color or by selecting materials or refinements (if you have to, but that's another story)

So, I will do it again, if I can afford it and I usually don't regret it.

Ayrton Senna on Honda NSX driving at the Nurburgring

2010-07-26T12:34:00.000-07:00

I just came across this spectacular video picturing the unforgettable Ayrton Senna driving the Honda NSX around the Nurburgring. Yes, there's a lot of marketing bla bla around it, but get to 4:10 or so and you'll see some serious driving action from Ayrton. And, yes, having owned two NSX in my life, this is a car that stands out from the crowd and I don't mind owning a third one sometimes in the future.

TVR 3000 S - how is it to drive one?

2010-07-25T09:06:00.000-07:00

I have been writing about the TVR 3000 S before. Playing around with my toys, i.e. computer, camera and so on, I created a little movie to highlight why I like this car and how it is to drive it. Have a look yourself! There's a bit of German involved, but most of the content is understandable for non-German speakers as well.

Picture of the Week - Elva MK3

2010-07-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

Here's yet another interesting race car to see in full action: The Elva MK3. It has been racing for years in Germany and is pictured in probably its last race here at the AVD Oldtimer Grand Prix 2006. It was quite quick and so was the driver, a very friendly chap. The car had quite an impressive history, but probably had been changed quite a number of times to continue and stay in competition. I wasn't successful buying it, so it went into a museum. Elva comes from French "elle va" which means "she goes". Elva was a pretty successful maker of race cars and partially also street cars, the best known car probably was the Elva Courier, but racers rather remember these barchettas, be it the MK2, MK3, MK4 or the fabulous MK7.

Great Australian Sports Cars and Specials

2010-07-23T09:38:00.000-07:00

I finally got it, my own copy of "Great Australian Sports Cars and Specials", written by Mike McCarthy, published in 1987. It lists and describes a number of Australian Classics such as the Bollwell, the Buchanan or the JWF, I have been writing about in this blog. But it also contains a number of other brands and types you probably haven't been aware off. Cars like the Ascort, the Bulanti, the Elfin, Nota Fang, Proctor or the Tontala probably have never made it to any other continent than Australia. But some of these cars are great collector's items and I would certainly love to get my hands on an Elfin Sports, Geneer Outlaw or Moir Renault. Having been a fan of Australian Sports Cars for quite some time and the lucky owner of a JWF Milano GT this book is a great compendium of the variety of Australian car engineering. It's sold out, so it took my quite a number of efforts to finally receive my own copy. So, I just have to wait for a rainy weekend to read it!

Devin-D project for sale in the US

2010-07-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

Hi, I friend of mine just told me about this Devin D that is for sale as a project in the US. Devin Ds are pretty rare! This one comes with Porsche 1600 SC engine, tubular frame and is said to be mostly complete, so a good restoration basis. This nice car could become either a street or a race car. From a body perspective the car is similar to the Devin TR also highlighted in this blog, but it had its own chassis and of course the engine sits in the back of the car. To my knowledge there are two or three Devin Ds in Europe, one of them is a nicely restored car in Austria. The car here is not cheap but fairly priced. It has a competition history from the 60ies apparently and could become competitive again with its low weight and powerful engine. If anybody wants to know more then contact me through this blog or any other mean.

Five generations of car noise

2010-07-16T12:15:00.000-07:00

I love cars with a characteristic and well tuned noise, always did. So I certainly admire an Aston Martin DB9 or a Lamborghini Murcielago. But let's take one step back and look at the past. We probably have seen five generations of car noise.

A) Early stages
In the beginning cars often were equipped with low revving large pot engines often not delivering a great noise

B) Unlimited fun
Until the sixties countries didn't know noise emission rules for cars and it was more a comfort thing whether your car was making a lot or little noise. Cars like the early Astons made great sounds, but it's also surprising how quite a Jaguary SS 100 can be. Low noise was a luxury attribute. You bought a Rolls Royce or Cadillac also because it was so quiet.

C) Semi-silent fun
Beginning in the sixties countries defined noise regulation and cars had to get more and more quiet. More and more sophisticated rules on how to measure the noise were developed, i.e. enter with 50 km/h of speed, reach point A, then accelerate in the 3rd longest gear with max throttle input, measure after 20 or so meter at point B with a distance from 7 meters .... etc. These rules made cars more and more quiet and many Ferraries of that age actually have a quite disappointing sound. Also with the introduction of catalysts and fuel injections a lot of earlier car's sound quality got lost

D) Electronically controlled exhaust noise
In the late 90ies and the 200x the car industry developed new exhaust systems that changed their throughput in a way to fulfill the regulation, but still being quite noisy and well-designed for revs and speeds not measured during the noise emission tests. Good examples are the Aston-Martin DB9, but also the Ferrari 430 Scuderia, a car that reached more than 130 dbA measured by a German car magazine. That's actually so loud that on some race tracks the car which is legal on the road was banned because many race tracks only accept up to 100 dbA (measured differently though).

E) Silent generation
Soon we will have cars that actually make almost no noise, i.e. electrical cars. And to make traffic more save they will create artificial noise, i.e. imitate an 8 cylinder engine. The noise in the interior can be tuned to fit your taste and will probably come through your stereo rather than through an exhaust system.

So, in a few years we will be more than happy to buy some of these 90ies and 200x cars with engineered exhaust systems to create a nice noise. Take the Maserati Quattroporte GTS, what a sound! However, there's nothing better than real engine noise created by a straight six from the 50ies or 60ies, I find. But that's my humble opinion.

New Corvette commercial - tradition, engineering and performance

2010-07-15T09:22:00.000-07:00

We don't have such commercials, too bad. But I love it, as I actually do admire the car as such.

Rolls-Royce Corniche Convertible - a classic car for larger families

2010-07-13T12:13:00.000-07:00

The Rolls-Royce Corniche, built between 1971 and 1995, is yet another long runner. Based on the Silver Shaodw that is a good car as well, the Corniche was THE luxury convertible for centuries. The car is quite monumental and really large, but the design covers the size well. It's one of the few five seat convertibles, so often the only possible choice for aristocratic English families with bigger families.
The car has changed only marginally in its 24 years of being built. Bumpers changed and some of the luxury accessories in the interior, but that's probably it. I like them both, the Silver Shadow and the Corniche. And they are great value for the buck! A Silver Shadow in very good condition will decrease your bank account by less than a tenth of what a modern Rolls-Royce Phantom would cost you. The Corniche is probably valued at a fifth of the modern alternative. This is not because they were cheap, they were actually quite expensive comparing to a Volkswagen Golf or any other car. But they haven't kept their value well, especially the limousine. That's good for the buyer! And as Dieter Meier, the frontman of the pop group Yello used to say: If you forget about maintenance cost, fuel consumption and depreciation, it's actually a very economical car to own.

Picture of the Week - TVR Griffith 500

2010-07-12T09:55:00.000-07:00

The shape of the TVR Griffith 500 is a master piece. Few people however know that many of the design elements are caused by simple needs. As for example TVR knew that it would be difficult to create perfectly fitting doors, the designed the car in a way that you can't see whether the door really fits in size. Same thing for the bonnet. The result however is marvelous. It was strikingly modern when presented at the end of the 80ies and it still looks modern today.

Car navigation as implemented in 1966

2010-07-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

I have just read a magazine of 1966. The article was titled: Navigation Guide driving with you in the car. They were talking about the DAIR system of General Motors, kind of an early predecessor of today's car navigation systems. DAIR stands for Driver Aid, Information and Routing. So pretty much for what we use modern navigation systems for also. What you have to understand is that in 1966 a computer with the power of a modern smart phone filled the basement of a larger house. So, there was no way, you could have enough computing power to route your car through traffic. DAIR basically offered a user interface for human controlled support through a "call center". But the idea was basically the same of what we try to achieve with the TomToms and Navigons of today. The price of DAIR was targeted on the same level as an air conditioning unit for your car. But don't forget that air conditioning was pretty expensive at that time ...

The BP disaster will not kill the Classic Car scene

2010-07-10T01:01:00.000-07:00

The other day I read a newspaper article arguing that with the BP disaster in the south of the USA oil prices would increase as the approach to get the oil deep down from the sea wouldn't be anymore allowed because of the risks involved. Let's assume this is true for a moment. And let's assume the price for gasoline would go up by 100% due to this over the next two to three years. For purely selfish reasons I asked myself what the impact on the vintage and oldtimer car scene might be. Would this kill our cherished hobby? Would this decrease the value of the many car collections? Honestly I doubt and I did some simple calculations.
When you own a classic car from the 60ies for example, you spend probably money for a number of things, i.e. insurance, garage/place to leave the car when you don't use it, maintenance and repairs and yes, for gasoline. If you drive your car for 1'000 kms per year, then gasoline is probably 6-10% of your budget, if you go to 3000 km - and few do more than this - then you may end up with 16-25% of your budget for gasoline. If we now double the price of fuel, then of course these percentages go up too. And the total cost will increase by 11%, respectively 26%. On an absolute level this is not that much, especially compared with the total value of your investment. And, you can compensate the extra cost by driving a bit less, i.e. 2'000 km instead of 3'000 km. So if you really love your car, doubling the price of gasoline will not change this and you will be able to deal with it. Even tripling the price of oil will not make you changing your mind. Good! If this calculation is correct then we are save and prices for classic cars will not plunge. The issue though may be that not all owners of classic cars really do it for passion and we may observe some price drops when they get rid of their now more expensive hobby. But this will not make the hard core of the classic car scene tumble. I hope.

Yes, your Corvette Z06 can save a lot of fuel!

2010-07-09T07:40:00.000-07:00

Fuel consumption of fast and large cars looks often very bad, looking at the ECE measured average consumption. The magazine Auto Motor und Sport in Germany has introduced their own fuel efficiency lap, which every test car has to do. The differences are interesting, also the extremes. While it's obviously possible to drive a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti oder a Covertte Z06 at emission levels 40% lower than anticipated by the ECE measurement cycle, other cars like the Toyota iQ actually use 30% more fuel than measured in the ECE cycle. Obviously fast and heavy cars are penalized, but funny enough also the Dacia seems to look to bad.

Porsche 911 - unique achievement

2010-07-08T11:15:00.000-07:00

About 9 different Porsche 911 series have been built until today. Many other car types have achieved the same. But what is unique with Porsche, I think, is that you can see all of them during a regular day like today. Early 911s, G models, 964, 993 and the more modern ones, all of them are used in daily traffic and for commuting. At least I did spot all of them today in a city in Switzerland and there was no classic car meeting involved or whatsoever. I wonder whether you can give me another car type built over 46 years (1964-2010ff) that has achieved the same. It's certainly a quality to mention!

What is better? BMW M3, Ford Sierra Cosworth or Mercedes 190 2.3 16?

2010-07-06T11:52:00.000-07:00

Yes, the boys are back. TopGear is on air again. Last Sunday they were given the challenge to buy a family track day car on a budget of GBP 5'000.-. Well the boys arrived with a E36 M3, a Mercedes 190E 2.3 16 valve (homologation car) and a Ford Sierra Cosworth. I wonder whether you could find the Merc at apparently 3'000 GBP here as it already follows the famous E30 M3 as a collector's item. And even the E36 M3 fetches better prices than what Hamster was able to buy it for (though apparently an accident car). Anyway the challenge was fun and the winner accidental (Merc). I wonder which of the three cars you would prefer. For me it's the Mercedes 16 valve Cosworth car for it's pure racing pedigree (highly successful in touring car championship). But if they had added an E30 BMW M3 then the choice would have been more clear.

BMW's serious attempt to build a better electrical car

2010-07-05T12:08:00.000-07:00

It's called the MCV (megacity vehicle) and it's BMW's attempt to build a better electrical car. Massive use of carbon fiber and aluminum make the car not heavier than a gasoline engine driven car. Batteries in the floor ensure good usage of space. And the car is supposed to be affordable on top. That's really good news. 250 km range is okay for a four seater in the city. So, go on, BMW build this car and show us what electrical cars can do if they are engineered well!

How many active and passive safety features do you need? Salmson GP Car

2010-07-04T04:38:00.000-07:00

I just came across this Salmson GP car, it's named "Salmson San Sebastian GP" and stems from 1927. It's offered by VDV Grant. I love these pre war racing cars. They are so nimble. I could even imagine buying a car like this, but there's no price indicated and probably demands significant funds given history and condition. However what caught my eyes was the following sentence in the online ad: The Salmson "Grand Prix" is very easy to drive; docile at lower r.p.m, easy to start and copes well with today's traffic." Wow! Think about taking one of today's grand prix cars for a drive to your favorite downtown restaurants. Not only you need a truck with computers and a team of 10 or more people to start the car, it probably wouldn't survive many traffic lights before it either overheats or the clutch dies.
But driving a car like the Salmson in today's traffic also puts another question into the center: How many active and passive safety features do you need? To be clear, the Salmson basically has none of them. But since the 1920ies a lot has been invented to make driving more safe! Passive safety features like the collapsible steering column, crash cells, safety belts, anti lock brakes or the airbag are just examples. Modern cars can actually detect a crash before it happens, can influence brakes, steering or throttle and even the angle of the rear wheels if it's needed to prevent an accident. So, clearly, driving has become much more safe. You may mention that also the driver has an influence on whether an accident happens and he can compensate for the lack of ABS (anti lock brakes) or ESP/ETC and the likes by driving more carefully or being more skillful. That's probably true, however sometimes it's just not in the driver's hands really. And then you prefer having 3 airbags opening just in time to prevent injuries. So, what is the right classic car then do both enjoy and use in modern traffic? There's not single answer to that, but clearly, during the late 70ies and the 80ies a lot of safety has been added to the cars produced then and you certainly are better off with safety belts than without!

Air condition and Convertibles

2010-07-03T04:25:00.000-07:00

I rarely have seen so many closed convertibles (top up) as currently with temperatures around 30 degrees of Celsius and higher. Nobody would have done this in the 70ies or 80ies - convertibles are built for being driven open when the weather conditions allow for it. With the habit of having powerful air conditions on board though, people consider the temperature in the car can be lower with the top up and air condition. But why do you need a convertible for this. And what about the disadvantages of modern convertibles with the top up? The Nissan 370Z is one of the car with the worst visibility when the top is up. And also many of the coupé-convertibles suffer from bad visibility. So, my advise, forget about the air condition, open the top, enjoy the real weather, be more safe and save fuel.