300 - a benchmark in the automotive and other industries

300 could be seen just as any other number. But in many ways it's more. It's a movie for example. But it's also a benchmark for the construction industry. The Eiffel Tower was for quite some time one of the few buildings beating 300 m in terms of height. But this is a blog about cars. 300 km/h top speed was for a long time a benchmark for supercars. In the 60ies car manufacturers started trying to build cars that could go to a 300 km/h top speed. The Lamborghini Miura was one of the first street cars getting close, but only close. Even in the 70ies it was almost impossible to beat 300 km/h. Many claimed to be faster, few were. The Ferrari 512BB for example wasn't able to go faster than 290 km/h and it became quite clear that more than 500 hp were needed to get to such a top speed. Of course the late 80ies, the 90ies and the new century changed the game and with the Bugatti Veyron we have been able to beat the 400 km/h top speed benchmark. Many super and hyper cars of the last years have of course been able to go faster than 300 km/h.
The reason why I am talking about the number 300 is also that with this blog I have been posting 300 blog entries around cars and racing - it's the "work" of basically the last 12 months. I hope you have enjoyed reading them.

Motoring in 2000-2009 - what will we remember in 20-30 years?

The Decade 2000 to 2009 was influenced by a rapidly increasing oil price towards the end of the period (for example the ratio between the highest and the lowest price per barrel was 5-6, peak was reached in 2008), by the inconvenient truth of a changing climate and global warming, by terrorism, tsunamis and hurricanes. Towards the end of the decade the whole world suffered from the consequences of the financial crisis and a global recession. At the same time the digitization of the world has continued and we couldn't imagine a life without mobile connectivity, Internet and flat screens.

So what where the motoring highlights of the years 2000 to 2009?

A Decade of Extremes
Super and Hyper Cars got faster and faster. The climax has been reached with the Bugatti Veyron, a car that really showcases what is feasible today. Whether anybody needs 1001 HP and 400 km/h top speed is another question.

The reinvention of the cheap car
Tata introduced the Nano, a really cheap car. But already before Renault has proven with the Dacia that there is a market for cheaper cars.

Supercar performance on a budget
When Nissan announced the GTR it was an instant success. Fast laps on the Nurburgring also helped to establish the image of a supercar on a budget. And the interior is designed for the PS3 generation. Four seats even make the car suitable for a small family.

The Hybrid Decade
With the Toyota Prius a new technology became both fashionable and consumer-ready, the hybrid car. While the Prius may neither have been pretty nor ecological it was sold very successfully thanks to Holywood and a brilliant marketing and it certainly proved that people can be motivated to save fuel.

Retro retro
The new Mini is a success, but the Fiat 500 was even more loved by the crowd thanks to its affordability and the really cute design. Revitalizing the Abarth brand at the top end of the 500 has also proven to be a clever move.

Electrical cars that actually are attractive
Tesla built a Roadster on top of a Lotus Elise chassis and loaded thousands of laptop batteries. Despite some getting quite hot this cars proved that performance and electricity don’t need to be opposites in the motoring context. Since the Tesla many manufacturers (i.e. Audi, Mercedes) and tuners (i.e. RUF) have followed and presented electrical sportscars.

In a next post I will talk about the ones that didn’t make it and why I think that from a motoring perspective the 2000 to 2009 decade was a disappointment after all.