Last Classic Car Blast before the Winter

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.

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

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

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.

Coming Arosa ClassicCar - Sept 9 to 12, 2010

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!

Great Australian Sports Cars and Specials

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!

Rare and famous JWF Milano GT for sale in Australia

I just found out through the magazine Octane that Dick Willy's JWF Milano GT is for sale again in Australia. It's probably one of the fastest cars with apparently 300 bhp, it set various speed records in Australia in the 60ies. The price indicated is about right and if anybody is interested in the email address to send an offer, then just get back to me. It's not very often that you can find something like this on the market! There are also two open JWF Milanos for sale currently in Australia, less expensive but also less of a race car than this great GT.

Picture of the week - JWF Milano GT at GP Mutschellen 2010

This week's picture of the week shows the JWF Milano GT at the GP Mutschellen 2010. This is a short hill climb geared to showing cars to people rather to be quicker than the others. This years event basically was flooded with water. The JWF's windscreen wipers stopped to work after half the day and tyre grip wasn't really impressive. But the crowd seemed to enjoy it anyway, despite of the rain ...

Passion shows also in the rain - GP Mutschellen 2010

This year's GP Mutschellen really didn't have a lot of weather luck. 10 degrees of Celsius and rain the whole day, that's not what you wish for if you organize an event like the GP Mutschellen. Depsite of this, lots of exciting and also really rare cars showed up and drove the 1'500 meters up the hill. The "track" was quite entertaining with two hairpins and long swiping straights. The rain made the road slippery, but that sort of adds to the excitement. A few cars suffered under the rain, didn't start or had other problems, but that's probably what you would expect. Thanks and congrats goes to the organizers having their time schedule under control, cheering up the spectators and making sure there was enough hot coffee at the hill climb.

The 2010 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - it's not called Milano

Alfa Romeo has just announced the 2010 Alfa Romeo Giulietta, formerly known as Milano (or maybe 149). I am very glad, they changed their opinion and actually didn't call the car Milano. As some of my readers may remember, the JWF Milano GT, built from 1962 to 1969 already used this name. And most people who know the car refer to it as "the Milano". So by Alfa changing the name, there's no confusion anymore. Good!
Looking at the new Giulietta - yes, we also had this name before, but at least with an Alfa - it looks quite okay to me, though I don't really like these headlights. From an engineering point of view it's yet another re-bodied Fiat-Lancia-something, as most of the recent Alfa Romeos have been. Sad. Well, at least most of them and specifically the 8C sitting on the Maserati mechanics are good looking cars. But why can't we have something that matches what was the Alfa Romeo Giulia as we loved it in the 60ies?

Reasons to get rid of your current car and buy another one

There are (at least) two different kind of people, people who own very few cars during their live and only swap them if they really have to, and people who always find a reason to sell a car and buy another one. I am clearly fitting into the second group, having owned quite a number of cars during my life (yet). When I investigate the reasons why I decided to sell one car and go for a new one, then some returning patterns pop up:
1) Change of requirements - new requirements need to be fulfilled, i.e. the ability to pull a trailer or to fit three kids and friends including luggage into the car. Or the need to have an automatic transmission for other people to operate the car
2) Economical reasons - sell a car now, as the successor model is not yet announced to get a higher price. Sell a car now while it's still under warranty compared to selling it later. Get rid of a car before big repair jobs need to happen
3) Lack of space in the garage - to buy a new car, you need to have space first. When you have the space, it would be unwise to not use it and therefore buy a new car
4) Being bored, having seen it - some cars just can't keep up the excitement after months or years of ownership
5) Better technology available - the successor car is just too much better than what you have
6) Features you are eagerly missing - if you want a headup display you need to buy one of the few cars that have one
7) Collecting - there are many reasons to change the nature of your car collection
And of course there are many other reasons. Basically, there's always a good reason to sell a car and find a new one, as the buying process is just too much fun to stick with your existing car.

Arosa Classic Car 2009 - one of the most challenging hillclimbs

Four days of exciting cars to watch, four days of challenging hillclimbing, what an event, the 2009 Arosa Classic Car.

Impressive cars
Again, and similar to the years before (this was the fifth Arosa hillclimb already) a number of impressive cars have been pulled together. I really appreciated the Alfa-Romeo 8C (brought by Vögele, see picture below), the A.S.A with Ford Falcon engine (piloted by Stefan Vitelli, see picture below), the two Lancia Stratos (see picture below), the Lancia 037 Rally Stradale (see picture below), the Grand Prix Maserati (piloted again by George Kaufmann, until he had a transmission failure), the Lotus 23 (Hayoz), the ex Graham Hill Lotus Cortina (driven by Klaus Wildbolz) vintage cars like the Lagonda Rapier, American-La France, MG K3 and MG K1 monoposto, powerful AC Cobras and Ford Mustangs, as well as the really fast Ford Escort Rallye car. There are too many to mention. The full starter list is here. People also seemed to like the JWF Milano GT a lot with its slick design and impressive noise. Pictures of the cars and the event have been posted by the official photographer here.

A challenging Race Track
It's probably quite unique in Europe, a 7.8 km long hill climb. climbing 1'800 m up (and partially down) with 78 curves. The fastest cars (actually the Ford Escort RS Rallye car was the fastest) master this track in 4:30 minutes, resulting in an average speed of roughly 105 km/h. Cars like the JWF Milano GT still do it with an average speed of 85 km/h. From a driver's perspective there's not much else than an endless series of curves and hairpins. Even after having done it six times you still can't remember the full track. To get an impression on how it's like to master this 7.8 km track, have a look at the onboard video posted here.

People and location
Classic car events are not just a series of races, but also a social gathering of people loving cars. So a lot of the time is spent in either watching cars passing by, drivers preparing for start, fixing problems or just talking to each other and hear news and interesting stories.

Efficient organization
Compared to last year the organization improved a lot and it can only be said that it worked out with almost perfect Swiss precision. Few delays happened, few smaller accidents and food/drinks were extremely well organized. Also the track was very well prepared and for the type of track quite safe. So, the organizers really did a good job. Congratulation!

Arosa Classic Car 2009 - hillclimb onboard video

I will post a more detailed report on this year's Arosa Classic Car hillclimb, but find here already some impressions in an onboard video, riding the JWF Milano GT through 76 curves up (and down) the mountain. What a track!

Rare cars at Altbüron Bergprüfung 2009

This years "Bergprüfung" (hillclimb) at Altbüron was a full success. The weather was great (although hot), roughly 200 cars and 30 motocycles raced up the hill, no major accident happened. Events like Altbüron may not attract so much public interest as Goodwood or the Gaisberg race, but the cars shown were worth looking and some of theme were really rare!
It was the first outing of the JWF Milano GT in Switzerland and it didn't come as a surprise that most spectators saw it the first time and didn't really know what they were looking at. The car enjoyed the crowd with its remarkable sound and beautiful shape.
The Lagonda Rapier was one of more than 15 pre war race cars. Pre war cars make technology and engineering visible second to none.
The third car I would like to mention was the Matra-Bonnet Djet. It's said to be one of the most original Djets in existience, as it's still with the first owner and nothing was change since the car competed in the Swiss championship in the sixties.
And lastly three Enzmann 506 made it to Altbüron. These cars shared a Volkswagen chassis and a quite remarkable body shape without doors. The cars were quite quick thanks to reduced weight and increases power output of the Volkswagen and partially Porsche engines. To see three of these rare cars at one event is certainly remarkable.
Besides the cars mentioned there were also a group of Recreations/Replicas with a Kraftwerks Porsche 917, a Porsche Carrera 6, A Ferrari 330P4, to mention just a few. I also spotted a group of very beautiful Abarths (from the Möll collection) and a great many other cars you don't see every days.
So, there was something for everybody and all the drivers enjoyed the hillclimb as well, not being put under time pressure, just to drive for the sake and fun of it.
The next "Bergprüfung" will be in 2011.

Compared with classic cars the engine bay of modern cars are boring

When you look at modern cars you see how much has changed over the years. But open the engine bay and you will see even more changes! Actually, in the engine bay of a modern car you can barely see anything. It's all covered with plastic. Look at the engine bay of a BMW 330i (model year 2008) and compare it with the one of a JWF Milano GT (1962). While both share the basic design principles (straight 6 cylinder engine) it's very easy to see this in the JWF. You can see cables and manifolds and you can see the carburettors, plus lots of other technical components keep the engine busy and alive. A modern BMW covers up almost everything and of course there's no carburettor there anymore, but computer controlled fuel injection and a lot of other gizmo to make the engine fuel efficient. This is good, but it's still sad that you see so little in a modern engine bay, isn't it?

By the way, the BMW engine develops 272 HP while the highly tuned Holden engine of the JWF delivers some more than 200 HP with quite some effort.

JWF Milano GT at Gaisberg hillclimb 2009

I already talked about the JWF Milano GT (1962) in previous posts and also about the Gaisberg hillclimb. Here's now an onboard camera perspective that tries to get the sensation across. Enjoy!

Rolling Museum at the Gaisberg

Classic car events are able to gather impressive collections of historic cars. Last week (May 20-24, 2009) the well known Gaisberg Race took place around the city of Salzburg. What an impressive "starting grid"! From the BMW 328 Mille Miglia (see picture) to one of the 15 Porsche RSK built, from old Bentleys to a Porsche 908, from the Borgward 1500 RS to a Trojero-MG, from Citroen Traction Avant to DS. Many of these cars probably haven't been seen in Austria for years, others (such as the JWF Milano GT) even made it the first time to an event in continental Europe.
It's so much better to see the cars on the road than in a museum. The sound of the engines, the smell, the breath they take, the moment, when the engine starts, all this belongs to a car and can't be imagined in a museum really.
The drivers clearly love the event. It's a combination of a city circuit in Salzburg (with speed limits for safety reasons), a few laps on the Salzburgring, a 150 km rallye around the Salzkammergut and finally three runs onto the famous Gaisberg (approximately 8 km long). The hillclimb is what tradition is based on. And it's interesting to know that the street on the hill was built in the 1920ies with the idea of a hillclimb race in mind. It's sort of a Nurburgring Nordschleife that only goes into one direction.
Today as many other events the Gaisberg race is run as a regularity event. But many drivers still enjoy the blast to the hill and don't care about the imposed time limit. Around 4:30 was the time the Porsche 908 achieved, this means an average speed of roughly 100 km/h, not too bad for a narrow old road onto the top of a mountain. Gladly enough no really bad accidents happened, so that the race will be organized again next year. Most of the drivers will certainly return as it's quite a unique event. See you again next year!
P.S. The JWF Milano GT behaved very well, no bad habits at all.

Really rare cars

When thinking about collector's cars then usually premium brands pop up, such as Ferrari, Porsche, Bentley, Jaguar, Maserati and the likes. Thinking a bit longer the list may be extended by companies such as Lotus, Alfa-Romeo, Bugatti and more. But few people actually are able to name small production car manufacturers such as TVR, Marcos, Ginetta, Bizzarini or Monteverdi. And these produced significant numbers of cars. Beyond these there have been a quite a few very small companies that produced cars in the two digit number range: Diva, J.W.F., Devin, Apollo, Scarab, Bollwell, Connaught to list just a few. Isn't it so much more attractive to drive one of these cars? An Apollo 5000 is substantially more exclusive than a Ferrari Daytona, a Diva GT beats any GTO in terms of rarity, you probably will never meet another Connaught on the street if you drive one. But still these cars fetch much less value than some of the better known classic cars from the better known brands. Value isn't though the only measure. Isn't it more about pleasure and fun to drive something that only exists in extremely small numbers and is somewhat unique? People following this blog have seen the post on the JWF Milano GT earlier this year. From the approximately built 30 cars only about 10 still do exist and each and every one is quite different in terms of components used and history. And that's why I love these cars so much.

What the hell is a JWF Milano GT?

There are sportscars everybody knows, e.g. Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini and the likes. They are built in thousands or hundred thousands and you can see them on the street everyday. But through all ages of the automobile history there have always been cars that were built in extremely small quantities and for niche markets.
One of these is the JWF Milano GT. This is an Australian car, approximately 30 of them were built. The chassis was specific for this car (built by Nota) and the fiberglass body uses design elements of contemporary Ferraris. You may also see a small Cobra Daytona in it. And it's really small, about 3.5 m long, 1.4 m wide - it's small by any standard. Especially when you consider that it has a 3 liter Holden straight six cylinder engine under the hood. It's light too and most owners raced it. As an Australian car it rarely was seen on other continents however two or three of them made it to Europe and the pictured car even was driving at the 2007 Goodwood Revival Fordwater trophy. There's is fairly little literature available on this car, most of it can be found online. Some interested stories around the JWFs are collected by John on the Bollyblog.
I will take the JWF Milano GT to this year's Gaisberg Rennen. Right now we are preparing it for this event and hope to be finished on time ;-)