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

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

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.

Lancia Fulvia Zagato - neat coupé from the sixties

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 ...

All cars are the same

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.

Audi thinking about bringing A2 back

Apparently Audi is thinking about the Audi A2 back. The A2 was a quite innovative car with less than 900 kg and a fuel efficient engine. However, it didn't sell to well, which was, I think, because of the fairly ambitious price and the less than exciting design. Anyway, the new A2 is supposed to be much more modern and coming with electrical power. What is even more new though, is the idea to build one version of the hardware only, sold at a standard price and have the customers customize their car with "applications". For this Audi builds an "app store", similar to what Apple is doing so successfully. But the Audi apps will not only allow to customize the color of the dials, but also to enable functions built into the hardware. You want a seat heating? Download an app for let's say 300 USD and you can actually switch on the already built in heater. Now this creates a number of issues, I think:
First, I wouldn't want to buy complexity for features I will not use (download). Every additional piece of technology makes cars more complex and more heavy usually.
Secondly, it makes me feel stupid that I buy something, have it, but can't use it, because I don't have the permission as I didn't download the app. If it's pure software functionality then this may be okay, but if it's hardware? However we have already had this and the whole engine chip tuning industry lives from the same concept.
Thirdly, I wonder how long we have to wait until you find instructions on how to "jailbreak" your Audi A2, hack into the "operating system" and free all these available features using an "illegal" approach. And how long will it take until legal battles are fought whether the warranty can be canceled if somebody jailbreaks the software.
Let's see ...

Today's Convertible Cars are for Softies

What has happened with the convertibles, the cars we loved so much because they made you become one with the environment around the car, the wind and the weather? Well, today's convertibles basically make you feel like being in a limousine but with an invisible top. The new Mercedes convertible optimizes this new approach. It makes the wind go around so that even the passengers in the back don't have to "suffer" from the fresh air. In comparison, open cars like the MG TC, the Morgan +8 or even the later R107 Mercedes offered a lot of weather contact, long before the "windschott", air scarf and all kinds of new gimmicks were invented. So, this is yet another reason to buy old cars, I think. Anyway, it's a matter of personal taste and the type of clothes you are using ... As they say, there's no bad weather when you own an open car, there's only wrong clothes.

Killing great tradition car brands - the Chrysler Lancia swap

You might have heard it. Fiat/Chrysler plans to leverage the Lancia brand to sell Chrysler cars in Europe. It's not enough that GM failed with this strategy and basically destroyed Saab, trying to sell rebatched Opels. It's so bloody sad to see this great car brand Lancia being misused. Remember the great cars Lancia built? Aurelia, Fulvia, Stratos, 037, Delta Integrale and so on. Now think of a Voyager or a Sebring coming with a Lancia batch. Horrible! It will not work! And it will be barely possible to rescue the Lancia brand once it's totally molested. Knowing that already today the Lancia brand isn't standing anymore for what it was in the 60ies or 70ies, this new strategy will give it the rest. Really sad!

How advertisement for cars has changed during the years

Things have changed, a lot. Comparing car advertisement in the sixties with today you can recognize a couple of significant differences. Text and explanations were much more important 40 years ago then today. You can find car ads from the sixties that barely used pictures but had long texts in small print to explain specific features or advantages. Today, this barely exists anymore. Today's car ads come with large and well done pictures (note, that the Mercedes from 1966 in the upper ad isn't even in focus!) and very little text and description. This makes a lot of sense, as anyway cars do not really differentiate on the technology and feature level anymore. When you read car comparison tests today the differences between the cars in the field are really small, be it performance, size or any other parameter. Equipment of cars is coming in quite standard as well, every car has ABS, ESP, electric windows, air condition and stereo, no big inventions need to be explained. The biggest difference is probably the price and there's not too much to say about this in an ad. And of course the car design is an important buying factor even if we think that all modern cars look alike.

What's wrong with the Mercedes SLS AMG?

It seems that Mercedes has built a great car with the Mercedes SLS AMG. Reading the latest issue of Auto Motor und Sport the car must be brilliant. It accelerates in 3.9 secs from 0 to 100 km/h, reaches a top speed of 317 km/h and is faster than a Porsche 911 GT3 in some of the handling disciplines, despite of the 1'685 kg heavy weight. The looks is okay too, most people really like the car. The price is a bit far away from reality, especially if you add a few extras. 223'006 Euros has to be given over the counter for the AMS test car (base price, unloaded, 177'310 Euros). But that's comparable to a Ferrari 458 or a Lambo, it seems to be okay.
What makes me worry is the enormous marketing and public relation push Mercedes has created. I think I have never seen so many ads and (paid) press articles for a super car before! The marketing cost per sold car must be significant I would assume. Why do you need to spend so much money if the car is that great? We will probably know in one or two years, but something is wrong here, isn't it?

Picture of the week - Ferrari 512 BB Brochure show Engine Bay

This is one page of the 1980 (approx) Ferrari 512 BB sales brochure. It shows the engine of the Berlinetta Boxer from the top. What an impressive engine! It's basically half the car and so nicely presented.
What I find though even more interesting is that Ferrari presents the red car on a yellowish ground while the brochures border and background is designed in a bright orange color. Horrible, I find. The brochure itself has a bulky oversize format is probably worth quite a bit of money today. But let's not talk about the display, but rather about this amazing engine with the large number of carburetors and a 5 liter displacement.

Alpine Renault A110 1600 S brochure of 1972 - fascination on few pages

When have you seen a car brochure like this? It's only 8 pages and two of them are pure branding. But the other six do more to the car - Alpine Renault A110 1600 S 1972 - than many of the heavy brochures you get today.
It's all there, technical data, rallye photos, engineering views, interior shots, etc. - what more would you want? Of course it helps that the car is simple and therefore easy to explain, but that can't explain the difference between 8 pages and 56 or 64? Right? Happily this collector's item hasn't been thrown away like so many others!

How to improve a Volkswagen Beetle?

Yet another wonderful Volkswagen commercial. What would an Italian designer improve with the 1957 Volkswagen Beetle? Watch it yourself!

Picture of the week - Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560 and ...

This picture of the week captures three elements that marketeers love to combine somehow - cars (Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560), girls and babies. Car shows sometimes offer great opportunities to take pictures ....

Volkswagen Beetle is so airtight, you have to push the door or open a window

Here's another one of "my" all time best car commercials, this one is really short. But have a look yourself.

One of the best ever commercials for petrolheads - Shell V-Power Ferrari

Here's another one of the all time greatest. A commercial for Shell V-Power showcasing the long history of Ferrari Formula One cars racing through different cities around the world. You imagine the budget needed to do this 1:55 min movie. But the sound alone is worth it, decide yourself!

How many car manufacturers have disappeared since 1977

33 years ago the group "Vereinigte Motorverlage" published their "auto katalog 1977", listing all (in Germany?) available cars on the market. When you look at the roughly 185 car manufacturers in the catalogue you find actually many that have disappeared. Let me give you a selection:
AC, Acadian, Albany, Alpine, American Motors Corporation (AMC), Anadol, Autobianchi, Avanti, Bricklin, British Leyland, Checker, Coriasco, Crayford, Crespi, Custoka, Davrian, Dino, Dutton, Elegant, Eliette, Excalibur, Fairthorpe, Felber, Fiberfab, Giannini, Ginetta, Glassic, Gremlin, Hillman, Hongki, Hornet, Humber, Innocenti, Jensen, Leontina, Matador, Matra-Simca, Melkus, Monteverdi, Moretti, MP Lafer, Murat, NSU, Pacer, Panther, Peykan, Princess, Puma, Ranger, Reliant, Saporoshez, Sbarro, Scaldia, Shanghai, Scorpion, Shekate Sahami, Shiguli, Simca, Strato, Sunbeam, Syrena, Tatra, Technical Exponents, Tiffany, Tofas, De Tomaso, Toro, Trabant, Triumph, TVR, Valiant, Vanden Plas, Wartburg, Wolga, Wolseley, YLN, Zastava, ZAZ, ZIL. I may have hit some that are actually still alive, others just have changed their names. Many though have been acquired and integrated (e.g. AMC), others just have stopped to produce cars, but still do some business (e.g. Sbarro). Many of the brands we probably don't even remember and the probability that they pop up at an oldtimer event are minimal. Others though we really do miss, i.e. AC, Bricklin, Matra-Simca, Monteverdi, Simca, Triumph, TVR, etc. to name a few. What we tend to forget is that there are new manufacturers around that didn't exist in 1977, i.e. Aptera, Artega, Fisker, Gumpert, Pagani, Tesla and many others, for example from China. And to be fair, we can't really say that there's is not enough choice today, can we?

Picture of the week - Ferrari's Prancing Horse

There are few car manufacturers to spend that much energy (and lawyers) to protect the brand identity compared to Ferrari. If you want to open a restaurant and think it's a good idea to put a black prancing horse on a yellow background as your logo and call it "cavallo rapante" you can be quite sure that you'll receive a lawyer's letter soon thereafter. Ferrari doesn't like people riding on their back.
Regardless of whether the pictured prancing horse has been authorized by Ferrari it looks great, especially with the Ferrari 599 in the shop!

Too much marketing and not enough engineering?

Having criticized the lack of innovation in car design and engineering, maybe one reason for this could be marketing. If a car manufacturer has to decide whether to add a feature or not, then it's about "can I ask 80 Bucks more for the car if I spend 60 Bucks on the technology? And it's marketing answering that question and how should they know? Well they probably have asked customers, have done focus groups, have organized large surveys and blind tests and what else. But they typically are not visionaries. Maybe this explains how the US car industry went down the tube. While the Japanese invested in modern technology the US car industry built the cars they thought the people want to buy. And it worked quite well until the system parameters completely changed. And now they are surprised that Hummers don't sell any more. It's complicated of course, to get it right. But maybe we should have more manufacturers like Aptera, Tesla, Artega or Fisker. They seem to have some engineering vision, they seem to build something they really believe in. They don't seem to maintain decision processes taking longer than the development of a full car and they take risks for the benefit of the car buyer. Well, yes, of course, they still have to prove the pudding, but I hope they can do that.

Where should car manufacturers spend their money?

Audi announced a new logo. Honestly I wouldn't have noticed it probably, if I hadn't been made aware of it. You can certainly call this a subtle redesign. Regardless of the nature of the changes though, something like a new logo is a huge investment for any global company. Figures in the 3 digit million USD range are not uncommon for these projects. So is it worth it? And wouldn't the money be better spend in developing attractive prototypes or making cars less expensive? I think so. For the money spent for this new logo companies like Connaught probably could develop three new cars including new engines!