Super Car Ramblings

Martini's happy hour

 

 

Andy 'M1' Warhol

It's rumoured that it only took Andy Warhol 23 minutes to paint the M1

BMW Art Cars

I like Bavarians, not just the brewers but those guys who run the Motoren Werke company out of that fine tower in Munich which represents a four cylinder engine. The Quandt family have passion and vision and have helped pioneer BMW to the forefront of technology and design, just look at the commotion that Chris Bangle just caused. Love him or loathe him he has got everyone talking about this new language.

Since 1975 BMW has been pushing the artistic boundaries to such an extent that their cars have been displayed in renowned museums such as the Guggenheims of New York and Bibao, the Roayal Academy of London and the Lourve in Paris. In the early 70's French racing driver Herve Poulain commisoned artist Alexander Calder to paint and transform his BMW 3.0 CSL racing car, this spark ignited BMW to establish the Art Car Collection.

In the first years BMW concentrated primarily on their race cars but over time they extended the concept to their series vehicles. Artists such as Frank Stella, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Jenny Holzer, Wolfgang Tilmans, Sylvie Fleury and Erwin Wurm contributed to this art programme and presented not just cars but installations, pictures, photographs and videos.

                       

supercars that got away....

Just wanted to show that we all have supercar lapses in our times; here are three that I nearly bought and in some ways glad I didn't but secretatly whished I had.

1) James Bond's Lotus Espirit from the film 'Spy Who Loved Me' - Yes I bid for one of the large scale models that was used for underwater filming, until my girlfriend at the time refused to allow it in our appartment as the only room big enough was the living room.

2) Alfa Romeo Montreal - Just before the classic car boom in the mid '80's I looked and sourced one of Alfa's sexiest cars. What happened, well I bought a Kawasaki Z1100R Eddie Lawson replica brand new and went drag racing for two years.

3) Aston Martin DB5  - Advertised as a winter project with no MOT in the 80's with a price tag that was very reachable for me - I just wondered how many winters it would take to get David Brown's finest to near decent order after viewing it.

Ferrari B'Stard

I'm a bit of a purist, have a great dislike of styling add ons and hold Pinninfarina in high regard and shiver when I see anyone molest his creations. But I also hold an eye for engineering finesse and do marvel at the amount of hours some people spend on their machines.

The Ferrambo is one of the best custom jobs I have seen in a long time. The body is from a 1960 Rambler and the power plant comes from a 2002 Ferrari 3.6 litre V8 and is mid mounted. The amount of detail that has gone into this project is incredible with a majority of parts being machined or handmade.

               

Hi Fi 've Lancia

The HF symbol, the contraction of High Fidelity, owes its origin to the Lancia Hi. Fi. Club, which drew its members from loyal Lancia clients who had to obey strict rules of elegibility which governed membership. The Club was founded in 1960 and the HF was taken as its logo.

The transposition of the Initials H and F on certain sports cars followed in 1961, when customers started to race Flaminia Pinina Farina in Grand Turismo events.

The "consecration" came with the launch of the legendary Fulvia coupe, and it became the official logo of Lancia's sports cars, starting with the 1966 Fulvia HF coupe which remained almost unbeatable on the world rallies, until the mythical Stratos appeared on the scene to dominate rallying from 1974 - 1978.

In the mean time the HF Racing Team had been founded in 1963, initially as a simple association of amateur drivers unofficially backed by Lancia, but becoming the official sporting branch of the Company in 1965.

The HF symbol was adopted again in 1983 for the Delta turbo and thereafter on the Delta 4WD and the Integrale. With the introduction of the Evolution model of the Integrale, the letters were combined with the galloping red elephant. The elephants had been on the original badges for the Fulvia HF and the Stratos, at that time there were four elephants displayed.

 There are contrasting stories and legends regarding the origin of this elephant, including the simple "the elephant never forgets". We do know that in 1953 the then Managing Director of Lancia, Gianni Lancia, chose it as a good luck token for the Company's first racing appearances. The symbol of the galloping elephant apparently originates in Eastern mythology as an auspicious emblem or symbol of victory, providing the trunk is stretched forward. This is how the elephant chosen by Gianni Lancia was drawn, first in light blue and later as now in bright red.

  

 

 

racing lines on ice

Martini are celibrating 40 years in motor racing and have been associated with teams including Brabham, Alfa Romeo, Lotus, Porsche and have championed in Formula 1, Le Mans, World Rallying, Endurance Racing and German Touring car.

But to me Martini's marriage was with the most important manufacture ever in the history of motor sport the rest in my eyes were just fleeting flings.

There are things in life, moments, feelings that pass and others that forevever remain in the memory and when I first saw these coloured lines wrapped around this manufacturers curvaceous panelwork I fell immediately in love and was smittened for life. 

Lancia already had a room full of World Rally Trophies, starting in 1972, and then in '74,'75 and '76 and again via FIAT in 1977, '79 and 1980. But in 1982 the rule books changed substantailly and Cesare Fioro, manager of FIATS Group's Competitions Activities announced his sate of the art weapon to take on the world: the LANCIA 037.

With the power of Lancia, Abarth and Pininfarina the formidable 037 was launched at the 59th Turin motorshow to take on Group B.

Featuring a weight saving spaceframe chassis clothed in Pininfarina's beautiful composite body which lines were exaggerated by the Martini tri coloured striped livery.  

It was lightweight, powerful, well balanced and sounded superb on full song. The heart was a 2 litre, 16 valve, four cylinder, supercharged volumex compressor rear mounted with 205bhp on tap and could each 0 to 100km/h on less than seven seconds.    

charged but not guilty

Every cloud has a silver lining and when one door closes, another door opens.... Is your glass half empty or half full ? Mines always half empty and looking forward to the next filling of nectar from those Belgium monks. 

But when 4x4's and supercars are being 'hammered' in the press for not being eco - warrior friendly and your only option is a Raleigh Shopper, Shank's pony or the embarrassing G-Whiz, it's good to see that there are fun with a capital 'F' electric sports car out there.    

Today I was privileged to drive the Tesla Roadster, an interesting 100% electric sports car based around the Lotus Elise. Tesla Motors claim 0 to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds, 14,000 rpm redline and 244 miles per charge. I like companies like Tesla, they've talked the talk and produced a working car that is currently for sale in the UK; unlike the might of manufactures akin to Ford or Mercedes who have huge R&D budgets. 

The first thing that you really notice is how quiet the car is. I don't mean missing the engine sound but how quiet it is in the cockpit, ideal for listening to the Archers or meditating.

The 2nd thing is the engines torque it's utterly amazing and addictive. There are no gears just forward, neutral and reverese.

The only hard thing to get used to is how people look at you as you whirr past them, and I'm sure there is going to a few close calls with pedestrians stepping out in front of you as they are unable to hear approaching air cooled electric motor.

Although there is no steering assistance the car handles really well even taking into account that it is heavier than the orignal DNA Elise (this should hopefully drecease with advancements in lithium battery technology) the Roadster weighs in at healthy 1,222kg. The ac electric motor offers 248 electric ponies with 275lb ft torque, the standard brakes require a shove to engage, but once you get used to the engine braking from the wheel recapturing energy system you really have no issues in town driving. Interesting to see if they can save weight by ditching the conventional braking system totally for a smarter retardation system.

The claimed 244 mile battery range is really down to your right foot and driving habits, the range will drop to 150 miles ish if you are a hard driver. Recharging takes a 32 amp power supply and 8hrs which is not the end of the world for most of us as charging at the office or home reguarly would resolve most issues.

The only issue is lack of dealer network and a price tag of £92,000, but hey there is no such thing as a free breakfast.

part deux 'the fighter'

The fighter is another brilliant example of engineering art from Confederate  but runs a 1966cc V twin.  

 

the art of revolution

It's been a hard few weeks in the world, the economical power houses have been rocked, car maunfacturers are on melt down and house prices are tumbling.

So more the reason to take solace in beauty and appreciate what life can give. The Wraith is such an object of design and engineering, in the vain of Brough Superior or Vincent where engineering boundaries are pushed and become art. The Wraith or B120 is limited to 88 units and is manufactured in aircraft billet aluminuim, magnesium and carbon fibre and is perfectly balanced and proportioned. So many manufacturers try but fail this simple but important lesson, less is more.

The chassis is triple load carbon fibre monocoque with cnc'd billet bulkhead and oil in frame. The swing arm is a single sided affair and like the front end is manufactured fom billet aircraft grade aluminium. The heart of the Wraith is the B120 45 degree V twin kicking out 125 horseines and an impressive 130 ft. lbs of torque mated to an in house 5 speed close ratio box and belt drive system. Four pot Brembo's provide the stopping power on 320 mm and 220 mm rotors mated to magnesium Marchesini wheels. The Wraith comes in at 390 lbs with a wheelbase of 62"; length 82"; bum height 30.5"; trail 4" and rake of 27 degree making it a compact machine.