Last week, I was looking for the name of this driver -
he raced for over 40 years, won three GP’s in his first year and was
almost unbeatable in hill climbs. His son followed him into the sport and
also won hill climb championships as well as being a top driver. Who was
he?
He was Hans Stuck, the Austrian known as the King of
the Mountains. His racing career spanned 40 years and he won his last
German Hill Climb Championship in a BMW when he was 60 years of age. He
kept on going and did not retire till he was 65, leaving his son Hans
Stuck Jr. to continue meritoriously (again in BMW’s), I might add.
(Having retired from ‘active’ motorsport myself when I was 56, after a
short 32 years, I know what a superhuman effort that was from Hans Stuck.)
So to this week and the name “Autowelo” comes to
mind. This company built six cylinder cars after WWII, but there was
something quite distinct about these 6 cylinder cars. What was it? And
even more importantly - why?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first
correct answer to fax 427 596 or email [email protected]. Remember
that Automania now has its own web page, complete with its own link? Look
up the Pattaya Mail on line at www.pattayamail.com.
Not quite as wild as Gelignite Jack is my old mate John
Weinthal. John, to show his quirky nature, just took a BMW M5 to an
off-road event in Australia. (I hope BMW refuse to give him another test
car and send them all to me instead.) His report follows:
“You can forget about owning this week’s test car
if: a) you are restricted to driving automatic cars, or b) the A$200,000
asking price doesn’t fit your immediate spending plans. However, you may
get some perverse satisfaction from learning that even at this price, the
BMW M5 isn’t quite perfect.
Any faintly negative comment I make must be interpreted
in terms of a car which costs twice as much, or more, than many of our
homes. They mightn’t warrant noting on even a $100,000 car, but we’ll
return to those points.
The car has been described as the world’s best
four-door sports sedan. It’s certainly a magnificent drive. The power
plant is a stunningly smooth, 4.9 litre, quad cam, V8. It delivers 290 kW
and 500 Nm of torque. The M5 is rear wheel drive and there’s every
electronic aid known to car makers to enhance driving pleasure and/or
safety.
The BMW’s only true competitors in Australia would be
the supercharged Jaguar XJR and the Mercedes E55 AMG. Both use a Mercedes
5 speed auto as opposed to the BeeEmm’s six speed manual. The
supercharged 278 kW, V8 Jag costs $12,000 less than the BMW. The 5.5 litre
260 kW V8 AMG Mercedes will set you back just $2,400 less than the BMW. In
reality, it becomes a question of auto or manual, and your preference for
German functionality or British atmospherics.
The BMW may warrant its best Sports Sedan reputation,
but I suggest one is most unlikely to discover just how great it is in
Australia. Our speeds are absurdly restricted, and we don’t have the
mountain passes the M5 needs to demonstrate its ultimate abilities.
So we settled for an early morning dash from Brisbane
to Mt. Tamborine, and a fabulous weekend at Off Road Expo 2000 at
LandCruiser Mountain Park - where I’m sure the hordes of more
appropriately mounted 4-wheel drivers were convinced we were nuts.
They’re probably right, but, believe me, after a good wash the BeeEmm
looked and drove as well as ever.
Cars like this are the stuff of dreams. It delivers
slingshot acceleration; a delicious note from the ultra-sophisticated V8;
refinement and ride comfort of the highest order and the finest leather
and wood finish interior.
It boasts the latest technology throughout, and has
every accessory to please the most fastidious, or toy crazy, owner. So why
does it fall down?
Well, the gearbox is a bit notchy, but it has a huge
task shuffling 290 kW to the rear wheels. The sound system was terrific,
however the speakers don’t match those of the $100,000 Volvo C70
convertible - and I’d prefer the Volvo’s in-dash CD stacker to the
boot-mounted device of the BMW.
I didn’t reckon the Xenon gas discharge headlamps
were quite up to those of the latest Lexus models, and the automatic
wipers lacked the instantaneous response of even a Peugeot 306. However,
the wiped arc is the best of any car I know; but why no rear window wiper?
Now as I said, these niggles are only noteworthy in the
context of a 200 grand Supercar. This is a wonderful car, with distinctly
understated styling. In fact few people appeared to notice it apart from
other BMW owners, whose eyes could be seen to water as we idled alongside.
Believe me, this was another of those weeks to be
remembered for a long time to come.”
So that was Weinthal’s week - look at the photo and
at all the clag he managed to get all over a lovely M5. I hate him!
There’s
something not quite right about the grille area from memory, but it was
still a great blast from the past to see it there. 203 Pugs were legendary
in Australia in the original Redex trials, with Ken Tubman in his example
winning the first Redex round Australia trial in 1953. This was the era of
“Gelignite” Jack Murray, a wonderful personality who used to throw
gelignite out of the window and blow up toilets in the outback! Ah yes,
those were the days. You could imagine the kerfuffle if somebody did that
these days. You’d be banned for life!