Highlights of the year

Since this is the end of 2001 everyone likes to review the events of the past 12 months. For me, the motor show in Bangkok was the first highlight. This event gets bigger and better every year. Held at Bitec at Km 1 on the Bangna-Trad road, it is the only truly “international” motor show held in Thailand. Promoted by Grand Prix International, whose head office is in Bangkok, it is a professional affair, and I am looking forward to the 2002 show.

During the year I drove lots of vehicles, but two really stand out. The first was the BMW 325i. A sophisticated touring car with all the bells and whistles that come from today’s technology. Sequential stick shift, sporting automatic or lazy sludge-box all in the one package. A suspension system that took some beating. A responsive engine with lots of poke. It returned so much satisfaction to the driver that it was not difficult to see just why BMW have gone ahead in the past couple of years.

The second was the Electric Bisikun - that fun machine from Ecolux, the Bangkok electric bike manufacturers. I took it on the Jesters 50 km charity ride for a laugh, and fell in love with it. At my age, I averaged just under 25 kph, including water stops. It stayed with me for the next 3 months, as I secretly hoped that the Ecolux MD, Paul Markham, might have forgotten that he sent one down to Pattaya. It was the ideal transport to nip up to the photo shop or wherever, no parking problems, no go and fill up with gasoline problems, and you could be a s physical as you like, or by letting the electric motor have its head, be as lazy as you liked. And then the bastard took it away! I checked under the Chrissy tree and it wasn’t there either. You’re off my Xmas card list, Paul Markham!

Autotrivia quiz Last week I printed a photograph of a strange vehicle This car had a V8 5 litre engine delivering 195 kW, a 5 speed ZF trans-axle, weighed 1100 kgs and did zero to 100 kph in a shade over 5 seconds. More clues, it had Brembo brakes, 266 mm up front, 260 mm at the rear. Top speed was in excess of 240 kph. It used much in the way of Kevlar-carbon fibre/aluminium sandwich and was designed by a chap who had spent some time with the McLaren F1 team. While being basically hand-built, they were done on an assembly line, with the mechanicals being mated to the body shell around half way down the line. After all those clues - what is this car? The car was built by the F1 engineer Barry Lock and entrepreneur Paul Halstead. The factory was in Caloundra, Australia and they built around 20 of them before they ran into liquidity problems. Since the State government had a stake in the factory too, they were not prepared to sit around and watch it get into more debt, so the bank foreclosed. The engine was the General Motors Holden V8, good strong and unburstable and you could literally take off in any gear. I drove the pictured vehicle and it was exceptionally fast and responsive. There’s a few still around, but very much a collector’s item these days. So to this week’s question. The world F1 championship has been going now for 51 years. Unfortunately, until the rigorous safety standards of today were introduced, many drivers were killed in their chase for the crown. Who was the first driver to die at an F1 world championship event? For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct answer to fax 427 596 or email [email protected]

Sauber Fan Club Treasure Hunt Rally

The very active Sauber Fan Club Pattaya is holding a fun treasure hunt rally on the 2nd of January. It begins at the Pit Stop restaurant in Soi Day-Night at 11 a.m. with the cars leaving at 10 minute intervals. These are not competitive “World Rally Championship” events through the forests with jumps and creek crossings, but are intended to be good fun where you are expected to use your noodle a little bit and be observant. You can get more details by phoning 038 420 153.

Lexus ES300 The very latest Lexus ES 300 has just had its world-wide release, and will be coming here too (if it isn’t here already), but with a local price tag which will be around 4 million baht, you won’t see too many on Beach Road! In the US, the starting price including delivery and handling charges is USD 32,080. That’s about one point four mill baht if you could ever get one in without freight and the odd 300% import impost. Weep! In the US, Lexus has been doing very well with sales of Lexus vehicles going up 11% while Toyota rose 6.4% as it took market share from other U.S. based rivals. The new ES 300 is built in Kyushu and Tsutsumi in southern Japan and our Down-under man on the spot, John Weinthal has just spent some time with Lexus’ newest model. Here are the Words from Weinthal. “With a trio of all-new model launches just before Sydney’s October Motor Show, Lexus now has eight models in Australia. You can spend from AUD 51,500 for a BMW 3 Series challenging IS200 sedan up to AUD 176,600 for the flagship LS430 ultra-luxury sedan. “Lexus badges are worn by four distinctively different sedans, an AUD 132,000 off-roader (which is, strictly speaking, a V8 LandCruiser with all the goodies) plus the ever-so-desirable, if desperately impractical, SC430 hardtop convertible which can be yours for AUD 162,000. “All Lexus models now have a four-year 100,000km warranty which is longer than any other luxury marque offers in Australia. “The new ES300 is the only front-wheel-drive Lexus. This 3litre, 158kW V6 wide-body sedan is seen by the company as the logical half step to the flagship LS430, at half the price. In other words, there are the overtly sporty IS and GS sedans, and the slightly more sober ES and LS sedans; not that the sporties lack a host of luxury accoutrements, nor are the ES and LS slackers in the performance and handling stakes - not a bit of it. It’s simply a matter of perceived purpose and probable purchaser preference. “This freshly styled ES is another Lexus technological tour de force, which bodes well for the next Camry which will share many elements. It may seem odd to mention fuel economy at the start of a review of an AUD 85,000 luxury sedan report. However, Lexus’ outstanding variable valve technology engine mated to a five-speed auto boasts 26mpg on the city cycle tests and 44 mpg or 6.4 litres per 100km in highway cruising. And, for once, I believe these figures could be achieved in the real world with real drivers. It was remarkably abstemious over our 400km together, and I was hardly pussy-footing about for much of the time. “Needless to say the ES is ultra quiet, handles tidily and offers most of the toys the pampered have come to expect. However, there is only a single CD player in the combination touch-screen satellite navigation and audio control centre, and only the driver gets fast up and down on his window. The headlamps were OK but on a Lexus one expects a brilliant white light rather than conventional yellowish flare. “The super-smooth five-speed auto is quite conventional in operation with no steptronic or F1 style paddle control clever dickery. The totally automatic lights and wipers which switch on and off precisely as required are soon appreciated. There’s a large tilt and slide glass sun-roof but, unusually these days, one has to keep a finger the switch button throughout the operation. Instead of steering wheel mounted auxiliary audio controls, useful devices even Australian Ford Falcon and GM’s Holden Commodore can boast, there are some buttons for the information centre which I can’t imagine many people bother with all that regularly. “This new ES300 is better in every way. It’s a lot more stylish and a little larger everywhere that matters. It is even quieter than its predecessor. On the safety score it has side and front airbags, vehicle stability control, traction control, larger anti-lock brakes, whiplash injury reducing front seats and three rear head restraints. There’s dual zone climate control and a powered rear window blind. “A remarkable 10 pages of the handbook are devoted to the multiple functions you can operate with the ignition key. I settled for starting the car and pressing the remote opening and locking buttons. “I made the time to visit the Lexus showrooms for a 90 minute run through of the initially rather intimidating satellite navigation system. It was more than worth it, and every new owner is offered the same. When you spend AUD 85,000 on a car it would be dim-witted not to devote a little time to learning how to get the most from it. In fact you CAN order your ES300 without sat nav and save AUD 5000, but I wouldn’t even consider that deletion. “ES300 owners will be a happy bunch - it’s a seriously nice car.”