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| Classic car
night or Natter, Nosh and Noggin
The second get together for the Automaniacs
this year is being held on Monday 11th (2nd Monday of each
month) at Shenanigans at 7 p.m. Meet up with others who enjoy
things motoring. Bring scrapbooks, magazines, old photos,
assorted girlfriends and let’s share! Generally we meet in
the back room, but just ask any of the Shenanigans staff where
Dr. Iain is and they’ll point you in the right direction and
give you a push! Last month we had a good roll-up and
discussed everything from old motorcycles to new Nissan
Cefiro’s. You don’t need to own any of these, just have an
interest in things automotive. Shenanigans have their cheap
steak night (B. 195) on Mondays too, so we generally chat over
food and drink - hence, “nosh and noggin”.
23rd Bangkok International Motor Show
has manufacturers gearing up
The 2002 Bangkok International Motor Show
will be held from 29th March through till the 7th of April.
The venue is, as for the last two years, the BITEC complex at
Km 1 at Bangna.
 With
the enlargements to BITEC, there will now be adequate space to
keep the auto exhibits and the parts and accessories in
separate areas. Despite the enlarged areas, all the booths and
stands are already sold out, so leave a full day to get around
the show. The organizers, Grand Prix International, expect
some new concept cars from the Frankfurt and Tokyo motor shows
and there will be some new right hand drive European models
being debuted as well. The Japanese contingent are bringing
some of their small capacity city cars, which I would imagine
are their sub-660cc cars, many of which would make sense in
our congested capital city.
International interest in our motor show is
running high with journalists from Australia, Japan, Europe
and America already registered. This time, even the Thai
government has realised the economic importance of the event,
one which attracted almost 2 million people through the
turnstiles last year.
| The Jackson
#1
Never heard of a Jackson? I must admit
I had never heard of one either till a bloke called Jeff
Jackson rang up one day and asked if I would like a test
drive. It turned out that the Jackson chap and his father
had built the number 1 Jackson in South Africa and had
imported it into Australia with the idea of manufacturing
and marketing Down Under.
 It
was one of the smallest cars I have ever seen. 1020 mm
high on a 2036 mm wheelbase. Reasonably pretty with a
space frame and a GRP body. It was rear engined, with a
Cooper 1275 Mini engine powering it.
What the Jacksons had done (pere et
fils) was to lift an entire Mini front subframe with
engine and drive shafts, suspension and brakes and stuff
it in the back of their brainchild. Locking up the
steering gave you an instant RWD Mini.
A second front subframe was then tacked
onto the front of the car, but with no engine. This gave
them a front suspension, brakes and steering. The space in
the middle was filled with a tubular steel chassis and
there you have it.
Since it weighed less than a Mini
Cooper S, it went like stink, but it had a problem. By
shifting the motor to the rear, the gear change came out
of the transmission on the “wrong” side. The Jacksons
brought the gear shifting rods through under the engine
and into the cockpit, but while you got an H pattern, it
was a mirror image. First was to the right and up, while
fourth was to the left and down. This was something you
could get used to, but it made for very hesitant gear
changes. Especially when the vehicle wasn’t yours and it
was the only one in Oz!
I doubt if they made another one, but
it was certainly a well engineered little project - other
than the gear shift.
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Autotrivia Quiz
Last week we looked at Marcos. This was the
amalgamation of the founders Jem Marsh and Frank Costin and
they built an amazing car with a wooden chassis. The shape of
the original Marcos can still be seen in the new Marcos models
today, but the original was sensational. As well as the Marcos
sports cars, they also built a little horror called the
Mini-Marcos. A dreadful fizz and buzz box, but it did
distinguish itself once and I asked what did it do to get the
“distinguished service” award, and the clue was 1966.
 The
answer was that the Mini-Marcos was the only British Car to
finish in the 1966 Le Mans! Believe it or not.
So to this week and do you remember Count
Van Der Straaten? His team owned some race cars that were
known as the “flying brackets”. What was the model of
these cars, and why did they get that strange title? Look at
the photo for the clue. Remember I want the model, not the
brand!
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be
the first correct answer to fax 427 596 or email : automania@
pattayamail.com Good luck!
| The Maybach
returns
After showing a prototype at some auto
shows, DaimlerChrysler are well down the track towards
production of the new luxury flagship to be branded as a
Maybach. A purpose-built Maybach service centre is being
built in Sindelfingen. This service centre is to function
as a “Centre of Excellence” and will serve as a model
for other special Maybach consultancy centres to be set up
by DaimlerChrysler most likely in America and Japan. All
these centres will be in close contact with the Maybach
“Manufaktur” and the development centre in
Sindelfingen, so that designers and engineers can be
involved in the individual design process of the luxury
saloons at any time.
The Maybach was a synonym in the 1930s
for superior quality and exclusive style, and now this
name steeped in tradition is being used to designate the
new luxury car brand at DaimlerChrysler. The Stuttgart
automotive group has scheduled the presentation of the new
Maybach saloon for autumn this year.
 “We’re
using the name Maybach to emphasise the unique character
of our future premium-quality product,” commented
Professor Jrgen Hubbert, board member of
DaimlerChrysler AG, “and to carry on the tradition of a
legendary brand, whose exciting cars were the ultimate in
design and technical perfection in the years between 1921
and 1940. We are pursuing these very same goals in the
development of the new Maybach. Based on state-of-the-art
Mercedes technology, the vehicles will set new standards
in the world of premium cars, thus paying due honour to
the great name of Maybach”.
The name “Maybach” and Mercedes
have actually been linked before, as in 1900 Wilhelm
Maybach, technical director at Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft
and long-time companion of Gottlieb Daimler, developed the
first Mercedes; with its front-mounted aluminium engine,
twin camshafts and advanced-design honeycomb radiator. It
was a milestone in automotive engineering of the day and
paved the way for modern passenger cars. In 1907 Wilhelm
Maybach left the company in Stuttgart and devoted his
efforts to the design of large engines for Graf
Zeppelin’s airships.
In 1921 Maybach’s son Karl began
production of luxurious and technically perfect motor cars
at Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance. His flagship was the
powerful twelve-cylinder model, the Maybach Zeppelin DS 8,
the biggest German luxury car of the 1930s.
If you want a Maybach it is not a case
of popping down to the showroom and asking do they have
one in green. Maybach saloons will not be designed by
referring to a catalogue or to a list of standard
equipment; instead, a detailed exchange of ideas will
first take place between the customer and a customer
consultant. The customer can choose from a range of
materials, colours and innovative technical details,
ranging from individually designed trim, through inlaid
work, to high-specification business equipment in the
rear. This means that every example of the new Maybach is
a unique, valuable, custom-made piece.
It will haul ass as well. A newly
developed V12 engine with bi-turbo-charging will provide
the performance while at the same time meeting the high
comfort requirements of the new car brand. DaimlerChrysler
expect to produce up to 1500 Maybachs a year with the
biggest target markets for the luxury car being the USA,
western Europe and Japan.
|
What do you do with a cheque for $1?
 You
frame it, that’s what! Look carefully at the date - 1972. I
did not cash this cheque for two reasons - the first is what
can you do with $1? The second reason was because it was my
first motorcycle race, and by winning cash I theoretically
became a “professional” on my first outing. Mick Doohan,
Barry Sheene and Max Biaggi eat your hearts out!
I actually won the equivalent of $2 on my
first motor race in 1965 too. I think they paid to 17th place
or something. I did cash that one. I needed it for petrol
money to get home.
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