AUTO MANIA

by Dr. Iain Corness
Where are the world’s fastest go-karts for hire? In Pattaya!

Pattaya has just had a visit from one of the drivers competing in the British Formula 3 series. Young Aussie, Julian Harburg, previously the Australian Porsche Cup star spent an afternoon at our local Pattaya Kart Speedway (next to Bungee Jump Thepprasit Road) with owner Andy Scheidegger.

Julian, who drives karts in the off-season to keep his eye in, said that Andy’s Pattaya Kart Speedway’s karts are the quickest hire karts he has seen in the world after sampling both the 2-stroke units and the V twin 500cc “monster” karts built on site by Andy.

What many local motorsport enthusiasts may not know is that Andy Scheidegger is a brilliant “practical” engineer, whose go-kart parts are sent all over the world. His centrifugal clutches, adapted from standard motorcycle braking items are even run at the famous and very large Eastern Creek go-kart circuit in Sydney, Australia.

Andy also has a penchant for discovering young talent, with his latest “find” being Anna, a young 13 year old Thai girl, who is pint sized but enormously determined and very talented to boot.

She and Julian had a spirited “race” on that Sunday afternoon and Anna showed she was not afraid to bang wheels with the Aussie star. She will be competing in the Thai championships this year in the Yamaha Class and will definitely be one to watch.

Last year, through this column, we ran a fun afternoon at the Pattaya Kart Speedway for some of the enthusiasts here and after speaking with Andy we will do the same again this year. I will keep you informed and we will probably make it such that we put some vouchers up for grabs for lucky readers. Watch this space.

No sex please - we’re British!

Aston Martin, that British marque, but now owned by Ford Motor Company, well known for the DB series of sporting saloons, complete with half a tree nailed on the dashboard, a herd of Guernsey cows in the interior and trimmed with a cricket pitch of quality Wiltshire carpet has really come out of the closet. Or rather, it did for a short time!

Someone, in the cloistered mews where Aston Martins are built, came up with some rather novel marketing ideas. These included silver handcuffs and racy leather - no, not gear knobs - but underwear! The controversy erupted after Aston Martin sent catalogues featuring handcuff belts, “perforated leather boxing shorts” and “denim suede boxers” to 3,800 customers. Unfortunately, one recipient of the so-called prurient mail-out was one Edsel Ford, a member of Ford’s founding family and non-executive director of FoMoCo. Edsel, it is reported, is a regular church-goer and strong advocate of family values, and was said to have been outraged at the racy nature of the merchandise and insisted that some of them be withdrawn. Aston Martin management has confirmed that it was abandoning large parts of the collection, including belts, cufflinks and key-rings modelled on handcuffs, along with the afore-mentioned underwear and dumbbells. The original catalogue, featuring scantily clad models, is also being reprinted.

According to the article in the Autorev newsletter (I quote), “One executive involved in the project said the dispute went to the heart of cultural differences between Ford and its luxury brands. ‘On the one hand you have a go-ahead, multi-brand, international company and on the other a very blue-collar, conservative carmaker from Michigan,’ said the executive, who declined to be named. (I wonder why?) ‘This shows the Michigan side has won out.’ “

“Earlier this month, Bill Ford - Edsel’s cousin and current chairman of the carmaker - unveiled a $9bn restructuring under the theme of ‘back to basics’. At the time, he said Ford had been distracted by non-core activities, and needed to rebuild profits at ‘the Blue Oval’ by closing five plants and shedding 22,000 jobs in North America.

“Ford’s decline in its home market was blamed partly on costly expansion in consumer services and internet ventures. Among those services, merchandising has been dubbed ‘trash and trinkets’ at Ford’s world headquarters. The group’s emphasis on customer-services and growth in luxury brands was led by Jac Nasser, who was ousted as chief executive in October.” (Once again, poor old Jac cops it in the neck. I wonder how much FoMoCo paid him for “scapegoat” duties?)

The Autorev Newsletter continued, “While distancing himself from Mr Nasser’s record, Bill Ford acknowledged this month that up-market subsidiaries including Jaguar, Volvo and Aston Martin could contribute a third of Ford’s total profits by the middle of the decade. Last year, Aston Martin made only modest profits of about $10m-$15m, although it hopes to double annual output to 3,000 cars in three years.

“Merchandising is regarded by Ford’s Premier Automotive Group (PAG), which manages its luxury brands, as a key area of expansion. Wolfgang Reitzle, the former BMW director hired two and a half years ago to head the PAG, is understood to have approved the Aston Martin collection. (Has anyone checked his underdaks, I wonder?) Mr Reitzle and senior colleagues had hoped to emulate the merchandising success of Ferrari, Aston Martin’s Italian rival, which sells branded luggage and clothing. Aston Martin declined to comment yesterday on the controversy. But a spokesman confirmed that it would be reprinting up to 5,000 catalogues with 20 new items. ‘We are re-evaluating the range and will come out with new products, including pens and briefcases, that are more conventional,’ said an official.”

Aston Martin, meanwhile, has officially suggested that some of the products were being withdrawn “because of sourcing difficulties”. That should probably have read, “saucy difficulties.”

A “Classic” car

Reader Brian Parkinson recently took me to task somewhat over my stand on “classic” cars a couple of weeks back. I had said that when spending countless thousands in restoring old cars what you end up with are “new” vehicles with 40 year old technology. However, Brian did say that many of these vehicles do represent a milestone in motoring development, and he is indeed correct. Having been lucky enough to drive half a million dollars worth of Ferrari 195 Inter, Lambo’s, Cords and the like, in my time, I will as Brian suggested pop in the occasional “classic” piece. Other enthusiasts should note the Automaniacs night out - the 2nd Monday of the month where we meet at Shenanigans at 7 p.m. for the two hour Natter, Nosh and Noggin nights. All welcome.

Reggie Renno is back!

The first Renault Formula One car in 17 years built for the 2002 season represents a landmark moment for the company and the team. The huge strides taken at the end of the 2001 season by the then Benetton/Renault showed promising development under the guidance of technical director Mike Gascoyne and engine guru Jean-Jacques His.

Last year’s Benetton B201 was mated to the radical wide-angle Renault V10 engine, and the new, Renault/Renault maintains that line of development.

“We took time to put the aerodynamic and research programmes in place,” said Gascoyne. “They started delivering dramatically at the end of 2001, but what you saw at the end of last year was just the start of this process, and it will bring us real benefits this year.”

Jean-Jacques His and his engine team, based in Viry-Chโtillon in Paris, have focused on lowering the centre of gravity of the power unit to improve the car’s overall performance. The concept was developed throughout 2001, and the latest evolution is part of the continuation of that initial project.

“Re-entering Formula One as a works team is a core strategic decision for Renault,” said Gascoyne. “We are here to deliver, but I think the senior management are also aware of the amount of time we need.”

Renault pioneered the turbo concept and produced a winner and even the V10 layout. I would watch the Renault team this year. We could have a surprise.

Autotrivia Quiz

Last week we looked at Count Van Der Straaten and his race cars that were known as the “flying brackets”. I asked what was the model of these cars, and why did they get that strange title? I even gave you a photo of one of the race cars which had the name plate “Lola” on it. What I wanted was the model of the VDS Lola cars. It was in fact called the Lola T 430 and was dubbed the flying bracket because they had brackets where the chassis’ suspension pick up points were, because they were most likely Formula 2 chassis modified to take the Formula 5000 (V8) engine and running gear. Of course “Lola” got that name from Eric Broadley, the founder, after the hit song, “Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets.”

A couple of weeks ago I wrote that it was time for Mark Webber to get his long awaited F1 drive, and this has finally happened with his getting the second seat at Minardi “alongside” Alex Yoong. I firmly believe the only time young Alex will be alongside Webber is when the cars are sitting in the garage, the rest of the time Webber will be a disappearing dot on the horizon. However, let’s get to the quiz question! During the early part of Webber’s career he was supported financially by another Australian sporting hero to allow him to keep going. Who was that person?

For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct answer to fax 427 596 or email [email protected] Good luck!