Since last week and the FIA’s bombshell to the Grand Prix circus teams, the team owners have come out of their foxholes and we are now in the situation of seeing the real situation.

Just recapping, the main parts of the FIA decree was to eliminate driver aids - make the expensive parking jockey change his own gears, get off the line by himself and watch his own instruments and drive accordingly if the engine oil temperature was getting too high, instead of having the engineers limit engine revs and such, all done electronically from the pit wall. There was also the edict that spare cars were to be a no-no as was driver to pit communication and pit to driver radio.

2003 Renault F1

The constructors have a body called the Technical Working Group, and this has helped iron out some of the more ambiguous proposals put forward by the FIA President Max Mosley.

One of the main problematical areas was when exactly were most of the driver aids to be dumped? Although all driver aids are banned for 2004, the FIA seemed to leave it up to the individual teams to decide when, or even if, the devices should be removed this season. Knowing the F1 teams, this did not seem to be all that bright!

The FIA has now clarified some of the rulings, stating that traction control and automatic gearbox will be outlawed from the British GP onwards, six months hence. Launch control will also be banned after the British GP, providing all teams can operate their clutches manually. Eh? Has Michael Schumacher forgotten how to use the left side pedal? And he gets 30 million big ones a year? Come on!

Spare cars, which were originally going to be banned, will now be allowed, but only if a car is seriously damaged in practice or qualifying. The spare car will also be released for use if the race is red flagged during the first two laps. The spare car will also be allowed if one of the main cars fails just before the race. In both instances the spare car will start from the pit lane. This is a little bit more sensible. The spectators (us) want to see the maximum number of cars out there.

Although pit-to-car telemetry remains banned, car-to-pit telemetry is now allowed. Furthermore, contrary to the FIA’s earlier ruling, radio communication between the pits and drivers will be allowed providing the communication is left open to the FIA and the media. So now we should be able to hear just what goes on, like, “Michael, let Rooby Baby win this one, go on. You won the last one, be fair!”

Ah well, we shall see, but don’t expect drivers to be using their clutches and changing gears by themselves in Melbourne!

Morgan Stanley Managing Director Stephen Girsky told the Automotive News World Congress that slumping markets overseas and declining domestic sales are likely to create a tough year. While the US markets have continued to experience 17 million car sales a year, this is a false barometer of the true situation says Girsky. He cites the fact that competition has grown even stronger between automakers and much of the sales has been brought about by decreasing profit margins, keeping prices artificially low.

Morgan Stanley projects 2003 US sales of 15.9 million - low compared with most other industry estimates, which are in the 16 million to 16.5 million range, and much below the previous marks. In addition, Girsky said poor sales in markets such as Japan and Brazil are likely to prompt automakers to ship vehicles built in those markets to the United States. “We expect Japanese sales to be up about 1 percent this year,” he said. “The worry is that demand is weak in Japan and that capacity is going to find its way over here.”

Last week I said let’s go across the pond to the UK and specifically Jaguar, even though it is now owned by FoMoCo. The XK 120, a classic, was the result of a cock-up by the bodywork company that had been assigned to build the Mk VII Jaguar sedans. They were unable to deliver on time for the 1948 London MoShow, and the boss of Jaguar, Sir William Lyons, said that if nothing else, the new chassis would go on display. To make an impact, he designed a spectacular 2 seater bodywork to go on the chassis. This was called the XK 120. Now I am coming to the question - I asked how did they pick on that designation for the 2 seater Jaguar? A clue - there was one reason for the XK part and another for the 120 bit. This was easy, the experimental engines were designated XA, XB, XC etc and the one in the final mock-up was the XK version. The 120 came from the estimated top speed of the car - 120 mph. Simple!

So to this week. Another easy one and let’s stick with the XK 120 Jaguar. What speed did it do?

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