European Grand Prix this weekend
The (new) Nurburgring is in use this weekend
for the European Grand Prix. Unfortunately, the days of the
old circuit through the forest have gone, as far as F1 is
concerned. Following claims from the drivers that it was too
dangerous, this new 2.882 mile circuit, with little character,
was constructed in 1984, close to the original track. It is of
interest to note that the first thing that the new generation
of F1 drivers did on arrival was to shell out a few
Deutschmarks to drive the famous old circuit, the
Nordschleife!
Nobody could ever claim to be the absolute
master of the Nordschleife, which is still used for Touring
Car categories. Any driver who has driven on the old circuit
speaks in terms of awe of what is possibly the most demanding
circuit ever constructed. I’ve driven it! Totally mind
blowing! The laconic Aussie Frank Gardner, with a total
disregard for political correctness, claimed it was designed
by Adolf Hitler for Jewish drivers!
I will be watching from my perch at
Jamieson’s Irish Pub Soi AR, in front of the big screen.
Join me for a meal before the action starts at (I think) 7
p.m.
Another (sort
of) French car!
Word has come through that the Bugatti
Veyron 16/4 is being built, and has indeed had a slow test
run. During the outing on the VW test track, it clocked over
400 kph! That will make it the fastest production road car in
the world.
Bugatti
Veyron
So is this a first for France? Yes and no!
Bugatti, the famous French car manufacturer from pre WWII, is
these days owned by Volkswagen! Yes, the German manufacturer
bought the Bugatti name in 1998.
After making much noise that they would
produce a 16 cylinder quad-turbo engined car that would do 400
kmh, they have now proved all the doubting Thomases were
wrong. But it comes at a price. In Europe it comes with a 1
million Euro price tag. That’s around 50 million baht on
straight exchange. Now factor in the usual small 300 percent
import duty, freight and a little tea money, and I think the
price would be around 250-300 million baht, which is nothing,
if you’ve just ordered the odd bomb scanner for security at
home.
The new Bugatti engine delivers a cool 750
kW, which is more than Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari F1, and
being all-wheel drive, the time for 0-100 kph is a staggering
2.9 seconds. That’s FA 18 Tom Cat jet fighters on full boost
sort of performance!
Bugatti claims that the test car, one of 11
prototypes developed, achieved the magic 400 clicks several
times on the test track. One source also claims that to haul
the car down from 400 kph will need huge brakes, and it will
still take 750 meters before it comes to a standstill.
There were some (very) rich people who were
prepared to put some money down for one of these road-going
projectiles, but the delivery date has been pushed out from
the end of 2003 to the end of 2005. And you thought that a
five month wait for a Toyota Fortuner was bad!
To maintain its exclusivity, the factory
will only make 300 of the supercars over the next six years.
And in case you think it might be fun to have one here, it
will only come in Left Hand Drive. I think I’d rather have a
Mercedes CLS, a GT3 Porsche, a Bentley coupe and an Elfin
sports, and I’d still have around 200 million baht left to
make garages for them all.
By the way, the (currently) most expensive
car in Thailand, the Maybach 62, is being trialled as the
resort run-about at the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi Resort
in Chiang Mai! And before you go rushing off to book a room
for the night, at last count the cheapest room was something
like USD 500. (With air, naturally!)
And now for
something totally different!
There has been a rush of folks telling me
they have cars for sale, and before you ask, last week’s
Audi has gone already. However, this little gem has also
arrived in the For Sale basket - a Citroen, of uncertain age,
and even more uncertain parentage, but most probably an
immediate post-WWII vintage. The plate says it is an 11BL, but
it is certainly no ‘ordinary’ Citroen. Those interested in
what can be done, while retaining the ‘period’ look, keep
reading. Dyed in the wool Traction Avant aficionados should,
however, move to the next item!
Bodywise, from outside the car, it retains
those unmistakable Citroen lines, with the long louvred bonnet
and sloping tail, though I do find the imitation wire wheels a
jarring note. The flagpole on the bonnet proudly flying a
Union Jack could also be considered an anti-French snub, but
the proudly British current owner (and seller) does not see
this as an oxymoron. Flags have to be replaced every six
months, as they get a little tatty and dirty.
Open the doors, and immediately you can see
something is ‘wrong’, but the end result is ‘right’.
High-backed late model seats, covered in a buttoned velour
trim, continue throughout the interior and up into the roof
lining. Yet it somehow does not look out of place. The dash is
also not original, but period instruments have been used, so
there is nothing that looks out of place, though the Italian
Nardi wheel, certainly is!
Now to some of the mechanical aspects.
Whilst Citroen’s plugged on with front wheel drive, long
before Sir Alec Issigonis came up with the Mini concept, this
particular Citroen is now Traction Arriere! Yes, it is still
front engined, but now rear wheel drive. And before you wonder
just how this was done with an 11BL engine, a previous owner,
used the 11BL engine for an oyster lease, and fitted a 2 litre
Mitsubishi engine, mated to a Mitsubishi auto gearbox leading
to a live rear axle on leaf springs. Purists are now running
in horror, threatening to string up the heretic, but if you
stop for a moment, the running gear now makes a lot of sense.
A late model engine and drive train has the potential of
making this a daily driver, not something taken out only on
fine weekends after a few hours of tinkering to get it running
each time.
The ‘modifications’ do not stop there.
With a larger and heavier lump under the bonnet, the front
suspension was also changed, to incorporate VW torsion bar
suspension, assisted by McPherson struts as well.
Since it now had the ability to travel much
faster than Monsieur Citroen had imagined, the retardation is
now done by Toyota disc brakes, with power assist. And to
really bring this vehicle out of yesterday, it has
air-conditioning, though when I was taken for a ride, the
owner had wound the hinged front windscreen out, and we were
treated to dynamic forced air (without the conditioning)!
It is something of an anachronism, but one
that can be used as daily transport, which the current owner
has done, and in fact this car is well known in the Pattaya
area.
Reason for sale? He now has around nine
dogs, and the car is not suitable for the enlarging
‘family’. He is looking for offers around 580,000 baht,
and so if you think you would be interested in owning a rather
unique piece of Thai motoring history, contact me and I will
pass on contact details to the owner, but definitely no
tyre-kickers, or pukka French gentry!
I almost forgot to mention - the car does have a tape
player, complete with French music! Ask nicely and I’m sure
you could score the Marsellaise or the Bouillabaisse or Edith
Piaf or something appropriate.
AThe
Lexus is still number 1 for quality
The Initial Quality Study from J.D. Power
and Associates in the US has Lexus maintaining its number 1
ranking of quality after 90 days of ownership with a score of
81 problems per 100 vehicles, which was slightly better than
their last year’s winning figures. The industry average was
118 problems per 100 vehicles.
Toyota had the top-rated vehicle in 10 of
18 segments, and the Lexus SC 430 was the highest-rated
vehicle in the study at 54 problems per 100 vehicles. The
factory in Tahara, Japan, which builds the Lexus GS 300/430
and LS 430, was again the top-rated factory for quality. The
public idea that if you have a Toyota you will have trouble
free motoring is world-wide. And the Big 3 wonder how did
Toyota manage to take over the planet? With all the financial
strife that GM and Ford are in at present, and with Toyota
making a healthy profit each year, I wonder if it is time to
review the ratings?
Hummer, which finished last in the 2004 study with a score
of 173 problems per 100 vehicles, rose to a tie for 10th place
with Hyundai this year. Hummer’s 2005 score was 110 problems
per 100 vehicles.
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week, I asked what company was the
first to sell over 1,000,000 cars in 12 months, in the world?
It was Ford in the USA with 1,216,792 delivered in 1922. Which
was easy, judging by the number of responses.
So to this week, and let’s stay with cars
manufactured. The first European company to deliver more than
one million cars in one year, did so in 1962, 40 years after
Ford! Which company was this?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be
the first correct answer to email automania@pattaya mail.com
Good luck!
RAAT Championships at Bira
Circuit
Some of you have asked for the Bira
calendar, so here you are. The following is the ‘newest’
calendar for the RAAT Championships held at the Bira circuit.
It is presented with bated breath and all good faith, so
don’t shoot me if it changes!
July 2/3
September 3/4
October 8/9
November 26/27
SuperCar championships also
at Bira
The Super Car people are quite separate
promoters, so they have their own timetable too. So pencil in
these as well.
July 23/24
September 17/18
November 5/6
