SUNDAY CAR CRUSH: PORSCHE 944 CARGO

We’ve always had a penchant for shooting brakes.

We love the combo of rakish sportiness combined with the solid practicality of serious boot space and a flat roof. Strikes us that a true sportsman not only needs a hard-edged gadabout runabout, but a bit of room to store the sporting goods; and potentially the ability to overnight in the wagon if necessary. The 944 ‘Cargo’ Porsche is one of the coolest we’ve seen of these often bespoke vehicles.

This short run edition of a custom build was the brainchild of German tuning outfit DP motorsport – with the first edition being released in 1988. According to info from the forums, DP began experimenting with the roof of a VW Passat estate laid over the top of a 944 body shell. The conversion eventually evolved into a complete remodel of the 944′s rear section, with a fibreglass roof and rear door supported by a tubular steel framework, adding increased rigidity to the otherwise open-backed coupe.

Apparently there were two or three more Cargos created in 2008 using the original bespoke glass work for the rear of the wagon. An initial seven were made, it seems.

Not sure what these beauties are going for, but we reckon the combo of scarcity value, increased stiffness and the brake practicality would mean they’d fetch a pretty penny.

September 14, 2014 0

DATSUN 240Z

We’ve had a thing about Datsun’s sporty Z cars since when they were the hottest, newest sporty Jap on the market. Call the designation the Fairlady if you like, but we’ll always think of the long nosed beauty as the Z-car. The popularity of the Z cars is perennial and understandable. I mean just look at the thing. It is automotive prettiness incarnate. We particularly dig the Datsun 240z: the earliest manifestation of the Z car that hit the market right at the start of the seventies.

Despite this appeal, these baby’s are surprisingly affordable. Just look at THIS ONE for sale at a reasonable price, tricked out and apparently clean as a whistle.

We think what’s at work here is simple, plain old fashioned brand snobbery. In this country, the Datsun moniker is, well, less than glamourous, and for some even the upgraded Nissan ident doesn’t do a lot to get the classicist juices flowing. But look: this is an extremely able, relatively rare GT with renowned reliability and the sort of panache that you only get from a Japanese GT of the seventies. We reckon this stock is bound to rise…

September 14, 2014 0

CONCEPT CORNER: MUGEN NSX RR

Mugen is amongst the aristocracy of tuning companies.

As the brainchild of Hirotoshi Honda (Soichiro’s son), it has always had a pure bloodline of producing tuned road cars and race vehicles straight out of the Honda factory. And when Honda unveiled this Honda NSX Mugen RR concept at the 2008 Tokyo Auto Salon, anyone who loves the brand was aghast.

We’re suckers for louvres…

Just look at it. It takes all the gobsmackingly futuristic elements of Honda’s Senna-developed Ferrari slayer and just goes large.

For aero oomph is features a widened front, multi-grooved rear diffuser and an adjustable rear wing. But the power unit is where it really got interesting. It came with a modified 3.2L V6 that was mounted in the more traditional longtitudal situation, whereas the original of course had been tranversely mounted. The revert to the trad here allowed the inclusion of a more conventional and barking exhaust system, and would of course had made the weight distribution different.

and bulbous air intakes…

The donor NSX, with that long, low profile and huge rear over hang was not back happy like a 911 – rather in long, sweepy corners it drifts smoothly and controllably. We reckon the longitudal mount would make that controlled drift a little more sketchy.

On the positive side, the re-mount would have allowed for better power transfer to the rear wheels as well as that more conventionally efficient exhaust outlet.

We’d kill for a chance to test THAT particular theory.

We’re suckers for louvres…

and bulbous air intakes…

and fattened wings and red calipers and….

September 13, 2014 0

Banned car ads 2.0

Ever wonder if society will ever regain its sense of humor? The auto industry has always been known to have a little bit of fun with their ad campaigns, and rightfully so. Cars are something that we all hold near and dear to our hearts. They are our getaway vehicles, our therapists and lets face it, at times total ego boosters. For some reason though the following ads were deemed either too racy, politically incorrect or too violent and have thus become victims of the censorship Gods. Honestly, I think they’re all hilarious and that the censors and most of society for that matter need to get a sense of humor. Below are 10 banned automotive ads that I have a feeling will brighten up your day. Some will make you grin and others will simply make you bust out laughing which, in the end is what your car should make you do on a daily basis right?

• Smart Fortwo: I still hate these things.

• Dodge Duragno: 7-inches… nuff said.

• BMW 3-Series: Yeah, you’re pretty much toast at this point.

• Hyundai – It’s about choice.

• Chevrolet Corvette: Probably one of the best car commercials ever made…

• Ford Sport Ka: The Europeans always get the good stuff…

• Honda Accord: A bit edgy for Honda, no?

• Nissan Pathfinder: This ad makes me happy…

• VW Polo: Small, but tough.

• Hyundai: Can you tell me why this was banned?

September 13, 2014 0

CLOSER TO THE EDGE

Whatever you think of the ethical whys and wherefores of the Isle of Man TT, hold tight until 22 April, when the the 3D documentary Closer to the Edge will hit screens all over the UK.

It focuses on self-style maverick Guy Martin and his love of Road Racing – and examines the motivations, action and consequences of some of the most dangerous racing ever taken on by man and machine.

Not having seen the film at time of writing we can’t really comment – but we’ve always been of the opinion that danger is an inherent and wholly understood aspect of motor racing of all kinds.

As long as there are roads and machines, men and women are going to want to race them – no matter what the consequences.

Look out for the movie. It’s bound to be a worthwhile watch.

September 11, 2014 0

THE SCUDERIA CHRONICLES

The FXX programme is the ultimate interface between F1 technology and production cars.

Michael Schumacher helped herald a revolution in the scuderia’s fortunes

Tony Dodgins on Ferrari’s unique motorsport heritage

Ferrari is the most evocative name in Formula 1 and the most passionately supported team the world over.

Ever present since the beginning of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship in 1950, Ferrari has won 15 world drivers’ championships and 16 constructors’ titles, making it the most successful team in the sport’s history. But it’s more than that. It’s about that prancing horse insignia, Italian style, the blood red cars and exclusivity.

The “Cavallino Rampante” was the personal motif of Italian WW1 flying ace Francesco Baracca, who carried a red horse on his planes. After his death, his mother, Countess Paolina suggested to Enzo Ferrari that heroic racing exploits reflected the spirit of her son – today it would be called ‘synergy’ – and so Enzo adopted a black prancing horse with the yellow colours of Modena as background.

After Alfa Romeo dominated the inaugural 1950 championship, Froilan Gonzalez, ‘the Pampas Bull’ broke their winning streak in a V12 Ferrari 375 at the 1951 British Grand Prix. With changed rules at the end of the year Alfa withdrew and in ’52-3 Alberto Ascari won consecutive titles in the 4-cylinder 2.0 litre Tipo 500 Ferrari.

With new 2.5-litre rules in 1954, Ferrari struggled against Maserati, Mercedes Benz and Juan Manuel Fangio but, by 1956, the great Argentine driver was in a Ferrari and claimed Ferrari’s third drivers’ title before returning to Maserati.

The constructors championship was introduced in 1958 and although Mike Hawthorn was drivers champion with just a single victory in his Ferrari to Vanwall driver Stirling Moss’s four, the inaugural makers’ title fell to Vanwall.

Enzo Ferrari first got his hands on it in 1961 when American Phil Hill took the title, now for 1.5-litre cars, in the distinctive shark-nose Ferrari 156.

Motorcycle ace John Surtees became the only man to win world titles on two wheels and four when he took the 1964 championship in the V8-powered Ferrari 158, winning at Nurburgring and Monza. ‘Big John’, who loved his time at Ferrari, eventually fell out with team manager Eugenio Dragoni.

Ferrari then endured more than 10 years in the doldrums before claiming both titles in 1975 with Niki Lauda behind the wheel of the 312T. Lauda was badly burned in a crash at Nurburgring the following season but came back heroically six weeks later at Monza to try to defend his championship lead. He finished fourth, his fireproof balaclava coated in blood from unhealed wounds. Lauda, who’d had operations on his eyelids, could not blink properly and clear his eyes of tears, spelling an early retirement from the wet season finale in Japan, where he lost his crown to James Hunt by a single point. Lauda won a second Ferrari championship in ’77 before he, too, tired of Maranello politics and left to join Bernie Ecclestone’s Brabham team. There’s nice old footage of Lauda in action below, as well as a shocking memory of the horrific crash.

That opened the door for Gilles Villeneuve, possibly the most revered Ferrari driver of all time. Gilles drove the wheels off his cars (quite literally at Zandvoort in 1979) and was adored by the tifosi, although it was team mate Jody Scheckter who used consistency to win the 1979 world title in Ferrari’s flat-12 engined T4. The little French-Canadian, father of ’97 world champion Jacques, won six races for the team before crashing fatally at Zolder in qualifying for the 1982 Belgian GP.

Just two weeks earlier he had been livid at team mate Didier Pironi, who he claimed had ‘stolen’ his win at Imola. They had not spoken since and, at Zolder, there were seven minutes of qualifying remaining when Villeneuve left the pits for the last time, with Pironi faster… With just one chance to prove his point on ‘sticky’ qualifying rubber, he went over the back of Jochen Mass’s March and was thrown from his Ferrari 126C2. The car was the class of the field that year but Pironi’s own title challenge and career was ended by a crash a rainy Hockenheim practice session two months later.

After Scheckter’s success in ’79, Ferrari could boast only constructors’ titles in 1982-3 and ’99 before Michael Schumacher ended a 21-year wait for its next drivers title in 2000. It was the beginning of unprecedented levels of reliability and success in F1, with Schumacher winning five consecutive titles and Ferrari winning the constructors crown in every year of the ‘noughties’, save for a 2005-6 interruption from Fernando Alonso and Renault. Kimi Raikkonen became the ninth driver to win the world title in a Ferrari when he pipped McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso in the last race of the controversial 2007 ‘Spygate’ season.