Tuesday 27 November 2012

DeLorean Love, Part #1

 
I have a confession to make. I want a DeLorean.

It has nothing to do with Back To The Future, I've never even driven one.

I just that I think that they are hopelessly cool.

[image]

For years I have struggled to express why, but now someone put those thoughts into words for me on retrorides
 
 
… I love these cars, for all their faults, for all the poor build quality, for all that they have an asthmatic Volvo/Renault lump hanging out of their rear end, for all that you need to know in advance which of those excellent one-off wheels is going to get a puncture because they're different sizes front and rear...

 
... I love them because they're utterly mad, bonkers, unique, funky, and funded by a coke-peddling, fund-embezzling, Thatcher-scamming, Belfast-rejuvenating, GMC-baiting lunatic, which is beyond cool in anyone's language, and we will not see their like again!

 
Plus, they were styled so well by Giugiaro that they still look futuristic even whilst they've become hopelessly dated, and that's a hell of a trick to pull off.


But that's not all, because recently I discovered that the tooling used for the cars lies not far away from me on the sea bed of Galway Bay.

When the DeLorean factory closed, the tooling was sold off to scrapyards throughout Ireland.

Läpple, a company based in Carlow who manufactured stainless steel sections of the DMC-12 initiated the disposal and material passed through several scrap yards in 1984:

Galway Metal, Oranmore; Hammond Lane Metal Company, Dublin (closed in 1996) and Haulbowline Industries, Passage West, Cork.

Using another industrial relic, the Severn Princess (the car ferry Bob Dylan is shown waiting for in the photo below, taken in 1966) ...

 
... a group of Galway fishermen collected twelve pieces of DeLorean tooling from Haulbowline Industries in 1984 and brought them to Emerald Fisheries (1984 to 2001) in Kilkiernan Bay, Co. Galway where the heavy cast iron was sunk to anchor a large salmon cage located at the surface.
 
As recently as 2009 three of the sections were still visible, today providing a home to crabs and lobsters:
 
 
 
 
 
 
All information above from:

Monday 26 November 2012

Wolfsburg in the 1960s

einestages.de, part of Der Spiegel do a great and regularly updated page with daily German and international history.

A few days ago they published images from a coffee table book called "Wolfsburg - Images of a Young City" from 1963 which is also forming part of an exhibition in Berlin.

The main article, and all the images are here: http://einestages.spiegel.de/external/ShowTopicAlbumBackground/a25978/l0/l0/F.html#featuredEntry

The sub-plot to the exhibition and the city built around the VW factory is that of a very large Italian community who came to the city for work in the post-war German economic boom.

What is striking about the images is the absolute ubiquity of the Beetle.

Personally, I find it hard to imagine living in a town where practically everyone you know is doing the same job earning the same wage. Speccing a 1300 S over a 1300 A would have singled you out as being seriously aspirational, adding a set of spots probably marked you as borderline mad.

On the other hand, maybe it was a been a great place to live as everyone would have had to have moved there from somewhere else. By all accounts the work was well-payed by national standards and for the first time in a generation there was lasting peace.

VW-Werk

Porschestraße

VW-Werk

VW-Werk

Das Volkswagenwerk

Wolfsburg

Saturday 24 November 2012

Winter work part two - shock therapy

The S1 Elise came with Koni "red" shocks from the factory. These are recognised as being a good damper, but they're really not good enough for the Elise chassis. They clunk and knock and are too softly sprung meaning it's possible to roll the car far enough to fully extend the inside rear shock - which makes things interesting when you're really on it!

 So, part of the upgrade plan was always some new shocks and I was lucky enough this year to be able to pick up a set of Nitrons secondhand from Irelands Lotus guru patmcb, with spring weights chosen for a perfect fast road and occasional trackday setup - 325lbs front, 400 rear. While the car was there the shocks were fitted, corner weights taken and adjusted with my considerable ballast in the drivers seat and all the geometry set a little more aggressively.

 Car weight with around a half tank of petrol;

The change was instantly noticeable. Firstly of course the doubling of spring rates meant the car was transmitting a lot more bumps to me at town speeds, but it was thankfully far from harsh or severe. But it is at 80kph and above that the new suspension setup comes alive. What was fidgety at slow speeds suddenly begins to flow as the damping circuits find their mojo.

 By far the greatest improvement however is in the twisties. The higher spring rates control the body roll to a much greater degree, a future roll bar upgrade will improve things further but for now roll is controlled enough to keep all wheels on the ground at all times when cornering. What's more, even with only a single damping adjuster it is possible to feel the difference in only a few clicks which can completely change the balance of the car.

 Anyhow, enough babbling on, after a few months on the car they were filthy and one of the adjusters had stiffened up. So with the car in hibernation for the winter I decided to give the shocks a good clean and loosen out the adjuster, ready for action next year. An hour in the shed and a half can of wd40 later.... :) 

Before;
 

After;
 

Friday 23 November 2012

What Could Possibly Go Wrong - #Week 3.5

If your €1000 are still burning a hole in your pocket this morning after the previous temptation below, you might find you could do worse than go quasi-barging again.

The Volvo C70 was a bit of a departure for the company in abandoning their slabby, rectangular (yet still cool) styling but kept a lot of the things the marque had become associated with - safety, comfort and useful performance. It was a new departure for Volvo and while one could say that they should probably have stuck to what they knew, it probably marked the tipping point when they cast off the stereotype of being a supplier to architects and assistant school principals of Golden Retriever transporters.

The platform is from the old 850 so it won't set the world alight in handling terms. They are supposed to get a little wayward at big speeds too but somewhere in the middle these were by all accounts quite the motorway cruiser, and most sport mileages in excess of 120,000 - 140,000 which seems to attest to this.

There was a little more coolness to the C70 too; TWR - who turned the 850 in both saloon and estate form into successful touring cars - contributed to the basic design and sussy setup while they were handbuilt. All of this is good for bragging in the pub, but the bespoke body might be a little challenging for getting insurers to cover it at reasonable value.

Two things to note about the ad is that the NCT is expired, however you could well be lucky and find that at the current mileage a lot of niggles have already been sorted and the to-do list is quite small.

The other thing is something the ad fails to mention but a quick check of the reg shows - this is not an NA version, but the 2.4 (light-pressure) Turbo model which sports respectable performance figures of a 140mph top end and 0-60 times of 7.9 secs.

It's not the range topping T5 but the 2.4 LPT was said by some to have been the better compromise as it was sprung softer and the more linear power delivery helped keep the bills for front tyres under control.


They have to be purchased with eyes wide open as the electronics have a reputation for a kind of borkage not seen since the Swedish Chef, but all in all - if you consider the spec (the then-class leading stereo in some of these has 18 speakers, for example) - it might well be a great thing to mooch around in.


Photo
 
€995
 

Wednesday 21 November 2012

What Could Possibly Go Wrong: Three for Week 3

This caught my eye. Yes, it's another eight cylinder Bahnstormer. At €1100, it's nearly four times more expensive than the last 40AoY 730. One would also have to wonder if there's any value in buying a car with 151,000miles that needs an NCT and Tax in January… Still though, it's got every extra, including dimmed idicators!
HI,, here is for sale 96 stunning V8 engine BMW 730(most comfy and smooth car i ever driven!!) i purchased this car exacly 1 year ago from galway and i never had any problem with it..just genuine reason for sale upgrading to 6 series(yes bit petrol head)high spec as for 96 car.(18inchM5 alloys worth at least 500E).dual climate control,cruise control,full electric control driver AND PASSENGER!! seats,folding down passenger mirror while on reverse gear,sun roof,auto gear with sport mode,full grey leather interior,spotless clean wood triming,,and more( I ALSO UPGRADED FRONT IDICATORS AND REAR HEADLAMPS FOR DIMMED ONES LOOKS COOL COST ME 300 AS SEEN ON THE PICS..)...SHE IS TAXED for another month NCT-01-13,,PLS NO DREAMERS for test drive ..only genuine buyers who can afford this car..any questions dont hasitate...MIKE(car located in Ballina MAYO in every day use!)!>>NO SILLY OFFERS PLS!!
http://cars.donedeal.co.uk/for-sale/cars/3880939
Or how about a Ford V8-powered Nissan Skyline?
In its current flame-spitting guise, I imagine it's about as road legal as last week's dune buggy. I'm sure it would make a very interesting trackday weapon or alternative barbecue or fireworks display.

The seller is open to offers, or to break the car. http://cars.donedeal.co.uk/for-sale/cars/4169347

2.0 on tax book but is running a 5.0l v8 ford mustang 302 cu in,converted it to run on skyline gearbox, car is driving on on the button,built this for fun but now a new project has come up, may p/x, try me, phone calls prefered as you,ll ring if ur serious,

Speaking of things illuminating, my eyes lit up when I spotted this. My Gran had a DAF back in the 80s, with its continuously variable "rubber band" transmission and furry seats, it's one of the few retro/classic cars I'd like to get my hands on. With fewer than a thousand miles per year on this example, I think the worst issues would arise from lack of use. If it was solid (and the pictures would indicate it is) a little recommisioning work should have it back and running in time for the show season next spring. http://cars.donedeal.co.uk/for-sale/vintagecars/4156471
Very rare barn find Daf 44 Variomatic. The car has been in a shed in England since 1979 and has covered only 29k miles. No real rot on it, engine is free but I haven't had it running(no reason why it won't), bodywork in excellent condition and really only requires a respray. The interior is immaculate and not a mark on it with the original radio still there. Chrome work also in excellent condition as are all of the lights and glass. The drive belt is stil there and intact and actually looks to be in good condition. Wheels all free, brakes work. No log book or keys although I have the receipt from purchasing it and the owner details of the only owner it ever had. I was contacted by the chairman of the owners club who tells me there is only one of this model still on the road in the UK. A nice car to add to any collection and a very easy restoration. €1550 or near offer

Monday 19 November 2012

Spanish Alpines

So there is a neat little private collection on a winding road to Guadalest in Eastern Spain that is open to the public. While predominantly motorbikes ....



... there are a few cars. The common theme throughout most of the collection is that they were manufactured in Spain. Which did pose the question, what is that in the middle as it looks oddly like an Alpine 108!

It turned out that in the 70s Alpine struck manufacturing deals in:
1. Mexico - called the 'Dinalpin'
2. Bulgaria - called the 'Bulgaralpine'
3. Brazil - called the 'Interlagos'
4. Spain - called the 'FASA'

So behold the FASA. It's a beautiful, petite car like all Alpines of the vintage.


 
 


Here's its guts:


Saturday 17 November 2012

A Sunday Morning Blast....

Parc fermé
Sunday morning dawns & I open my eyes around 7am. If I’m away early enough I'll get out for a decent spin before North Tipp wakes up for Mass & hang sandwiches.

I sit in the kitchen eating a bowl of Cornflakes & checking the latest ramblings on t'internet. Enough of cyberworld now, time to get out & drive.




I have a quick glance over an OS map of the area and put together a loose plan for the trip. This morning is also going to be a first test for my new tyres. They were just fitted to the Subaru yesterday & are hardly scrubbed in yet. I’ve a full tank of Maxol’s finest vintage E5, Neil Young is cued up on the ipod & I’ve a tasty cup of fresh coffee in a travel cup. It’s going to be a good morning.....

The Warm up Run
A light frost overnight means the windscreen needs a dollop of water – hope it’s not icy on higher ground. I hop in, belt up & turn her over. The Flat Four starts with a familiar wup-wup, wuv-wuv-wuv & settles immediately into a rumbly idle. I have this Impreza for a while now, but there is still a sense of occasion when I fire it up. Engine notes are a big part of the driving experience & I love the offbeat thrum of this one.

So, out of the estate now sipping on my coffee & warming up the engine & drivetrain. The temperature gauge is firmly at the cold position as we head North towards Newport Co. Tipperary. A cold engine is a thing that I truly believe should be treated gently. I don’t understand how guys hop in & blast on up the road up at 4 & 5 thousand rpm, it’s just not proper. Back in the land of all that’s right, we’re negotiating the drive towards the mountains. I can see Keeper Hill in the distance, with some patches of snow still evident, in spite of the milder weather the last week or so.

About 5 minutes into the trip, the temperature gauge begins to head for the mid range. We have heat in the cabin & we’re motoring along at a happy 2500rpm. The coffee’s good & Neil Young plays gently in the background. First impressions of the new tyres are of much reduced road noise at cruising speed which should make for less fatigue on the longer trips.

I’m looking forward to seeing the other improvements….

Heading for the Hills
We’re fully up to temperature and heading firmly for bandit country! Traffic is light as we leave the town of Newport - so far the only car we’ve met was a fogged up little fiesta which was dispatched with ease. I take a last gulp of coffee & turn up the music, about half way through Powderfinger at this stage – class tune.

Starting to set a good pace now – the roads are abandoned & bone dry. My worries about slippy tarmac were unfounded, plenty of grip there. Sharp downhill stretch, blip the throttle on braking & change down to 3rd. Another blip and into 2nd.

Over the bridge now, check that it’s clear - then open the taps. On full boost now & back up through the ‘box. Not the fastest of gear shifts, it requires a brief pause as you cross the gate to get a smooth shift, all in the name of prolonging the equipment!




We're well on the way to the village of Silvermines, we’ll take in a 20mile route that is the one of toughest challenges I know of for a road car (locally at least!). It takes in steep inclines, hairpins, long flowing bends & undulating bog roads. The road width varies from about 20ft to 7ft in spots, depending on the time of year. It’s a road which is rife with sudden changes in surface & height, providing plenty of opportunity for drama if you’re caught napping. The E30 loved it…..

We’ve Arrived
On arrival to the T junction marking the beginning of the mountain route, we pause briefly & draw a breath. Right or straight-on? Right brings you East into the valley & immediately onto the mountain pass. Straight-on offers a 150m altitude drop on a 2 mile stretch of road, with plenty of crests and sharp dips to entertain, straight-on it is then!



Up through the gears now, not a hint of wheel spin from the 4wd system, just lots and lots of grip. The forced induction propels us forward at a rate of knots. All downhill stuff here, the road surface is very uneven with plenty of dips & humps to challenge the suspension, you can feel the dampers working very hard at this point. We’re braking down hard now for a series of tight bends. Looking down and to the left you can see the path of the new Limerick Dublin Motorway – its like another world.


A slight hint of ABS into the right hander and then onto the straighter sections. The road widens a bit here and is sighted for about 500metres – its clear ahead, back up into 4th now as we descend towards Shallee Cross – my ears have actually popped! I can see the final nasty crest now & brake down a little. Power-on at the last second to keep the nose up – a firm landing but no problems to report. We’ll have to revisit that crest I think….

Deliverance
We’re onto proper regional roads now. Nice sweeping bends & plenty of room to maneuver. Still haven’t met anyone since we passed the Fiesta back in Newport, I’m really enjoying this spin. Neilers has been reintroduced to the cabin. He got muted back at the twisty bridge, the flat four completely upstaged him!

The new tyres are really showing their worth, providing a noted increase in stability under braking & during turn in. Both of which were badly lacking in the old tyres.

Some severe potholes on the entrance to Silvermines village – nearly knocked my fillings out. Nice & quietly we burble up Main Street, heading for the mountain road. The church dominates the foreground, the backdrop is provided by the Silvermine Mountains themselves.




This coming section of road is pure torture for drivetrains. It’s a steep ascent of 250m over a distance of about 2miles. There are plenty of straight sections but you need to be hard on the brakes to a crawling pace for each bend. Both cars need to take the ditch if they meet in opposite directions. Best be sensible!


If you knew there was nothing else on the road you could really have fun here. The engine is on full song now, all whooshy & burbly on the overrun – tunes once again are muted! After a few minutes we reach the viewing point & hop out to take in the morning. At 300m above sea level, the views here are just spectacular. I can see Banagher, 40miles to the North, on the clearest of days you can see for over 100 miles.


Lough Derg looks like a duck pond from this height! The last time I was here was in the E30 & the smell of gear oil was thick in the air when we got to the top. It doesn’t seem to have knocked the slightest puff out of the Impreza.


Time now to head for the valley between Keeper and The Silvermine Mountains. The views of Keeper are just breathtaking. We are taking it nice & handy, plenty of unexpected, alloy-shattering things can happen on these narrow roads.



Dropping in height steadily now as we enter the wooded area. I'd love to be let loose here in a MkII escort. I just don’t have the confidence in my own ability to push it hard through these hairpins in my road car – those pines look very unforgiving! However, I do roll the window down & keep the revs high for effect!


On we go through the valley, lots of straight, sighted road here, the gravel peppers the bottom of the car. I can only imagine what it would be like here with the road closed off. A caged car with full race gear, sweaty palms under Sparco gloves. A co-driver roaring the 'notes out – up the middle here – stay on it, 500 into 4 right TIGHTENS – DON’T CUT! Speedo firmly past the 120mph mark. A ½ mile trail of gravel & smoke in the rear view - Legendry Stuff.


In reality I'm tipping along at 2500rpm – ‘Hey Hey, My My’ plays in the background. We’re back where we started now on the Newport Road – Still no sign of mass traffic.



Time for another lap…..



Volkswagen to launch the FACT! in 2013

Following on from the critical acclaim of their recently launched Up! Range, Volkswagen are due to launch their FACT! Range in 2013.

According to the press bumf “Volkswagen historically have always had a strong relationship with Ireland, from KND kit manufacture of the Beetle, to in-life destructive testing throughout the ‘80s with rural owners of Jettas, and indeed the testing of a suite of brands here now. Fact!"

They went on to say “Ireland’s culture now is leading edge in many respects such as technology and austerity so we were cognisant of, and moved swiftly to capture, the zeitgeist of Irish life. This is why we now proudly bring you the Volkswagen FACT!”.

Mirroring the MQB platform-sharing architecture first seen in the Mk7 Golf, the FACT! utilises a specific configuration coded internally as ‘IMF’. This is built down to a price that would make a mexican owner blush, but provides a very cost-effective base on which to build the FACT! and allows multiple styles and propulsive devices to be marketed for specific countries and demographics. Ireland is the brand launch country, with three trim levels being provided at launch. These are as follows:

WhiteLine – top of the range, sporting a mirrored external finish with French accents inside including multiple powder holders. Off-road, urban warrior accoutrements are a no cost option, replacing the chrome accents with ‘Columbian "High"land' exterior cladding. Luxurious multiple cylinder engines are the only option, all mated to 8spd DSG gearboxes. Full connectivity is standard, using SmugCloud synergization of social media, active cruise control designed for urban environments and, a world first, linked to the location of your socialite/mumsie buddies where it will drop a window, slow down, and allow you to say ‘must do lunch – bring Tarquin!’ whilst simultaneously updating your Facepalm account. Dynamically it is utter, utter, UTTER $hit with no redeeming qualities other than not making much noise as it bounces & shudders and crashes its way along, but Volkwagen are confident that "over the last 20years we have progressively lowered the appreciation of such things to the point that our demographic are now uneducated as to how a car should perform, and equate ‘painful’ with ‘sporty’.". Which contextualises why so many bored housewifes equate rough anal to a bit of daytime sport, and also that a lot of male Audi drivers are obviously pillow biters.

FrontLine – expected to the the most popular FACT! model, bought predominantly by the ‘coping classes’. This is fully specced outside with large wheels, additional chrome accents, 2.7TDi 4motion badging and sophisticated colour combinations that ‘express the comfortable, educated and informed style of their moderately successful owners’ according to Volkswagen. In a clever juxtaposition the powerplant is a 1.4TDi driving a single front wheel only. A pay-as-you-go meter is housed in the centre console in place of any in car entertainment. Upholstery is modelled on Pat Kennys general demeanour, as is the unyielding wooden-feeling seats which serve to act as a form of self-flagelation for even staying in this god-forsaken country, never mind for buying a new FACT! in the first place to impress the neighbours when you can’t afford Christmas. The Frontline can only turn left.

BreadLine – the entry level model, but the one Volkwagen is the most excited about as being "leading edge both environmentally and socially, bringing synergies across multiple value-led brands, and giving Dacia a dirty sanchez". In fact, if you will pardon the pun, the BreadLine is a market-leading pre-owned scheme of sorts, levering the sunk manufacturing and CO2 costs of existing VW models while enhancing with components of the IMF platform. End-of-life products from eastern europe are cost-effectively refreshed, with drivetrain components removed and replaced with Shimano. “It’s our first holistic zero-emissions vehicle” one VW marketing person enthused; “Greenpeace can go fuck right off to another stand at the next motorshow!”. This zero-emissions drivetrain actively encourages carpooling as a consequence, cutting journey times both by reducing the number of cars on the road and how quickly they can move. The interiors are re-trimmed with a wicking material supplied by designer value brand ‘Crivit. By Lidl’.

Also available to special order is the:

INFACT!AAA – expected to be ordered mostly by government departments this has an extended wheelbase, interior by Louis Copland, IED level protection and absolutely no communication package at all.

FACT!Felt! - which comes with no springs as standard, full window tint, Mercedes alloys and pizza delivery rack on the passenger seat.

Why I hated Elises (Mar-11)

I bought my Elise in May 2007. Spent about 9months wrapped up in the entire process, figuring out the S1 vs VX debate, driving some wildly variable examples, chasing VRT prices, endlessly trawling Pistonheads etc.

Then, 1 week before I was due to go to the UK for exams and also to drive my shortlist and exchange a bank draft for one of them, a Sport 135 came up in Ireland with 28,000miles on the clock. One up for sale was as rare as hens teeth (only 50 original 135s were made to get around Type Approval), and it got a reputation for being the optimum Series 1 (as a package better than the more powerful VVis and Sport 160s) pretty early - 2nd in EVO Car of the Year 1999, and in their top ten drivers cars of 1994-2004. Clean ones were fetching a premium then (and now - the few I've seen ranged from anywhere from £10-14k!). So I went, I saw, and I drove home.

That's nearly 4 years ago. Every performance car I have had before that lasted 18months max. There was a reason for that - growing experience, growing budget, diminishing insurance etc. But still, four years is a long time to be with a car. So why? I've been asking myself this alot - job moves, more responsibilty, less time, 2 kids, lack of funds, getting older, occasional lack of interest, lack of a Celtic Tiger..... who knows, a combination of the lot.

I've thought about changing every now & again, but a quick text to Ultrasound normally sets me straight. In the last year I've been thinking hard about changing though, and in the last week or so, have actually been doing something about it. But but but....

The NCT is booked for next Monday, so I dusted it off, connected up the battery, and rolled it out of the garage where it has mainly been since November. Up on to the ramps, undertray off, oil drained, new filter on, and a bit of pipe replaced with something more catalysing. It is such a basic car, and being able to do these simple tasks on it is quite fulfilling.

I was home handy this evening, so back it came out out of the garage, roof off, childseat in, Nitrons cranked way back from OTD7s dry setup, and a 40min spin with my 3yr old for milk, to the pier looking at boats and generally faffing about as the blue sky turned navy.

And this is what pi$$es me off about the Elise. It just Does Not Stop Giving. I make excuses for why I haven't sold it, or why I should be selling it, but I always skirt around the main issue which is it is bloody brilliant. Grunty, SO nimble, instant response to inputs, unservoed brakes, gargling induction (and 'tis only a 4 cylinder - god bless Typhoons sealed system chuffing away @ the passenger intake), really rigid chassis with no perceptible flex, and the steering, oh the steering. And roof off driving is an event in itself. And its 1.8 tax, an average of over 30mpg over 13,000miles including all the trackdays & B-road blasts, light on tyres, brakes, bushes etc..

After a weekend analysing and rejecting 996s due to their cylinder ovality issue, I'm looking at 3.2 Boxster S' at the moment, but I wonder will it bring anything worthwhile to the party. It isn't my daily driver so the extra comfort/toys/useability isn't essential, and the Elise is just an event 24/7, with every drive still being a voyage of pure, light principles translated into communicative discovery of each roads subtleties. It'd be change for changes sake, which isn't enough of a reason when my yoke is so sorted now and so good to drive. And if I yearn more power, which I do, then I spoil its originality (and potential value).

So I hate Elises. And I hate the hold it has on me. 4 bloody years!!!



(Since originally publishing this, I actually kept it for another year! It was then sold to a Netherlands Lotus dealer as I had already bought the Nein!Elf)

Buzz Light Fear (May-10)

Lying in bed @ 4am, I awoke with a start. Ahhhh, finally; I was beginning to get The Fear.

It had been a busy few weeks with lots on my mind including work stuff, Ring trip stuff, sorting temporary comp cover out on a car with no roof, doors, or windscreen….. it was all welcome distraction. Now ‘Zero to 100’ seconds were all that was in my head.

18.7 = Clio RS 197
14.6 = BMW 850CSi
10.5 = Audi R8 V8
9.2 = Porsche 997 GT3
8.0 = Ferrari F40
6.6 = Ferrari Enzo
5.7 = Bugatti Veyron

In around 12 hours time I was going to be driving a car that did the benchmark supercar number in 6.8 seconds. It’s not a lot of time – I was counting it in my head, then rationalizing that it didn’t seem that fast. Maybe I was counting too slow, or maybe I was half asleep. Anyway, I fell back asleep an hour later, counting sheep jumping over what looked like lattice scaffolding.

By 11am I was ready to hit the road from Cork. I met Motorhead & AFE in Motorheads place for a rasher sandwich and some AFE vs Garmin debate on what was the handiest way to get to Ultrasounds place when we weren’t quite sure where his place actually was. Fortunately, once we hit the road Ultrasound texted me on the post code (along with ‘60% of throttle available in first inch’ and other motivational stats) so we punched that in. Unfortunately, we decided to use AFEs satnav, which couldn’t keep up with a Xantia 1.9 diesel on roundabouts and selectively didn’t show what it considered non-essential roads. AFE had been praising it so he must drive realllllly slow. We eventually all landed into the house with our first educated guess by Motorhead on which obscure lane to drive down.

What a sight was there to greet us; shining in the late afternoon sunlight, Rocket and Atom. My stomach leapt with excitement. We pored over the two cars while Mammy Ultrasound generously provided some tea and biscuits.






It was kicking on toward 6pm, we’d plenty of driving to be getting on with, and I was keen to do so! Unfortunately Ultrasound & the Rocket were unavailable to go, so we got on with pre-flight checks - they take a whole lot longer with an Atom, and AFE helped with some of this while Motorhead managed to find the comms gubbins: lift harnesses out of the way, step over chassis on to seat and drop down. Adjust harnesses to suit (not the job of a moment as space is at a premium). Put battery kill switch in, put immobilizer jobby where it needs to go, flick pumps toggle, hit start button to begin getting fluids warmed up. Get comms headphones inside helmet. Put helmet on. Put comms mouth piece in helmet somewhere. Then plug into comms system behind you. Put harnesses on. Jump as you accidentally hit throttle and intake just beside your left ear barks. Smile. Feel ‘de fear’ momentarily again. Hit throttle on purpose this time. Smile more. Before long myself & Motorhead were both strapped in, intercom’d-up and rolling out the driveway, AFE & his yellow Exige looming menacingly behind.

First impressions are that the Atom is very tractable; the clutch is nice, and first to fifth gears are found easily enough. Sixth takes concentration as you’re afraid of finding reverse, and likewise a blip from sixth to fourth’s hard as the gate is vague down that corner – I wasn’t confident and soon went 6-5-4 as a consequence. The steering is nice: not too quick, mostly settled, accurate, and lovely to hold. The ride is quite firm but not bad either, although you quickly notice the front end is properly light and can move around a bit. The first 10-15 miles are spent on winding Bs, in fifth and sixth, keeping revs below 4k, using the light weight and torque to flow effortlessly with the road and traffic. I’m surprised at how friendly it is, although brief moments of additional throttle in high gears at low-ish revs quickly elicit a shove that points to mongo flet further up the rev range. I’m not ready for that just yet.

Soon we ease out on to a dual carriage way. Traffic is light, the road is smooth, and I experiment with throttle movement & the delivery characteristics. After a bit I feel confident enough to drop to 30-40ish, put it in third, and ease the pedal steadily and to the stop for the first time. Mother of God. I genuinely did not expect the complete fury unleashed by this yoke. Lights flash on the wheel in an instant, and a change to fourth is made equally instantly, followed swiftly with a short shift to fifth and sixth as I get my head around what I’d just unleashed. I think my vision blurred. I know some organs moved, and tickled other organs along the way because all my innards tingled.

I’m struggling with the point of continuing writing as I think it’s impossible to truly describe

Just

How

Mental

The

Atom

Is!!!!!


Still, for those of you not accustomed to Hyabusas & race bikes I’ll try. Do you know when you go on a crazy fairground ride that drops you 200ft without warning, or you have had a near miss with a fatal fall off a cliff or a bus hitting you or something? Well that adrenaline/pit of stomach turmoil is exactly like what happens when you open an Atom up fully. My preconceptions of 6.8sec to 100, and the thought of unleashing some of it, were actually less than the reality. I laughed a lot after that first squirt. I’d say poor Motorhead didn’t know half of the babbling coming out of me, but he was laughing too. I won’t dwell on the mental speed; you’ll just have to try experience it for yourself, preferably not by falling off a cliff or into a bus! But it is fcuking MENTAL and life-altering.

Ok, so on we went, laughing a lot at the whole experience. We made the decision that, while time was ticking and family duties, car organization, pints & food were calling back south, it would be remiss not to take the long way on this beautiful sunny, dry Saturday evening. I was getting comfortable with the immense speed potential the car had, and both the Atoms and my own abilities to meter out percentages of it where safe to do so. So a nice flow began to emerge on the B roads, and I was able to use some brain processing power to concentrate more on the whole experience again. The ‘seats’ are superb – while moulded and unpadded plastic shells in reality, they held me well (harnesses help a lot obviously) and were also really comfortable for the whole trip. The brakes are also without fault. I didn’t try locking them up, but did do a trial stop with increasing pressure; they are strong, wonderfully progressive, and with a solid pedal to work off for heel & toeing.

The car put down the power really well (better than Motorheads experience last year. Fresher AO48s and a warm dry day helped enormously) but I have to say that, while curious, I didn’t have much interest in even approaching a point where it might not! Equally I didn’t seek out too much of the subtleties of its dynamic make-up – 600bhp/ton to rear wheels and the fact its limits are so high in a steady state cornering scenario meant it would be insane and irresponsible to, not to mention risking a painful exposure of my own lack of talent. This is a car you take very seriously – four simple seconds could have you from exiting a 40mph bend to barreling into the unseen or unexpected at over 100mph. Did I mention how mental it is? I did note again that, while not seeming to be overly stiffly sprung, the front is occasionally deviated from your chosen line at a time when you didn’t think it would from reading the road or brake/throttle/steering input. It was more noticeable under brakes where a lumpy surface, cambers or the road crown could easily see you moving a foot or more. It was almost a gentle hopping if in a bend, and only at certain speeds. It might be a geo or tyre pressure thing, and I’d imagine even minute adjustments make a huge impact on a car so light. Still, it knocked confidence a smidge. No harm.

Staying within the safe confines of prudence, there is still adequate pace and driving enjoyment to be had. About 50 miles in, Motorhead & the satnav directed me into a lovely section that ran for several miles – it was reasonably smooth, some well-sighted bends, rolling countryside, few houses or adjoining roads, sun getting low and flickering through the tree-lined canopy, air sucked in through the intake, supercharger whining, shift lights winking, synchros unmeshing & meshing, feet dancing on the pedals, all controls feeling spot on …... It is locked in my ‘magic motoring moment’ vault forever.

We had to spend some time on main roads, inevitably. And the amount of buffeting increases seemingly exponentially with speed. A constant 65mph rapidly becomes a pain in the hole, simple as. Overtaking trucks however, becomes a thing of joy. Pull out, coast clear, foot down, and you’re lifting off before you pass the truck a couple of seconds later.

All too soon a couple of hours have passed and we pulled into Motorheads driveway, parked up alongside the orange Exige S and Sport 135, hit the ignition toggle, and reflected. The car, far from being a monster, is actually really drivable – surprisingly so considering the massive power such a light car has to manage over a large speed range. My few criticisms are no doubt the product of such dynamic constraints, my lack of understanding of them, and unfamiliarity with the breed. What is in no doubt is that I got out of that Atom, stood there, and found myself slightly shaking with the buzz of it all, randomly giggling, simply unable to stop smiling. What a car, what a privilege. Thanks Ultrasound. And thanks for sharing the experience alongside me Motorhead.


Safely back in Motorheads, with my old Elise Sport 135 behind.

A brief history of the Lamborghini chassis

This post is prompted by a re-read by myself of the wonderful Autocar tale of picking up 3 gold Lambos (Urraco P300, Countach, and Silhouette) from Sant’ Agatha in the 70s, the dash across Europe shortly before speed limits were introduced to French autoroutes, and the eventual fate of the Countach shortly after. I include the final paragraphs here:

POSTSCRIPT: COUNTACH’S SAD FAREWELL…
High up on London’s A40 Westway, just where it climbs away from Marylebone Road and heads west over the rooftops for Oxford, a metallic gold Lamborghini Countach was being smashed to pieces.
Some fool had chopped across its path mid-bend. It started spinning in great big arcs, thumping into the barrier on one side of the road and being flung back to smash against the other side.

The nose was pounded back to the windscreen in the first gyration, taking the front wheels with it. The side had already gone and, as it slammed into the barrier for the last time, the tail was flattened to the engine – that glorious V12.

I was driving the other way, into London, and saw it happening right there in front of me. I couldn’t believe it. I shouted with anguish…horror…anger. Even in the blur of the destruction, before it had stopped and I had parked to run across and see if the driver was all right, I knew it was my Countach.

We’d only had 48 hours together. But each hour, every single minute, was a jewel that I, and the three others who’d shared the experience, will treasure forever. That Countach, along with the Silhouette and Urraco, was the one that had whisked us halfway across Europe in our epic high-speed convoy.

Its occupants were able to swing the doors up and step out, shaken but uninjured. The windscreen hadn’t broken, even though the nose had been so hideously flattened and the severity of the impact, I’d learn later, had cracked the alloy of the crankcase and transmission. In death, as in life, that car was magnificent.



Before I continue, I’ll stress now that this is very high-level, unscientific, subjective post full of assumptions on my behalf, and covering only a fraction of all the available chassis designs out there! So caveating done, and fully open to correction and addition…….

What ever about old cars crash worthiness (and watching a Sierra doing an offset impact @ 40 is depressing viewing) I often wonder about supercars & their viability in a thump. Body engineering in the 60s, where CAR magazine coined the popular use of the word ‘supercar’, could be fairly rudimentary. Here’s an original GT40 being crash-tested into a fixed barrier @ 41mph in 1967.



The purpose of the test was to see what the addition of the rollcage did to driver safety. The spray was ‘Staddard Solvent’ in the fuel tank. This approximated the weight of fuel closest, but had a very high flashpoint. The front wheels crushed the tanks, causing fuel to be ejected, and the crushed bodywork caused that ejected fuel to be sprayed all over the car. Neat, eh? So things needed to move on quickly from here.

Sticking generally to the Lamborgini theme, here’s how their evolution went.

The 1966 Muira chassis:



The Chief Engineer for this car was Gian Paolo Dallara. The design of this chassis was proper ‘old-school’, full of Italian passion for the genre, and completed instinctively and swiftly - 7 months in total! It went from a bare rolling chassis in Nov-65 to having a complete car in Mar-66. 29 year old Dallara and his small, equally young & inexperienced team did the entire car.

The key people were Paulo Stanzani in charge of stress analysis, Achille Bevini chassis development, Bob Wallace chassis testing, Mr Pedrazzi engine development, Roberto Frignani engine testing, and Gianni Malosi for bringing the whole thing to production.

They used steel simply because the local expertise lay with crafting it and not aluminium. It was constructed from straight pieces with only simple bends if really necessary. This was due to the budget not stretching to tooling or dies, leading to simple fabrication. There were holes punched to save weight, which was the only stamping done.

Torsional rigidity was tested, but as they had nothing to reference it against, they didn’t pay too much attention. Ford bought an early example, presumably to benchmark with the GT40, and gave good feedback on rigidity and also did some testing that led to Dallara strengthening a transverse link that broke on Fords Belgian Pave track.

Low volume supercars seemed to migrate to tubular spaceframes soon after - they give great strength/rigidity-to-weight ratios, but their inherent strength and ability to carry high loads in an impact scenario isn’t great as it causes high occupant deceleration. And then the eventual mode of failure (i.e. instability through buckling) has the opposite issue as it offers the least energy absorption. So it was difficult back then to integrate an effective crumple zone into these.

From the description of the robust protection the gold 1,100kg 395bhp Countach offered, I said I’d show a spaceframe Countach chassis.

Complex looking, isn’t it? And notable for a serious lack of structural roll-over protection! The addition of the upper structure doesn’t really improve things.



Never the less it is safe to assume that, in the context of cars back then, the spaceframe was a strong enough thing to be sat within in the event of a crash:


The Diablo was an evolution from the Countach spaceframe philosophy although the chassis itself was all new. Where the F40s of this world were applying some cutting edge technology with composites in the floorpan, bulkheads, and body panels the Diablo stayed predominantly old school (as admittedly did the Testarossa & it’s evolutions), except for near the end when the 6.0 started adding carbonfibre bodywork & selected composite structural reinforcement.

It’s hard to put any crash photo into context as you don’t know speed, point of impact etc etc. But this photo is of interest as I think it shows how an apparently minor impact can make the spaceframe chassis go from strong to unstable; you would imagine the A-pillar deflection might have be reduced if those spidery pillars were designed to take some decent loadings as on a monocoque.

.

It’s worth noting that the Diablo, and all supercars, often suffer because the point of impact is higher than its crash structure. Note below how the chassis almost folds up, and the wheels and floorpan show little evidence of direct impact deformation, it's all almost secondary to the impact higher up on bulkhead and A-pillars.



As an aside, another example of old-school, low-volume chassis design is a TVR Tuscan



In this instance it’s a bit of a hybrid between the backbone chassis (itself a Lotus invention for the Elan) & spaceframe chassis - the rigidity is provided by the central ‘backbone’ rather than via the sills like the Countach, but the backbone is made in a spaceframe lattice. But while this benefits entry & exit, it doesn’t do much for side impact.

Back to Lambo; with the introduction of the Murcielago, Lamborghini stayed old-school where (admittedly more expensive) F50s and MacLaren F1s moved to full carbon fibre tubs. The Murcielago still uses a tubular spaceframe at its core evolved from Countach & Diablo days, but increasing the strengthening with carbonfibre & honeycomb additions attached with a mix of steel rivets & adhesive. It has a structural steel roof, carbon fibre floorpan, rear arch steel tube replacement with carbon fibre panels, and some steel stiffening panels too. And most of its panels are carbonfibre too. Interestingly the 550 Maranello was also deemed to be a steel spaceframe with alloy panels welded to it, though in the shots I’ve seen it appears to be a monocoque.

There is an interesting back story to the Murcialagos creation - it was nearly a Zonda. Lamborghini were restyling the Diablo in 1997, and were unhappy with the results. Hearing about Paganis development work, they had a notion to take over his Zonda project, drop the existing V12 drivetrain into it, and make it a Diablo replacement. The visited Horacio, loved what they found, and offered $9m to take it over which was very attractive to Pagani as it had been all self-financed and he didn't have enough money at the time to complete the project. It was Paganis then 10yr old son Leonardo who said 'it's been your dream to build this car all your life, the dream is coming true, can you cope if you lose it?'. And the rest is history.... The Zonda launched in 1999, and Lamborghini re-skinned and evolved the Diablo to become the Murcialago.

The fresh-sheet Gallardo chassis used Audi experience and is an aluminium spaceframe. This sounds similar to a steel spaceframe, but to me looks more like a steel monocoque shape with the sheet metal sections cut out. Here's an (Audi) example to illustrate what I mean:



The Gallardo comprises of aluminium extrusions welded to cast joint elements, with it’s aluminium bodywork fixed on with rivets, screws, or welded depending on each bits functionality. I couldn’t find a decent photo of a Gallardo chassis, so here’s an Aston Martin instead which is conceptually the same.

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Ferrari adopted an ally monocoque with tubular spaceframes front & rear for the F360, which is another variation on the theme.
And the new Aventador has an all-carbon chassis which is cutting edge and boast crash protection, and torsional stiffness a multiple of its forebears.

I’d love to see modern supercars EuroNCAP performances. I’d especially like their testing to simulate impacts into vehicles that have higher crash structures. Although, the resultant legislation might mean higher noses and gargantuan A-Pillars, so maybe it is best to sacrifice safety for aesthetics?

Anyway, hope I haven't bamboozled you all. It was a bit of a stream of conciousness supported by some internet digging so it mightn't be too cohesive!