The importance of the rear light for vehicle design (quiz)?

01/31/2012

Quiz 4 - Rückleuchten-Design

While early cars did not have tail lights at all, they soon became standard equipment. However, it still took a while for vehicle designers to recognize and appreciate the rear lights as a design attribute.

In the 1950s and later, however, the rear lights became increasingly important and this has not changed to this day, with the actual lights almost becoming a secondary feature. Some vehicle rear ends are only characterized and made distinctive by the light units.

But now it's our readers' turn! The new quiz is about recognizing vehicle rear sections and rear lights and assigning them to the correct vehicle type (and year).

Once again, there is nothing to be won except honor, fame or the certainty of being a real expert. Primarily, however, it should be fun and provide an opportunity to take a closer look at developments in rear light design and remember vehicles from the past. We have not made it easy for ourselves and have selected ten of the thirty or so pre-selected rear lights that are recognizable.

Just give it a try! Click here for the quiz ...

The father of lifestyle station wagons

Bruno von Rotz

01/30/2012

Mercedes-Benz T-Modell von 1979

Up until the 1970s, estate cars or station wagons were commercial vehicles for tradesmen and, in a pinch, family transporters. In most cases, the equipment was sparse and most of these transport limousines looked very unattractive. You couldn't drive up to a luxury hotel in one, and you couldn't drive up to the golf course in one either, even though a large trunk with an open top would have been particularly practical for bulky golf utensils.

Mercedes-Benz recognized this niche on the basis of market research results and also developed a station wagon, internally called the S 123, with the W 123 model series. In 1977, the luxurious station wagon was launched as the 230 T, 250 T and 280 TE and sold from 1978. Its success on the market was certainly helped by appearances in television series such as "Hart aber herzlich" and various movies.

In an advertisement at the end of the 1970s, Mercedes-Benz claimed to have doubled the market for such all-purpose vehicles. And since then, lifestyle estates have experienced a triumphal march and in some model series the estate is the most popular and best-selling vehicle category. What would have happened if Mercedes-Benz had not had the courage to launch the 123 in the 1970s?

It goes without saying that the S 123 has now also become a popular classic car.

The convertible is dead, how long will the Targa live?

Bruno von Rotz

01/29/2012

Jensen-Healey von 1974

The days of the convertible seemed to be numbered in the seventies. At least that's what car buyers and therefore car manufacturers thought. Unit numbers continued to fall and new releases in the form of genuine convertibles could be counted on one hand - the Jensen-Healey Cabriolet (pictured above) or the Mercedes-Benz SL of the R107 series presented in 1971 were exceptions.

Targa-Cabrio-Konstruktionen der Siebzigerjahre - Porsche 911 Targe, Fiat X1/9 und Opel Kadett Aero

New open-top vehicles were mostly Targa designs with a fixed roll bar, as used by Porsche in the 911 and also the 914. The Fiat X 1/9 and the Opel Kadett Aero also used this design. Manufacturers such as BMW, Porsche and Opel had not had a full convertible in their range for some time, and buyers had to choose between outdated designs such as the VW Beetle, Triumph Spitfire, Alfa or Fiat Spider and a few other models if they wanted to have the wind blowing around their ears.

Full convertibles had a reputation for being unsafe and it was rumored that the Americans would soon ban the convertible. Both were false, as Dr. Ulrich Seiffert from Volkswagen explained in a report in ADAC Motorwelt in 1977. In fact, the crash conditions for convertibles were the same as those for saloons, rollover tests were not required and the only thing that could be dangerous for the convertible was a European law proposal that threatened to prescribe the upper anchor point of the seat belt at a certain height. In fact, this law could only have been fulfilled with a bar or pillar design, but it obviously never came into force. The VW Golf nevertheless came with a bar, partly to meet the increasing safety demands of buyers.

It would take until the end of the 1980s for a new convertible boom to be initiated with bow-less, fully open vehicles such as the Mazda MX5 or the BMW 3-series convertible (E30), which subsequently triggered a real convertible glut. And it took much longer for Volkswagen to remove the attached bar from the successful VW Golf convertible model ...

Cars on the wall

Daniel Reinhard

01/28/2012

Kompletter Austin Healey Sprite an der Decke eines Restaurants

What alternatives are there to looking after our cars once the time has come when we are no longer allowed to drive them?

There could be several reasons for this. Whether the future fuel no longer tastes good in our engines, whether we will be banned from the roads by regulation, or whether electric cars will displace us completely, who knows what else may come!

Jaguar D-Type als Kunstobjekt an der Wand

For example, you could hang an artistically crafted sculpture, or even the whole car, on the ceiling or wall. If the car is also cut in half, it can even be enjoyed in two rooms.

Citroën 2 CV an der Wand eines Restaurants

The three picture examples show the various possibilities, such as the Jaguar D-Type as a sculpture (Louwman Museum, The Hague), the Austin Healey Sprite on the ceiling (Restaurant Pop, Heidelberg) and the Citroën 2CV (Deux-Chevaux) on the wall (Restaurant Benno, Vienna)

Austin Healey Sprite an der Decke eines Restaurants

The flying Lamborghini Countach

Daniel Reinhard

01/27/2012

Lamborghini Countach von 1988 in der Luft

Not only the Red Bull bulls have wings. Valentino Balboni let his bull fly back in 1988, long before Red Bull. But let's take everything in order.

Valentino Balboni is the name of the man who won the lottery six times, including an extra number, without winning a single penny. For 40 years, he enjoyed a job that around 99.68% of men can only dream of. He was the test driver for Lamborghini. One day in the late 1960s, he was dragged to Sant'Agata after school by the village priest in his cinquecento. The priest wanted to keep Balboni away from the pinball machine and unknowingly showed him the birthplace of the Lamborghini Miura. Instead of drinking coffee with the priest, Valentino stuck to the fence of the Lamborghini factory. The young Balboni was soon allowed in and the young man immediately helped unload the Miura bodies. Just one week later, he was in and out of the factory every day.

April 21, 1968 was his first official working day, but not as a test driver, of course. He was taken on as an apprentice and so he also did the jobs of an apprentice. But his friendship with the test driver at the time, Bob Wallace, brought him ever closer to winning the lottery. With the Miura SV in the fall of 1973, the time had come for Balboni to take over Bob's job as test driver.

I was able to see for myself that he was a really good driver. That's how the story of the flying Countach came about. While taking stills on a bridge, I had the idea of photographing the car properly in the air. He immediately agreed and showed the bull the red cloth. However, the car only lifted off the suspension with some difficulty, but the wheels were still clinging to the ground. Only on the third attempt did it work. The Countach lost traction for a brief moment, but shortly afterwards - on landing - it also lost the lower front panel. No matter, the picture was in the can.

There is now even a special model of the Gallardo LP 550-2 "Valentino Balboni". Lamborghini dedicated the model to its now retired but not forgotten test driver - for 40 years of loyal service.

More information about the Lamborghini Countach and, above all, many never-before-seen pictures of the spectacular sports car can be found in an article worth reading on Zwischengas.

It really knocks your socks off!

Daniel Reinhard

01/26/2012

da haut es sogar den Bauern vom Hocker ...

Cars of past years and days reflect the economic performance in terms of design and styling. At first, the appearance was purely constructive, but later the look became more and more a fashion trend, which has remained so to this day, despite the wind tunnel.

For most of us, the sight of historic cars brings back childhood dreams. It often gets to the point where the sight of a Bugatti 35B, an MG K3 or a Maserati 8C 3000 simply sweeps you off your feet!

Not only are they abominably beautiful in shape, but the sound of the 6 or 8-cylinder engine, often supercharged with the help of a singing supercharger, leaves no one sitting still. Even a farmer in the Uri countryside, absorbed in his work, was literally swept off his feet, or rather off the ground, at the Klausenrennen 2006 ...

La Appia - when Lancia was still Lancia ...

Bruno von Rotz

01/25/2012

Lancia Appia Serie 2 Cabriolet von 1957

When I came across these pictures from a 1957 sales brochure, I found myself thinking wistfully about Lancia's glorious past. Lancia, a brand with a long tradition and a constant stream of groundbreaking vehicles, but also with elegant and eye-catching designs. And a brand that has always produced beautiful coupés and cabriolets, such as the Lancia Appia Cabriolet, shown here as a series 2 version.

Lancia Appia Serie 2 Cabriolet von 1957

It had a Vignale body and was equipped with the same four-cylinder engine with 1,090 cm3 as the saloon. The small unit delivered 53 hp at 5,200 rpm in the convertible after it was started using a starter button. Four gears, three of which were synchronized, were responsible for power transmission. With its classic design and technical features, the pretty convertible appealed not least to the ladies. At least this is suggested in the factory photos shown. Two original brochures in English and French await interested readers in the Zwischengas archive! Incidentally, the red car (above) adorned the front page of the English brochure, the blue car was emblazoned on the French brochure ...

Lancia Appia Serie 2 Cabriolet von 1957

There are also fast caravan combinations!

Bruno von Rotz

01/24/2012

Brabham F2 zieht Wohnwagen um die Nordschleife des Nürburgrings im Jahr 1970

No Photoshop or other photo tricks were involved. In 1970, Rolf Stommelen actually pulled a caravan around the Nürburgring-Nordschleife with the Brabham Formula 2 racing car - at speeds of over 200 km/h. The caravan manufacturer wanted to show off the quality of its products and, of course, to come up with something that the trade press, such as ADAC Motorwelt, could report on.

In fact, even 40 years ago, a great deal was being done for trailer safety, as the second picture of the skid test of a whole horde of fast towing vehicle-trailer combinations proves.

Wohnwagen-Gespanne bei der Schleuderprüfung im Jahr 1970

On the relativity of the classic car concept

Bruno von Rotz

01/23/2012

BMW 507 und sehr früher Oldtimer treffen sich im Jahre 1958

The picture, found on the cover of an ADAC Motorwelt magazine from 1958, makes you think about the relativity of the term "classic car".

The blonde lady in the brand-new and ultra-modern BMW 507 looks over at the crew of a car from the first period of automobile construction that is around 50 years older, truly a classic car.

A good 50 years later, the 507 has of course also matured into a noble classic car for us; we hardly ever see vehicles from before 1900 anymore, and when we do, it's on a demonstration drive at an event or in a museum.

We already grant classic car status to cars built in 1982, i.e. vehicles such as the early VW Golf or the Mercedes 190E, which have perhaps just disappeared from everyday traffic. And some may wonder whether a Tesla, a Fisker or a Dacia Logan will have matured into a classic car by the time the year 2042 rolls around.

It's hard to imagine from today's perspective, but it probably seemed just as unreal to our ancestors, if they thought about such questions at all. For the lady in the picture, at any rate, the potential future status of the BMW 507 as a classic car was probably the least of her problems ...

Porsche broken

Bruno von Rotz

01/22/2012

Porsche 911 an der Targa Florio

Emotions and a preference for the "home team" are not only present in football, motor racing was/is not entirely immune to this either.

The picture shown is from the Targa Florio and a Sicilian fan probably wished the then dominant Porsche a quick finish so that his own idols (Ferrari?) could be victorious?

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