Do not allow yourself to be distracted!

Bruno von Rotz
09/30/2013

Armaturenbrett des Fiat Topolino von 1948

When I was driving on the highway the other day, one of those modern screens that are now appearing more and more frequently on the roads displayed a message that read something like this: "Don't be distracted, your attention is important for road safety. Your police". It probably took me about two to three seconds to read this important message and of course my attention was not really on the road during this time, but on the message.

There is also a tendency towards information overload in modern cars. From the navigation system, to the various warnings shown on displays, to the jumble of buttons or even complex operating sequences via the on-board computer menus, the driver's attention is all too often diverted from what is happening on the road.

The cars of our fathers were quite different. Especially in the post-war years, they stood out for their simplicity and straightforwardness, as the dashboard of the 1948 Fiat Topolino shows. It even had the luxury of displaying the oil pressure and remaining fuel level, while some cars were content with a speedometer as their only instrument. And four or five buttons were enough,

to master all the essential functions of the car. And if you wanted or needed to do more, you opened the hood - when the car was stationary, of course.

Not everything was better in the past, but some things were easier. And this was definitely in the interests of road safety ...

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Rarities on the Klausen Pass

Bruno von Rotz
09/29/2013

Derby K4 1929

Anyone who didn't think the new team organizing the Klausenrennen would be able to bring interesting vehicles to Linthal was disappointed yesterday when they made the arduous but rewarding journey to the canton of Glarus.

Rally NCP R 15 GP 1930

Derby, Rally, Salmson, Locomobile, when do you ever see such vehicles on the road? Hardly anyone remembers these sports and racing cars, and hardly anyone who drove or watched them in their active careers is still alive.

Salmson Rally Grand Prix 1934

But all these brands are represented at this year's Klausenrennen, as are many other forgotten brands. Great!

Locomobile M48 Speed 1916

And the fact that Mercedes Benz also brought the W25 to the Klausenrennen makes the event even better. Especially because Roland Asch drives the pre-war racer and does so with a lot of heart!

Mercedes Benz W25 von 1934

And for all those who weren't so keen on the pre-war racers, two rally Audi Quattros drove up ... and some electric cars.

Audi Quattro rallye-mässig unterwegs am Klausenpass

As always, our comprehensive report will follow soon.

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When car lamps were still lamps

Bruno von Rotz
09/28/2013

Oldtimer-Lampen

When we look at the lighting systems of very old automobiles today, we first notice the major development steps that have turned the original lamps into complex projection systems with gas discharge or LED lighting elements.

Oldtimer-Lampen

In the beginning, the vehicle headlamp was still built almost like a lantern, mostly carbide lamps. Before 1910, however, the first dipped beam system was already available, and halogen lamps appeared in the mid-1960s.

It was not until 1991 that the first xenon lights(in the Siebner BMW) were installed. With LED headlights, the next technology is ready and waiting, with the first applications in the Audi R8 as early as 2008.

However, it is not only the light source that has changed, but above all the control and steering of the light signal. Nowadays, vehicle headlights are actual projection units that are controlled by computers and can not only compensate for changes in height, but also adapt the light to the traffic situation. And the more advanced lighting systems still cost extra. Today we pay extra for xenon or LED, whereas in the sixties and seventies, H1/H4 halogen lamps were listed separately on the price list. And of course you not only pay more when you buy a new one, but also when you replace it. How easy it will be to replace them in 20 or 40 years' time when the xenon light unit of a Siebner BMW has to be replaced, we can't even imagine today. However, a good craftsman can still rebuild the old lamps and lights today if necessary.

Oldtimer-Lampen

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James Bond drives Jensen FF

Bruno von Rotz
09/27/2013

Jensen FF von 1969 - der fahrbare Untersatz für James Bond

When you think of James Bond cars, you think of Aston Martin and Lotus, perhaps BMW and Bentley (marginally). Ian Fleming first put Bond in a Bentley and only when it was out of maintenance did he have to use an Aston Martin as his company car.

But Ian Fleming died in 1964 and by then only a dozen or so novels and a few short stories had been written. But the novel character lived on, not least thanks to the films. A whole series of authors have also written James Bond novels and now it is the turn of the well-known author William Boyd, who yesterday published his first Bond novel, "Solo".

And Boyd took the risk of giving Bond a new car. It should be noted that his story, which revolves around the small West African state of Zanzarim and political/military intrigue, is set in 1969.

Jensen FF vor dem "The Dorchester"

But the novel begins quietly, because James Bond is celebrating his 45th birthday and he is doing so in style with dinner and a good game at "The Dorchester". Naturally, an attractive woman is also part of the party.
After a good night's sleep and his favorite breakfast at the hotel, he completes his birthday celebrations with a visit to a car dealer on Park Lane and is shown a Jensen FF (Series 1).
Translated from the book, which is only available in English for the time being, this reads (for the time being) as follows:

"The Jensen FF," Eddie said with quiet reverence, his voice almost failing him. "Four-wheel drive." He opened the driver's door. "Take a seat, Mr. Bond, let's see if it fits your size."
Bond slid into the driver's seat, gripped the wooden steering wheel rim with his hands, looked at the instruments on the dashboard, took in the smell of new leather. It had an aphrodisiac effect on Bond .

And later in the book we read:

Bond felt more like he was in a low-flying airplane than an automobile as he accelerated the Jensen .... If you ever needed a car to boost your ego, Bond thought, then the Jensen FF would certainly be the right choice.

So James Bond comes to the Jensen FF, earning approving comments on various internet forums. In fact - we have just published a report on this revolutionary car - the Jensen FF is one of the most innovative cars of the late sixties, as it could count on four-wheel drive, anti-lock brakes and power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering. Combined with a powerful American V8 engine, (almost) nothing could stop this elegant sports car. Just right for James Bond.

Signierte Ausgaben des neuen Bond-Romans vor der Auslieferung

For the presentation of the book, the publisher then worked together with the Jensen Club in England and so the first signed copies could be transported to the airport from "The Dorchester" with Jensen FF and other sports cars of the brand.

Our article on the Jensen FF can be found here, the book can be purchased from Amazon in English or pre-ordered in German .

Buch "James Bond - Solo" von William Boyd

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What we were offered in advertising in 1973

Bruno von Rotz
09/26/2013

Werbung für den Opel Manta SR im Jahr 1973

The "Manta SR - thoroughbred from the best stable" was the title of an Opel Manta advertisement in a 1973 issue of Hobby magazine, which ended with the final sentence: "Opel Manta. Because you know something about driving". Illustrated with actual horses, this advertisement corresponded to the language and visual style of the time. This can also be seen in the Kadett advertisement, which had appeared just a little earlier. "Now you realize that your Kadett really is the better choice," said the advertisers and signed it "Opel Kadett. THE car".

Werbung für den Opel Kadett im Jahr 1973 - Das Auto

But it wasn't just the Rüsselsheim-based company that was self-confident 40 years ago; Renault also described the R6 as "safe and comfortable, proven and mature. The 1100 for the family".

Werbung für den Renault R6 von 1973

And it wasn't just the car manufacturers who outdid themselves with superlatives, the oil industry also got in on the act. Aral promised that there was no super that would get you more kilometers than Aral Super.

Werbung für Aral im Jahr 1973

And Kodak said that their Kodachrome was sharper than the other films. Visible.

Of course, women's charms were also used in advertising at the time, especially in 1973. BASF, for example, advertised the DPF 26 LH professional tape with the sentence "No professional will turn their back on her". A black beauty was depicted. Today, no art director would probably let this through.

Werbung für BASF im Jahr 1973

And Zündapp put a bikini woman on the water-cooled small motorcycle KS 50. Yes, that's how it was 40 years ago.

Werbung für Zündapp KS 50 watercooled im Jahr 1973

All the advertising illustrations mentioned can be found large and uncropped in the Zwischengas archive.

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The horses pull better at the front

Bruno von Rotz
09/25/2013

Karikatur auf Saab Preisliste von 1967

Car price lists were and are generally a rather dry matter, it's all about facts and figures. In 1967, however, Saab sales in Switzerland apparently felt that one of the advantages of the models sold had to be emphasized, so a caricature was drawn on the back to illustrate the advantage of front-wheel drive. At that time, the religious war over which was the better form of drive was still in full swing, as most mid-range vehicles still had the so-called "standard design", i.e. the engine at the front and the driven wheels at the rear.

The Saab 96, which was available in various configurations with a V4 1.5-liter and a two-stroke engine, was front-wheel drive, as was the Saab 97 Sonett sports car.

Incidentally, the cheapest Saab in Switzerland at the time cost CHF 8,650 and all cars had dual-circuit brakes, front windows, 3-point seat belts, headlight flasher, windshield washer, heater, defroster for windshield and front side windows, air conditioning, automatic ventilation, alternator and exterior rear-view mirror. Incidentally, "air conditioning" was a synonym for ventilation system back then and did not automatically imply an air conditioning compressor.

Yes, that's how it was back then.

The price list can of course be found in the Zwischengas archive. And of course we have already published a report on the Saab 96 .

Saab 96 von 1963

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Will parking soon only be legal for classic cars?

Bruno von Rotz
09/24/2013

Buckel-Volvo auf grossem Parkfeld

Well, we admit it, the title is a bit puffery. But in fact, parking (or parking) modern cars, especially when they take on the dimensions of an SUV with a width of almost two meters, carries a considerable risk of fines. In Switzerland, at any rate, the relevant legal article in the Signalization Ordinance (SSV) states:
"Markings for stationary traffic Art.79, 1ter: Where parking spaces are marked, vehicles may only be parked within these spaces. Parking spaces may only be used by the types of vehicles for which they are intended in terms of size; Art. 48, para. 11 applies to signaling."

Interpreted exactly according to the wording, a vehicle must therefore come to a halt in the space with all its extremities (including the rear view mirrors). An Audi Q7 with mirrors is well over two meters wide, many parking spaces measure just 1.8 meters, especially if space is tight or if nothing has been adapted for decades.

Alfa Romeo Giulia SS geparkt

An Alfa Romeo Giulia SS, a VW Beetle or an Opel Kadett A may fit perfectly - even the rear-view mirrors, if they existed at all, used to be much smaller and mounted closer to the car - but even with more modern classics or cars with luxurious dimensions such as the Rolls-Royce Corniche, it gets tight. Parking space markings have simply not kept pace with the enormous growth in the size of the passenger car!

Rolls-Royce Corniche passt nur knapp auf das Standard-Parkfeld

However, we can still give the all-clear. After enquiring with the Zurich city police, we were informed that in practice only vehicles whose wheels are not inside the space would be fined. Golf drivers can therefore breathe a sigh of relief, but large SUV owners will still have to look for large parking spaces. But these do exist from time to time, as our picture of the yellow Volvo (above) shows.

And it must also be said that the problemis not entirely new !

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When there was still a dipstick

Bruno von Rotz
09/23/2013

Ausschnitt aus der Bedienungsanleitung des Triumph TR 2 - Motorraum

In 2013, the title of this blog post may still come as a surprise, as many cars are still delivered with an oil dipstick. But even now, some cars have to do without it. Instead, there is now the option of measuring the oil level electronically via the on-board computer. What at first glance appears to be an ease of use and a convenience feature soon turns out to be a nuisance when actually used.

"Wait 2 minutes, the engine must be warm", says the computer and leaves you sitting and waiting idly. After a while, a symbolized oil dipstick actually appears on the LCD screen, or the text "Please top up". Of course, you follow the request and pour 0.5 liters of Longlife oil, which is now more expensive than a really good bottle of Burgundy, into the filler neck.

And then the game starts all over again. Because of course you couldn't immediately check in the engine compartment whether the half liter was enough, no, you have to ask the computer to measure again. If you're lucky, the amount you've filled in is enough and a scale symbol appears, which is rather imprecise. However, if the computer is still not satisfied or there are problems with the sensor, then the driver has to pour more oil into the engine with considerable concern. There is no manual control option.

These systems are really only practical when they are not needed. But when well-known large-scale manufacturers of premium automobiles consider an oil consumption of up to 0.7 liters per 1,000 km to be unproblematic and therefore require frequent topping up, then the fun stops. At this point at the latest, the conventional oil dipstick, as shown in the picture of the Triumph TR2 (F), is preferable to modern solutions. This is also because you know where you stand within seconds and also because the dipstick not only shows the oil level but also the health of the oil. And pulling out this simple measuring device is a nice tradition anyway ...

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Almost 25 Audi 200 quattro 20 V for almost 25 years Audi 200 quattro 20V

Holger Merten
09/22/2013

An Audi 200 quattro 20V meeting took place on the piazza of the Audi Forum in Ingolstadt at the end of August 2013. What was intended to be more of a casual get-together for existing 20Vs in the region can confidently be regarded as the first major meeting of this exclusive model with around 25 vehicles. The Audi 200 20V quattro has arrived on the scene as a collector's item.

At 11 a.m., the first participants drove onto the piazza in front of the Audi Museum. Initiator and organizer of the meeting, Daniel Salzbrenner, had expected a good handful of vehicles, but he was immediately surprised. By 11:30 there were already almost 20 vehicles in front of the Audi Museum. And in the end, almost 30 saloons and Avants were assembled.

Even a long journey could not deter participants, and some fans of the model even traveled from neighboring Austria, where the 200 20V remained exotic at the time due to the luxury tax levied.

At 1 p.m., a comprehensive tour of the museum took place at the invitation of Audi. There is currently no 200 20V in the exhibition, but its contemporaries Audi 100, the Ur-quattro and the V8 still made up for it. After a lot of shop talk about equipment, spare parts and minor and major technical problems, the vehicles then set off on a drive into the nearby Altmühltal valley.

The 5-wheelers thundered wonderfully through the countryside, and in the villages, necks were craning at the power armada. The 50 to 70-year-old generation in particular - probably former Audi employees - immediately knew what was coming and turned their necks, showing their grandchildren the special features of the 20V.

The 20V differed from the normal 200 not only in that it had a 4-valve cylinder head from the Sport quattro, which boosted the 2.1-liter engine to a whopping 55 catalytic converter horsepower, but also in its flared front and rear fenders with 215/15/60 tires, or more if desired, and the massive US bumpers as well as an elaborate dual-flow exhaust system.

Even back then, the sound roaring out of the twin tailpipes was spectacular. The 20V can also conjure up the grumble familiar from the original quattro - more reminiscent of a US V8 - when the accelerator pedal is depressed. Slightly more elegant than the sports coupé, but no less sporty. Our black specimen, first delivery from the VW plant in Wolfsburg, i.e. a management saloon in top condition, was also equipped with an original MTM chip tuning for the standard engine, 272 hp, which gives the car enormous momentum when accelerating. Oops, we were surprised at first about the thin steering wheel, but thanks to the very well-tuned sports suspension, it didn't stand in the way of effortlessly holding the line on the country roads in the Altmühltal. 0-100 km/h in under 6 sec (standard 6.6 sec). The optimized model also had a significantly higher buffalo back of torque up to 5,000 rpm, after which it added more thrust. Insiders talk of a maximum torque of over 450 Nm at around 2,200 rpm (standard 309 Nm at a fabulously low 1,950 rpm).

And with a redline from just under 7,000 rpm, the engine truly could not deny its Sport quattro ancestry.

When Audi showed the 200 20 V in Geneva in spring 1989, six months after the presentation of Audi's first luxury-class saloon, the V8, some people did not understand the car straight away. After all, the Audi 200 had already been on the market for six years and the model change was imminent. In addition, the sports model had three cylinders and 30 hp less (250 hp) than the V8, and the V8 also had four valves. So why send an upgraded 200 into the ring alongside the V8, which was almost as expensive as the V8 in terms of equipment?

This was immediately clear to the journalists after their first test drives. The car received nothing but praise: lighter, narrower and faster than the V8, the 200 20V was an absolute sports machine. And with the Avant, it was virtually the first sporty lifestyle sports estate from Audi, even before the RS2 Avant models presented later and the S4 or S2 of the Audi 80/100 successor models.

The Audi 200 quattro 20V Avant was the first production estate car to exceed 240 km/h. The Audi even had to endure comparisons with small Ferraris, but with clear advantages in terms of space for the 4.80 m long Audi saloon.

In the evening, the meeting ended with a get-together, the last parts, insights and addresses were exchanged. Everyone agreed that this would not be the last meeting. We don't think so either, because this is how the first meetings start, and at some point it will be said: "Do you remember 2013, at the first meeting in Ingolstadt....?".

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Classic pearls of the future - Mercedes Benz 500 SEC

Bruno von Rotz
09/21/2013

Over 74,000 coupés of the 126 model series were produced; they were called the Mercedes Benz 380 SEC, 420 SEC, 500 SEC and 560 SEC.

For the luxurious coupé, the wheelbase of perhaps the most innovative S-Class of all time was shortened by 8.5 cm. Bruno Sacco adapted the body line to the needs of the sporty coupé, took what he could from the S-Class and created an elegant rear end as well as a face that was soon to be found retrofitted on other Daimlers because people liked it so much.

The modern and comparatively timeless design makes it difficult for the 126 model series in particular to make the transition into the classic segment, but it has everything it needs to be a collector's vehicle: Elegant lines, interesting formal and technical solutions and an extensive fan base.

A well-preserved SEC Coupé with the magnificent five-liter V8 and velour interior is certainly a pleasant travel companion and a future increase in value is more than likely.

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