The most popular classic car brands on Zwischengas

Bruno von Rotz
12/31/2014

Lancia Stratos von 1974 (© Balz Schreier)

At the end of the year, we like to look back and some readers may be interested to know which vehicle manufacturers (and their cars, of course) were particularly popular on Zwischengas in 2014.

In 10th place, we find the Lancia brand, recently shaken by the Chrysler legacy, but once a pioneer and trailblazer when it came to new vehicle concepts. In addition, models such as the Stratos, the Fulvia and the Aurelia have long been among the most popular classics of all.

Mercedes Benz 190 SL

9th place goes to Mercedes-Benz , the brand with the three-pointed star and one of the few manufacturers that has been almost continuously successful over a very long period of time.

Alfa Romeo GTA von 1972 (© Daniel Reinhard)

In 8th place we find the "cuore sportivo", the vehicles of the Alfa Romeo brand . The brand with the cloverleaf and the unforgettable sports and touring cars such as the Giulia or the GTA.

NSU Ro 80 1971

The NSU brand, which has disappeared, will go down in the Zwischengas annals of 2014 in 7th place. With the Prinz, Ro 80 and most recently the K70, this German manufacturer has built successful designs.

Messerschmitt FMR KR 200 1962

Sixth place, and this is certainly a surprise for many readers, belongs to the Messerschmitt brand, which in principle only managed to attract attention with one car. And it was not even a real car, but a cabin scooter, but certainly one of the most interesting examples of the genre and, with the Tiger, also the fastest of its time.

Ford Capri 1976

In fifth place is Ford, a global manufacturer that attracted attention with a wide variety of designs and not least with the most frequently built car for a long time, the Ford Estate.

BMW 2002 Turbo 1974

BMW just missed out on the podium and, in 4th place, only had to give way to three other brands. The "joy of driving" also counts for Zwischengas readers, regardless of whether we are writing about the Isetta, the BMW 700, the "New Class" or the more modern sports and touring cars such as the M1, M3 or 635 CSI.

Citroën DS 23 Break von 1973 an der Auto Zürich

Third place, again surprisingly for some readers, is probably occupied by the Citroën brand. With revolutionary cars such as the Traction Avant, the DS or the 2 CV, the French manufacturer secured a large fan base, even if the revolutions failed to materialize in later decades.

Porsche 911 RSR 1973

The German sports car brand Porsche , which is accustomed to success, only had to admit defeat to one other manufacturer in second place, meaning that it did not win at intermediate speed, just as it did at Le Mans in 2014. This does not detract from the quality and legendary status of the vehicles.

Opel Manta 1973

And the winner? His name is Opel! In the year in which the plant in Bochum has to be closed, the German manufacturer still has many friends and there is obviously a great deal of interest in the brand's history. We think it's a likeable 1st place. You have to hand it to the Rüsselsheimers. Now we just have to respond with a really nice report on the Opel Kadett GT/E, maybe someone will provide us with an original vehicle for a photo session ....

P.S. Perhaps someone is wondering how the Volkswagen brand can be missing from the "Top Ten" presented here, which is basically based on readers' sympathies for the various brands. Well, it has to be said that it only just missed out on making it into the top ten brands.

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What Antoinette has to do with Top Gear

Bruno von Rotz
12/30/2014

Top Gear in Argentinien (© Top Gear)

In 1902, Léon Levavasseur patented a future-oriented engine designed to power boats (and later airplanes). The V8 engine was exceptionally light and featured innovative details such as direct injection in its further development. And it was called Antoinette, which also gave its name to the company of the same name that manufactured the unit.

One of the most frequently built V8 engines of the early days, however, came from the Swiss Marc Birkigt, who built almost 50,000 of them under the Hispano-Suiza brand for use in aircraft.

The V8 engine then became really famous thanks to Henry Ford, who managed to produce a V8 engine from a single piece at low cost, and the "Flathead V8" is still used today as a popular drive unit for hot rods.

And what does this have to do with Top Gear? Well, for their "Christmas Special", broadcast over the festive period, the three ruffians Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May referred to some V8 anniversary and therefore chose V8 vehicles for a drive through Patagonia. However, the Christmas special became known beyond the scene mainly due to unrest in Argentina, which was attributed to the license plate mounted by Clarkson with "FKL" (like Falkland Islands and a reference to the war of the same name).

Whatever the case, the three set off on their journey in completely different vehicles. Jeremy drove a Porsche 928 GT, Richard a Ford Mustang Mach 1 that had probably seen better days, and James entrusted himself to a Lotus Esprit V8 Turbo, a rather unexpected choice.

Lotus Esprit V8 (© Top Gear)

In fact, the journey of over 2000 km apparently led through scree and over the worst mule tracks, which the unsuitable Lotus Esprit mastered surprisingly well. In any case, it seemed to withstand the rigors much better than the competition from America and Germany. But what do we know, it's a TV production after all and the Top Gear makers are certainly not interested in finding the truth.

Porsche 928 GT (© Top Gear)

In any case, fans certainly felt sorry for the cars and, from our point of view, the TG specials were more entertaining, varied and surprising. And how on earth could Richard Hammond have managed to repair a broken track rod on his Mustang in the middle of the rubble?

Ford Mustang Mach 1 (© Top Gear)

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Specials definitely welcome

Bruno von Rotz
12/29/2014

Frage der Woche - Speicals?

So-called "specials" in the style of pre-war racing cars often appear at classic car events. But specials already existed back then.

Back in the 1920s and 1930s (and before), creative engineers and hobbyists built individual and sporty vehicles to their own taste. They used chassis that they could buy new or used and usually used the newly bodied vehicles in racing events and for record drives.

In the 1950s, "specials" based on stripped pre-war chassis offered an inexpensive (and often the only) opportunity to acquire a sports car.

The appeal of sporty one-offs in the style of pre-war racing cars remains unbroken to this day, and in fact they are still being built today. Newer designs are often based on a (seemingly less valuable) saloon from back then, the body is sacrificed and replaced by a sports car body on the sometimes shortened chassis. The licensing authorities view these vehicles with suspicion, and fans of originality have little use for these fantasy creations.

We asked the readers of Zwischengas what they think of "specials" and the vote is clear: 58% are in favor of building "specials" and prefer a salvaged chassis with a new body to a completely scrapped saloon.
However, 42% reject the special vehicles built in the modern era.

Frage der Woche - Specials? Auswertung

"Live and let live" is a good motto for the classic car scene and this "poll" shows that it works.

Previous "Questions of the Week" and their results are summarized in a separate topic channel. And, of course, we have already launched the next "Question of the Week", which revolves around the question of whether the wheels of a classic carshould also match the original ...

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The 10,000 franc/euro qualifying election

Bruno von Rotz
12/28/2014

Porsche 944 (© Werk / Porsche AG)

Let's assume you want to buy a recreational vehicle and spend around 10,000 euros or francs on it. You want it to be fun to drive, but at the same time you don't necessarily want to waste your money. And of course you also want to be able to use the car in a variety of ways.

A Porsche 944, for example, which promises sports car looks with solid four-cylinder technology, would be an option.

Mercedes Benz 190E 2.3-16

Or the Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16, which as an evolutionary model formed the basis for the DTM motorsport successes, so to speak, and can be considered a cost-effective alternative to the now expensive M3 E30?

BMW 635 CSI von 1982 (© Werk / BMW AG)

Or a BMW 635 CSI, a ravishingly elegant coupé with the musicality of the famous straight-six engine?

Peugeot 205 GTI 1987

Or a Peugeot 205 GTI, whose proverbial maneuverability is a guarantee of driving pleasure, if you can find one in reasonably good condition?

Fiat 124 Coupé vvon 1969 (© Daniel Reinhard)

From Italy, a Fiat 124 Coupéor an Alfetta GT might come into question, from Japan a Mazda RX-7 with a Wankel engine or a Mitsubishi Starion, which is even available with a 170 hp turbo engine.

Mazda RX-7

And England? A reasonably priced MG B or a Triumph TR7 could also be found for the money.

MG B 1972

What they all have in common is that they offer a lot of individuality for the money involved, can be registered in good condition with an H license plate or Veterenan code and are much easier to maintain than modern vehicles. However, owners should be somewhat tolerant with regard to typical age-related defects and increased maintenance requirements.

But what these cars show above all is that for comparatively little money you can really buy a lot of great cars that stand out from the uniformity of today's roads and make every kilometer of driving something special.

We hope you enjoy your choice of agony, should you be in the enviable position of being able to choose from the above list (and other candidates) ...

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BMW 1500 and you are never alone

Bruno von Rotz
12/27/2014

BMW 1500 und die Pärchen

For whatever reason, the BMW 1500 was almost always shown with a couple in the official BMW pictures. There simply had to be a woman and a man in the photo. Well, there were exceptions, because the BMW 1500 was actually a family car. But even so, there are usually only two people sitting in it, or standing next to it.

BMW 1500 von 1962 - Pärchen beim Kofferpacken

An exception to the man-woman pattern usually chosen is a picture intended to show the technology. Here, two men are looking into the engine compartment. Logical.

BMW 1500 - Blick in den Motorraum

But otherwise, as usual, mainly couples.

BMW 1500 und der Triumphbogen

And not always just young people, but also some older people (men). And mostly with hats, even the ladies.

BMW 1500 inmitten moderner Architektur

These pictures, now over fifty years old, are simply wonderful.

If you want to know more historical facts about the BMW 1500 (and its rival Peugeot 404), please refer to the monumental comparison test over 6000 km carried out by the magazine 'hobby' in 1963.
And the complete sales brochure from 1962, from which some of the photos shown here are taken, can of course be found in the Zwischengas archive.

Abschied vom BMW 1500

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From 10 to 1 - the dwindling interest in Formula 1

Daniel Reinhard
12/26/2014

Formel-1-Jahrbücher bis 2014

From around ten German-language seasonal flashbacks per year for the bookshelf, just one remains today. The"Auto-Jahr" has lasted the longest of all. From 1953 up to and including 2012, a total of 59 issues in one go - available in various languages - show the complete automotive history of the post-war period. Whether sport, studies, the most important new releases or even exciting retrospectives, with the collection of these books you were informed about everything and at the same time had a great reference work for many dates and results. This book series became a collector's item par excellence and some of the first editions already fetched prices of over a thousand euros.

However, there have been many more annual books about the motorsport scene in recent years. Some have been on the market longer, others less so."Grand Prix", launched by Ulrich Schwab and continued by Achim Schlang, was a yearbook that only looked back on the F1 season, but enjoyed a loyal readership for many years. The project began in 1966 and ended in 2008. These books cover a total of 42 years of Formula 1 with annual reports.

There are also books that were available for far less time, but were no less good. For example, the few editions of Eddie Guba's"Race-Report", or"Autodrom". The book"Grand-Prix Story" by long-time ORF commentator Heinz Prüller has been available since 1971 and is less image-heavy but contains easy-to-read reports on the GP scene. This book has also survived and is still available today under his name.

When Michael Schumacher suddenly became an F1 high-flyer, everyone in the German-speaking book trade wanted to take a leaf out of his book. Countless annuals were stacked up in bookshops at Christmas time. However, these titles ("Cockpit","Faszination Formel 1" or"Formel 1 Jahrbuch") disappeared into oblivion after a short time, just as they had appeared.

Today, there is only one lavishly illustrated German-language yearbook left. The book from Auto Motor und Sport(Formula 1 Yearbook 2014), written by Michael Schmidt with photos by my friend Wolfgang Wilhelm and myself, is celebrating its 10th edition. Unfortunately, it came onto the market very late, actually much too late. Unfortunately, the high print runs during Michael Schumacher's heyday were missed.

The defunct yearbooks did not only deal with F1. The one-make world championship, Formula 2, the European Touring Car Championship, the World Rally Championship and some series from the USA, such as the CanAm series or the Indy 500, were taken just as seriously as the crown of motorsport.

Today's latest edition is limited to F1. Not a single word is said about the WEC, WRC or GP2, not even the final results are taken into account.

This is a sad development, but the positive counter-trend to it is the many individual book titles that are being published today. Thanks to digital printing technology, even small and very small editions are possible and this is reflected in countless titles on forgotten topics from the motorsport scene, mostly researched and edited by real enthusiasts.

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Udo Jürgens, the racing fan

Daniel Reinhard
12/25/2014

Udo Jürgens und Jochen Rindt (© Foto Reinhard Sachseln)

Everyone knows that Udo Jürgens (30. 9. 1934 - 21. 12. 2014) was one of the greatest entertainers in the German-speaking world. Many also know that he landed a number 1 hit with "Greek Wine".

But hardly anyone knows about his relationship with motorsport. He was a big racing fan at the end of the 1960s and attended various F1 Grand Prix every year. However, the reason for this was not the sport alone, but rather his great friendship with the Graz F1 driver Jochen Rindt.

Although the former Lotus driver was born in Mainz on April 18, 1942, he spent his entire childhood in Graz. The two crossed paths somewhere and a close friendship developed. After the tragic death of Jochen Rindt on September 5, 1970 in Monza, Udo Jürgens was no longer seen at the racetrack. But Udo dedicated a song to his friend: "Der Champion".
"You only hear the engine screaming. You only have the track in front of you. You just know you have to be faster, there's someone else ahead of you, be faster than him, o-oh. The dust, the noise, the heat of the sun. You only feel with the gas pedal. You dream the big wild dream, like every time. Yes, it's a rush, a fascination. After just one lap, it takes hold of you. It is fear and at the same time its reward and yet much more. It's a rush that you don't understand yourself, like an inferno that spins furiously. You love your life, which is what this is all about, so much once again.
You think of your wife and child at home, just this one more race, you promised it so firmly, you know you won't let it go. Victory, defeat or death, your game only knows three chances. You are racing towards one of them; towards the finish line. It's a rush that frays your nerves because only death is your passenger and if you forget that for a few seconds, it wins the game. It is a rush that is like no other, only the feeling is perhaps even more beautiful, you realize that victory has been achieved, in jubilation at the finish line.

Perhaps the two friends will meet again after 44 years ...

The picture shows Udo Jürgens (with jacket and program booklet in hand) on the occasion of the Austrian Grand Prix in 1970 next to Jochen Rindt (in a shirt with a floral pattern). In the middle is Gunther Philipp, doctor, actor and racing driver with his own racing team Ecurie Vienne, behind him on the right is Helmut Zwickl, long-time F1 reporter and current organizer of the Ennstal-Klassik.

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Santa's miscalculation - a slightly different Christmas story

Bruno von Rotz
12/24/2014

Christmas was just around the corner once again. The united Santas sat around a large round table to get ready for the coming days. Modern as they were, they called the meeting a "kick-off".

A big argument soon broke out. "We can't possibly fly to the children with reindeer in front of the sleigh! Imagine the press when we come along with these CO2 ejectors," said one of them. Another countered: "But our reindeer sleighs are a tradition, with modern alternatives we are no longer real Santas". A third interjected: "Hybrid is the magic word, we should couple a reindeer with modern electric engines, then tradition and innovation would be served". "The reindeer has to go", said a fourth Santa Claus, "otherwise we won't even be able to get into the city centers because we won't have the green sticker". And a fifth interjected: "We have to have faster sleighs anyway, and license plates to boot, because otherwise we won't be able to drive on the German autobahns when the car toll comes in".

And so it went on until, by consensus, a modern sled finally took shape, with a modern fuel cell drive and computer control. It met all road safety standards, was able to avert collisions independently and turned night into day with its intelligent laser light system. And when parking, a "Ho ho ho" sounded when the sensors sounded the alarm. The Santas were happy, at least most of them.

When it came to delivering the presents, they proudly sat in their sleighs and drove and flew in all directions from Finland, where the "Hädquorter" of the white-bearded men is known to lie.

When the first people saw the modern sledges, they were very disappointed. Nobody liked the new-fangled sledges, nobody enjoyed the innovative drive concepts. There was a huge outcry among the people and the tenor was clear - the traditional sledges should come back, the few tons of CO2 were bearable, people thought. Better no Christmas presents than presents delivered by these modern things.

The Santas quickly realized their mistake and made the new sleighs disappear. The used, time-honored sleighs and reindeer were still available and in terms of maintenance complexity, they were superior to the new ones anyway. We quickly changed over and Christmas was saved.

Merry Christmas!

Illustration by Stefan Rogger

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Over 40 years of computer diagnostics on cars

Bruno von Rotz
12/23/2014

VW K 70 - mit Computerdiagnose - Werbung aus dem Jahr 1972

Anyone who thinks that computer diagnostics on cars is a modern phenomenon will be proven wrong when studying the car advertisements of the early 1970s (above, for example, an excerpt from a double-page VW K 70 advertisement from 1972), but of course also when taking a closer look at various Volkswagen models of the time.

"Connecting to the computer age", the VW advertisers wrote, and "VW brings computer diagnostics". Even the VW Beetle, God knows not a product of the modern age, already had a corresponding plug in 1972 that could be connected to a diagnostic computer, with which 88 test results could be logged within 30 minutes. "Human error is impossible," read the advertisement. And for the first five years (or 40,000 km), this service was even free of charge.

Computer-Diagnose beim VW Käfer - Werbung aus dem Jahr 1972

In this context, it is perhaps interesting to note that in 1972 the personal computer had not yet been invented and most "real" computer systems were the size of a medium-sized gymnasium, even though their computing power was not significantly greater than that of a modern cell phone ...

Further examples of innovation in vehicle construction can be found in our dedicated topic channel.

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Classic pearls of the future - Lancia Thema 8.32 (Ferrari)

Bruno von Rotz
12/22/2014

Sports sedans have always been popular. As early as the 1960s, Alfa Romeo (with the Giulia TI Super) and Ford (with the Lotus Cortina) offered corresponding vehicles, and in the following decades there were always opportunities for performance-hungry car buyers blessed with young talent to set themselves apart from others with more power. If necessary, tuners helped out and installed the V8 engine of a Porsche 928 in a VW Golf, for example.

Lancia Thema 8.32 von 1989

At Lancia, however , this was available ex works and in series production. In the second half of the 1980s, they decided to transplant the engine from the Ferrari 308 GTB/GTS Quattrovalvole into the front end of the Giugiaro-designed Lancia Thema. There it drove the front wheels with 215 hp in the ECE version and 205 hp in the detoxified US-83 version, as the Lancia Thema shared the same front-wheel drive platform with the Alfa Romeo 164, the Saab 9000i and the Fiat Chroma.

The equipment with leather seats and all kinds of comfort was also adapted to the noble engine and, last but not least, the price, which initially amounted to DM 72,600 in Germany and then rose to over 80,000, while the car could be bought in Switzerland for 69,100 francs, which at least corresponded to two Thema i.e. saloons that hardly differed externally from the Thema 8.32, as it was called to refer to the eight cylinders and 32 valves.

However, apart from the type plate, there was one major difference to the slower variants: the electrically extendable wing in the trunk lid.

This was intended to improve the driving characteristics of the saloon, which was now capable of almost 240 km/h. Compared to the competition, e.g. the Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16, the price was not so outlandish, after all, the Stuttgart model only offered four cylinders and significantly less space and luxury.

Naturally, the car magazines were all over the hot newcomer and Automobil Revue tested both the ECE and the US-83 versions. Although the lower-compression catalytic converter version only lacked 10 hp according to the manufacturer, the acceleration times differed dramatically. The ECE version tested in 1986 sped from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.8 seconds, while the catalytic converter version driven in 1988 took considerably longer at 7.6 seconds. Interestingly, however, the colleagues at Auto Motor und Sport magazine were not any sportier with the "faster" variant, as they also recorded 7.6 seconds for the standard sprint and a top speed of 237 km/h. This was slightly faster than the ARC. They were therefore slightly faster than the AR with 236 and 232 km/h in the two measurements.

But the pure measured values were not the decisive factor anyway. The heart in the form of the Ferrari engine was the decisive factor for general enthusiasm. "It's a fresh, brisk sports engine that revs with vehemence above 7000," said the obviously impressed AMS testers about the seductive engine in the Lancia.
"The Lancia Ferrari's ability to track is sensational for a sedan; from a standstill, it pulls away like a real sports car, with the wheels slightly "dragging" over several meters," the AR test team commented.

However, the not quite balanced comfort was criticized, while the fuel consumption of around 14 liters was considered reasonable at the time.

The Thema 8.32 also underwent model upgrades during the transition from Series 1 to Series 2 in 1988, but the fast version was discontinued in 1992. By then, 3284 vehicles had left the factory, making the Lancia Ferrari significantly rarer than the BMW M3 E30, Mercedes Benz 190E 2.3-16 and the like.

This rarity is not (yet) worth its weight in gold, Classic Data currently quotes €15,000 to €17,000 for a condition 2 example, but the fast saloon can also be bought for considerably less money, although savings at the time of purchase could pay off with not insignificant follow-up costs.

But the car will always be a one-off, because there has never been a Lancia with a Ferrari engine before or since, and under the current regime, a heart from Maranello would probably have to be transplanted into a Chrysler, and who would want to do that ...

All the articles in the "Classic Pearls" series are brought together in a separate themed channel.

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