Forgotten movie cars - Porsche 911 SC in Flashdance

Bruno von Rotz
11/30/2015

Porsche 911 SC 3.0 im Film Flashdance

Do you remember the movie "Flashdance"? If so, then the attractive Jennifer Beals will no doubt pop up in your mind's eye. As Alex Owens, she danced her way into the hearts of moviegoers in 1983. Perhaps you also remember her huge brown dog.

But you have probably forgotten a supporting actor who repeatedly made it in front of the camera, a Porsche 911 SC 3.0 in the US version. Painted black, the German sports car made several commercial-worthy appearances in the movie Flashdance, accompanied by the sounds of Giorgo Moroder's film music, which incidentally also had something to do with cars, as it co-financed the Cizeta "Moroder " , Claudio Zampolli's sixteen-cylinder super sports car.

Porsche 911 SC 3.0 im Film Flashdance - mit Hund

Back to the Porsche 911 SC 3.0, which of course belonged to a handsome entrepreneur, who in turn captured the heart of the beautiful Alex. A real happy ending! Incidentally, Porsche could really use the advertising impact back then ...

And, for fans, a Renault Fuego also appears somewhere in the movie.

Renault Fuego in Flashdance

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Has the trend reversal arrived? Are classics becoming cheaper again?

Bruno von Rotz
11/29/2015

Mercedes-Benz 280 SE 3.5 Coupé in Toffen am 28.11.2015

There are a lot of rumors in the scene and there are always augurs predicting that the bubble in the classic car trade will burst.

In fact, there have been increasing signs recently that things are unlikely to continue with annual increases in value of ten or twenty percent. Anyone who takes the trouble to analyze the sales results at auctions in 2015 will see that even in past auctions, previous best values were often at best equalled, but hardly surpassed. Adolfo Orsi and Raffaele Gazzi have published some nice graphics on this in their Classic Car Auction Yearbook . Market observers have also been whispering to us for some time that they are already writing down prices for certain vehicle types in their listings.

Nonetheless, there were also surprising increases in value in 2015: we saw the Porsche 930 Turbo become more and more expensive and the Alfa Romeo Montreal also seemed to awaken from a long lethargy.

Of course, you only really know how a trend will develop years later, but what is certain is that even more classics were sold for even more money at major auctions in 2015. And that very good money is still being paid for special examples.

Fabrike verschiedener Nationen und Hersteller in Toffen - Audi, MG und Porsche am 28.11.2015

This could also be seen yesterday in Toffen, when the Oldtimer Galerie auctioned 116 vehicles. Both a Mercedes-Benz 280 SE 3.5 Coupé and a 300 SEL 6.3 in very good condition achieved top prices and the estimated price for a Jaguar 3.8 S was even exceeded by almost 40 %.

We have of course already evaluated all the results and published them in an auction report with lots of pictures and a table of results.

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Underestimated unique pieces?

Bruno von Rotz
11/28/2015

Maserati Boomerang 1971 - © Simon Clay Bonhams

While certain series-produced vehicles, of which hundreds or even thousands were built, seem to keep rising in price, one-offs often have a hard time with the auction public. A four-digit number of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster, for example, was produced, yet it is still valued in seven figures, while a one-off such as the Lancia Aurelia B52 Bertone Coupé from 1951 was sold for just EUR 172,500 or CHF 186,972 some time ago.

Lancia Aurelia B52 Coupé Bertone 1951 © Bonhams

Of course there are exceptions, for example the Maserati Boomerang was valued at EUR 3.335 million (CHF 3.615 million) in Chantilly this year (picture above), but many unique pieces have a much harder time with the public.

Packard Eight Cabriolet by Graber (1933) © Theo Civitello - RM

In 2013, for example, when a 1933 Packard Eight with Graber Cabriolet bodywork was worth EUR 170,940 or CHF 210,210 to its new owner, it was considered a success, especially as the estimated price had been significantly lower.

Maserati Mexico 4.7 1968 Frua © Bonhams

And even with the Maserati Mexico 4.7, bodied by Frua in 1968, or the BMW/Glas 3000 Coupé with the same bodywork, people were satisfied if a few hundred thousand was raised. As in art, shouldn't one-off cars be significantly more valuable than series production?

BMW Glas 3000 V8 Pietro Frua © Tom Woods - RM

In the long term, this could well change again, but in the short term, many buyers tend to opt for the "blue chip" classic, which is well-known and a proven quantity ...

At Zwischengas, we like to deal with one-off bodies and concept cars.

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Classic pearls of the future - Artega GT

Bruno von Rotz
11/27/2015

Artega GT (2008)

A new sports car called the Artega GT was presented at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2007. Hernik Fisker had delivered an elegant coupé design and drawn a powerful car with compact dimensions (4.01 x 1.88 x 1.18 m).

Heckansicht des Artega GT (2008)

For the technology, the Artega developers drew on Volkswagen's parts warehouse and used the V6 3.6-liter engine with 300 hp, which was also used in the Passat R36. The direct-shift gearbox (dual-clutch gearbox) was also adopted from the VW.

Under the plastic skin, an aluminum spaceframe chassis weighing less than 100 kg provided stability. The sports car weighed less than 1.3 tons and consumed an average of 9.6 liters according to the Euro4 standard. However, the driving performance of 4.8 seconds for the sprint to 100 km/h and a top speed of 270 km/h were more impressive than the consumption figures.

Interieur des Artega GT (2008)

In 2009, Artega offered the coupé for Euro 79,950. For this price, you got a well-equipped car that could be made significantly more expensive with all kinds of accessories. Larger wheels, for example, cost 3090 euros, complete leather seats 1868 euros, LED daytime running lights 313 euros and there were also all kinds of electronic add-ons.

Verschiedene Sichten auf den Artega GT (2008)

The small car manufacturer, which moved into a completely new production facility in 2008, ran into financial difficulties early on. Shares were sold to Mexico and the company had to file for insolvency in 2012. From 2009 to 2012, a total of 153 vehicles were produced, hardly any of which looked like the others. Then it was over for the time being.

Artega GT (2009)

At the IAA 2015, however, two new Artega models from a successor company were presented to the public: the Artega Scalo, in principle a purely electric Artega whose development had already begun years ago, and the Artega Karo fun car, a quad with electric drive.

However, the Artega GT will no longer multiply, the number of units is very manageable and visually the small sports coupé certainly deserves a place in classic car heaven. It remains to be seen how easy it will be to maintain and replenish parts, but at the moment at least the Paragon company is taking care of that.

More classic pearls can be found in the corresponding topic channel.

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Swivel headlights

Bruno von Rotz
11/26/2015

Citroën DS 21 Pallas 1971

Towards the end of the sixties, a design change to the Citroën DS caused a stir. The model was fitted with headlights under glass and the inner lights could be swiveled. There were great commercials for the car, which could light up the bends.

But Citroën had not invented the swivel headlight, as a central headlight on the Tatra 77A already rotated in line with the steering wheel position in the 1930s.

Tucker 48 (1948) (© Partick Ernzen - Courtesy RM Auctions)

And the Tucker of the late 1940s also offered the advantage of a headlight that turned into the bends.

Citroën SM 1973 (© Daniel Reinhard)

However, Citroën can be credited with perfecting the concept and bringing it to mass production.

Citroën SM 1973 (© Daniel Reinhard)

Today, swivel headlights are old hat and widespread, even if they no longer look as spectacular as on the Goddess or the sporty Citroën SM variant .

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When smoking was still allowed

Daniel Reinhard
11/25/2015

Opel Astras GSi 16V (© Daniel Reinhard)

Yes, those were the days before electronic helpers, which you could only switch off after studying the instructions. After all, who would have thought of pressing a certain button for one or even three seconds?

In the Opel Astra GSi of the nineties, this was not yet necessary, you simply had to accelerate hard and it would emit an impressive amount of smoke. Not necessarily budget-friendly and the smell probably took some getting used to, but definitely photogenic, as the picture from the time shows.

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The old typewriter from the attic ...

Bruno von Rotz
11/24/2015

Die Schreibmaschine vom Dachboden und ws sie mit klassischen Fahrzeugen zu tun hat

When I recently complained to a colleague that it was often difficult to provide the papers and documentation required for proper registration of old cars, possibly even as a veteran (or with an H license plate), as not everything used to be documented and put aside for eternity, the colleague replied laconically: "Do you have an old typewriter in the attic?".

Of course, I took the hint immediately and there is indeed an old "Triumph" in my attic. But after careful consideration, I decided to continue along the path of fact-based persuasion and to convince authorities and experts through perseverance. The old typewriter route might actually be easier, but certainly not more correct. "Lies have short legs", as they used to say and, as we all know, (almost) everything was better back then. So let's stick to the path of virtue, and not just because the ribbon on the mechanical Triumph typewriter has dried out badly ...

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On average, classic/young car enthusiasts attend around five events per year

Bruno von Rotz
11/23/2015

Frage der Wochel 46 - Veranstaltungen prp Jahr

Classic cars and youngtimers are in vogue, sales are booming and demand seems to be continuing to increase. Organizers are also responding to this growth and are constantly offering new events and opportunities to show off and drive your car. The range on offer is becoming ever larger and more varied, with attractive events often taking place at the same time and in competition with each other.

But how much use is made of this offer? How many events do Zwischengas readers attend each yearas active participants or spectators? More than you would expect!

The largest proportion of respondents, namely 30%, attend 4 to 5 classic/youngtimer events, followed by 26% who attend 6 to 10 events a year. 19% leave it at three events, but 9% go to more than ten events every year to look at cars or show off their own. The same number of respondents, i.e. 9% , attend two events, while 5% attend just one.
On average and extrapolated, the average Zwischengas reader therefore attends 4.9 to 5 classic car events per year.

Here are the figures in graphic form:

Auflösung Frage der Woche 46 - soviele Veranstaltungen besuchen Zwischengas-Leser pro Jahr

All resolutions and comments on previous questions of the week can be found in a separate topic channel.

And of course we have already asked the next question. This time we want to know whether youngtimers should be promoted more .

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Too fast - too fast into space - road safety education 50 years ago

Bruno von Rotz
11/22/2015

Verkehrssicherheitskampagnen Ende der Sechzigerjahre in der Schweiz

As early as the 1960s, drastic slogans were used to draw attention to the dangers of traffic. Catchy statements were printed on simple posters and posted on the roadside:

Death overtakes with
Too fast - too fast into space
Control your car - not the road
Be careful, death is faster than you
Many "good" drivers have already died!

Were the posters of almost 50 years ago more effective than the moving images of modern road safety education campaigns? We don't know, but the words were clear ...

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Hidden treasures for eternity

Daniel Reinhard
11/21/2015

Not all of the cars in the "Smurf Collection" are actually on display in the "Cité de l'Automobile" museum. A considerable number of the "hidden Smurfs" still lead their shadowy existence underground. Some of these rarities were shown in 2013 in Kassel in a special exhibition called "Sleeping automotive beauties". We reported on this special exhibition at the time .

Now I finally had the chance to take an extremely slow transport elevator into the catacombs of the museum. I was able to take a look at the lesser-known cars.
It was so exciting that we will be producing a separate story about it this winter and can therefore only show a very small corner of this cellar here, as an appetizer so to speak.

Unfortunately, the cellar rooms have also been renovated in the meantime and have therefore lost some of their dilapidated charm. Cobwebs have given way to white linen, musty walls have been painted and the floor has of course been made passable.

The unrestored but cleaned vehicles are so incredibly fascinating in their more or less century-old patina that I can hardly wait to dedicate an extensive photo shoot to them.

The shapes of the canvas covers alone are a visual superlative! Look forward to seeing more soon.

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