The small, fat car leaves no one cold

Daniel Reinhard
04/30/2016

Renault 5 Turbo im Rallye-Trimm (© Daniel Reinhard)

The photo session with the brute Renault 5 turbo in rally trim at the Fahr monastery caused much more of a stir than we are normally used to. We had already driven vehicles of the most exotic brands, from Abarth to Lamborghini, etc., but the "little fat one" surpassed everything we had ever seen before.

Not only the municipal workers stopped on their way through, but also a whole family admired the colorful racing car. An elderly e-bike rider took his camera out of his bike bag and reverently asked if he could take a photo. A retired lady, out and about with two dogs, didn't complain about the blocked path, but began to tell stories from her past about how her brother also raced in a Renault and how she was stopped by the police in one of these cars, equipped with a roll cage of course, because the friendly helpers thought she wasn't wearing her seatbelt.

They all had fun, took selfies, talked about their past and were delighted with the wide little thing. And were looking forward to us starting the car so that they could hear it too. And of course, the soundscape didn't disappoint either!

Such reactions and so much enthusiasm are surprising in this day and age and of course we allowed the little boy the pleasure of sitting in a real rally car himself. After all, it is precisely these age groups that we need to attract for the future of our hobby.

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Classic pearls of the future - Alfa Romeo 147 GTA

Bruno von Rotz
04/29/2016

Alfa Romeo 147 GTA von 2002

Compact rear-engined saloons with large engines have always been popular and therefore have great classic potential. The Alfa Romeo 147 GTA is one of them.

The basic version of the Alfa 147 was presented back in 1997, basically a shortened Alfa Romeo 156 with a hatchback body designed by Walter de Silva.

Alfa Romeo 147 GTA mit 156 GTA

In 2002, the Milanese company then presented the 147 on steroids. The V6, which had once made its debut in the Alfa Sei, produced 250 hp from 3.2 liters of displacement and looked exceptionally appetizing in the 147's tight engine compartment.

Motor des Alfa Romeo 147 GTA

Like its weaker brothers and sisters, the fastest 147 version also had front-wheel drive, which was not necessarily the best prerequisite for getting the 250 hp to the ground.

Heckansicht des Alfa Romeo 147 GTA mit breiten Backen

In addition to the engine transplant, the fast 147 was also given thicker fenders and corresponding tires, and the interior was also trimmed for sportiness.

Cockpit des Alfa Romeo 147 GTA von 2002

The fastest 147 variant was only built until 2006, when it was discontinued. Until then, just over 5000 GTAs are said to have been produced, a fifth of which were equipped with the automated six-speed gearbox, which Alfa called Selespeed.

Interieur des Alfa Romeo 147 GTA

So the Alfa Romeo 147 GTA was relatively rare and extremely melodious, plus the legendary name - is that enough to make it a classic pearl? Of course!

You can find more classic pearls in our corresponding topic channel.

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We have moved ...

Bruno von Rotz
04/29/2016

Badenerstrasse 450

After around 4.5 years at Albulastrasse 39, we moved into a new editorial office today. We are now located at Badenerstrasse 450 (postal address: Zwischengas AG, Badenerstrasse 450, CH-8004 Zurich) in Zurich's Kreis 4 district, an area that once didn't have the best reputation because all kinds of unorthodox people used to come and go there. But we like it and we are already firmly installed, well, almost at least.

Eingezogen im neuen Büro an der Badenerstrasse 450

The most important things are working, the computer systems and the coffee machine.

Der erste Kaffee im neuen Office an der Badenerstrasse 450

Off we go, with the necessary dose of intermediate throttle!

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Congestion report back then

Bruno von Rotz
04/28/2016

Yes, there were already traffic jams in the 1980s, but they were probably a little less frequent than today. Instead, the police sent out their patrol cars with a special roof rack, as presented at a press conference in Hanover in 1983.

"The new system consists of reflective letters and large yellow and blue flashing lights. The warning system will be used for the first time during the upcoming vacation travel season. Traffic hotspots in the Hanover area are the A7 in the north of the city and the roadworks area near Hildesheim," read the press release at the time.

It's been a long time ...

There are more pictures (almost) without words in our popular theme channel.

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What is a BüN classic?

Bruno von Rotz
04/27/2016

Porsche 964 Carrera RS von 1992 (© RM/Sotheby's Tom Gidden, Monaco Versteigerung 2016)

You don't know the term "BüN"? No problem, we've just invented it. BüN stands for valuation above new price. Sooner or later, the current valuation of sought-after classic cars exceeds the original price paid by the first buyer. Rare sports cars often achieve this after just a few years or at least before they reach classic car age. Examples of this would be the BMW M3 or the Porsche 964 Carrera RS, but also the Ferrari F40.

With "bread-and-butter" cars, the transition to BüN usually takes longer; with a few exceptions, limousines generally find it difficult to overcome the BüN hurdle. So-called cult cars, however, especially if they were once cheap to buy, are BüN winners. For example, a Citroën 2 CV in very good condition can hardly be bought today for the original price at the time, and the same applies to a VW Golf GTI Mk1.

Citroën 2 CV (© Artcurial)

Incidentally, one problem with the BüN calculation is the currency used, as changes in parity can of course have a major influence on the value development of old cars. For example, if you compare the new DM prices with today's euro valuations, you will discover a particularly large number of BüN cars - after all, one euro was worth almost two DM when the currency was launched. Today, the euro-DM exchange rate would probably be closer to 1:1 if you compare the Swiss franc exchange rates at that time and today ...

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The very special car enthusiast and his treasure

Daniel Reinhard
04/26/2016

Fotoschatz - ausgelegt

The scene is familiar with a wide variety of automobile collections. Most people want to have the car or cars of their desire in 1:1 scale in their garage. Others fill showcases with 1:43 or 1:18 scale models, while others pile up sales brochures or car magazines of all kinds.

A fan of very special cars from the fifties, unfortunately unknown to us, probably put together a very special collection quite deliberately, but by chance. On his excursions or trips at the beginning of the fifties, he always took a 4.5x6 cm bellows camera with a fixed 75 mm lens, presumably Zeiss-Ikon, and another camera with a 5.5x5.5 cm negative.

Kamera 4,5 x 6 cm

If he saw an automobile somewhere with a special body or simply a very rare specimen, he probably had the owner position it as ideally as possible so that he could photograph the car in relatively open surroundings. He certainly needed a lot of patience for this, as the owners were probably not always on site at the time.

Alfa Romeo 2500 SS Balbo 1948

The black and white negative with the corresponding contact copy (many still with the familiar deckle edge) was placed in an envelope with a precise description of the vehicle. Detailed information on the model, year and even the exact date and location of the photo, as well as the owner's name, were noted. Around 200 such envelopes were collected over time.

Foto-Schatz, beschriftet und in Couverts abgelegt

The unfortunately anonymous amateur photographer probably died years ago, but thankfully his estate only changed hands around 30 years ago and in Ferdinand Hediger he found someone who continues to cherish this treasure.

Ausschnitt aus der Fotosammlung

One of the great advantages of analogue photography over the digital imaging process is that it is still possible to tell at a glance and without special equipment what a photograph is about. You can always find an enthusiast for a box full of prints, enlargements and negatives of cars, motorcycles or even railroads. The same box, but filled with CDs or DVDs that perhaps cannot be "opened" straight away with the computer available, will probably disappear into the garbage all too quickly.

So a lot of automotive cultural assets of this kind will be lost today, but also in the future. What a pity!

At least this treasure could be saved, a first selection was shown in SwissClassics Revue 2/2016, more will follow in future issues.

Do you have similar treasures at home? Then get in touch with us, we'll make sure they all survive us!

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New on Zwischengas - improved overview pages

Bruno von Rotz
04/25/2016

Übersichtsseiten erneuert

Following the overhaul of our front page, we have now also revised and streamlined the other overview pages.

From now on, these overview pages will display the relevant articles in historical order and, so to speak, endlessly. You can scroll down as you wish and view hundreds of articles. This applies to vehicle reports, event reports, book reviews, personal articles, auction reviewsand many more.

There is now also a search field that you can use to reduce the display to specific topics. For example, you can filter out only those vehicle reports that contain the word "Giugiaro".

Just give it a try! And let us know what you think.

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Manual transmission promises greater value growth

Bruno von Rotz
04/25/2016

Poll 57 - Frage der Woche - Handschaltung mit höherer Wertsteigerung?

The manual gearbox, which was standard equipment for decades, is increasingly becoming the exception. Top-of-the-range saloons have been relying on automatic transmissions for decades, but even in super sports cars, manual transmissions are already the exception. And so the trend towards gearshift automation is continuing throughout the entire passenger car range; after all, DSG and its ilk can achieve more favorable fuel consumption and exhaust emission values, at least in the laboratory.

But what does the buyer of a classic or modern car want? Do they prefer the manual gearbox and thus give the traditional gear change technology a higher value than the automatic, which may be sold in parallel? This is what we wanted to know from our readers in our question of the week .

As many as 45% were convinced that the manual gearbox will be seen as more valuable in the future, while a further 48% would make this dependent on the type of vehicle. They assume that a manual gearbox will increase the value of sporty vehicles, while it makes no difference for other vehicles.

The remaining 6% or so cannot imagine that a manual gearbox, which was once cheaper to buy, should be worth more in the future than a comfortable automatic, all the more so as drivers of the future will hardly be used to shifting gears by hand.

Here is the graphical analysis of the answers to the question of the week:

Auswertung Frage der Woche Automatik oder Handschaltung

We have already asked the next question of the week , this time about how classic car owners insure their vehicles. Is there a trend towards a fully comprehensive mentality?

The results of the previous questions of the week can all be found in a dedicated topic channel.

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Personal responsibility or recall and paternalism?

Bruno von Rotz
04/24/2016

Automatikschalthebel im Citroën CX

The Fiat-Chrysler Group is recalling 1.1 million cars (including Dodge, Jeep, etc.) because the driver can leave the car without the automatic transmission being shifted to "P" and the car can therefore roll away on its own. This should now be prevented, the car should be smarter than the owner.

Hello? How was this before? With manual cars (and also with automatic cars), for example, you could get out of the car at any time and leave the gear in neutral; nobody reminded you of this lapse. The manufacturers would have to recall several hundred million cars!

Handschaltung im Ginetta G15

In the past, it was the driver's responsibility to ensure that his car was properly secured, whether on a hill or on a flat stretch of road. They applied the handbrake themselves, engaged forward or reverse gear depending on the incline, and that was that. Apparently, people no longer trust him to do the same today. This also explains why a modern BMW refuses to drive away if one of the doors is not properly closed.

All these safety devices may prevent the odd accident, but they often make life more difficult and incapacitate the driver, who is increasingly forgetting how to put the car into the right gear before leaving it.

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From used to collector's vehicle

Bruno von Rotz
04/23/2016

At some point, interesting cars make the leap from utility to collector's vehicle. This is usually accompanied by a change in the way the car is used, as the collector's car is usually spared daily use in everyday traffic. The collector's car is spared, pampered, cared for and saved for special occasions.

Now it may well be that a certain type of car is still a used car for one owner and already a collector's car for another. And there are cars that practically never experience the used vehicle phase at all, so to speak. Examples of this are often the evolutionary models from manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz or Ferrari, because who would use a Ferrari Enzo in everyday life?

The bread and butter cars have a much harder time of it, they are hardly ever spared everyday use.

Our picture for this blog shows two cars, both of which are already old and sprightly youngtimers respectively. While the Peugeot 205 GTI is just at the end of the used and transition to the collector's vehicle phase, the VW Golf GTI Mk 1 has now clearly become a collector's vehicle, in this case it has already been completely restored and now delights the driver with its almost new car-like condition.

In this respect, he was lucky, because many bread and butter cars end up on the scrap heap at the end of their service life, which makes the remaining examples all the rarer (but not always significantly more valuable).

Sporty hatchback cars, however, are likely to have a good career ahead of them as collectors' vehicles, as their former owners often dream of treating themselves to another one when they reach a ripe old age ...

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