Why doesn't anyone build cars with three seats anymore?

Bruno von Rotz
08/31/2017

3 Sitze im Matra-Simca Bagheera

Around half a century ago, cars with three seats were still quite common, often of American origin and with a wide bench seat at the front. With the end of the bench seat and the concentration on individual seats, most manufacturers left it with two seats in the front.

But there were exceptions, for example the Ferrari 365 P, a prototype, or much later the McLaren F1, built in small numbers, with a centrally positioned driver's seat and one passenger seat each on the left and right.

Matra-Simca Bagheera

However, it was a French sports car manufacturer, Matra, that popularized the three seats in a row. In the Matra-Simca Bagheera, built from 1973 to 1980, the driver sat on the left and two other people could ride on the right. Almost 48,000 units were produced. The Bagheera was replaced by the Murena, which appeared under the brand name Talbot-Matra and was built almost 11,000 times until 1984, again with the three-seat configuration in front of the mid-engine.

The fact that the Bagheera was a success certainly had at least partly to do with the three seats. Although the passenger in the middle sat in a somewhat cramped seat and full occupancy led to compromises for all three passengers, it was also extremely practical to be able to take an additional guest or an only child with you on an excursion in an emergency.

The question naturally arises as to why nobody chose this seating configuration after the two Matra mid-engined sports cars, apart from six-seaters from Fiat or Honda.

Presumably, as was often the case, it was the safety requirements that demanded the accommodation of three seats in a row, including roller belts with belt tensioners and an Aibag per passenger. Together with the side impact protection, a modern three-seater would probably simply be too wide and too bulky. And the variant with a centrally positioned driver and passengers offset to the rear on the left and right had comfort-specific disadvantages.

In any case, there were no successors for the Bagheera and Murena, not least because Matra was then allowed to produce the Renault Espace for Renault, which was ultimately even a seven-seater.

We will soon be publishing a comprehensive driving report on the Matra-Simca Bagheera.

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Why not drive through two coaches for once?

Bruno von Rotz
08/30/2017

Mit dem Chevrolet Camaro durch zwei Busse fahren

Perhaps Belgian stuntman René Pierre simply didn't like public transport. Or perhaps he was simply looking for a lot of attention, regardless of his convictions.

Mit dem Chevrolet Camaro durch zwei Busse fahren - Start

And that's exactly what he got when he drove through two coaches at 155 km/h in Zandvoort in 1983.

Mit dem Chevrolet Camaro durch zwei Busse fahren - zwischen den beiden Bussen

You can only tell from the dust and smoke in the second image of the sequence that the Camaro is now driving roughly through the middle, while the third image (above) shows the exit.

The result? Three vehicles for scrapping and three impressive photos. And of course they make it into our series "Pictures (almost) without words"! You can find more in the theme channel ...

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Attending a Concours d'Elégance for the first time

Zoe Waltenspül
08/29/2017

Aston Martin DB2 - Zurich Classic Car Award 23. 8. 2017 (© Zoe Waltenspül)

As an intern at Zwischengas, I had the opportunity to attend my first Concours d'Elegance. The Zurich Classic Car Award (ZCCA) took place on Wednesday, August 23, 2017 on Bürkliplatz in the middle of the city of Zurich. The first impression was overwhelming, the many beautiful cars right by the lake between the trees looked simply amazing. However, the visitors to the event were just as interesting as the cars, be it the owners who stood proudly and in some cases appropriately dressed next to their classic cars, or the passers-by who had stumbled upon the event by chance and were delighted to explore the "offer".

When you mingled with the people, you heard a wide variety of opinions and views. From young to old, everything was there. Next to the yellow Chevrolet Corvette C2 from 1967, two older ladies reminisced eloquently about the good old days, while the younger generation were more interested in taking photos and selfies with the impressive cars and then quickly moved on.

I found the small information signs in front of each car valuable, as you could quickly learn a lot about the car and how it got to its current owners. When taking photos, however, I realized just as quickly that these signs didn't really embellish some of the pictures.

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Bus systems as an obstacle for screwdrivers and DIY enthusiasts (question of the week)

Bruno von Rotz
08/28/2017

Frage der Woche 90 - Elektronik/Epochen als Limitation für Heimwerker

In many petrol discussions, electronics are seen as an obstacle to the survival of old cars. The first electronic components were installed in vehicles as early as the 1960s, but it was not until the 1970s/80s that electronically controlled fuel injection systems were fitted on a large scale. With the increasing demands for comfort and environmental friendliness, the control electronics became more complex, more integrated and more elaborate, and from 1995/2000 the data streams were finally routed via bus systems and control/sensor data was managed centrally.

This naturally raises the question of which cars can still be repaired and maintained with reasonable effort by skilled DIY enthusiasts and mechanics without the relevant experience from that time. We naturally passed this "question of the week" on to our readers and received 421 responses.

The largest proportion (although only 37%) believe that it is primarily the first bus systems (e.g. CAN) from 1995/2000 onwards that limit the possibilities for DIY repairs and the skills of experienced mechanics with a traditional approach.

A further 22% see the use of complex motor and drive electronics from 1980/1985 onwards as an insurmountable challenge for the mechanic/home mechanic.

15% of respondents would place the problem even earlier, namely with the use of the first electronically controlled injection systems from the mid-1970s.

By contrast, 12 % assume that a little electronics does not necessarily mean the end for the mechanic/do-it-yourselfer and that only the fully integrated and sensor-controlled car, as built from around 2005 onwards, must be a real obstacle for the DIY mechanic/do-it-yourselfer, while 8 % even believe that a skilled mechanic/do-it-yourselfer should be able to cope with practically any car to this day. 3 % did not find any of the answers applicable.

In summary, the Zwischengas readership is optimistic that it should at least be possible to repair cars without bus systems, while the real problems begin with those without.

For the sake of completeness, here is the graphical analysis of the answers:

Frage der Woche 90 - Auswertung

The next question of the week is already underway, in which we want to find out whether you can actually learn the classic car trade as a self-taught mechanic using the internet, YouTube, Google and co.

And of course you can still read all the previous results of the "Questions of the Week" in the corresponding topic channel.

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Thinking ahead - when the classic car's engine keeps cutting out

Karlheinz Jung
08/27/2017

BMW 502 Cabriolet - Motorraum

After buying the BMW 502, Baur Cabriolet from 1955, the joy of ownership was soon somewhat dampened, as the vehicle more or less always broke down somewhere, sometimes in the middle of town, occasionally on country roads or on the highway.

The breakdowns occurred at irregular intervals, and there were no precise indications as to why the sprightly classic suddenly broke down.

After a short wait of 15 to 20 minutes, the car could be restarted and the journey could be continued. Naturally, I turned to the experts. They initially blamed the fuel, talked about the formation of steam bubbles as the cause and many other things. Some crazy theories were also developed.

In the end, the mechanical fuel pump was replaced by an electric pump. The fuel lines were relocated to cooler areas in the engine compartment and insulated against heat with heat protection tape from motor racing. The carburetors were checked several times for malfunctions and the ignition was checked several times.

Nevertheless, it was a nightmare to drive the vehicle. Because the breakdowns continued to occur. In between, the car ran perfectly for several months without the actual cause of the engine failure being identified.

Nevertheless, a rally to Alba in Piedmont was booked. We took the highway to Basel, drove through the Gotthard tunnel via Lucerne and spent the night in Ascona. Everything went well until we reached Ascona airfield, where the "tin" stopped once again. After waiting around 15 minutes, everything was running smoothly again.

The next day, the fuel pump was changed in a local workshop and everything ran smoothly again. The onward journey along Lake Maggiore to Stresa went smoothly, we filled up the tank there and then drove 10 km steeply uphill to the highway to Turin. Right at the highway entrance, the BMW stopped again. After 10 minutes it was running like a champ again. So I drove on!!!

Now I started to think for myself, because something similar had happened to me once before with a DKW 3/6 in the sixties. Back then, I removed the rubber seal from the fuel filler cap and the two-stroke ran smoothly again.

So I stopped in a parking bay, unscrewed the fuel filler cap until it was only sitting loosely on the opening, and from then on the "car" actually ran without any problems.

When I got home, I checked the tank and discovered that it has a small tank vent tube that goes through the tank and is open to the road at the bottom.

I cleaned this tank vent tube with a wire and a wire brush and was amazed at what I found: Road dust baked together, a dried up large spider, dried up grasses, leaves and lots of other dirt from 55 years of operation.

What's more, the encrusted dirt had probably come into contact with gasoline during refueling when the tank was filled to the top.

This led to the following explanation: The tank ventilation tube was 95% leak-proof, the remaining 5% was sufficient to dissolve the vacuum that had formed. This is why the engine ran normally again after around 15 to 20 minutes.

Although the vehicle was restored by a restorer who was known to be meticulous, no one apparently thought about the tank and the tank vent tube at the time. Forgivable!

If something similar happens to someone else, you might notice it when refueling, namely when the tank nozzle keeps switching off. The tank ventilation tube may already be partially blocked, so clean it immediately. It is part of the operation of an older car to clean the tank ventilation tube from time to time.

On other types of vehicle, including motorcycles with tank ventilation through the fuel filler cap, the ventilation hole or valve must be cleaned again and again.

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The beginning of the end - cars in stockpiles at British Leyland

Bruno von Rotz
08/26/2017

Auf Halde gebaute Autos in Cowley - British Leyland 1980

British Leyland was not doing well in 1980. In 1980, employees had to be warned that the company would soon be forced to lay off half of its workforce of up to 60,000 workers or only employ them for half of the time.

BL's vehicles sold poorly at the time; Austin Princess and Morris Marina were not exactly among the top sellers, and the market share had fallen to just 15 percent, the lowest it had ever been. Accordingly, unsold vehicles were piling up around the factory in Cowley and other locations. Things were not looking good for British Leyland (and the British car industry) at the time ...

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Autumn is coming ...

Bruno von Rotz
08/25/2017

Renault-Alpine A310 V6 von 1979 (© Bonhams)

When we saw this picture, we were very surprised. After all, it was still the height of summer and we were sweating from the high temperatures. We certainly weren't thinking about fall in July.
But now the signs are already pointing more strongly to autumn, the temperatures have dropped a little, the days are already getting noticeably shorter. And even the leaves are beginning to fall from the trees, still slowly, but already visible.

It's probably not quite as autumnal as in the photo in most places yet, so we're pretty sure that the photo showing a 1979 Renault-Alpine A310 V6, which will go under the hammer at the Bonhams auction in Chantilly on September 10, 2017 , was taken a year ago. But we could be wrong.
The photo is definitely a success.

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The forerunners of the on-board computer

Bruno von Rotz
08/24/2017

Ablesen der Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit

Long before computers were installed in cars, car manufacturers and accessory suppliers were already catering to the information needs of drivers.

For example, there were windshields (picture above) on which you could calculate the average speed using two pointers with which you could set the distance and the elapsed time.

Or you could calculate the average fuel consumption on the back of the Blue Zone parking card by comparing the amount of fuel filled up with the kilometers driven.

There were also distance calculators. You pre-selected the starting point and could then read off the distance from the starting point on a map, which had corresponding holes at large locations, in which kilometer information then appeared.

Ablesen der Anhaltestrecke

For safety-oriented people, disks were available that showed the stopping distance including reaction time for different speeds.

Today we use cell phones, the navigation system, the on-board computer or internet aids for these purposes, in the past you had to know how to help yourself with simpler, but quite effective means.

We saw the two photographed aids at the Zurich Classic Car Award, when the owner of a Fiat 508C Viotti Cabriolet demonstrated them to us.

An article on the beauty contest itself will be published soon.

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Autonomous driving - over 30 years ago!

Bruno von Rotz
08/23/2017

Is it coming or not, the self-driving car? Yet it is much older than most people think. Cars were already driving autonomously over 30 years ago. In the fall of 1986, the magazine Auto Motor und Sportpublished an article entitled "Future World", which examined the day-to-day research of the major German car manufacturers. It dealt with the question of how we would be driving in the year 2000.

At any rate, at Volkswagen in Wolfsburg, three VW Golfs could be seen driving independently with a minimum distance between them. And one driver was seen leaving the steering to the computer (picture above) while reading the newspaper himself. It's worth noting that the computing power of a modern cell phone was equivalent to a computer system the size of a living room. And so, of course, all this autonomous driving only worked on closed-off and known roads.

Car-to-car communication was also already being considered, except that the signals were to be transmitted via induction loops in the roads (e.g. LISA), and "Prometheus" also aimed in this direction. Improved environmental protection and the careful use of energy were mentioned as objectives. Safety was also mentioned in passing; after all, the writers already realized at the time that an autonomously driving car would of course consistently adhere to speed regulations ...

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Cultural heritage or scrap metal? Enchanted cars in Kyrkö Mosse

Uwe Klingel und Daniel Reinhard
08/22/2017

In Kyrkö Mosse, a village in the south of Sweden, 150 scrap cars from the middle of the 20th century - together with bicycles and mopeds - have found their final resting place. Each of these objects offers a glimpse into the forgotten, tells of the first car vacation, reminds us of the local butcher's shop or the painter in the neighboring village of Ryd. The Second World War has also left its mark - with the remains of a bomber that crashed over the frozen Lake Asnen in 1943. History or fairy tale. Cultural heritage or scrap metal? Take a look for yourself!

The most important story, however, is the one about the founder of this special place, Ake, known as "Ake vom Moor". Born in the settlement of Tröjemala in 1914, he worked as a farmhand in the southern Swedish provinces of Skane and Smaland after his schooling and confirmation.

In 1935, he bought this peat bog and a spade with a broad blade. There was money to be made from peat moss and peat was what was available here in large quantities. The peat was then "enriched" by the cattle in the barn, and the end product was a sought-after fertilizer. Technically skilled as Ake was, he built a peat factory, whose peat ripper he powered with old car engines.

After the Second World War, life became easier and by the 1950s, cars were already considered the "property of the little man". However, many of these new cars were parked in the nearest forest as soon as they stopped running.

Ake recognized an opportunity here and collected these cars. He taught himself the various models and soon became an expert in spare parts, which he sold from his collection point. In this way, he became a pioneer of recycling, so to speak.

What remained, however, were the wheel-less bodies, which, despite their wretched appearance, can still be used as photo motifs.

The last scrap car was bought in 1974, but the warehouse was full of spare parts, which were sold for many more years. In 1992, Ake moves into the retirement home in Ryd. The car graveyard becomes the subject of much debate.

In 2001, the municipality decided to allow the wrecks to remain and let nature reclaim the site. The car graveyard was compared to a self-destructing painting. A certain reverence hovers over the place.

Exactly the same situation existed in Switzerland. However, the much larger car cemetery in Kaufdorf (canton of Bern), which had also already been taken over by nature, had to be cleared. Unfortunately, all the debates held at the time left no alternative.

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