Large differences in height long before SUVs

Bruno von Rotz
06/30/2018

Höhenunterschiede - Hispano Suiza und Amilcar C6 von 1927 (© Bruno von Rotz)

Nowadays it is often said that SUVs are very high and, above all, that low sports cars severely restrict the view to the front.

Well, this is not a new problem. Drivers in the 1920s already had to contend with similar problems, as you can see in the photo above.

In any case, the driver of the Hispano Suiza would hardly have noticed the Amilcar C6 driving behind him. The difference in height and width between the two cars is probably even greater than what we see on the road today.

However, the likelihood of the Hispano and the Amilcar ever meeting on the road was certainly almost zero, then as now. You had to go to a Concours
d'Elégance, as was the case at the event in Coppet last weekend.

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Really wide, or not?

Bruno von Rotz
06/29/2018

Cadillac Series 62 von 1959 (© Bruno von Rotz)

Certainly, a Cadillac Series 62 from 1959 had an impressive size, its width was 203.7 centimeters, which was almost unimaginable at the time, as a VW Beetle was just 154 cm wide and a Renault 4 CV (rear, Crèmeschnittchen) only 143 cm.

Today, 70 percent of all newly registered cars exceed two meters in width! The ADAC has measured this on 200 modern vehicles. An Audi Q5, for example, measures 2.145 meters, a BMW 5 Series 2.13 m, a Fiat 500X 2.03 m, the Mercedes V-Class 2.255 m and the VW T6 Multivan even 2.3 m.

This is not the data you will find in the vehicle brochure, as it is measured without exterior mirrors, which makes a VW Golf 1.799 m wide, which then becomes 2.03 m if you include the two ears. The police, however, measure with mirrors when it comes to deciding who is allowed to use the overtaking lane if it is width-regulated. With the "maximum two meters" sign, only 30 percent of newly registered cars are allowed to use the overtaking lane.

And what was different in the past? Well, the mirrors were much smaller, which is why the Cadillac pictured above was probably no more than 2.1 m wide including the mirror, which is sometimes narrower than the Q5, 5 Series and V-Class. Even a Beetle was the same width with and without mirrors, as was the Renault 4 CV. That's why it's so easy to get through everywhere today, especially with 40- and 50-year-old oldies.

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Defying the weather - La Leggenda di Bassano 2018

Günther Trautvetter
06/28/2018

Osca MT4 von 1954 - Leggenda di Bassano (© Günther Trautvetter)

From 21-24 June 2018, the C.V.A.E. (Circolo Veneto Automoto d'Epoca Giannino Marzotto) organized the three-day regularity test "La Leggenda di Bassano" in northern Italy in memory of racing driver Giannino Marzotto, who served as honorary president of the club for several years.

Aston Martin DB3S von 1955 - Leggenda di Bassano (© Günther Trautvetter)

In honor of the maestro on the Volante

What better way to honor a legendary racing driver than with classic racing and sports cars touring through mountainous, winding landscapes? What a great idea from the car enthusiasts of the C.V.A.E., who created the Leggenda di Bassano in memory of Giannino Marzotto.

Giannino Marzotto (© Actualfoto)

Giannino Marzotto, the youngest of four brothers with a passion for motor racing, was obsessed with the thrill of speed and was a hero in Italy in his day. He won the Mille Miglia twice, in 1950 in the Ferrari 195S and in 1953 in the Ferrari 340M, when he relegated Fangio to second place. The Count's racing outfit seems unbelievable today, a suit with a white shirt and tie. Yes, that's what heroes looked like back then, thundering along the worst country roads at an average speed of 142 km/h from today's perspective.

Through the wine and rock country

Anyone who has ever enjoyed driving a classic roadster on the roads of South Tyrol and Trentino can imagine with their eyes closed how impressive it would be to drive a racing car over the mountain passes and through the bends.

Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 von 1939 - Leggenda di Bassano (© Günther Trautvetter)

Over a hundred drivers from Europe, Asia, North and South America were able to indulge in this pleasure at the Trofeo Marzotto. 640 km in three stages offered three days of riding fun in the most beautiful landscapes.

Stage 1: Bassano del Grappa - Asiago - Trento - Caldaro - Bolzano
Stage 2: Bolzano - Val Gardena - Dobbiaco - Ampezzo - Alleghe
3rd stage: Alleghe - Santa Giustina - Feltre - Monte Grappa - Bassano

Open-top racing cars from 1920 to 1960

With the selection of vehicles, the organizers conjured up the finest Mille Miglia flair in the Dolomites. Compared to the thousand miles between Brescia and Rome, the Leggenda di Bassano offers less mass, but exclusively top-class racing cars and aims to offer all participants unfiltered driving. No one is allowed to get comfortable under the coupé roof - tin roofs are a "no go" - so that wind and weather are also part of the experience. In 2018, the occupants got the full program over the three days: blazing sun, fresh wind and cooling rain.

Fiat 1100 S Bondi von 1948 - Leggenda di Bassano (© Günther Trautvetter)

Those who had a soft top stayed in wellness mode, most didn't and bravely defied the whims of nature in outdoor mode.

Fiat 100 S Sport Lion von 1959 - Leggenda di Bassano (© Günther Trautvetter)

Those who saw, heard and smelled the motorcade whizzing past as an automotive gourmet, saw "cucina grande", heard "musica furiosa" and sniffed the scent of "olio motore".

Allard JX2 von 1952 - Leggenda di Bassano (© Günther Trautvetter)

From little red bouncers to white elephants, it was all four decades of engineering and design art in motion.

Tojeiro Sport Racing von 1955 - Leggenda di Bassano (© Günther Trautvetter)

What on earth is a Buckler, a La Dawri, a Tojeiro or a Kieft? Yes, it wasn't just the Italians who built beautiful barchettes, but also the Australians, the Americans and the British, even if the brand name usually gives no indication of the country of manufacture.

Ferrari 750 Monza von 1955 - Leggenda di Bassano (© Günther Trautvetter)

Perhaps you will also be there next year, at the Leggenda di Bassano. Why not treat yourself to a menu from "antipasti" to "dolci" in 2019, prepared with "belle macchine" in Italia.

MG TC von 1948 - Leggenda di Bassano (© Günther Trautvetter)

The impressive start list and the results can be found on the organizer's website.

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Brevity is the spice of life!

Bruno von Rotz
06/27/2018

Bentley Continental S3 von 1964 (© Bonhams)

Would you have recognized this car straight away? Probably not, but let me tell you that it is a Bentley S3 Continental from 1964.

Do you remember it differently? So do we. Something like this (like this "normal" Bentley S3 Continental with Mulliner bodywork):

Bentley S3 Continental Coupé von 1964 (© Bonhams, 2014)

Well, a certain R. G. McLeod probably found the normal Bentley too long, so he ordered a short version. And it looked more like an Austin 1100 than a Bentley, at least from the side.

Bentley S3 Continental von 1964 (© Bonhams)

McLeod, who had short Bentleys built for him several times, also specified the appearance, at least that's what the card for chassis BC38XC says: "Continental 2dr saloon with special modified body to drawing no. 2035/F".

Cockpit des Bentley S3 Continental von 1964 (© Bonhams)

In addition to the shortened chassis, McLeod also asked Mulliner for electric windows, special seat mechanisms and a sunroof as well as a second exhaust (without function).

This car will now be auctioned by Bonhams on July 15, 2018 in Chichester on the occasion of the Festival of Speed after having been owned for many years by singer Engelbert Humperdinck (including "Release me", "The Last Waltz", "A Man Without Love"). £ 80,000 to 90,000 (CHF 104,800 to 117,900, EUR 91,199 to 102,599) are expected to be paid by prospective buyers.

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You can exaggerate everything

Daniel Reinhard
06/26/2018

BMW E30 am Norisring Demolauf 2018 (© Daniel Reinhard)

In the past, special trips, such as those to the DTM race at the Norisring circuit last weekend, were simply enjoyed. You soaked up the impressions and drew on the memories later.

Audi V8 am Norisring Demolauf 2018 (© Daniel Reinhard)

Today, the moment is often no longer perceived at all, because the film on the cell phone is much more important than the recorded impressions themselves. People increasingly believe that they can enjoy the moments better in retrospect. But actually, the enjoyment of the moment is much greater than the repetition in the movie.

If only the passenger is filming, it's still acceptable, but if both (picture above) are recording the journey, perhaps out of fear that the other cell phone might lose its data, then it's probably a bit excessive. Brave new world!

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3D printing in classic cars is still a dream of the future (Question of the week)

Bruno von Rotz
06/25/2018

Poll 111 - 3D-Druck-Einsatz im Oldtimer?

3D printing technology has great potential in the classic/young car sector in particular, for example to reproduce spare parts that are no longer available or at least to create molds for cast parts that are not available. Even entire plastic parts and the basis of body parts are said to be feasible. But is the euphoria justified? Is 3D technology already being used at all? We wanted to find out from Zwischengas readers and asked explicitly: " Are there already 3D-printed parts in your classic/young car? "

The answers from the 190 Question of the Week participants show that the application is clearly lagging behind the PR concert of the companies involved.

Just 4 percent stated that parts directly from the 3D printer had already been installed in their car.

A further 4 percent stated that the 3D printer had been used, but only as an aid in preparation, while the installed parts had then been produced conventionally.

However, 86 percent had never used a 3D printer for their classic/young car.

And a further 4 percent did not find their opinion reflected in any of the answers given.

So 3D printing technology is still a long way from becoming a standard tool in the classic/young car industry, but an earlier Question of the Week round already showed that it has the potential to do so .

Here are the results of the survey in graphic form:

Poll 111 - 3D-Druck-Einsatz - Antworten

We have already proposed a new question of the week . This time we want to know whether "screwdrivers" are really dying out.

And, of course, you can still look up the results of all previous questions of the week in the dedicated topic channel.

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A bargain for EUR 39 million? Another Ferrari 250 GTO on the market ...

Bruno von Rotz
06/24/2018

Ferrari 250 GTO (1962) © Partick Ernzen - Courtesy RM/Sotheby's

If you want to be one of the most important car collectors , you'll want to put a Ferrari GTO in one of your garages, as we recently reported. But with only 33 250 GTOs built (plus three 330 GTOs), it's not that easy to find a suitable example. And prices are slowly but surely heading towards the three-digit millions. The last GTO known to have been traded changed hands for around EUR 60 million (USD 70 million, CHF 70 million). And it has already been a few years since a GTO was sold at auction, namely in 2014, when Bonhams sold 3851 GTs at Quails Lodge for EUR 28.4 (USD 38.1 million, CHF 37.5 million).

Ferrari 250 GTO (1962) © Partick Ernzen - Courtesy RM/Sotheby's

Now RM/Sotheby's can offer 3413 GT, one of the rare sports cars, and there is talk that the car, whose estimated value has not yet been officially announced, could well fetch more than USD 45 million. However, this would make it almost a bargain, as it would "only" be worth EUR 38.6 million (CHF 44.5 million).

The history of the 3413 GT begins as the third 250 GTO built in May 1962, when Graham Hill and Mauro Forghieri entered the car in training for the Targa Florio. The first owner, however, was Edoardo Lualdi-Gabardi, who took part in various Italian hill climb and circuit races with the car, including Trento-Bondone, and won the Italian championship as well as countless class wins and several overall victories.

The GTO is about a year old when he sells it on to Gianni Bulgari, who immediately sets off for the Targa Florio in it and promptly wins the three-liter class and finishes 4th overall.

In November, Bulgari then won the Coppa FISA in Monza, but then sold the car to Corrado Ferlaino. In his ownership, the GTO was then re-bodied by Scaglietti, giving it roughly the same appearance as the last GTOs built, which were closer in shape to the 250 LM than to the original GTO. In this guise, the car again achieved a class victory at the 1964 Targa Florio and finished fifth overall.

After further races in Italy, Ferlaino sold the car to Great Britain, where David Piper still managed to take victories at Silverstone and Brands Hatch in 1965.

The 3413 GT's active racing career then came to an end, followed by later appearances in historic racing events, primarily in the USA, but also internationally. Since 2000, the car has been owned by Gregory Whitten, who, according to barchetta.cc, paid USD 7 million for it.

The 3413 GT is therefore a historically well-attested car that has an interesting racing history behind it and is also one of only three chassis that underwent a bodywork renovation during the period. It will be interesting to see whether RM/Sotheby's expectations will be fulfilled.

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What drivers used to know - do not accelerate when being overtaken

Bruno von Rotz
06/23/2018

Well, it's not just old driving wisdom that you shouldn't accelerate when you're being overtaken. It's even written in the law. In the past, however, an acceleration maneuver, whether intentional or unintentional, had much more serious consequences than it does today. If, for example, a Beetle tried to overtake an Opel Rekord, the Opel driver could make the maneuver impossible with just a slight push on the gas, because the 32 or so horsepower of the Beetle was of course not enough to accelerate any faster. This was dangerous and often led to serious accidents when trying to overtake.

Nowadays, this problem hardly arises any more, as most cars are significantly more powerful than the 300 SL pictured above. Acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in under eight seconds is normal, whereas in the past it could take 20 or even 30 seconds to reach 100 km/h. And electric cars have even more torque available at short notice.

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When the color red still had traction

Bruno von Rotz
06/22/2018

People today can hardly imagine that anymore. Red was once one of the most popular colors for cars. Sporty vehicles in particular were often ordered in red, including Porsche. But the picture is not that old, it was taken almost exactly 30 years ago, when the brand-new 964s were ready for collection by the dealers at Porsche.

If you wanted to take the same picture today, you would probably have to assume gray, black or possibly white vehicles, although there are still Porsche buyers today who want a red sports car. But they are buying less and less ...

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The Tornado Typhoon made its debut 60 years ago

Bruno von Rotz
06/21/2018

Tornado Typhoon 1958 auf der Hochzeitsreise

Yesterday was exactly 60 years since the Tornado Typhoon was unveiled to the press in England. June 20, 1958 was an important milestone in the history of the sports car company Tornado Cars Ltd, which Bill Woodhouse had founded back in 1957.

Drahtmodell des Tornado Typhoon

With great skill, a completely new design had been developed and the company had even constructed its own chassis. However, the Typhoon body could also be mounted on a Ford 8/10 chassis.

Tornado Typhoon in Goodwood 1958

It goes without saying that Bill Woodhouse went on his honeymoon with his first Typhoon. And that the same car was also used for fast laps on the Goodwood Circuit.

Tornado Typhoon von 1958 am Treffen Fanstatic Plastic 2018

However, while the sports car company did not survive the sixties despite some interesting developments, the early Tornado Typhoon is still around. And Woodhouse repeated the honeymoon with it a few weeks ago, as we reported on the occasion of our report from the Fantastic Plastic car meeting , where the freshly restored Tornado Typhoon could be admired in the presence of its builder. What a story!

Bill Woodhouse am Treffen Fantastic Plastic 2018

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