When you still had real spare wheels

Bruno von Rotz
04/30/2019

Ersatzrad im Motorraum des Citroën GS von 1977

The pneumatic tire was invented and introduced early in the development of the automobile and with it a new problem arose, that of flat tires. Initially, drivers took inner tubes and tires with them on their journeys, but soon entire (or several) spare wheels were strapped to the car.

Doppeltes Reserverad bei einem Vorkriegsautomobil

Later, they were carried in the trunk or in the engine compartment (pictured above) or in other easily accessible places. However, there was always a complete spare wheel on board that matched the other wheels.

As wheel widths increased, these spare wheels eventually took up too much space and the "space saver" or so-called emergency wheel was invented. The tire could be inflated with a compressor before it was fitted. However, the emergency wheel was not a real replacement, it was only suitable for driving to the nearest garage. In the end, the emergency wheel was dispensed with and the driver was given a repair kit in the hope that a leaking wheel could be repaired en route. Sometimes this worked, sometimes not.

Up until the seventies and perhaps eighties, however, car buyers were given five fully-fledged wheels that could be used for proper driving. This also saved money, because of course you only had to buy a new tire when you first bought a replacement, for example when the front tires were worn out, and you could include the spare wheel (including the rim) in the rotation. Later, you might mount a winter tire on the (used) spare wheel and only have to buy three additional rims. A complete spare wheel with the same appearance and dimensions as normal bicycles also helped to save some money.

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When predictions do not come true or only much later

Bruno von Rotz
04/29/2019

Porsche 989 im Jahr 1990 (© AMS)

It was in 1990, almost 30 years ago, when Auto Motor und Sport wanted to know what the future of Porsche would look like. And they predicted a four-door model and a Porsche with a V8 engine. It should be noted that at that time, the air-cooled 964 had just been launched and there was also the 944 as the S2 and Turbo, as well as the 928 with a V8 front engine. This was the entire product range. The vision of a four-door front-engined Porsche and a significantly more powerful 911 was visionary.

Well, both were available almost 20 years later from 2009, albeit somewhat differently than anticipated. Neither the 911 with V8 engine nor the four-door 989 (planned for 1995) went into series production.

However, the installation position of the engine was correct, as it was announced as a front-mounted engine in the four-door model. And so - almost 20 years later - it also powered the Panamera from 2009 onwards, while in future we will probably have to assume a four-cylinder rather than an eight-cylinder 911 ...

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What the Lotus Elise has to do with Ducati

Bruno von Rotz
04/28/2019

Lotus Elise 1995 (© Lotus/Werk)

When the two Lotus employees Richard Rackham (chassis designer) and Julian Thomson (head of design) set about laying the foundations for the Lotus Elise in 1994, they were certainly inspired by earlier Lotus models such as the Super Seven or the Lotus 23, but they were even more influenced by the motorcycles of the Ducati brand.

Ducati 900 SS 1994 - Rahmen

Both Richard and Julian rode Ducatis and they were obviously inspired by the performance and sheer focus that their designers had. "When you take the fairing off a Ducati, you see so many beautiful things," Richard explains in a video detailing the creation of the Lotus Elise.

Ducati 900 SS 1994 - Vorderbremse

There are indeed various parallels, such as the pursuit of lightness, which for the Lotus developers was not only a prerequisite for good driving performance, but above all for high efficiency and low emission values. This also gave rise to the glued aluminum chassis, which was unique at the time, but gave the car a high degree of stability despite its low weight.

It was clear from the very beginning of the M1-11 project initiated in January 1994 that the car had to be open, the engine had to be located between the axles and the car had to be developed primarily from the driver's perspective.

You should definitely take a look at the (longer) video (in English)!

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How people imagined the future of cars 40 years ago

Bruno von Rotz
04/27/2019

The Hungarian inventor and designer Tamás Zalezsák was not looking for a design prize when he designed his car in 1975; he was hoping for more safety from the development. Unlike vehicles that only dissipate energy in the crumple zones in the event of an accident, Zalezsák designed the chassis in such a way that it consisted of closed components that were held together by resilient connecting elements. Elastic intermediate layers were provided between the passenger cell and the deformation elements arranged around it.

Z-Form-ESV von 1975 bei einem Unfall

In the event of an accident, the passenger cabin could therefore deflect upwards and even in the event of a side impact, the cabin was displaced independently of the chassis, thereby absorbing energy.

This design was known as the "Z-shape", as reported in Automobil Revue in 1975. However, not much more was heard about it after that ...

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Barn finds of a different kind

Marcel Widler
04/26/2019

VW 181 auf Menorca (© Marcel Widler)

They are not actually barn finds that can be seen in the two photos, but burn victims. In fact, they are the remains of a garage fire on Menorca and you can still easily recognize the VW type 181.

Citroën Méhari auf Menorca (© Marcel Widler)

The second car with a front engine is more difficult to identify, but knowledgeable Zwischengas readers will no doubt have already identified which car it is. A Citroën Méhari must have died here.

There is probably not much left to restore.

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Unmistakable

Bruno von Rotz
04/25/2019

Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 zwischen modernen Autos (© Bruno von Rotz)

There are cars that are recognizable even if you only see small parts of them. One of these cars is certainly the Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7, built between 1972 and 1973. Actually, the duck tail alone is almost enough, because it was only available in this form on the 911. However, there are also some G models that were equipped with it (and neo-classics). Therefore, you also need the bumper to be able to clearly identify the car.

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Safe journey, Heidi Hetzer (obituary)

Bruno von Rotz
04/24/2019

Heidi Hetzer und ihr Hudo (© Motorworld Berlin)

Almost everyone knows Heidi Hetzer. In recent years, she often appeared at classic car events and trade fairs, usually together with her Hudo, a 1930 Hudson Great Eight, in which she traveled around the world from 2014 to 2017. She set off on her last journey three days ago and passed away on the evening of April 21, 2019.

Heidi Hetzer (© Daniel Reinhard)

Born in Berlin in 1937, Heidi grew up in a car and motorcycle environment, which she never let go of her whole life. Whether she was cruising around in a DKW before she was even allowed to get a driver's license or making Berlin unsafe on her Lambretta, engines and wheels were part of Heidi Hetzer's life. After her first entrepreneurial attempts and a longer stay in the USA, she had to take over her father's business (Opel Hetzer) at the age of 31 when her father passed away. She turned the over-indebted company into a healthy business, but still found time to take part in rallies, including the Rallye d'Europeand the Carrera Panamericana.

In 2012, she finally had to sell the Opel dealership, but two years later she set off on her big trip around the world with "Hudo", as she called the Hudson. The grande dame did not have an easy life, but certainly not a boring one either. We will miss her.

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Build us the classic car of tomorrow!

Bruno von Rotz
04/23/2019

Chassis des Morgan Six am Genfer Autosalon 2019

Modern cars are becoming increasingly complex, the materials used more exotic and computers and software more omnipresent. No wonder many people, including experts and engineers, no longer believe that today's cars can still be maintained and kept running in 30 or 50 years' time. It is even rumored that some car parts have "expiration dates" and will not survive a certain period of time.

But what would a car look like today that could still be driven and kept running in 30 or 50 years' time?

Firstly, it would have to be designed in such a way that it can still be repaired tomorrow without the need for a robot infrastructure. Materials and shapes would have to be such that they could be reproduced. Computer processors and circuits would have to be designed openly and be based on standard technologies wherever possible. The software itself would have to be "open source" (i.e. the source code would have to be open) so that it can later be transferred to hardware available at the time. Bus systems should also be open and transparent.

The technical components, e.g. brakes and suspension parts, should also be designed as simply as possible and ideally also be used in mass-produced vehicles to ensure the supply of spare parts.

And does anyone build such cars today? Perhaps to some extent. Morgan, Caterham or Lotus have to go down this route for economic reasons alone, but they are also dependent on today's suppliers and mass-produced car manufacturers. And they have to comply with standards that sometimes lead to complex designs.

But perhaps the "open source" car would be perfectly marketable and there would be enough people who would be interested in a car designed for a long service life ...

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The replacement should be an original engine (question of the week)

Bruno von Rotz
04/22/2019

Frage der Woche - Welcher Motor im Oldtimer

When the engine in a classic car gives up the ghost or lacks a little power, the question arises as to whether it should be replaced with a more modern and/or more powerful unit.
The readers' answers to this question of the weekwere clear.

Of the 486 participants, almost half (46.5 percent) prefer an original engine with the same displacement and performance as the one originally installed.

35.4 percent could imagine a similar (and possibly later, more powerful) engine as long as the design and appearance matched the original.

Only 11.9 percent could imagine installing a different engine if it would fit.

6.2 percent did not find any of the answers suitable.

The results are presented graphically as follows:

Auswertung der Frage der Woche - Welcher Motor im Oldtimer

However, we have already formulated another new question of the week. This time we are trying to find out whether driving a classic car in modern everyday trafficis frustrating or not.

And as before, all previous questions of the week, or rather their evaluations, can of course be viewed in a separate topic channel.

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Also an old-timer - Nintendo Game Boy

Bruno von Rotz
04/21/2019

30 Jahre Nintendo Game Boy

It is exactly 30 years since the Ninendo Game Boy was launched in Japan on April 21, 1989. It was a simple portable gaming computer that scored points with its long battery life and interesting games. Well-known examples include Tetris and Super Mario Land. Together with its successor Game Boy Color, almost 120 million units were sold.

And what does this have to do with classic cars? More than you might think at first glance.

F1-Rennspiel auf dem Game Boy

Firstly, many people had their first "car driver" experiences on the Game Boy and secondly, it is precisely this generation that grew up with the Game Boy that you want to inspire today as the next generation of classic car drivers.

P.S. Incidentally, Mario Kart wasn't there right from the start, but came a little later.

Mario Kart

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