A look at the speedometer (car connoisseur quiz)

Bruno von Rotz
05/31/2021

Tacho im Mercedes-Benz 250 C von 1969 (© Bruno von Rotz)

As little boys, we squinted through the side windows at the speedometer to see what speed a car was capable of. Now that we are older, we still look at the speedometer - after all, creative solutions and approaches have always been developed for this display instrument.

Incidentally, it is interesting to note that English speakers understand a speedometer to be a rev counter, whereas in this country it refers to the speed display. This makes perfect sense, as the speedometer also calculates the km/hour based on revolutions and displays it graphically or digitally.

Many vehicles have been given an individual and special speedometer. On the one hand, the speed is shown on a round scale, then along a linear band of numbers. The CX had a magnifying speedometer, while cars from the 1990s onwards displayed the speed digitally in numbers. Hardly any two cars share exactly the same speed display.

But can we recognize the make and model of a car if we only see the speedometer?

We found hundreds of speedometer photos in the Zwischengas photo archive and selected twelve special examples for our readers to assign to the correct vehicle type as part of a car connoisseur quiz.

Would you like to give it a try?

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In memory of Herbert Müller, for whom everything was too slow ...

Daniel Reinhard
05/30/2021

Daniel Müller begrüsst Reinhard Schmidlin im BMW M1 (© Daniel Reinhard)

A very special book vernissage for a very special book took place a week ago (on May 22/23, 2021) on the occasion of the "Herbert Müller Memorial Day" at the "Restaurant Forellensee" in Zweisimmen in the canton of Bern.

The book is dedicated to a man who would hardly have been classified as a racing driver if you had met him back then. You would have been more likely to guess that he was a folkloristic music maker with a "Schwyzerörgeli".

Daniel Müller stellt das Buch über seinen Vater Herbert Müller vor (© Daniel Reinhard)

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. After around six years of preparatory work, son Daniel Müller, who comes across like the mountain spirit Rübezahl, has dedicated an extensive biography to his father, supported by McKlein Publishing, two authors and Porsche. The result is a thick "ham" that is well worth reading. This quickly became clear last weekend, as his colleagues at the time spoke very highly of the exceptional racing driver Müller.

Porsche-Leute von damals treffen sich wieder

(Porsche men, from left to right: Mader, Geyr, Deutsche, Brunn, Müller, Ahrens and Schäffer)

Dr. Schäffer, engine engineer and head of the engine department at Porsche (1963-1990): "Herbert came to me on foot at a Swiss hill climb and asked for a "Sägeli", nobody knew exactly what he wanted. He then said that he had a broken connecting rod on his car, but that he could repair it, he just had to saw it off, which he did, and after about two hours he was there."

Heini Mader (racing engine expert) on the question of whether Herbert was serious: "Of course he was serious, because when you achieve these results, you can't play with things. I saw him for the first time at the Mitholz-Kandersteg hill climb with the Norton F3 and even then he got everyone wet. When I was with Jo Bonnier and Herbert rode the T70 with him, I got to know him better.

Kurt Ahrens (fellow racer): "I remember a race on the Österreichring. Herbert drove there together with Jo Bonnier in the Lola T70 and I drove with Siffert in the Porsche. It reminded me a lot of my father, because they were both permanent cigar smokers and I loved inhaling the taste. Mr. Piëch said to me: "Mr. Ahrens, we absolutely have to win here, give it your all. So I did and provoked an accident, with Herbi of course. In the fast "S" I touched the Lola and both cars were damaged. We talked about the accident like good friends, we were neither of us works drivers and we just loved motorsport, which was both our great hobby. We just fit together and when I see the photo of the award ceremony with Siffert, Bonnier, Müller and me, it still makes me very, very sad."

Sigi Brunn (fellow racing driver): In 1977, I was on the phone to Herbert Müller, he wanted to sell the Ferrari 512. In the end, however, the deal didn't go through and I bought a 908/3 from Joest. Stumpen-Herbi later drove with me in Monza and we qualified in the front midfield. After the start, he came back from the first lap in the lead. He had overtaken all the more powerful 935s. We were stunned. He was wild, but always very level-headed. Unfortunately, we then retired after the pit stop with electrical problems.
And the Porsche race mechanics also remember the fast Swiss: ".... when you had to patch up the cars in one night, it wasn't always that great."

Marc Surer: "At the 1000km race at the Nürburgring in 1981, I had my last conversation with Herbert in the pits on Saturday. Thank God I wasn't in the car when the terrible accident happened. Dieter Quester was stopped at the scene of the tragedy."

Even I, the author of these lines, remember Stumpen-Herbi personally, because I was allowed to stand in his pit at the 1000km race in Monza as a young boy and follow the racing action at close quarters while my father took photographs outside. As soon as Herbi had handed the car over to his colleague, he took a big gulp from the water bottle, came over to me and asked: "...would I like the racing atmosphere?"

Sauber C5 der Oldtimer Galerie Toffen - auf diesem Auto fuhr Herbert Müller selber (© Daniel Reinhard)

On the occasion of the Herbert Müller Memorial Day, various mementos of his career could be admired in the Forellensee restaurant alongside two racing cars (Ferrari 512S and Sauber C5) that Herbert Müller himself still drove.

Trophäensammlung von Herbert Müller (© Daniel Reinhard)

A Porsche meeting and a short rally to Lake Geneva and back with various special stages and a visit to the "Hervé Foundation" museum rounded off the beautiful and well-attended event.

Die Rallye startete beim Restaurant Forellensee (© Daniel Reinhard)

Impressions of the Herbert Müller weekend can also be found in a photo gallery, which was taken on May 22/23, 2021 and is of course equipped with extensive captions.

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Icon material

Bruno von Rotz
05/29/2021

Geschwindigkeitsanzeige im Lamborghini Countach LP 400 (© Bruno von Rotz)

A speedometer up to 320 km/h is actually quite fitting for a Lamborghini Countach. The fact that the instruments came from Stewart Warner and not Veglia is less so. But perhaps the Italians simply couldn't offer an odometer with vertically aligned numbers?

In any case, the little boys peering through the side window were probably more impressed by the speedometer than the test drivers at the time. In any case, those from "auto motor und sport" wrote in issue 15/1975:
"While the small leather steering wheel and gearshift are easy to hold, the instruments were not very practical: They are reflective and difficult to read."

The 320 km/h were also somewhat over-optimistic and reduced the usable part of the dial to a few centimeters. However, those who had a clear track back then could enjoy almost unearthly driving performance: the Taurus took 5.4 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h, a top speed of 288 km/h was not bad either, nor was the average fuel consumption of 26.6 liters.

However, DM 99,800 (equivalent to around EUR 50,918) sounds like a bargain today, especially when you know that the early Countach changed hands for more than ten times as much in modern times. And today's collectors probably don't care whether the instruments are easy to read ...

P.S. Let's not forget to mention the 50th birthday that the Lamborghini Countach will be celebrating in 2021

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Sporty limousines on the rise

Bruno von Rotz
05/28/2021

Alfa Romeo 2000 Berlina von 1972 (© Balz Schreier)

"Sporty cars are more than just a fad. They're not about presentation, but about good driving performance with reasonable exterior dimensions. Sporty cars are roadworthy - that is the background to their increasing sales success."

That's what it said in the car magazine "auto motor und sport" at the end of 1968. The lead picture featured an Alfa Romeo 1750 Berlina and it caused quite a stir. The report "Sporty saloons are on the rise" was about everyday cars that are becoming increasingly powerful. The Alfa with over 115, the BMW 2002 Ti with 120 or the Fiat 125 S with 100 hp were examples.

Alfa Romeo 1750 Berlina von 1968 (© ams)

However, the spectrum of sporty saloons began much more popularly with the 65 hp of an NSU TT or the 47 hp of the Fiat 850 Special. The Austin Cooper S and the Renault 8 Gordini, the forerunners of the VW Golf GTI of the seventies, so to speak, were also mentioned.

And even back then, the hefty surcharges that were demanded for a little more sportiness were criticized. Dieter Korp wrote in the final sentence: "And so it is with this sporty wave: the corresponding surcharges are usually not in any justifiable proportion to the actual technical effort; that is actually the only side of the matter that provides material for criticism."

And today, 53 years later? The performance figures of the cars from back then would only elicit a weary smile from today's test editors. Today, a VW Polo already has 100 hp, while the Audi A4 starts at 150 petrol or 122 diesel hp. But do modern cars feel sportier than an NSU TT or a Ford Escort 1300 GT back then?

A look at the ams report from back then brings back memories of the sporty saloons of the late sixties ...

P.S. As has already been correctly commented, the red Alfa in the picture at the beginning is a two-liter, we have now added the ams lead picture so that there is no confusion.

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One step ahead of the competition

Bruno von Rotz
05/27/2021

Autobianchi Mittelmotorsportwagen Prototyp von 1968 (© ams)

At the 50th Turin Motor Show, held in November 1968, there was no shortage of prototypes and studies. The major coachbuilders and designers outdid themselves with pioneering designs. One or two new creations could well be overlooked or barely noticed.

This was probably the case with Autobianchi 's mid-engined sports car study, with which the Italian car manufacturer wanted to test the public's interest in such a coupé.

Autobianchi Mittelmotorsportwagen Prototyp von 1968 (© ams)

The prototype was developed by the Fiat Centro Stile, with Pio Manzù as the designer. He was able to count on preliminary work (G31) by Werner Höbl, who worked as a designer at OSI.

The 2+2 sports car was given a plastic body and the four-cylinder engines from the Fiat 124 Sport or the 125 S were planned.

Autobianchi Mittelmotorsportwagen Prototyp von 1968 (© ams)

The pretty coupé did not go into series production, but some of the ideas were used in the Autobianchi Runabout and the Fiat X1/9. Affordable mid-engined coupés were only available in small numbers at the end of the sixties, so the proposed version could well have had a chance.

I wonder if the prototype survived?

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When Ford published a review

Simon Kwasny
05/26/2021

Let's take a look back at the beginnings of automobile history. The car was a mobilizer, the replacement for the carriage. However, there is no question that owning a car has always been associated with a certain lifestyle aspect. In other words, anyone who could afford a car enjoyed prestige (or sometimes envy). This included showing off the fact that you could afford it at all, as well as the change in lifestyle. Car owners were able to drive from A to B relatively quickly without having to exert their own or animal strength. Even just a trip from Switzerland to Italy, say to Milan, would have been quite an undertaking without a car, at least in the 1950s. The car owner thus gained access to foreign worlds. An idea that Ford used for marketing purposes in the fifties.

With the monthly Ford Revue, Ford owners (and, of course, potential new customers) were to be introduced to the aforementioned positive aspects of car ownership. At the same time, they were also to be more or less subliminally branded with the message that you could travel the world comfortably in a Ford, which was of course a strong selling point. So the magazine unapologetically picked you up with the message: "Ford Revue... should delight you in words and pictures, entertain you in your must-have hours and remind you of your Ford dealer."

The magazine offered readers little stories from all over the world. For example, one about a small fishing village on the Costa Brava in north-eastern Spain. Or the impressions of a trip to Morocco in a Ford Taunus 12M station wagon.

And even an insight into lion training was offered.

In a way, the concept that Ford pursued at the time is something that modern social media marketing also aims to achieve. The aim is to tell the consumer a story and thereby suggest a lifestyle or image associated with the brand. In this respect, Ford was a pioneer ...

Cover Ford Revue der Fünfzigerjahre

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An SUV for almost two million?

Bruno von Rotz
05/25/2021

Ford Bronco "Big Oly" (© Mecum)

You don't get that every day. A Ford Bronco off-road vehicle was auctioned off at the Mecum auction in Indianapolis on May 21, 2021 for a whopping USD 1.87 million.

Of course, this was no ordinary Bronco, but the Baja 1000 winner from 1971 and 1972, driven by Parnelli Jones and Bill Stroppe. The car became known as the "Big Oly" because its sponsor was the Olympia Brewing Company.

The racing car had little to do with the basic vehicle, as mechanic Dick Russel opted for a tubular frame and a body made of plastic and aluminum. A Ford Windsor V8 was used as the engine. An enormous wing was enthroned on the roof. The four-wheeler weighed less than 1.2 tons and all future Baja racing car designers had to take their cue from it.

Silhouette Ford Bronco "Big Oly" (© Mecum)

So you can understand that a restored Baja 1000 winner requires a premium over a normal off-road vehicle, but only the buyer can answer whether the almost USD 1.9 million is justified.

Incidentally, the Ford Bronco was not the most expensive car at Mecum's Indianpolis auction, as a 1930 Duesenberg Model SJ as a Rollston Convertible Victoria even fetched USD 2.97 million.

Results and insights into the Mecum auction can be found on their website.

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Would you rather own than rent a classic car? Not necessarily ... (Question of the week)

Bruno von Rotz
05/24/2021

Frage der Woche 182 - Oldtimer mieten anstatt besitzen?

Normally you buy an old car to experience the joys of a classic or vintage car. But there are also other options. Classic vehicles can also be rented, and even car-sharing is offered.

We wanted to find out how well these offers are received by classic/young car enthusiasts with a " question of the week" , which was: Is classic car rental, i.e. temporary use, an option for you?

For 58.1 percent, renting is not an option; they prefer to own their own classic/youngtimer.

However, just over 40 percent can very well imagine renting an old car. However, three quarters of these people see renting primarily as an opportunity to try out an interesting car at some point to complement their own classic car.

For the sake of completeness, it should be noted that 1.2 percent of the 329 survey participants did not see their opinion reflected in any of the answers given.

Here are the results in graphic form:

Frage der Woche 182 - Oldtimer mieten anstatt besitzen? Ergebnis

The next "question of the week" has already been put to the panel. This time we want to know whether classic/young car drivers still listen to the radio at all in their old cars.

And of course you can also look up the results of the previous "Question of the Week" evaluations at any time in the specially created topic channel.

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Everything (almost) as it used to be ...

Daniel Reinhard
05/23/2021

The pictures make it look like we're looking at footage from the sixties. But the photos were taken yesterday in Obwalden.

The "Oldtimer in Obwalden" meeting was actually supposed to take place on this day. But the meeting had to be canceled due to Covid-19.

But, whether organized or not, the coronavirus pandemic cannot spoil all the fun.

And so there was a lot going on in Sarnen yesterday. Whether from St. Gallen or Bern, people just happened to meet up in Sarnen. To everyone's delight, the weather was fine and the garden restaurants were quickly booked out for the long term. The tables in the restaurants immediately moved out onto the street and Obwalden's promenade was open.

It doesn't always have to be well organized, it's enough to know that you will definitely not be the only oldie freak in Sarnen on Whit Saturday. No matter which vehicle you own, they are all welcome on this one day.

P.S. The beautiful photosare of course also available in the Zwischengas photo archive ...

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Idea for a worthwhile Whitsun excursion

Daniel Reinhard
05/22/2021

It was not out of pure reverence for the wonderful, air-cooled 911 Turbo that the church sank into the water. No, in the summer of 1950, the village of Graun and parts of the village of Reschen, situated on the pass of the same name in South Tyrol, were flooded to generate electricity. 150 families were robbed of their livelihoods. As a result of restoration work, water has now been drained from Lake Reschen and the fragments of the two villages have reappeared after 70 years.

After a partial damming, the first full damming took place in the late summer of 1950. Now the 100 or so affected families from Graun and Reschen had to decide whether to stay or move away. As a lot of agricultural land for brown cattle breeding was lost with the damming, only around 35 of these families decided to stay. In the spring of 1950, all the buildings in Graun and its hamlets of Piz, Arlund, Stockerhöfe and Gorf, as well as parts of Reschen, were demolished and flooded, with the exception of Graun's 14th century church tower, which is a listed building. Today's reservoir thus has an area of 677 hectares and an unmistakable landmark.

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