Archive for 2015
Hints, Surprises and Wows From Detroit.
Detroit. Motor City. The once thriving city once again hosts its annual Motor Show, the North American International Auto Show and, as expected, the unexpected has been unveiled, as have some truly good looking cars.
Hyundai showed off its Santa Cruz concept; it’s a design that Hyundai doesn’t have available and would certainly attract interest around the world, being a Crossover Utility Vehicle or CUV. 
Pitched between a ute and a tray-back SUV, the stunning design is aimed at “Millennials”. “The Santa Cruz Pickup concept meets the unspoken needs of a growing Millennial lifestyle we call ‘Urban Adventurers’,” said Mark Dipko, director, corporate planning, Hyundai Motor America. “This new crossover allows them all the expandable utility they need throughout their active week, from work-life professionalism, to social interests, to a whole variety of outdoor pursuits, without the typical compromises they have come to expect from the industry’s current product offerings.”
Motive power would be, at this stage, a 2.0L diesel, with over 400 Newton metres of torque, matched up with Hyundai’s well proven 4WD system and showcases Hyundai’s innovation by having an expandable load bed and tailgate extension. Hyundai research also shows a swing away from traditional utility style SUVs in the US; women who buy more than half of all CUVs sold in the U.S., now account for only 10 percent of pickup sales. Hyundai also unveiled its 
Sonata Plug-In Hybrid; with a 9.8kWh lithium ion battery, the Sonate should have a 35km all electric range. A 2.0-litre Nu four-cylinder GDI engine coupled with the electric motor allows the Sonata Plug-in Hybrid to operate just like the Sonata Hybrid once the onboard battery charge is depleted. Sonata PHEV’s Nu engine produces 115kW and 190Nm of torque and the total system output is 150kW at 6,000 rpm.
Ford showcased its anniversary GT40; to be sold under a new, umbrella organisation called Ford 
Performance, the sleek, low slung two seater may be powered by a twin turbocharged 3.5L engine, producing over 600 horsepower. A team of designers, headed by Todd Willing, the head designer for Ford Asia Pacific, penned the edgy yet curvy beast. Built from weight saving carbon fibre, the GT40 features an active rear spoiler and upwards swinging doors. There’s two other vehicles released as well; a Shelby Mustang GT350R and a ten speed automatic Raptor. The Mustang will be powered by a 5.2L flat plane V8, pushing over 500 horsepower to the ground via a six speed manual and limited 
slip diff. Aimed at primarily track users, there’s been a weight shedding program, including carbon fibre wheels, removing the rear seats, radio and aircon. The Raptor will have a 3,5L V6 EcoBoost twin turbo engine, multiple drive modes, an aluminuim body and that ten speed auto was codeveloped with General Motors.
Honda (Acura in the US) went back to the future with a long rumoured car, the NSX. Taking styling cues from Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Ferrari, the mid mounted, twin turbo hybrid 
engine is expected to pump out 550 horsepower via a nine speed automatic. There’s, apparently, a range of driving modes, including “Quiet” (presumably a more electric mode) and prices are said to be at around $150, 000.
Although Holden will close as a manufacturer, its much vaunted design studio showed why GM will keep it running, with two utterly different concepts being show. An almost Barina sized, glass roofed, electric car, the Bolt bookended the Buick Avenir, a large car with plenty of tech, such as a twelve inch touchscreen, wireless mobile device charging and wifi hotspotting. It will roll on 21 inch diameter wheels and will seat four in sumptuous comfort. 
The projects were started and finished in the Port Melbourne based design studios. Again, no confirmation as to whether either will go into production.
Staying with General Motors, there’s a school of thought that says a two door, four seater car rumoured to be coming to Australia will be the Corvette, not, as some think, the Camaro. The latter hasn’t been engineered for right hand drive although it would be a logical and ideal match for Ford’s Mustang. Stefan Jacoby, head of GM’s International Division, wouldn’t be drawn on exactly what it would be, saying only “We will bring a true sports car to Australia for the brand Holden,” “It will be something which fulfils the requirement of a true Holden sports car.” Expect it to arrive in 2018.
Since You've Been Gone: The End of Vauxhall in the BTCC?
Vauxhall once dominated the tarmac in the BTCC. Image Credit: Speedhunters.com
If you turned the clocks back 10 years, you would probably be mistaken for thinking that the BTCC was in fact called the British Touring Vauxhall Championship. Throughout the 2000s, the name ‘Vauxhall’ characterized what it was to race in the championship. Vauxhall and Triple Eight were a driving force behind consistent championship success. For those history heads, Vauxhall has been a name associated with the BTCC since 1989. Alas, in recent years they have become an endangered species until last year when the single surviving member of their species was lost. Is this the end for Vauxhall?
The Vauxhall journey began back in 1989 when a little known Scotsman named John Cleland entered an Astra GTE (Class C) and walked away at the end of the year with the overall drivers championship. Cleland and his Vauxhall were able to blitz the rest of the Class C field and even battle with the Class B BMW’s. The next year saw the 2-litre formula beginning to take shape, although the monstrous Class A Sierras remained for one final year. Vauxhall entered the larger Cavalier GSI, although 1990 saw Cleland lose out in the class honours to the BMW of Frank Sytner. The overall title in that year went to Robb Gravett in the Ford Sierra.
Between 1991 and 1994, the backbone of the Vauxhall manufacturer team would always be the potent combination of John Cleland, Jeff Allam and the Vauxhall Cavalier. The team would never win a championship outright (although Cleland did come tantalizingly close in 1992 as we all remember). Alongside the factory team, Ecurie Ecosse also entered two Vauxhalls in 1992 and three in 1993; David Leslie was the stand out driver for the team and even got a rather patriotic livery to go with it. This independent team was run by RML, which in 1994 switched to the factory deal following their success with Leslie in 1992/1993.
Where it all began. Cleland in his Astra GTE in 1989. Image Credit: TouringCarTimes.com
David Leslie in his 1993 Ecurie Ecosse Vauxhall. Image Credit: Speedhunters.com
Following the controversial Alfa Romeo championship victory in 1994, the regulations were amended for 1995 allowing for the addition of wings, even if they were not standard on the road car. The partnership of Vauxhall and RML was a winning combination in 1995; John Cleland won his second championship after a season long battle with the Volvo of Rickard Rydell. Cleland’s team mate James Thompson also got a race win at Thruxton. Little did anyone know what this young driver would achieve in years to come. After 6 years in the championship, 1995 was the final curtain call for the Cavalier as the works car.
As 1996 rolled around Vauxhall switched to the Vectra which lacked much of the performance always held by the Cavalier. In the final year with the RML partnership, the only spoils came with a chance victory for James Thompson at Snetterton. From 1997 until 2009, the legendary Triple Eight Engineering (formed by Derek Warwick and Ian Harrison) would run the Vauxhall works effort. In their inaugural year, Vauxhall (now piloted by Cleland and Warwick) endured a tough time, struggling to be on the pace with the Renaults. However, in 1998 the cars were significantly more competitive and Cleland managed two race victories, both of which came at Donington Park; the second of these is arguably from one of the greatest races the sport had ever seen when Nigel Mansell nearly won the very wet feature race which he had started in last place.
Cleland was flying high in 1995, taking the title in spectacular style. Image Credit: Pistonheads.com
The final two years of the Supertouring era were more competitive for Vauxhall; gaining a race win at Brands Hatch for Yvan Muller after completing a near impossible overtake at Paddock Hill. Cleland retired from the BTCC at the end of 1999, leaving his seat to be filled by ex-Renault man Jason Plato and the addition of Vincent Radermecker for 2000. Vauxhall had a sniff at the championship in 2000, but sadly they could not keep up with the all-conquering Ford team who won the title with Alain Menu.
The new era of BTCC in 2001 (BTC-T regulations) began what would become an almighty dominance from Vauxhall, who were the only returning manufacturer from the 2000 season. In 2001, Vauxhall would win 25 of the 26 races, with only MG spoiling the fun at a wet Brands Hatch at the end of the year. They fielded two teams, the works team and egg:sport; Peugeot, Alfa Romeo and Lexus never stood a chance. One of the only memorable moments of the year was the season long battle between Plato and Muller, who struggled to work as team mates (to put it lightly). From 2002 – 2004, the Vauxhall pairing of Yvan Muller and James Thompson would share the titles between them, two for Thompson and one for Muller in 2003.
The new car in 2005 brought the same problems as in 1996. Image Credit: carenthusiast.com
Vauxhall must have suffered a massive case of deja vu in 2005/2006; just like in 1996/1997 they introduced a new model (this time the Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch) but were not in a high performance position to challenge for the titles, which in both years went to Matt Neal in the Halfords Honda Integra run by Team Dynamics. Colin Turkington and Yvan Muller may have departed the VX-R team at the end of 2005, but it did pave the way for World Touring Car driver Giovanardi; 2006 was not the best time for Giovanardi, who was in a car that was developed for Yvan Muller (who coincidentally had moved to take on the WTCC) which consequently suffered on his performances. He did however managed to take a race win that happened to be the 100th BTCC win for Vauxhall.
The switch to the Vectra in 2007 was the final hurrah for the VX-R team; Giovanardi took a thrilling championship title in 2007 after an amazing final race at Thruxton. He repeated his success in 2008 with a comfortable championship win. By 2009, VX Racing were the only factory support team, but even the dangerous combination of Vauxhall and Giovanardi could not stop Colin Turkington from winning the title. By the end of 2009 Vauxhall had made their decision; they were to pull out as a manufacturer in the BTCC. It was the beginning of the end; one of the greatest racing empires had crumbled. But it was not the end for Vauxhall just yet.
Vauxhall often dominated the independent entries in the BTCC. Image Credit: TouringCarTimes.com
Fiona Leggate entered a bio-ethanol powered Vauxhall Astra in 2005 and 2006. Image Credit: online-utility.org
The final few years of Vauxhall in the BTCC was as an independent effort. It says a great deal about the strength, performance and affordability of the Vauxhall as a machine in the sense that it was probably the most used car as an independent machine between 1991 and 2014. From Jeff Wilson running a Vauxhall Belmont in 1991, to Chris Goodwin in a Demon Tweeks Cavalier in 1993, to Mark Blair’s Vauxhall Vectra in 1999, even to Rob Collard’s Vauxhall Astra in 2003/2004, a Vauxhall appeared to be the car of choice for private entries.
Triple Eight continued to run Vauxhalls in the championship, but in 2010 they most definitely ran into some issues, making their way through multiple drivers including Giovanardi, Phillip Glew, Sam Tordoff before eventually settling on James Nash. On the other hand, 2011 seemed to be looking up for the fledgling team, having finally sorted the crippling sponsorship problems that had ruined their 2010 campaign. James Nash was blisteringly fast throughout the year, eventually winning at Rockingham, taking the overall Independent title and finishing joint 4th overall with Mat Jackson. Triple Eight switched to run the MG-factory team from 2012.
The final win for a Vauxhall in the BTCC came from Dave Newsham. Image Credit: MJP Media
Dave Newsham now holds the honour of being the last driver to ever take a Vauxhall to victory having won at Snetterton and Knockhill in the 2012 season. It was in the same year that the Vauxhall Insignia was introduced by John Thorne of ‘Thorney Motorsport’. It is fair to say that Thorne was much more of an owner/engineer than a racer; this is the man who once managed to spin out of control on the warm up lap. It was in 2013 that a Vauxhall would see a whole season for the final time; Lea Wood won the Jack Sears Trophy in the S2000 Vectra and Tony Gilham ran the two ex-Thorney motorsport Insignias, with drivers including Jack Goff. One of the highlights of the Insignia was Jack Goff harassing Gordon Shedden for the race win in the final round of the year at a drenched Brands Hatch GP.
As we reach 2014, Team BMR entered two Insignias as part of the 4-car team for Jack Goff and Warren Scott. However, these were eventually switched to the ever-improving Volkswagen CCs. After 25 years glorious years in the worlds best touring car series, the age of extinction has hit. Vauxhall has now completely left the British Touring Car Championship.
Every rose has its Thorne – the car that never really was. Image Credit: thorny.ms
Goff fought hard against Shedden to nearly get the first win for an Insignia at Brands Hatch. Image Credit: BTCC.net
Heading in 2015, there may yet be no official plans or even rumours of a Vauxhall return, but with the NGTC regulations going from strength to strength, I would not rule out a return. A while ago I wrote an article about the Return of the Manufacturer to the BTCC, and I believe this now more than ever. If I was to put my money on an ex-manufacturer making a glorious return to the sport, I would take the bet with Vauxhall. In the 90s and even the 00s, the Vauxhall was quite clearly the perfect drive for both factory and independent teams; there were times when Vauxhalls would outnumber other manufacturers by at least 3:1 in many years. The audience has grown, the new regulations limit spending (eliminating the financial issues) and the sport is fast returning to world recognition as the best race series in the world. Even if not as a manufacturer, the potential to have an independent entry with an Insignia is considerable. Look what Jack Goff managed in 2013. Unlike Volvo who have announced that their motorsport division does not follow their company vision and will pull factory backing in the next few years; Vauxhall have become famous for producing what is essentially ‘race cars for the road’, whether this is the Astra, Corsa or of course the 600BHP monster that is the VXR8. What better way to market such a brand than enter the best series in the world as a factory-backed team.
Is this truly the end? Second only to Ford (in the ever-honest opinion of mine anyway), Vauxhall have become one of the most successful manufacturers ever to enter the BTCC. From their humble beginnings with the Astra GTE following the rise of a living Scottish racing legend, the name Vauxhall truly embodies the meaning of BTCC. Close racing, big drama and glorious victories became a beautifully common occurrence with the addition of Vauxhall to the grid. They have been there every step of the way, as the championship has evolved to the NGTC masterpiece it is today. The passing of the Vauxhall may be a time to grieve, with no plans yet emerging of a comeback in 2015, but something still remains at the back of my mind…
Is this truly the end?
What are your thoughts on the Vauxhall extinction in the BTCC? Don’t forget to join the conversation on Twitter @lewisglynn69
Whatever happens, the Vauxhall legacy will live on. Image Credit: Speedmoney.com
Keep Driving People!
Peace and Love!
Cars In Literature: Where Are They All?
Over 110 years ago (3 June 1914, to be exact), an American journalist named Stephenson Browne boldly wrote that “the motorcar, or the automobile, as one pleases, will probably take the place of the horse in fiction.” Looking back across the past century of fiction, was this prediction printed in the Boston Globe correct?
Well, the answer is probably “no”. Fiction certainly does have some iconic cars – no doubt about that. It’s rather hard to imagine James Bond without his Aston Martin (although, if you want to get really picky, this is not the only make he drives in either the books or the movies). It’s also hard to imagine Mr Toad without his string of unnamed motor cars (all of which have horns that go poop-poop!). But is there really a literary equivalent of, say, the Black Stallion, My Friend Flicka, Thunderhead or Black Beauty, where the life story of the car is central to the plot rather than providing the protagonist with a means of transport?
Only two or three cars seem to be literary protagonists: the completely imaginary Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the nasty Plymouth Fury Christine of the Stephen King novel called, surprise, surprise, Christine. Very honourable mention also has to go to Val Biro’s Gumdrop, protagonist of a series of children’s picture books about a 1926 Austin 12 that sort of does for cars what Thomas the Tank engine does for steam trains.
Usually, stories that include cars are usually more about the driver and the journey rather than the car itself. On the rare occasions where a car’s make and model is actually specified, this is usually the author’s way of letting you know something about the character who drives it. Not that makes and models make it in all that often.
However, cars have made a few good cameos in various works of fiction. Here’s a selection:
- In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a glamorous yellow Rolls-Royce (a symbol of the hedonistic Bright Society portrayed in the novel) is involved in a hit-and-run accident; as this car is easily recognised, it leads to the death of the title character.
- Dorothy Sayer’s aristocratic detective Lord Peter Wimsey is as passionate about his fast cars as he is his first editions and fine wines. Mrs Merdle (his Daimler Twin-Six) makes a number of cameos in the various novels, including a dramatic interruption to a late-night illegal road race (a small excerpt opens our review of the Jaguar XJ8 ).
- An enchanted Ford Anglia comes to the rescue of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley on several occasions in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – notably rescuing them from (spoiler alert) the gigantic spider Aragog.
- Fleur Beale’s Slide the Corner contains quite a lot of rally driving as a car-loving misfit finds out where he really belong. Inflicted on teenagers as class novel to study in New Zealand classrooms, alongside an unnamed banger in a Patricia Grace short story called It Used To Be Green Once.
- (really scraping the bottom of the barrel here): numerous vehicles are mentioned by make and model in the Twilight saga, notably the VW Rabbit restored by Jacob Black and the yellow Porsche 911 stolen by Alice Cullen. Apparently, the author’s brothers are motor enthusiasts; hence how these books get a bit more brand-specific than your average Mills & Boon.
- One of the lead characters in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is named Ford Prefect. However, this character is a humanoid alien rather than a vehicle, more’s the pity.
But it’s still hard to find a more recognisable fictional motorist or a more beloved celebration of the addictive pleasure of driving than Wind in the Willows:
“… with a blast of wind and a whirl of sound, that make them jump for the nearest ditch, it was on them! The ‘poop-poop’ rang out with a brazen shout in their ears, they had a moment’s glimpse of an interior of glittering plate glass and rich morocco, and the magnificent motor-car, immense, breath-snatching, passionate , with its pilot tense and hugging his wheel, possessed all earth and air for the fraction of a second, flung an enveloping cloud of dust that blinded and enwrapped them utterly, and then dwindled to a speck in the far distance, changed back to a droning bee once more.”
If you have any favourite fictional cars – from books, not movies, TV shows or films – let me know the good ones!
Happy driving (and reading),
Megan
The Car Industry in Australia – a Timeline
Like any industry, cars in Australia have had their ups and downs, but they remain an important part of the nation’s industrial and manufacturing heritage.
We look at the car industry in Australia in this interactive timeline
Inspired by and with thanks to On Four Wheels – a wonderful timeline which new information is being added to and amended thanks to a passionate and local following.
If you like our timeline please share on Facebook or Twitter!
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