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AFOS at Bira
this weekend
The Asian Festival of Speed returns to Bira
this weekend. Whilst this is a series which goes throughout SE
Asia, I must say the organizers have been very lax in
generating any pre-event publicity. There will be events for
the Asian Touring Car series as well as the AF2000 open
wheelers and I believe there will be about 15 entrants in each
event. There is also another category, which should be for
Thai entrants, but at the time of writing this (just over a
week before the event) the regulations had not gone through
the RAAT (the governing body for motor sport in this country)
and any local drivers wishing to compete would need an
international racing licence.
However, on the same day (Sunday 25th) there is round 3 of
the Thailand Gymkhana (autocross) series, organized by XO
Autosport and there will be 60-70 vehicles competing on the
Bira Kart track, so if the action is too slow on one track,
you can walk the 50 metres and watch the other. the crown.
Hills to climb
Came across a lovely little story about someone who is
trying to climb the hill to the top of F1, and with his
background, he could just do it. The youngster is Derek Hill,
who is the son of the American F1 world champion Phil Hill,
who scored the big one in 1961. To help him in this quest, he
has secured the services of Brigitte Hill, daughter of world
champion 1962 and 1968, Britain’s Graham Hill, and sister of
world champ 1996, Damon Hill. To get young Derek fit enough,
he will have the services of Damon’s personal trainer Erwin
Gollner, who helped the last Hill world champ to
Something you’ve always
wanted to do!
This was sent to me from a mate in Oz, and
I’m sure you will get a laugh out of it too.
I went to the store the other day, I was
only in there for about 5 minutes and when I came out there
was a motorcycle cop writing a parking ticket. So I went up to
him and said, “Come on buddy, how about giving a guy a
break?” He ignored me and continued writing the ticket. So I
called him an asshole. He glared at me and started writing
another ticket for the car having bald tyres!! So I called him
something worse. He finished the second ticket and put it on
the car with the first. Then he started writing a third
ticket!! This went on for about 20 minutes, the more I abused
him, the more tickets he wrote.
However, I didn’t give a rats, my car was
parked around the corner!
Lovely story, thanks Scott Armstrong!
A medico-motoring joke
After 40 years as a gynaecologist, John
decided he had enough money to retire and take up his real
love, auto mechanics. He left his practice, enrolled in auto
mechanics school, and studied hard. The day of the final exam
came and John worried if he would be able to complete the test
with the same proficiency as his younger classmates. Most of
the students completed their exam in two hours. John, on the
other hand, took the entire four hours allotted.
The following day, John was delighted and
surprised to see a score of 150% for his exam. John spoke to
his professor after class. “I never dreamed I could do this
well on the exam. How did I earn a score of 150%?”
The professor replied, “I gave you 50%
for perfectly disassembling the car engine. I awarded another
50% for perfectly reassembling the engine. I gave you an
additional 50% for having done all of it through the
muffler.”
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More
automakers commit incest!
The latest in the incest stakes is Honda Motor Corp, maker
of exploding F1 engines as ably demonstrated by Messrs BAR and
Jordan. However, Honda also wish to have an involvement on the
other side of the Atlantic and want to supply engines to the
Indy Racing League (IRL) series in America. This engine will
be a 3.5 litre normally aspirated V8, and which division of
Honda is building this engine? Well, it just so happens that
this “Honda” engine is going to be built by Ilmor
Engineering, the same company which currently designed and
builds the “Mercedes” engines as used by McLaren in the F1
cars.
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Speed differential in F1
cars
Came across some interesting statistics
after the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The organisers
had a speed trap on the straight, and the difference between
fastest (Ralf Schumacher in the Williams BMW) to the slowest (Bernoldi
in the Arrows Cosworth) was a staggering 22 mph (35 kph).
While Ralf was clocking 160 mph, Enrico was struggling along
at 138 mph. Also down at the bottom end was Frentzen (Arrows)
140 mph, Irvine (Jaguar) 145 mph, Webber (Minardi) 145 mph and
Salo (Toyota) 143 mph.
In the top group were no surprises with the BMW Williams,
the Ferrari’s, Saubers and McLarens but there was one
surprise - de la Rosa in the other Jaguar Cosworth! This was
so much of a surprise that the scrutineers asked to have
another look at the Cosworth engine after the race, but
apparently nothing abnormal was found.
| Best
bet in the leasing stakes
Leasing new vehicles was always a
good way to make some “funny money”, provided that
the value of the vehicle at the end of the lease period
was better than the residual value wanted by the leasing
firm, to complete the lease (or buy it back from them).
In America, the BMW Mini Cooper is
predicted to retain 61 percent of its value at the end
of a 36-month lease, higher than any other 2002 vehicle
and just ahead of Mercedes-Benz’s CLK with a predicted
36-month residual of 60 percent.
These figures come from the
Automotive Lease Guide, which handed out its 2002
residual value awards this month. The awards go to
vehicles that Automotive Lease Guide forecasts will
retain the highest percentage of their original price in
their segment.
The Mini Cooper’s ranking makes it
the winner among compact cars, a segment that has an
overall 36-month residual average of 42 percent. The
vehicle’s attractive price in the US and its limited
availability help keep its residual high.
Mercedes-Benz took the luxury brand
residual value award with a 36-month residual of 54.5
percent; the luxury brand segment average is 48.7
percent.
The Volkswagen brand won the industry brand residual
value award with a predicted 36-month residual of 52.2
percent; the industry brand average is 41.8 percent.
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Autotrivia Quiz
Last week I mentioned a vehicle designed to
be bigger and better than the Bugatti Royale. This was built
by the Buccialli brothers who squandered the family fortune
and managed to build three of the behemoths. It had an in-line
16 cylinder engine. And its name? It was the Buccialli TAV.
So to this week and let us get into
something a little more esoteric, perhaps. This vehicle
crossed the Sahara, went across French Equatorial Africa to
Mozambique and even went from Beirut to Peking over the
Himalayas. What was the name of this car and who built them?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be
the first correct answer to fax 038 427 596 or email automania
@pattayamail.com.
Good luck!
| Bill
Ford shows he means business and sentiment does not pay
The CEO of FoMoCo is Bill Ford and he
is certainly beginning to flex his muscles. According to
Automotive News in America, he has handed down an edict
that all vehicle lines must be profitable on their own.
Gone are the days when niche or halo products
contributed to corporate image but were harmful to the
bottom line, subsidized by huge profits from Ford
trucks. From now on, lower-volume makes must find ways
to turn a profit. That means more sharing of componentry
with mass-market vehicles. It also could mean carrying
over existing platforms when the time comes for a
redesign. All good bean-counting concepts, but spells
doom for auto excellence in my book.
Aston Martin swears that its
aluminium space frame will be exclusive to the brand,
but with Jaguar’s extensive use of aluminium for the
XJ sedan and XJ coupe, there is discussion about using
some of Aston Martin parts. Badge engineering is on the
way!
On a more mass-market level, the
re-engineered Ford Focus platform is expected to be the
basis for everything from the Volvo S40 and V40 to the
Land Rover Freelander. Jaguar again will suffer, with
the S-Type, along with the Lincoln LS, having to make do
with a re-engineered platform.
Casualties already include the Jaguar F-Type
roadster, the Volvo S80 flagship with a V-8, the USD
15,000 Land Rover, and a new rear-drive luxury platform
for Jaguar and Lincoln. All were on the development wish
list at Ford’s Premier Automotive Group when Wolfgang
Reitzle oversaw the unit. All are now dead, delayed
indefinitely or under pressure as Ford’s
budget-cutters seek to make vehicle lines profitable.
Some of those decisions undoubtedly contributed to
Reitzle’s departure in April; others came afterwards. |
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