AUTO MANIA

by Dr. Iain Corness
 

The Chinese have done it again

I once bought some golf balls that were branded ‘Snalding’. On first glance, the name in flowing script looked like ‘Spalding’, but it wasn’t - it was just a lookalike. It seems that Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corp (SAIC) have done it again, bring out the Roewe 75, using all the odd bits of intellectual property they bought when UK Rover went under the hammer. And part of the odd bits were the plans for the Rover 75.

Roewe 75

Now comes the interesting bit. SAIC unsuccessfully tried to purchase the name ‘Rover’ from BMW earlier in the year for around £11million. The sale, however, was thwarted when Ford exercised its first rights option to buy the name, as part of its £1.4 billion purchase of Land Rover from BMW in 2000. FoMoCo was objecting to SAIC using the name ‘Rover’, or anything even close to it. So SAIC got the intellectual bits, but didn’t get the name, so they had to think up something new and different and finally came up with ‘Roewe’, which I am sure you will agree looks or sounds nothing like ‘Rover’! I would imagine SAIC will also use the old advertising slogan, “Every inch a Roeve!”

A ‘different’ badge

What an ignominious end to the marque Rover, the maker of the famous Rover 3.5, an example of which was once owned and driven by no less British a person than the Queen of England herself, Queen Elizabeth II. The company that produced the P6 Rover 2000, written up by Car and Driver magazine in the USA as the best sedan ever presented in the pages of the magazine, and Ralph Nader calling it the prime example of how cars should be built. Or the Rover SD1 which won Car of the Year in Europe in 1977. And now it has become the auto industry’s example of the ‘Snalding’. Just keep repeating to yourself, “The Chinese are coming, the Chinese are coming, the Chinese are coming…!”


The ‘new’ Avanza

Had a look at the new Avanza? You’ll spot it immediately with the all-new grille! I am joking of course, but Oh yes, it does have a 1.5 liter engine in place of the 1.3 in the previous model as well, but that is about it.

‘New’ Avanza

Having owned the ‘old’ Avanza for 12 months, I think I am reasonably well equipped to write about this vehicle. Sure it has a piddly little engine, but guess what, it keeps up with the traffic with no problems at all. And ours is hooked up to the automatic transmission, which I keep in overdrive at all times and it makes driving a relaxing breeze.
I disagree with those who say that it is a problem on the motorways. It will cruise all day at 120 kph, which is the legal limit, and sure, you have to be aware of cross winds. After all, it is a slab-sided people mover with all the aerodynamics of a house brick. It is not a seven seater sports car!
The very rear passengers I have taken (and the vehicle has comfortably carried five Euro-sized passengers, two Thais and two infants at one time) did not complain about the ride, in fact both went to sleep on long trips. The air blower to the rear (it is not a true air-conditioner, but takes cold air from the front and distributes it to the rear passenger compartment) also helps with passenger comfort.
Other pluses for the Avanza include being front engined, but rear wheel drive, which allows for a very tight turning circle. This is a boon when parking, and it is amazing just how Avanza can slide into spaces not much larger than its overall length. Another feature which I find invaluable is the myriad of storage spaces, and cubby holes for everything. This is something that BMW should look at. Ever tried to stow a mobile phone in a 5 Series? Impossible. No cubby holes at all.
Coming into the market at still under 700,000 baht, the new Avanza represents great value for money, and the ‘old’ model is an excellent alternative at around 400,000 baht. And no, mine is not for sale!


The Ferrari, the Bugatti and the SS 100 Jaguar

It was many years ago, and I was working as a young GP in Buckinghamshire in England. I was standing in as a very highly paid locum for a Dr. Bradley-Moore whom I had never met, and whom I found later had been murdered on the golf course, which was the reason that they were paying about twice the odds to get someone to work there. I had only been there for a month of my six month’s contract when I found out. I gave up golf immediately.

SS 100

But I digress. I was in the main street of Amersham, a quaint English village, when a silver Ferrari burbled past, and I asked a local who owned such a Ferrari. “Earl Howe,” was the reply. Now I remembered that an Earl Howe had been a famous name in motor sport pre-WW II, so I found out where the Earl lived and drove on over.
A lovely country estate was Earl Howe’s residence and I just blithely went up to the door and pushed the door bell. A tall gentleman, dressed in black, opened it. “Are you Earl Howe?” I asked. “No,” he replied, “I am the butler. Do you have an appointment to see the Earl?” “Well, no,” I admitted, “but I do know that the Earl is famous in motor racing, and as I’m a motor racer from Australia, I thought I’d drop by.” “Wait,” was the butler’s command and he closed the door.
About five minutes later, the door opened again and the butler snootily said, “The Earl is far too busy and cannot see you today, but you can have an appointment to see him next Tuesday at 2 p.m.” “That’ll be great,” said I and ambled off.
The following week, there I was pushing the door bell at 1.59 p.m. and was met by the stony-faced butler, who issued me into a large lobby area, with a huge curved staircase coming from the mezzanine floor above. Tripping down the stairs was a gorgeous young woman who shouted over her shoulder, “Goodbye Daddy, I’m off to Monaco!” I was later to find out that she was the Honorable Sally Curzon, who married F1 driver Piers Courage, the son and heir to the Courage Brewery fortunes. I went within seconds of being invited to the Monaco Grand Prix by semi-royalty!
She was followed shortly after by the Earl himself, who greeted me quite affably, “So you’re the chap who is looking for Earl Howe, but I think you’ve got the wrong one, old chap. My father, the 5th Earl Howe, was the motor racing Earl, and he died three years ago.”
I apologized, but said that I was from Australia, and as a colonial, wouldn’t have known this. However, the new Earl decided that maybe I was genuine and said that since I was there, he would show me his father’s trophy room. This was just amazing. There along one wall was the trophy he received for winning Le Mans in 1931. It was a bronze statue of Boadicea and her horse-drawn chariot, about two meters long! Value today? Priceless. But there was something even more historic on the wall – a Bugatti road wheel from the 1930’s. Those were the all alloy wheels that incorporated the brake drum as well. “Daddy crashed that one,” said the 6th Earl, “so he kept it as a memento.” Incidentally, Earl Howe’s most famous crash was in an ERA, while dicing with none other than our own famous Prince Bira of Siam on the Campbell circuit in 1937! The world is a small place.
However, it doesn’t end there. Another English noble gentleman appeared, a great friend of the current Earl’s. This chap had rolled up in an SS 100 Jaguar, which was even rare in 1967, and they are even more rare today. However, on chatting to the Earl’s friend, it turned out that this was no ordinary SS 100. It was a replica! (So China isn’t the only country to make copy cars!)
What this chap had done, was to buy a new Jaguar S type and have the body removed, and a replica SS 100 body placed over the chassis and running gear. I wondered what was the reason for this bizarre piece of automotive modifications, but before I could ask, he said, “I’ve got the ‘real’ SS 100 at home, but it’s too valuable to drive every day.” So here was a man who had enough of the folding stuff to just buy a new Jaguar and have it modified. (I want money like that!)
My time was up, the butler reminded the Earl, and I was ushered from the enormous house, but the Earl and his friend then invited this brash young Aussie upstart to a motor racing meeting the following week at Silverstone. I accepted immediately.
This was the St. John Horsfall meeting, and I was chauffeured there and we picnicked on sandwiches made by the butler packed in the proverbial wicker hamper, while I watched competition cars like the Jaguar Egal (an E-Type with a 7 litre Holman and Moody Galaxie engine up front), a race car which also later became famous, and others of such ilk, driven by other drivers with impeccable pedigrees.
How the ‘other half’ lives, eh? And I’ve been there.


Autotrivia Quiz

Last week I asked why did Colin Chapman call his cars Lotus? The answer was that he chose the name ‘Lotus’ because after all the work he had put into the car, he felt in need of the legendary restorative powers of the Egyptian flower.
So to this week. The F1 season is over (as if you didn’t know), so let’s look at a little of F1 history. Which driver got his maiden F1 pole in Portugal in the ‘60s?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct answer to email automania@pattayamail.com
Good luck!
 


Bira racing this weekend
The Bira circuit is host to another round of the SuperCar series. This will be the last for this season, and will feature the usual mix of classes, with SuperCars, pick-up trucks, the Vios series (I believe) and more. Racing will commence around 10 a.m. on Sunday 5th. The circuit is on Highway 36.