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.