World’s oldest car still running

World’s oldest running car.

This is the oldest motor vehicle car in the world that still runs, and was built one year before Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler invented the internal combustion engine.

This vehicle was sold at auction for $4.62 million, more than double the pre-sale estimate, as two bidders chased the price up in a three-minute bidding war.

The 1884 De Dion Bouton et Trepardoux Dos-a-Dos Steam Runabout drew a standing ovation as it was driven up onto the stage at Friday’s RM Auction in Hershey, Pennsylvania - to prove that this 127 year old car really does run! - and attracted a starting bid of $500,000, which was immediately doubled to $1 million.

Encouraged by the applauding crowd, the bidding went swiftly up to $4.2 million then to 4.62 million including the 10 percent commission - before the car was knocked down to a unnamed buyer.

The Dos-a-Dos (Back-to-Back) Steam Runabout was built in 1884 by George Bouton and Charles-Armand Trepardoux for French entrepreneur Count de Dion, who named it ‘La Marquise’ after his mother.

In 1887, with De Dion at the tiller, it won the world’s first ever motor race (it was the only entrant to make the start line!) covering the 32 km from the Pont de Neuilly in Paris to Versailles and back in one hour and 14 minutes (an average of 25.9 km/h) and, according to contemporary reports, hitting a breathtaking 60 km/h on the straights!

La Marquise has only had four owners, remaining in one family for 81 years, and has been restored twice, once by the Doriol family and again by British collector Tom Moore in the early 1990’s. Since then, it has taken part in four London-to-Brighton runs and collected a double gold at the 1997 Pebble Beach d’Elegance in California.

SAAB finally sinks

Early SAAB.

After months (in reality ‘years’) of desperation to find a buyer, the Swedish SAAB auto manufacturer has finally sunk under the debt which could not be overcome, resulting in the Swedish carmaker Saab Automobile filing for bankruptcy protection, ending two years of efforts to save the iconic Swedish brand.

The final desperate efforts to organize help in China were obstructed by former Saab owner General Motors (GM) over licenses for technology being used by SAAB which belongs to former owners General Motors.

All three SAAB companies are involved in the bankruptcy, including SAAB Automobile Aktiebolag, SAAB Automobile Tools and SAAB Automobile Powertrain.

SAAB’s owner, Swedish Automobile, said in a statement that “the company without further funding will be insolvent, and that filing bankruptcy is in the best interests of its creditors.”

New SAAB.

GM’s attitude towards the bankruptcy was given by GM spokesperson James Cain who said, “Each (previous) proposal results either directly or indirectly in the transfer of control and/or ownership of the company in a manner that would be detrimental to GM and its shareholders. As such, GM cannot support any of these proposed alternatives.”

In Sweden, daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reported that SAAB planned to present a plan to the court whereby the Swedish automaker would launch a technology development company in Holland, 50 percent of which would be owned by Chinese group Youngman.

However, it is also reported elsewhere that Youngman, responsible for the last cash injection into the beleaguered Swedish carmaker, is now unwilling to send SAAB any further funds.

In a communiquô, Swedish Automobile confirmed Youngman pulled out of the talks following GM’s negative statement.

The attempts to sell SAAB to Chinese partners have been seen as the last chance of saving the Swedish carmaker, which was already on the brink of bankruptcy when GM sold it to Swedish Automobile at that time called Spyker, for $400 million in early 2010.

SAAB initially began in 1937 as an aircraft manufacturer, something which became evident in the aerodynamic, sporty shape of its first concept car designs built in 1947 with the first production versions produced in 1949.

The 3,799 employees had their salaries delayed now for five months after SAAB was forced to halt production in April 2011 as suppliers stopped deliveries over unpaid bills. However, under a bankruptcy agreement the employees will be paid through a Swedish wage guarantee.

Retirement plan for F1 pensioners?

SR3 mobility scooter.

Former World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, plus Tonio Liuzzi, Giancarlo Fisichella, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Mika Salo, Sakon Yamamoto, Alex Yoong and Neel Jani and Indycar’s Pippa Mann have all signed up for the inaugural i1 Super Series in India.

They will be competing for $2 million prize money and they will race Radical Sportscars’ SR3 roadster, which is designed to touch speeds of 250 kph and accelerate from 0-100 kph in three seconds.

The i1 Super Series consists of 10 races over five weekends with the opener taking place at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia on January 22. That will be followed by races in Bahrain (Feb 4), Qatar (Feb 11), Delhi (Feb 26) and Abu Dhabi (March 10).

The i1, which also known as the Indian Racing League, is based on the successful Indian Premier League and is sanctioned by the FIA.

The new series was launched at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi in December and nine city-based franchise teams - Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Pune, Kolkata, Goa - will take part and teams have one international and one Indian driver.

Technology just around the next corner

Here’s what is in store for the motorists in the next decade. These examples are not “concepts”, but the technology is here now. For many OEM’s, the integration of the new technologies is the only item slowing its adoption. That and the price, of course. In the competitive marketplace of today, the base cost is always a dilemma. The answer, however, is to make all the new technological applications delete options. And since the new car buyer is not really aware of what is coming, this makes it easier for the automaker.

One group at the forefront of the new technology, and its application to the vehicles of today is the Continental Corporation in Germany, one of the world’s biggest suppliers of safety, interior and powertrain innovation.

If your car is equipped with a form of emergency brake assist, it already knows when it is too late for late braking. The technology is simple. It is easily programmed into the vehicle for it to appreciate how much traction it has, as well as how many meters it is going to take to brake in time to avoid an accident. However, if you are still too fast, further braking is too late. But this is where Emergency Steer Assist (ESA) comes in.

In this mode, the system does not take over and steer for you. Designed to compliment emergency braking systems, ESA works with your electric steering rack to vary the torque by direction, thus very convincingly “suggesting” the proper steering wheel motion. Suppose you need to swerve left - the torque in the clockwise motion is greatly increased (resistance), but it is very easy to turn the wheel counterclockwise. Similarly, during the maneuver recovery phase (you may know this as a tank slapper), the inverse is true, the steering working in tandem with ESC (electronic stability control, mandatory on all cars in Europe in 2011) to control the after effects of the swerve.

Another application is the Active Force Feedback Pedal.

The more information being relayed to the driver, the more confusing things can be. Continental’s philosophy is the right one: instead of bombarding the driver with signals on an already crowded cluster or creating ever more beeping noises, they’ve turned to haptic feedback systems. Ones that respond to your inputs physically to give information directly to your muscles.

The force-feedback pedal is pretty self-explanatory: The foot pressure can be varied instantly, from super-stiff to feather-light and, in addition, the pedal can pulse back on your foot. Think of the potential uses: In today’s increasingly eco-friendly cars, the pedal pressure could become stiff when you’re driving like a hooligan. It could pulse twice quickly for an upshift or downshift, and it could even assess traffic conditions ahead to discourage unnecessary acceleration. In the near future, your car will pick up an emergency stop warning from the car ahead - kilometres ahead - and can alert you to the forthcoming danger with the pedal.

The future sees the automakers bringing apps to your dashboard. Continental showed its AutoLinQwith partners such as Navteq, Navigon, Shazam, Pandora and more lined up to bring the perks of your smartphone to your car.

Continental’s system is Android-based, which means that developers will be free to create whatever applications they want. Naturally they’ll need approval by Continental. AutoLinQ is able to read things such as email or rss feeds aloud, in an attempt to reduce distraction. The company is working on text-dictation software, too, so the entire system will be zero- or one-click - your eyes will not need to leave the road. The initial connectivity is with Deutsche Telekom, but count on a U.S. deal before the system is released. The cell provider will offer a package price, not unlike what you get with an iPad now, until wireless infrastructure becomes pervasive enough to be a viable option (that is, both roadway-mounted and ad-hoc car-to-car communication).

Looking at motor racing as a hobby?

Here is a way to start in motor sport without the capital expenditure of buying a racing car. Called the Formula Taki Championship, this is a series devised by former racer Taki and uses their own formula car, derived from Formula Renault but updated. There are information and register days on March 2 and 3 and you can get more details on 086 836 6504. Taki is advertising this as an ‘arrive and drive’ deal for 35,000 THB per meeting. Could be worth looking him up and getting more details. Taki has been involved in racing schools in Japan, Europe and Thailand before.

Loved this billboard

Sent over by Kevin Maguire was a selection of billboards erected in the US. This was the first one, and I loved it. With apologies to all the Volvo drivers out there. All three of them.