This week marks the seventh anniversary of the Pattaya
Mail, so I thought I’d lead in with a piece on 7’s. There have been a
few “7’s” in motoring history that have all left their mark. The
baby Austin 7’s coming immediately to mind, as also the Lotus Super
7’s from the 1970’s. Of course, there is also the BMW 7 series, still
being produced today. From memory, I cannot remember a 7 cylinder auto
engine, even though we have had 5’s and 3’s. But for me, 7 was always
a lucky number. It was also the racing number on the car in which I almost
lost my life.
Gemini race car number 7 ended its days on the 24th of
October 1992 with the biggest fire in the history of the racing circuit.
It took two teams of fire-fighters 20 minutes and over $800 in
extinguisher fluids to bring the blaze under control. Thanks to modern
fire suits and some presence of mind, I escaped with just minor burns and
a partially melted helmet.
So congratulations Pattaya Mail on your 7th. Automania
hopes your 7 is as lucky as mine was!
DaimlerChrysler launches the C-Class
For
one of the first times ever, Thailand was the host country to premiere a
new Mercedes Benz model. The new right hand drive C-Class were released at
the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre this month with a flurry of
promotional ideas to keep the customers queuing up at the authorised MB
dealers.
Number one amongst these is the ‘Star Care’ service
programme which offers free service, labour and parts for 3 years or 6000
kms. However, this is not for those vehicles purchased in the grey market.
This has produced a reaction from the independent importers, with all
sorts of mutterings about anti-trust laws and monopolies.
The other good news is the decision by DaimlerChrysler
to assemble the C-Class here at the Thonburi Auto Assembly Plant at Samut
Prakan, and the new S-Class will also be built there later in the year. It
is expected that the bulk of Asian MB’s will then come from Thailand
exports.
Next week I will have some more details on the baby
Benzes for all of you who have between 2 and 3 million Baht spare. The
cars were initially released in Europe in the LHD form in May of this
year.
Benz has ‘em beat! Or has it?
The J.D. Power group recently ran a Customer
Satisfaction study amongst the auto manufacturers here in Thailand. The
makers were judged on the following factors - a Service Advisor, Service
performance, Customer focus, Service charges and Dealer facility
appearance.
On top was Mercedes Benz, from Toyota, Isuzu and BMW.
According to the report, those companies that fell below the industry
standard were Honda, Ford, Mazda, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Hyundai.
Now whilst I am quite sure that MB does have some loyal
followers - and I hasten to add, with good reason - they are damn fine
cars, what did this study really show?
Looking at the guys who didn’t do as well - for many
of these manufacturers they are not at all well represented out here in
consumer country. Just where is your local Ford Dealership for example?
I’m damn sure I don’t even know where it is, let alone rank it for
customer focus or what the place actually looks like.
The study also only covered 1,600 new car owners, and
with ten makes represented, that’s 160 owners each. Sorry gentlemen,
that is not statistically a large enough group to come to much of a
conclusion.
So while I am sure my friends at MB do a good job, I
wouldn’t take it too seriously. Let’s stick to ranking the cars!
A battered FIAT
I don’t know if you’ve seen them, but there are a
couple of the world’s most battered FIATs regularly dribbling down
Sukhumvit Road. These things are mainly ferric oxide held together by
paint. The green one is a very early model with wheel arch flares added
some time in the past forty years, while the pale blue one is the later
model FIAT Riviera. This old dear has had a decent hit on the right rear
quarter and crabs its way down the road, with neither drivers side doors
being able to be closed. My wag mates reckon that FIAT stood for Fix It
Again Tony! They’re probably correct with these two!
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week’s question was about the car driven at the
Shelsley Walsh hillclimb in the UK in 1946 by Basil Davenport. Davenport
starred both in pre-war and post-war climbs in a car called the Spider.
What was so notable about the car when it competed in 1946?
What was so noteworthy was that Davenport built and
raced a replica in 1946 of the original Spider which he had built in 1926.
The Spider was an incredible car, but looked absolutely dreadful. It was
once refused admission to the hill climb at Shelsley Walsh because the
officials did not believe that anything quite so shabby could possibly be
a competition vehicle. However, Spider set four new course records under
Davenport during its competition life - despite its appearance. The
replica was equally as grotty!
So to this week and let’s go back to the Grands Prix
and Colin Chapman. Built by Chappers and goes like the clappers was the
catch-cry for the original Super 7’s - and weren’t they great cars!
Chapman was truly a genius, but he was also someone who could recognise
talent and foster it. With one driver who was struggling and whose wife
had to work at weekends to help pay the bills, Chapman doubled his salary,
just so the driver could have his wife at the race meetings with him. Who
was that driver?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first
correct answer to fax 427 596 or email [email protected].
The Greatest Motorcycle Racer Ever
The
REAL motorcyclists of this world were stunned a couple of weeks back, to
hear of the death of the legendary Joey Dunlop after he crashed into a
tree in a race in Estonia. When you speak about motorcycle racers, Joey
Dunlop was perhaps the greatest of them all. You can forget the
Agostini’s and the Doohans - Joey Dunlop left a record that nobody will
ever equal.
An estimated 50,000 people made the pilgrimage to the
quiet country church in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, where the body of
the man they called ‘King of the Road’ was laid to rest, bringing the
area to a standstill.
For a week, fans had queued for hours to lay floral
tributes outside Joey’s Bar in Dunlop’s home town of Ballymoney and to
sign books of condolence in towns all over the province.
Police had to operate a special one-way system as biker
convoys streamed in from Belfast, Dublin, and the Isle of Man, the place
where the 48 year old Dunlop became a legend after clocking up 26 TT wins.
After a private service at the family home, thousands
of fans lined the mile-and-a-half route as the cortege made its way to the
150-year-old Garryduff Presbyterian Church, where Joey was baptised and
where he celebrated his 25th wedding anniversary in 1998.
Mourners heard the Reverend John Kirkpatrick, chaplain
to the Motorcycle Union of Ireland, speak of the “People’s
Champion”, whom he said touched the lives of so many. He said the record
books bore testament to the fact Joey was one of the greatest, if not the
greatest, motorcycle racer of all time.
Colin Marshall, one of our local bike racers, knew the
late Joey Dunlop and like all enthusiasts always spoke with respect of the
abilities of this man in the saddle. The world is a poorer place without
Joey Dunlop.
