The Automotive News group published some “inside” information on the sudden resignation of the Premier Automotive Group chairman Wolfgang Reitzle and the appointment of Mark Fields (ex Mazda boss) to succeed him.

The departure of the 53-year-old Reitzle comes as the Ford owned luxury brands are working hard to collaborate in the broad areas of purchasing and development while trying not to overlap in branding and product.

It’s an area in which many feel Reitzle will be missed because the new boss, the 41 year old Fields, who moves over from Mazda Motor Corp., does not have Reitzle’s experience with luxury brands or his product savvy, dynamism or clout, they report.

A Premier Automotive manager said, “Cars like the Jaguar S-Type with a six-speed gearbox wouldn’t exist without Reitzle. Now the finance guys will start saving at every single nut and bolt again. And the Jaguar spirit, so credibly reinstalled by Reitzle, will fade again.”

Gentle reader, bean counters have been the reason for some appalling problems in the motor industry. One of my favourite writers on things automotive engineering-wise is Carrol Smith. It was Smith who wrote, “The function of a bean counter is to tell me how many beans I’ve got - not to tell me how to spend my beans!” A friend of mine walked out of a good auto manufacturer’s job when he found out that the Research and Development department were working on how to make the current parts cheaper, rather than how to make them better. Bean counters again!

In the broader product-development and manufacturing sense, Land Rover, Jaguar and Aston Martin are working closely on common procurement plans, although supplier commonality won’t happen in earnest until next-generation redesigns occur, said Steve Jones, Land Rover/Jaguar purchasing director.

The biggest overlap could involve sharing power plants, such as Land Rover using Jaguar’s next-generation V8 engine in its upcoming Discovery, and Jaguar borrowing diesel engine technology from Ford of Europe. Volvo will share major component sets with Ford of Europe on the upcoming 40- and 30-series vehicles.

Do you see what is happening? Your new Volvo is going to be a Ford with a new body shape. Almost, but not quite, “badge engineering” and we are the people who lose. I honestly believe that Reitzle was trying to keep the brands individual, contrary to the wishes of those in FoMoCo who count the beans, so Reitzle got the Jac Nasser treatment! See if I’m not right!

Last week I wrote about an Egyptian Phoenix race car which competed in Egypt’s national racing colour of tasteful purple. I also mentioned the Triumph Herald which was partly designed by Giovanni Michelotti who was also involved with the TR4, the GT6, the 2000, the Dolomite and the Stag. What I wanted to know is what was the connection between the Egyptian Phoenix racing car, Michelotti and Triumph. The clue was to go smell the flowers!

The answer was that the three Flower brothers, Raymond, Derek and Neville were involved with the Egyptian race car and were also involved with a special TR3 worked over by Giovanni Michelotti. This produced the connection between Triumph and Michelotti, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The latest in the “mini” car stakes is the wildly styled “Smart” which is so short it can be parked sideways and not stick out into the traffic. There was one long before, however, which could be parked that way and was certainly a “mini” car. I want the name of this car, and the date. Clue: it is British!

For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct answer to fax 427 596 or email automania @pattayamail.com

Good luck!

The first rounds in this year’s Thailand Sport Grand Championship meetings kick off this weekend at the Bira Circuit (Highway 36 between Pattaya and Rayong around Km marker 14).

Sport Grand Champion

The major races will be the Sport Grand Champion cars, with the newly named Sport Challenge cars (originally called Concept I) as a warm up. There will also be races for the Touring Cars Group N, with categories A and B together in one race and category C in other events. At the time of going to print there were almost 70 entries for the meeting.

Racing commences around 10 a.m. and there is a “Pit Walk” scheduled between noon and 12.45 to allow the spectators to come across the track and get close to the action in the pits. If you are unable to get to Bira, do not despair, the meeting is televised live between 2 and 4 p.m. on UBC.