Hungarian GP this weekend
Hungaroring
As a racing venue, Hungary has a long
history, with its first GP run in 1906, and regular events
in Budapest since 1926. Built with state backing, and laid
out in a natural amphitheatre, the Hungaroring opened in
1986 and attracted an estimated 200,000 spectators. Though
the event was well organized, and the hosts very
appreciative, it was felt that the 4 km Hungaroring had been
laid out more in the style of a twisty street circuit rather
than a bespoke road track. There were few opportunities for
overtaking, though things were eased from 1989 when a tight
corner was by-passed and the lap distance became slightly
less than 4 km. However, it remains a circuit that is not
high on any of the drivers’ lists, unless you are after a
piece of quick action behind the pits, as the Hungarian
government actually erected (nice word in the sex scene)
some mobile brothels a couple of years ago (sponsored by
Viagra?). I think they are still in use today!
With Jenson Button having kept the lead in the world
championship, there has been a huge contingent of Brits
crossing the channel and headed for Hungary. If Button can
keep it all together, and avoid any clumsy attempts at
overtaking by his whining team mate, or the Red Bulls on the
charge, he will be difficult to beat, though the sheer speed
of the Red Bulls is something which might spoil the Brawn
plans.
I will be watching from my favorite roost at Jameson’s Irish
Pub on Soi AR (next to Nova Park) and the racing begins at 7
p.m. but check your local TV feed. We get there early and
have something to eat and wet the whistle before the racing
begins. Why don’t you join me at around 6 p.m. for a natter
and some food (the carvery is great value) and then sit down
for the Grand Prix.
The Viper has survived
I have always been a great fan of the Dodge
Viper. Two seats, a massive eight liter V10 engine
delivering more horsepower than most people have ever
experienced, brakes an optional extra, steering by worm and
tiller, in reality hundreds of things wrong with the car,
but a real hairy chested man’s car that produced awe in the
passenger and delight for the driver.
The
Dodge Viper lives again
With Chrysler, as we knew it, going down the gurgler and
Fiat taking over the reins, there were thoughts voiced that
the V10 monster would not fit in with a line-up that could
include re-badged Fiat 500’s. However, the latest word is
the snake has been given a reprieve and production of the
Viper will continue, saving both the iconic name and the
factory that makes it.
Chrysler had announced earlier this year that Viper
production would stop this December unless a buyer for the
sub-brand and plant could be found. However, there were no
bids for either the brand or the factory and the “For Sale”
sign was taken down by Chrysler.
Dodge brand president and chief executive Mike Accavitti
said the Viper had successfully captured the hearts and
imagination of performance enthusiasts around the globe.
“We’re extremely proud that the ultimate American-built
sports car with its world-class performance will live on as
the iconic image leader for the Dodge brand,” he said.
Originally the Viper was a show-stealing concept car in
1989, and went into production in 1992 at Chrysler’s New
Mack factory in Michigan before being switched to Chrysler’s
Conner Avenue factory in October 1995, with more than 25,000
Vipers having been built since 1992.
Today’s fourth-generation model debuted last year, powered
by a 450 kW 8.4 liter V10 engine that is capable of
catapulting the Viper SRT10 to 100 km/h from standstill in
less than four seconds, while the zero-160-zero km/h time
takes 12 seconds, which means they have actually found some
brakes for the monster.
If you want ‘quality’
be prepared to spend
Each year the JD Power and Associates Initial
Quality Study is carried out, with questionnaires going
out to new car buyers and from these the average of
faults per 100 vehicles is reached. In the US, the
industry average is 108 faults per 100 vehicles, which
is not bad when you think about it. Last year, the
industry average was 118 faults per 100 vehicles, so
much was improved since the last survey.
Top performer in the quality stakes was, once more,
Lexus with 84 faults/100 vehicles, closely followed by
Porsche with 90 and Cadillac with 91.
In the number four spot was the rapid riser in the
automotive scene - Hyundai, at 95, seeing off Honda at
99 and Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Ford and GM with 101, 101,
102 and 103 respectively.
Long way down the list was Dodge (134), Jaguar (134),
Chrysler (136), Hummer (136), Jeep (136), Saab (138),
Smart (138), Land Rover (150) and bottom of the pile and
stay in after school was Mini at 165.
Was the Tucker really
ahead of its time?
Hands up all those who remember the Tucker
48, better remembered as the Tucker Torpedo? Built in
1948, the Tucker featured three headlights, with the one
in the nose swiveling with the steering. This feature
was just one of the many ‘revolutionary’ items on the
ill-fated Tuckers, of which only 51 were ever built. For
students of trivia, 47 of them still exist, which
probably makes it the marque with the best longevity,
with 92 percent of the original production still extant
after more than 50 years!
Tucker Torpedo
But Preston Tucker cannot claim rights to
the concept either, even if he were still around (he died in
1956 after his great American dream folded). Way, way back,
there were headlights known as Pilot Ray lights that were
fitted to vehicles such as the L29 Cords. These optional
extra lights were attached by rods to the Pitman steering
arms so that as the arm moved through its arc, the lights
did also. Crude - but they worked, after a fashion. Like
most Cords!
The whole history of the Tuckers is one shrouded in mystery
and accusations of dirty dealings by the Big 3. While 51
cars were built in total, they were not really built on an
assembly line type of operation, but more of a hand built
progression of cars, with later ones having improvements the
earlier ones did not have. For example, there were three
engines tried in the rear-engined cars, with the final one
being a helicopter unit. The Stock Exchange took Tucker to
court claiming that he had no intention of mass-producing
the Torpedo and it was in reality a massive financial
swindle, with Tucker pre-selling accessories for cars that
were yet to be built. However, the case was eventually flung
out, but by then it was too late. The Tucker Torpedo was a
damp squib.
Tucker’s
flat six engine
But there is no doubting that the Tucker was way ahead of
its time, particularly as far as safety features, with a
padded dash, seat belts, and pop out windshield, but those
are only part of the Tucker’s safety features. Unlike cars
of the era, or most cars built today, the Tucker used a
unibody which was welded to an automotive frame (in order to
eliminate body rattles), thus giving the protection of a
safety cage. Additionally, the frame of a Tucker was shaped
like a ship’s prow at the front and rear. The reason for
this was that Tucker’s research showed that most collisions
tended to be glancing blows at an angle. The prow shape of
the frame, it was hoped, would deflect the other vehicle
away from the Tucker. There were also steel bulkheads at the
front and rear of the passenger compartment, to further
protect the passengers. The bumpers were mounted on springs
to absorb shock in a crash, and because of the weight
balance provided by the rear mounted engine the brakes would
wear evenly and the car would lower itself evenly, instead
of the front end pitching down, in panic stops. The steering
wheel was designed to dissipate the impact of the driver’s
body in a crash and the steering column was a breakaway
design so that it wouldn’t transfix the driver in the event
of a crash.
There are a few known glitches with the car. The first is
that the center headlight didn’t work as well as predicted
(this could have been corrected with a lens change), the pop
out windshield could be removed with a moistened toilet
plunger (making the cars easy pickings for thieves), and the
transmission had lubrication problems at idle (stop and go
traffic would play hell on the tranny). However, these are
relatively minor issues and likely would have been easy to
correct if the cars had gone into production, but as with
all complex new designs, the public would not be happy to
wait for the fix. Look at the 1936 Cord 810 for example,
with its transmission problems, which eventually killed the
car, just as the Stock Exchange stopped E.L. Cord himself.
Really, it shows how lucky we are today, where the
manufacturer has to do all the de-glitching before the car
is released for sale. Sure, some faults still get through,
but they are nothing compared to yesteryears. By the way,
Tuckers sell for around $1 million these days. (My thanks to
Jerry Coffey for his assistance in preparing the information
for this article.)
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week I mentioned that the Ford
Mustang is always thought of as a muscle car, and I asked
what was its horsepower when it was released in 1964? By
half way through 1964 there were V8 engines available, but
when it was released at the World’s Fair on April 22, 1964
it had the 170 cubic inch in-line six developing only 101
bhp. About enough ‘muscle’ to pull the skin off a rice
pudding.
So to this week. And let’s get away from US muscle for a
while. In the UK, a new car from a major manufacturer was
going to be called the Caprino, until some research
unearthed that this was Italian for goat poo! Instead they
named the car after the winter Olympics. What was this car?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct
answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
