In Corona times, some days are spent delving into archive boxes, and of course, treasures are found. I will show them in several reports here on my site.
They tell us about unique moments, and also learn us also how fast time goes…
Here above you see a photo of me in my early twenties, behind the wheel of the much underrated 914-6 VW Porsche, with its 2 litre six cylinder boxer, a necessary ingredient in making it a “true” Porsche.
We drove quite a few Porsche test cars from the D’Ieteren press fleet, here you see me at the wheel of one of the earlier 911’s, which I loved very much and was able to drive to their limits without the slightest mishap. Indeed, I never ever lost control of these early 911’s. I still love them… and their characteristic road manners, which still call for a talented and sensitive driver to master them. Note also the absence of headrests!
Liane Engeman, from the race track to photo modelling for Alfa…
In the first part of our story where Alfa Romeo pays tribute to its glorious queens of speed, we took you back to the ‘30s, but now we guide you to more recent times. First we start off with a good looking racing driver, who later became even a …photo model for Alfa: The super-fast Dutch driver Liane Engeman, she excelled herself in the Toine Hezemans team’s Alfa Romeo 1300 Junior.
Liane Engeman with Toine Hezemans…
The photo here above let’s you understand fully why she became later an iconic model for Alfa…
Then there is Christine Beckers, who I came to know personally. Her heroic days were in the ‘60s, the era of the Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA. Its results, victories and importance in Alfa Romeo’s history are well-known. Less known, however, are the events of the (supercharged) Alfa Romeo GTA-SA. Prepared in ten units for Group 5, it was equipped with two hydraulically operated centrifugal compressors that boosted output to 220 hp, resulting in a top speed of 240 km/h.
It reached peak performance, but as historical test driver from Autodelta Teodoro Zeccoli explained, the GTA-SA had “an unpredictable boost of power would kick in suddenly without notice, making the SA an unpredictable vehicle, hard to govern on curves or when maneuvering.” One able to govern this ill-tempered vehicle better than any other was the young Belgian driver Christine Beckers, who won in Houyet in 1968 and went on to achieve excellent results the following year: in Condroz, at the “Tre Ponti”, at Herbeumont and at Zandvoort. But there are more heroines…
Maria Grazia Lombardi & Anna Cambiaghi
To follow Maria Teresa de Filippis in the 1950s, the second Italian woman to drive in a Formula 1 race – in as many as 13 GPs – was Maria Grazia Lombardi, known as “Lella”.
Between 1982 and 1984, she took part in the European Tourism Championship with the Alfa Romeo GTV6 2.5, together with Anna Cambiaghi, Giancarlo Naddeo, Giorgio Francia and Rinaldo Drovandi, and helped to bring in multiple titles. She remains the only female Italian driver to have improved her standing in a Formula 1 race.
Tamara Vidali
In 1992, Vidali won the Italian Tourism Championship (Group N) in an Alfa Romeo 33 1.7 Quadrifoglio Verde, set up by the brand’s newly established Racing Department. Just as unforgettable is the fully yellow livery of the Alfa Romeo 155 that she drove in the Italian Superturismo Championship (CIS) in 1994.
Last but not least there is Tatiana Calderon.
Born in 1993 in Bogotá, Colombia, Calderon took her first steps in motorsport in 2005, winning a National Championship in the Easy Kart Pre-Junior series. Just three years later, she would become the first woman to win the JICA class of the Stars of Karting Championship East Division in the United States.
In 2017, Calderon became a development driver for the Sauber Formula One team. One year later, Sauber promoted her from F1 development driver to F1 test driver for Alfa Romeo Racing.
We enjoyed reading about all these (very) fast women, and we trust you did too…
International Women’s Day is an ideal occasion, Alfa Romeo found, to put its female racing champions behind an Alfa sportscar wheel into the spotlight. The material they put forward is so abundant and interesting, that we make (at least) a two-part series of it.
We start here with the early, very elegant protagonists, who combined female elegance with panache and excellent racing qualities…
We start here with Odette Siko, you see her elegantly here in the photo above.
She takes you back to the 1930s, where Alfa Romeo asserted itself as one of the main protagonists in motorsport. This was partly down to extraordinary vehicles, but also to drivers who became part of the legend: these were the years of Nuvolari, Varzi, Caracciola and Sommer. The latter won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1932 behind the wheel of an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300, but the Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 SS driven by the striking Odette Siko finished fourth overall and won the 2.0-liter category! A young Parisian, Siko quickly became one of the stars on the track, displaying her elegance both in the paddock and in her racing performance, often accompanied by another female French racer whose path also crossed Alfa Romeo’s several times: Hellé Nice.
Hellé Nice, see the photo here, was a model, acrobat, and dancer. Her real name was Mariette Hélène Delangle, but was more commonly known as Hellé Nice. Renowned for her outgoing personality, Nice was good friends with the Rothschilds and the Bugattis. She raced in Europe and America and became one of the first drivers to display the logos of her sponsors on the bodywork of a single-seater racing car.
She took part in the 1933 Italian Grand Prix at Monza in her own 8C 2300 Monza; in the same race, Campari, Borzacchini and Czaikowski tragically lost their lives. In 1936, she won the Ladies Cup in Monte Carlo and took part the São Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil, where she fell victim to a dreadful accident, then miraculously came out of her three-day coma.
Further on, there was Anna Maria Peduzzi. In her time, the years of Scuderia Ferrari marked a crucial chapter in Alfa Romeo’s history. The drivers of the “Prancing Horse” included Como-born Anna Maria Peduzzi, the wife of driver Franco Comotti, who was nicknamed the “Moroccan”.
After her debut aboard her own Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 Super Sport, which she had purchased from Ferrari himself, Peduzzi almost always raced alone and only occasionally with her husband. In 1934, she won the 1500 Class at the Mille Miglia and, in the post-war period, raced in the Alfa Romeo 1900 Sprint and the Alfa Romeo Giulietta.
We conclude our first part here with Maria Antonietta d’Avanzo.
The forerunner of female Alfa Romeo drivers, Baroness Maria Antonietta d’Avanzo made her debut in the interwar years. A pioneer of Italian motorsport, aviator and journalist, d’Avanzo won third place in the Alfa Romeo G1 at Brescia in 1921, and proved her worth in many competitions as a formidable opponent for the best drivers of the time, including a young Enzo Ferrari.
Baroness d’Avanzo in her Alfa 20-30 ES
Baroness d’Avanzo raced until the 1940s in a variety of vehicles and races, traveling all over the world to do so…
In the next part we will tell you more about our national champion Christine Beckers and her more contemporary colleagues… Stay tuned!
Traditionally, in February and March, the Brussels based Autoworld Museum organizes a special for Volkswagen historical exhibition, culminating in a Beetle love parade on St. Valentine’s day.
However, the parade will not take place in 2021 for obvious reasons, but the exhibition organized in collaboration with Volkswagen is very special indeed!
The exhibition is dubbed “Volkswagen Milestones” and reflects the historical zeitgeist of the car of “Everyone and everbody” on the basis of the three important models in the history of the brand: the Beetle from the 50s – 60s, the Golf from the 70s to the early 80s and last but not least, the “Electrical Age”, with the new ID.3.
When I saw the cars on the exhibition, via a magnificent photo portfolio shot by Yves Noël, I couldn’t help reflecting back to my early days of motoring. Because, of course, I started out myself behind the wheel of a Beetle. I had bought, as a student, this ’55 (I believe) Beetle De Luxe Export from the famous and iconic television, arts and performance critic and column writer Johan Anthierens, who had learned the craft of journalism from my father, then Chief Editor of the illustrated weekly magazine “De Post”. He had hired Johan to write the Television column in “De Post”. Johan Anthierens bought a new car, and he sold his Beetle to me for the modest sum of 500 Belgian Frank, which is the equivalent of…some 12,5 Euros.
This Beetle is the exact same car as figures here on Yves Noël’s magnificent shots, with – if I recall well, the indestructible 30 HP 1200 cc version of the famous boxer in the back. Indestructible, well, almost. At higher mileages the third cylinder suffered unavoidably rather more from lean mixture than the others, and compression losses in this cylinder due to worn exhaust valves were often de result. This situation was however not bad with this one.
This beetle, with dark green livery, had soon its hubcaps removed and its wheels painted silver, and looked the part! We drove four years with it with the greatest joy throughout Europe, from Copenhagen to Bordeaux, over Routes Nationales and Autobahnen, and our greatest admiration for Porsche and its designs was born then.
Then, I stumbled on another bargain Beetle, the exact self same car as the black one here on the photo. It still had the 30 PS (manual choke) engine, but an “American type” steering wheel, with a big chromed claxon ring, and, progress, the bigger rear window.
Performance was basically the same as the first one, but I adorned the dual exhaust with slightly bigger diameter tail-end pipes, and this gave a deeper, throaty exhaust note, very similar to a 356 Porsche.
Boy, did I love driving this Beetle with zest… I drove it for another 3 years, until I got engaged to my present wife. Her father changed cars, and so I became as a “welcoming present” suddenly the happy and proud owner of the famous big Volkswagen 411 L, donned in dark British Racing Green paint, which suited it very well. That was my (big) Volkswagen during the Golf era, being also the last creation by VW within the air cooled boxer engine at the rear philosophy. A very comfortable and fast car, which would have merited an even greater success than it had. But other times were coming, also for the “bigger” VW’s. Not only the Passats were soon to come, but in those days also another beauty which was born on the drawing tables in Neckarsulm, the VW K70. This car fitted better in the Golf era, where thermal efficiency, economy, light construction and excellent road manners together with style became the norm.
The Golf era started in 1974, and these cars changed the perceptions about what a small car could do. Winners, I found, were the Golf GTD, which could cruise along all day at 140 km/h and consume still only 6 litres/100 km or thereabouts, with its 1,5 litre Diesel being a pleasant and eagerly revving machine. Then, there was the ultimate Golf, the GTI. Originally 110 PS, but what zest and panache. Also the styling details are absolutely iconic, to say nothing about its handling and performance.
There were also the three spoked steering wheel, the chequered seats, the wheels, the paint scheme, the throaty exhaust note…
Of course, there is also VW’s electric future on display, and indeed the ID.3 is a very convincing car. Just read our test report in these columns. We have just left hospital last week after two major operations, but around easter we are able to take the wheel again. The new VW hybrids are cars we are looking forward to. We will ask Joke Boon, Press Events Coordinator and VW Press and PR Director Jean Marc Ponteville to have a look in their calendar… and thank Joke Boon here for all the Autoworld photo’s she sent me!
Just some practical info: Autoworld – Jubelpark 11 – 1000 Brussels. Open every day, also Monday, from 10 AM to 17 PM (Saturdays and Sundays until 18 PM)
Admission: €12/adult – €10/senior – €9/student – €5/child (6-12 yr) free for children below 6 yr. Tickets bought online cost 1 Euro less.
Alfa celebrates 110 years of passion in Belgium, driving here in front of the Royal Palace in the heart of Brussels…
Alfa Romeo will officially celebrate its 110th anniversary on June 24 in Arese, Italy, on the brand’s historic site. So more about this very soon this week.
But also in Belgium, Alfa has since its very first beginning always been synanimous of pure four wheeled passion.
In Belgium, fans of the brand will be able to watch a new video from today that creates a unique bond between Alfa Romeo and the Belgians, from the Brussels squares to the curves of Spa-Francorchamps, the Formula 1 mecca where Alfa Romeo will compete in August.
The Giulia and Stelvio MY2020 play the leading role, as this video illustrates the brand’s mastery of typical Italian design, technology and driving pleasure.
We tell you here somewhat more about it…
Hans Knol ten Bensel
The tour shot on the video starts at the iconic Place Royale, a stone’s throw from the Royal Palace in Brussels. This highly symbolic location for Belgium serves as the background for the two latest creations of Alfa Romeo: the sedan Giulia MY2020 and the SUV Stelvio MY2020.
In keeping with Belgian tradition, the nocturnal rainy weather made the wet pavement reflect in the still illuminated headlamps of the two Biscione models. It is barely 5 a.m., and the city wakes up.
This is all the more photogenic, and the media team prepares to shoot the video images and take photos of this historic moment: the celebration of the 110th anniversary of the Alfa Romeo brand on Belgian territory.
As a symbol of the “Made in Italy” label, Alfa Romeo has had a beautiful love relationship with the Belgians for a long time. The sportiness and elegance of the brand have been celebrated here for decades. In addition, Alfa Romeo has made models throughout its history that have become icons in the automotive industry. Belgium, with its many car enthusiasts, is also an important territory for discerning collectors. There are many private museums across the country, containing numerous treasures created by Alfa Romeo engineers and designers, as well as unique vehicles handcrafted by the peninsula’s great bodybuilders. For the “Belgians”, the name Alfa Romeo stands for passion.
From the squares to the striking monuments of Brussels, the last two creations of Alfa Romeo go to the east of the country, first past the Royal Palace of Brussels, remembering that the King and Queen of the Belgians, Albert II and Paola, when they were crown princes, brought a visit to Alfa Romeo and went also to its Balocco test track. The Prince of Liège hiself slid behind the wheel of the unique 33 Stradale, in October 1967.
After Brussels the team and the cars head towards Spa-Francorchamps. To the most mythical circuit of motorsport, which all Formula 1 drivers enjoy the most.
A territory that the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio have known for several years, as the Quadrifoglio versions of both models are used for the transport of the two current pilots of the brand, Antonio Giovinazzi, ambassador of the Giulia Quadrifoglio, and Kimi Räikkönen, ambassador of the Stelvio Quadrifoglio. It is also on this very track that the new Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN Formula 1 cars will run the Belgian Grand Prix at the end of the summer, on Sunday 30 August 2020.
On the runway at La Sauvenière Airport, the scene of an impressive air ballet during the Grand Prix weekends, the two Alfa Romeos are now enjoying the asphalt, whose curves, straights and slopes are already an interesting playground on the way to circuit. Two legendary cars that are about to race on an iconic track, where the brand has had the opportunity to express the full range of its sporting expertise on numerous occasions and in many motorsport events.
The 1750 Sport was already a star in Francorchamps in 1929…
It is in this magical setting that the last images of this commemorative video produced by the Alfa Romeo team will be shot, to testify once again to the unique bond that unites the famous sports brand with its Belgian fans. The video will be available on the Alfa Romeo social media pages in Belgium and on the Alfa Romeo press website:
The dynamic PR people of the Mercedes-Benz Museum have recently launched a so-called “33 Extras” exhibit series. These “33 Extras” bring the history of personal mobility and motoring culture to life highlighting details and aspects that are often surprising. Here they focus on the steering wheel, and we found their story interesting enough to present it here to you…
Hans Knol ten Bensel
The world´s first car race from Paris to Rouen, 22 July 1894. Alfred Vacheron´s vehicle with petrol engine. Vacheron was awarded joint 4th place in the contest.
It all started in in 1894: the steering wheel made its debut in the first motorsport competition in history – the race from Paris to Rouen. French engineer Alfred Vacheron equipped his Panhard & Levassor vehicle, powered by a Daimler engine, with a … genuine steering wheel. Compared to the control levers that had been used up to that point, the steering wheel allowed him to steer more accurately – and therefore also to increase his speed. His steering wheel consisted of a circular grip ring connected to the steering column by spokes – a basic principle which is still valid to this day.
Mercedes-Simplex in the Mercedes-Benz Classic Insight Nice-–La Turbie in 2017. The steering wheel was equipped with additional levers for adjusting various engine functions.
The end of the handlebar…
Before the steering wheel became the norm at the turn of the century, there were many solutions, including some that resembled bicycle handlebars. In his three-wheeled Patent Motor Car of 1886, Carl Benz used a rotary crank that transmitted the driver’s steering action to the steering column. Gottlieb Daimler equipped his four-wheeled motor carriage from 1886 with a cross-shaped handle.
In the end, the steering wheel prevailed quite simply because it could be operated intuitively. Along with the pedals and seat, it is the most important interface between the driver and the car. Key advantage: It was possible to determine the exact driving direction much more accurately than with levers because the wheel principle allowed the steering lock to be translated through the gearing into several revolutions.
Additional functions already 120 years ago…
Sectional view of a steering wheel with airbag from 1992. The folded airbag (white) can be seen above the propellant charge.
On the Mercedes-Simplex models, from 1902 on, the steering wheel was equipped with levers that were used to adjust important engine functions ─ in particular, ignition timing and mixture formation. In the 1920s, a steering wheel ring for operating the horn was added – an early implementation of Car-2-X communication, so to speak.
…and now
Today’s steering wheels are used to operate numerous systems, such as the on-board computer, voice control, telecommunications and multimedia. In addition, there are a number of stalks arranged in the immediate vicinity. In the summer of 2020, Mercedes-Benz will be presenting the next generation of the steering wheel as a command centre – the capacitive steering wheel with digital control zones.
Touch, “feel” and emotion…
There are considerable technical demands placed on the steering wheel – and the tactile experience. If the steering wheel is not perceived as pleasant to touch, this can have an effect on the way the vehicle is driven. In addition to the materials, the design also plays an important role.
Steering wheel and instrument cluster from the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, model series 221. Photo from 2005.
Steering wheel ergonomics also includes its position in the vehicle. The Daimler Phoenix racing car from 1900 and the innovative Mercedes 35 hp from 1901 had already proved this point: Their steering columns were inclined much more than before. This made it possible to steer the cars much more effectively and more dynamically. This contributed both to driving safety and also to the overwhelming sporting success of the Mercedes 35 hp in Nice Week in 1901.
Steering wheel from a Formula One Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport racing car. Photograph from 2018.
Size did matter…
The first steering wheels provided a fair guide as to how big and heavy a vehicle was. Trucks and buses initially needed enormous steering wheels. It was not until the advent of power steering that it became possible to make steering wheels smaller in large vehicles. Power steering was first fitted on the Mercedes-Benz 300 saloon car, in 1958. From the 1960s onwards, Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles were also equipped to an increasing extent with power-assisted steering.
Passive safety started in 1959
As part of the safety concept implemented in 1959 in the W 111 model series, the “tail fin” or “Heckflosse” saloon was the first to feature a steering wheel with a large, padded impact cushion, which reduced the risk of injury. In 1967, Mercedes-Benz introduced safety steering with a telescopic steering column and impact absorber as standard equipment for all vehicles. Then, in 1981, the driver’s airbag fitted in the steering wheel was introduced. This world-first innovation in production cars was introduced by Mercedes-Benz in the S-Class model series 126.
Im Forschungsfahrzeug Mercedes-Benz F 200 Imagination wird 1996 die Fahrzeugsteuerung über Sidesticks erprobt.
The Mercedes-Benz F 200 Imagination concept vehicle from 1996 tested the use of side-mounted joysticks for steering.
Cars without a steering wheel?
Mercedes-Benz has toyed with this scenario at least in test and research vehicles. The F 200 Imagination concept vehicle presented in 1996 was controlled with the aid of side-mounted joysticks. The innovative system worked perfectly. However, the steering wheel remains the preferred option, which applies just as much to production cars as to modern racing cars with their highly complex control systems. Perhaps tomorrow’s autonomous cars will be able to do without a steering wheel completely. Until then, however, the new Mercedes-Benz capacitive steering wheel supports autonomous driving functions more comprehensively than ever before. A brief history of the steering wheel is also given in a press release from Mercedes-Benz Cars.
We vividly remember them when I drove in the historic Mille Miglia with my father. The olive green Alfa Giulia Supers of the Carabinieri coached us along the way, watched over crossroads, helped to control traffic along our route, kept overenthusiastic spectators at bay.
The Carabinieri had not only taken out their fifties’uniform complete with riding boots, they also had polished their Giulia Supers. And of course, mechanically, these Alfa’s were in top form. What a delight it was to hear their 1,6 thoroughbred DOHC four cylinder revving up when they joined with panache and screeching Michelins again our fast moving column of Millia Miglia cars. Only to pass us swiftly with the blue police light flashing on the roof, with their engine on full song.
The beautiful Alfa 1900 was in 1952 immediately an iconic intervention car for the Italian Polizia…
Delightful, simply delightful. On the return leg from Roma back to Brescia, on the lunch stop before Siena, me and my father took (too much) time to chat with Stirling Moss, and we forgot our schedule a bit. This meant we were late, and had to do some massive catching up through the field. As there were timed sessions ahead, and we had to be within our time slot again. Easier said than done, with the power of a Mercedes 180 D ponton. Fight your way past birdcage Maserati’s and the like with 40 HP. Also the normal traffic was busy and held us up too much, as it took always time to accelerate for us to our top speed of 120 km/h at best.
The Giulietta was in the mid-fifties the police car par excellence… to be replaced by the Giulia Super.
Then we saw the olive green Giulia Super at a crossroad. We waved frantically and threw our hands in the air, shouting “siamo in ritardi!” We are too late!
“Okay, Okay”, they shouted back, starting their Giulia, putting swiftly their Alfa in front of us. “Siguici da vicino, follow usse close” they commanded us in their marvelous Italian accent, and so we went as a two wagon speed train through traffic, and passed the field of surprised Mille Migla participants. Lancia Aurelia, BMW 328 and Jaguar XK120 drivers couldn’t believe their eyes. But we got after 30 minutes of frantic speeding again in our slot. We waved at the carabinieri thankfully, and they responded with two signals on their beautiful Fiamm horn.
So when the dynamic PR people of FCA came up with te story about the fast, invincible Alfa’s in the service of the law, our delightful memories came back again, and we had to tell you here this story.
Of course, the Polizia/Carabinieri Giulia’s were totally iconic and omnipresent in the sixties, but the love affair of the servants of the law with Alfa’s started already in the early fifties with the formidable Alfa 1900. We show you here the photos, and dream on with us…
One of the most legendary qualities of Citroën cars have been – certainly from the legendary “Traction” and the 2CV onwards – their comfort, which went arm in arm with just as unique roadholding qualities.
No small wonder, as one knows that Citroën had been taken over early 1935 by Michelin, and that since that day the genius of engineer and Pierre-Jules Boulanger was the inspiration behind the revolutionary design of Citroëns. Boulanger was the deputy of Pierre Michelin, who became the chairman of Citroën in 1935.
The long wheelbase version of the “Traction” offered superb comfort…
Pierre-Jules Boulanger became vice-president and chief of the engineering and design departments, and had a strong hand in the development of the 2 CV. He put his engineering know how to work with the revolutionary suspension, introducing the revolutionary concept of combining roadholding with a comfortable, very elastic suspension. They also made the world’s first radial tyres…for the 2 CV.
In the late stages of the life of the Traction, Michelin and the team of Pierre Boulanger also reached a helping hand with developing the revolutionary hydropneumatic suspension for the long wheelbase version of the Traction, which then later was adopted for the “Déesse”. Actually, this long wheelbase Traction served as a test bed for the revolutionary DS. Michelin then was at the basis of the development of the whole hydropneumatic system.
This high-pressure hydraulic system would form the basis of over 9 million Citroëns, spanning from including the DS, SM, GS, CX, BX, XM, Xantia, C5, all through the still so beautiful and iconic C6.
Revolutionary also in developing inboard space…
But of course there are more aspects to just suspension. Citroën has long emphasized the benefits of adaptable seating arrangements and maximum cabin space and storage.
In 1923, the B2Type offered buyers the choice of more seats or greater luggage capacity, with an early attempt at modular cabin design. The C3Type ‘Torpédo’ was a two-seater, yet offered a folding third seat behind the driver, creating more luggage capacity or passenger room as required.
In 1924, a new ‘Trefle’ (three-leaf clover) three-seat configuration was introduced, with a fixed third seat mounted in the middle of the cabin behind the two front seats, with cargo areas either side.
For the 1930s and beyond, the Traction Avant offered various seating layouts. These included a long-wheelbase sevenseat model, and a variant with a wagon-style rear lift-up door – possibly the world’s first production hatchback.
Even the 2CV ahd an adaptable, modular cabin. With removable seats, a convertible roof, wash-down floor, and an extendible cargo area, the 2CV could well be seen as the car that started the trend for functional or technological cabin design – more than half a century ago.
Both the DS and the CX were sold as wagons (or ‘breaks’), offering maximum living comfort with intelligent seating layouts, long before more recent trends for six- or seven-seat cars.
The multi-seat CX Familiale was unique in its market class and it took many years for its competitors to catch up.
Citroën has also produced a series of design concepts as ‘one off’ show cars, with living comfort key to their motor show stand appeal, notably the 1980 Citroën Karin concept. This pyramid-shaped three-seater, built with composite materials, featured new storage ideas, moulded seats, and a stunning control ‘pod’ and steering wheel interface with fingertip controls. Such ideas are now familiar in the company’s production cars.
There is much more to come on Citroëns unique story around creature comfort, so stay tuned on these columns, and enjoy the photos here with us…
“I saw you were having fun, going flat out behind me all the time” Stirling Moss said to me with a broad smile in the Mille Miglia historic edition I drove with my father. We drove the ponton Mercedes 180 D, he drove the Mercedes 300 S, the Le Mans winning car.
Mille Miglia 1955 in Italy from 30 April to 1 May 1955: Stirling Moss won the legendary road race with his co-driver Denis Jenkinson in a Mercedes-Benz racing sports car 300 SLR (W 196 S) in the best ever time achieved.
The Mercedes Classic Racing team mechanics had advised us. “Sie gehen Stirling hinterher”, “die Strassenlage in schnellen Kurven ist mit dem 180 D ganz gut, also wenn Stirling geht, vollgas hinterher, sie fahren genau dieselbe Linie, das ist spektakulär, auch wenn sie nicht so schnell sind.”
“Go behind Stirling.” “The road holding in fast bends is very good with the 180 D, so when Stirling goes into the curve, follow his ideal line, on full power, just floor the throttle, go flat out behind him”… This is what we did, much to the delight of the tifosi and thousands of bystanders along the route. And also Stirling liked it. What a dream come true it was for us, to be in the same Mercedes Works Racing team as the legendary winner of this iconic race. He with close to 300 horsepower, we with at best 45 from our 1,8 liter Diesel.
Stirling at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2015, at the wheel of the W196 R Formula 1 racing car…
An honour we will never forget. The be in the same team, to stand as team members face to face with the man who sped to victory in the 1955 Mille Miglia, a 1000 mile or 1,609 km long race, which he drove from start to finish in merely 10 hours, 7 minutes and 48 seconds in the 300SLR.
He passed away on Easter Sunday, April 12, this year, after a long illness.
Picture taken in 1955 at the end of test drives with the Mercedes-Benz racing sports car 300 SLR (W 196 S) at the Hockenheimring. The vehicles were then brought to Italy for training on the route of the Mille Miglia. Look at the beautifully chromed lettering and star. Even a lightweight racing car remained a true Mercedes…
We will never forget this gentlemen driver, who embodied perfectly the sportiness and fair play of a true racing driver. He will remain an icon for us for ever, and many stories will be told, also by us in the coming months, about his long career and wonderful, long and eventful life. We could be part of it, albeit shortly, and it is an unforgettable memory for us.
A stunning E-Opel at the latest Brussels show, with a remarkable logo…
We stood on the latest Brussels Salon eye to eye with not only the latest Opel electric cars like the Corsa-e and Grandland X plug-in hybrid, but also with a stunning looking 1971 Opel Electro GT. Clearly, Opel has been dabbling with electric cars already since five decades. At the presentation on the Brussels show by Opel CEO Michael Lohscheller of the entire Opel range, we asked him why the very photogenic “E-power” Logo on the Opel Electro GT was not used for Opel’s present E-models.
Opel Electro GT
But this aside, the early electric Opels were more than intriguing we found. So we delve a bit more in their history here…
Hans Knol ten Bensel
It is indeed a very long and interesting story, so we will come back on it several times. It all started back in 1968, when the Kadett B “Stir-Lec” I featured the principle of the “range extender” that would later go into production with the Opel Ampera. The “Stir-Lec” study was powered by 14 lead-acid batteries and the electricity that kept the batteries constantly charged was generated by a rear-mounted Stirling combustion engine.
Only three years later, Georg von Opel, the grandson of the company founder, broke six electric vehicle world records at the wheel of this stunning looking 188 km/h Opel Electro GT powered by two coupled electric motors producing 88 kW/120 hp. Energy was supplied by a 590 kilogramme nickel-cadmium battery pack and at a constant speed of 100 km/h, the car had a range of 44 kilometres.
I have personally sweet memories of the Opel GT. As a student but already dabbling in automotive journalism, I assisted at the presentation of the Opel GT 1900 in Port Grimaux, and was impressed by its agility on the winding roads in the Alpes Maritimes.
Research took a step forward with the Opel Impuls programme during 1990-97. The Impuls I was a Kadett-based vehicle powered by a 16 kW direct-current electric motor using nickelcadmium battery cells with a liquid electrolyte. It had a range of around 80 km and a top speed of 100 km/h. But more about the impuls programme later.
Opel also was keen on developing hydrogen propulsion.
In 2000, Opel’s fuel-cell development took to the streets with the Zafira-bodied HydroGen1. Its hydrogen fuel cell supplied electricity for a three-phase asynchronous motor giving 55 kW/75 hp and 251 Nm of torque. A buffer battery covered power peaks.
Arriving in Lisbon, Avenida da Torre de Belem…
In 2001, a fleet of 20 HydroGen3 models was driven by test customers. Power was increased to 60 kW/82 hp, giving a top speed of 160 km/h. In the 2004 Fuel Cell Marathon, two HydroGen3 vehicles covered nearly 10,000 km across Europe, from Hammerfest in Norway to Lisbon in Portugal. (See photo here above) At the wheel of a HydroGen3, Grand Prix and Opel DTM driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen also won the 2005 Monte Carlo Rally for cars with alternative propulsion.
A well styled gem… 13 years ago…
But we stumbled also on some surprisingly advanced and stylish E-cars. Indeed, Opel also pursued the development of battery-powered vehicles and presented the innovative Flextreme Concept at the 2007 IAA in Frankfurt, which featured the Voltec extended-range electric propulsion.
A harbinger of the Ampera, but more of that car in a following report.
In the meantime, just be surprised at the stunning elegance of the Flextreme…
Autoprova - for the Connaisseur 