Italian Grand Prix, Monza. The press tribune in the grandstand opposite the pits was a long walk through a narrow steamy tunnel crowded with excited Italians. Starting grid : Clark (Lotus-Ford 20) on pole alongside Jack Brabham 18 and Bruce McLaren 4. Chris Amon (Ferrari 7) and Dan Gurney (American Eagle 8) are on row 2. Officials wait for all the cars to line up. for the greatest drive of Clark’s career.
Read MoreBRISTOL AFN and BMW
At the end of World War 2 the Americans got Werner von Braun and the V2 rocket, the British Fritz Fiedler and the BMW 327. NASA made the most of von Braun and his rocketry, and now after 75 years as Bristol Cars goes into administration, the last vestige of Archie Frazer-Nash’s (AFN-Islewortth) 1930s connections with the Bayerische Motoren Werke passes into history.
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TIME RUNNING OUT FOR HYBRIDS
Hybrid cars defeat official greenhouse gas figures subtly so nobody notices. Their fuel consumption is two-and-a-half to three times higher than bureaucrats think. Hybrids emit more CO2 than petrol cars, which don’t have such burdensome batteries, so the government ban in 2035 should be no surprise. What’s missing is some encouragement for fuel cell and hydrogen research, or new technology to replace them. Pure electric cars with banks of recharging points won’t. Hybrids are fraudulent as dieselgate VWs.
Read MoreNiki Lauda. A new obituary.
I drafted Niki Lauda’s obituary at the German Grand Prix. Anybody who knew his injuries was sure he could not survive. Guy Edwards’s bravery pulling him from the burning Ferrari was recognised with a Queen’s Gallantry Medal. Later features on his team’s verdict after he lost the world championship to James Hunt, taken up in the Italian press, resulted in a lively correspondence I had with Enzo Ferrari. I can now do a new obituary.
Read MorePrivate Jet or Private Limo: Classic Column Scotland on Sunday 2006.
It is time to restore corporate limousines, discarded as economy measures when all they were used for was ferrying executives to short-haul lunches. Now a company car, with driver, is a practical alternative to flying or long-haul trains. Department heads do not pilot the plane or conduct the locomotive. Company cars with chauffeurs should make a comeback as one of the best means of point-to-point travelling ever invented.
Read MorePorsche - Automotive Leonardo
Among the handful of car designers with creative genius, as opposed to a mere talent for engineering, Ferdinand Porsche’s reputation is secure. Bugatti’s artistic flair, Royce’s “infinite capacity for taking pains”, even Colin Chapman’s prolific inventiveness with Lotus are overshadowed by a man who not only gave his name to one of the world’s most coveted cars, but also made him a sort of automotive Leonardo da Vinc
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