Rolling to an end of an era...

As with every giants in human history, the car industry will be brought down on its knees. As new winds and new breeds come along, the old one has to die to be replaced by a growing seed.

The thing is though, no giants have been forgotten, ever. In fact each of them hit the ground with thunder and earthquakes.

So let's just sit back for a moment with a drink in the hand and watch the last bits of anguish of the car industry... as it goes down in tyresmoke and flames...

Here.. we... GO!!

It all boomed in America and that is the place it will most likely to crumble for good.

For me, the whole phenomenon started with one little car with much fury and legendary pedigree of outland myth.

The Mustang.

The Mustang has always been out in the market. Young guys loved it, olders collected it. It was cherished by the blue-collar self-made men.

...and yet, the actual generation of the mid-noughts came in all retro, all in style. It resembled all the glory of an era when gasprice was not more of a question than the ingredients of a real 'merican burger.

But it was the first sign of the end.

You see, the message was already written on the wall: "You can not make wasteful cars anymore!"

So with a very last breath, all the manufacturers with a sense of pride did what a wounded fighter would do realizing the inevitable: stirking down once again.

The muscles were pumped up again. Then came the Charger, the Challenger, the Camaro. Their European and Japanese doppelgangers, the hot hatches were rolled out in the greatest glory by far.

The Civic Type R, the Focus RS, the Golf GTI and many-many more were just eager to take the roads with the by-then family men. Turbos, lightweight. They had all that.

But in fact these are just the footsoldiers I am talking about at the moment.

How about the real heroes? The true gladiators.

The supercars.

First, Volkswagen thought it would build the ultimate supercar ever without compromises, just to make a point about their capability of engineering. The Veyron was born and knocked down the ultra-rare McLaren F1 off the throne in almost all aspects. The idea was simple and worked, making all other manufacturers to get into the game: build high-speed cars and make them reminder of the uncompromised era.

Biref list: the Ford GT, the new Ferrari GTO, the Lancia Stratos, the Audi Quattro concept, the Alfa Romeo 8C Evoluzione, the AMG SLS, the constant Porsche GTs, the M1 resembling BMW concept, Astons  - all existing at the same time...

...embracing decades of pride, fame, deathtraps. All being ugraded clones of a past self. Bringing together old-school and the latest technology. The ultimate barinchilds of the internal combustion powerplant.

And when these vhicles gather in time and space that will be the final fight where neither of them will be spared.

...and the day will be remembered 'the day the engine died'.

Cheers!

Hatch muscled up

I admit: I love muscle cars.

From the GTO through the Charger, the Demon to the Fairlane Thunderbolt I love them all. Unfortunately I live in the part of the world where gas has always been priced high (which is good in the long run), where the roads are tight and curvy (again, good) and where even taxes are taxed, too (not good at all).

So, we are restricted to the EU flagship 'affordable performance cars'. Whereas it is the muscle car in the US, on the other end of the ocean it is the hot hatch.

A souped up smaller (here: midsized) family car. Eventhough  they are really hard to compare, they share the same philosophy.

Let's take the Ford Mustang and the Ford Focus RS. The Focus RS has a straight-5 in good Audi and Volvo tradition whereas the Mustang has good ole V8 horses under the hood. Note, if you have more than 4 cylinders in Europe that counts something extraordinary, in the USA V6s are something okay.

Of course, if you have a V8 in an American car, you have to talk about turbocharging in a European one. For a whole decade, picky customers were eager for SOME turbocharging at least after the 90s naturally aspirated craze, they got it clean and clear.

Unfortunately there is no real compromise to RWD at a reasonable  price. Common rule that a performance car is RWD at least. Fact, that FWDs cannot be capable for such performance.

That's why we have front differential, great handling, slightly btter mileage and all the flashy exterior stuff.

Europe is eager for some muscle, America for some quality hatch. Besides, it's not only petrol/gas a hatch runs on, recently there are keen diesels being made. I read somewhere that the latest Golf GTI existed only to make the path for the GTD. Don't know, never tried it. But it would be foolish to underestimate diesels.

Here's the deal. Since Ford is global, Chrysler has just been bought by Fiat and GM owns Opel and Vauxhall in Europe, why can't we make a compromise?

A midsize, sedan or five door RWD with at least 6 cylinders and a diesel option.

Well, I think there is the BMW 1 series and the Mercedes C-class that matches the criteria.

Problem is, thy are not cheap enough.

Any further idea?

NOTE: Muscle Cars and Guitars

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NOTE: Hunting Hypercars

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Supercar Mayhem

OK, here's the fact: there won't be any supercars in this post. I mean there will be, just in case someone was to sue me othervise, but this article is all about dreams.

There's a budget crisis going on in the world right now but I'm pretty sure this won't mean the end of supercar-manufacturers. Maybe they will sell one less a year because some businessman got so overwhelmed by the fear that he would lose everything that he chose committing suicide in the meantime. RIP.

Now, us, "normal" people generally just dream of ownership of either of these so we start putting posters on the wall or ridiculous spoilers on our family car in which we normally carry around our relatives, pets, furniture, anger and misery. If we get rid of all these we may step some away from the car closing one eye and start thinking. After around 17 minutes the fortunate ones come up with the conclusion: "Hey, my vehicle IS a supercar!"

Actually this is a personal experience and I am convinced about my hypothesis for about 43% so I am ready to share this revelation with you if you are prepared mentally and spiritually in order to make your life happier not seeing an ugly brick in the parking lot anymore but the shiniest red car ever built... Just like the Hot Wheels or Matchbox models you used to carry around everywhere you went.

Deep breath and here we travel into Zen!

So let's take my car. It's a 1998 Ford Escort CLX. 1.4 liter engine, silver color, completely stock hatchback outfit and front wheel drive. Now, Ford is one of the greatest car company ever, they invented mass production, durability and the color black. They also participate or participated in every motorsport that has been on Earth, just to mention some: Formula 1, NASCAR, WRC, GT car racing, Le Mans, touring car, etc.

Now have a look at my triumphant car: it is just a bloody boring chariot! I mean, no wonder that this was the last year of the Escort and was replaced by the highly exciting Focus. There is just no way to emphasise the designers absoulte lack of ideas any further than this (however this is not 100% true). And it does not have power. 75 bhp with 1100 kgs mass does not sound that tragic, but it feels more like 55. There is no sense of torque inside.

So what is so good about it? Take a closer look. The first two generations of the Escort were a legend in Europe. One of the best handling cars ever produced. Or I should put it this way: the most exciting one, making rally history. You got the same, basic experience as in a Lada just in a much more sophisticated way. But let's return to the current model: "it's an FWD so the thrill is gone for good" you might think, but that is not exactly true. Obviously it's not a race car, but it has quite stiff suspentions, at least it is handier in corners than it's contemporary rivels. Take it into a roundabout or a 180 degree turn and you'll see!

Does it make it a supercar? Yes! Most supercars are known of great handling and grip in corners, the rest of them are called dragsters without appeal.

Moving on to the engine you don't get great sound or exciting power. What you get is much different: the motor inside is called "CVH", which stands for "Compound Valve angle Hemispherical combustion chamber". Said what? Hemispherical? Meaning H-E-M-I? Yes, it's a HEMI, for all holy cows' sake! The perfect muscle car engine! The engine that made American car industry immortal since the 60s. Coming straight from the ovals of NASCAR from Chrysler actually, it dominates all American motorsports. You can find these in NHRA Top Fuels as well. It's all Dodge. Whether it is painted as a Toyota or Chevrolet, it has the Dodge engine underneath. But this one comes from Ford. Half a muscle car engine concerning the size of cylinders, otherwise it would be just one-fourth of it...

And there is more: the 1.6 liter version was put into the Morgan 4/4, which is a classically stylished, handcrafted British luxurious roadster. I mean, the greatest supercars come from Britain and they are all handcrafted.
So a muscle car's engine in a classic roadster still makes the Escort a supercar again. But it's not over yet!


Come closer to the back: what's underneath the window? It is a rear spoiler. A wing! Of course, other cars have these kind of spoilers as well, but which family hatchback has such a beautifully designed rear wing?

It's like you were looking at the rear of the Ford GT or a Mustang Fastback.

Moreover this car has a Cosworth version as well. Cosworth! Engine supplier to WRC and Formula One! How can you top that?

So in the end I have to say, this car is the ultimate supercar ever produced! Starts as a muscle car, ends as a supercar and in between it's a family hatchback, and the hole thing together is one of the greatest rally cars.

Any appeal, Mr. Racer X?

"You are pathetic, kid!"

Oh, shut up!