AUTOMOBILE WORLD – CAR NEWS, CAR REVIEWS, CAR INTRODUCTIONS, ALL ABOUT CARS

Although the name is little known today, Borgward made some excellent cars before its untimely demise in 1961. Most memorable is the Isabella range first seen in 1954. Named after the wife founder Karl Borgward, these lively and well made cars were the BMW’s of their day, featuring unitary construction and all independent suspension. The alloy headed engine produced 75 bhp in TS form, giving the car a top speed of over 90 mph (around 150 km/h). There were estate and two door saloon versions of the Isabella, but undoubtedly the most desirable model was the coupe. This was allegedly put into construction to prevent Dr Borgward’s wife from buying a VW Karmann Ghia. Its shapely lines were such admired, but high prices made sure it was never destined to be a top seller. It deserved better. Even more glamorous and expensive was the cabriolet version, converted by the coachbuilder Deutsch of Cologne. This must be the ultimate collector’s Borgward, as only 29 of these very desirable cars were ever built.

It had fully loaded four cylinder engine with 1493cc, independent suspension were also included. Dr Borgward’s big dream was to build a car to rival the more up market Mercedes models. He finally managed this with short lived Big Six of 1959. Sadly, the realization of this dream included huge development costs. They were so high in fact that the dream cost Borgward his company, and the last car were built in 1961.

Posted January 30, 2010 Comments(0)

The first Bond cars were curious three wheelers built for economy minded motorists in the late 1940s and 1950s at a factory in Preston, Lancashire. With, its Triumph based Equipe models, the company attempted to move up market in the mid 1960s while keeping the economy car associations, with its little three wheeler, rear engined 875. However, Bond will always be best remembered for the Bug, which was introduced in 1970 after the company had been taken over by British manufactures Reliant, of Tamworth. With its uncompromising wedge shape, orange paint job and swing up cockpit canopy, this sporty three wheeler was a clear attempt to grab some of the affluent youth market of the ‘Swinging Sixties’. However, by the time of its introduction in 1970, the great expectations of that decade had all but evaporated. The styling was by Tom Karen of Ogle, the company responsible for the then-trendy Scimitar GTE. With Reliant’s game little 700cc light alloy engine providing the power, the Bug was good for a brave 75 mhp (120 km/h) flat out, with lively acceleration into the bargain. Its enthusiasts often out that it has the acceleration of a Mini Cooper.

It had no doors, only curtains, which allegedly offered some protection. It had two seats, sitting some 8 inches above the road. More troublesome was the handling on just three wheels, which nobody regarded as much ‘fun’. The model died in 1974 after a four year product run in which a mere 2562 had been produced.

Posted January 29, 2010 Comments(0)

When BMW shocked the automotive world by deciding to break up and sell off the Rover Group in 2000, the reason it gave surprised many. BMW said the move was triggered to the decision to build a new Golf size vehicle under the BMW rather than the Rover badge. The upshot was that Rover was no longer part of BMW’s future plans. Work on the small Rover R30 had been underway at BMW in Munich for two years. However, many at BMW had been lobbing for BMW to build its own compact model. Some have claimed that BMW utilized work already completed on the R30 to get the 1 Series project off to a flying start, with the core of the R30, from the widescreen backwards, carried over to the baby BMW. Even if true, the 1 Series needed a new nose structure to accommodate a longitudinally mounted engine because it was rear wheel drive, like all BMW’s road cars. The world got its first glimpse of the 1 Series project in the form of the 2002 CS1 cabrio concept. Although the size was reminiscent of the classic 1980s E30 3 Series, the new design language was a shock.

Initially dubbed ‘flame surfacing’ it saw CS1 sides given dramatic concave and convex surface, partly inspired by natural erosion. Not everybody appreciated this when it was made production really in the 2004 1 Series five door. It was, though, sharp handling and well made with a smart interior, if a little cramped and stiff riding. But had another sales hit n its hands, and the 1 Series was expanded to include a coupe and cabrio.

Posted January 28, 2010 Comments(0)

When BMW decided to divest itself of the heavily loss making Rover Group in early 2000, the new Mini project was the only thing Germans held onto. As the new decade dawned, work was well underway at Rover’s Birmingham Longbridge plant building the new Mini factory and BMW was briefing the global media that it would stick with the British car maker, despite its huge losses. Truth was, BMW was looking for a way out and by March 2000 it had decided to sell MG Rover to a venture capital company and Land Rover to Ford. It decided, though, to hang onto the Mini Project despite some misgivings. Some senior BMW figures feared the Mini would be a flash in the pan, though the success of the Audi TT made a case for it. Despite the $10,500 entry price when it was launched in the summer of 2001, the Mini was not engineered down to a price. It was built around a unique and had an expensive BMW Z axle between the rear wheels. The upmarket interior was also bold and individual. The Mini was showered the praise for its agile handling, Character and surprising comfort over long distances. Many buyers sunk considerable sums often more than double the price of a base version into high specified versions. The only other bodystyle was the popular convertible version.

A 4.1 liter engine developed by Chrysler and BMW and built powered entry level models. This engine was supercharged to 170 bhp for the Cooper version and 210 bhp for ‘Works’ Cooper models. BMW later added a relatively low power diesel model using a Toyota engine. By the time it was replaced the MK1 Mini was selling over 200,000 per year and had become s smash hit in the US market. BMW’s instinct had paid off.

Posted January 27, 2010 Comments(0)

After the big advances made by the 1991, 3 series and the highly regarded 5 series before it, much was riding on the all new 5 series which was launched in 1995 BMW’s inherent devotion to leading edge technology was amply demonstrated in the model. The new 5 series shared only gear boxes and its differential with the out going model. It’s rare for replacement models to be completely new. Engineering a large executive car to a high standard is an incredibly complex task an also an incredibly costly one, even to a company and large as the mighty BMW. BMW’s dedication to making the 5 series as sporting as possible and its willingness to invest serious money was not obvious when looking at the 5 series. In fact, at the time of launch the overly smooth styling was badly received after the chiseled edges of the 3 Series. However, under the skin was a suspension system expensively constructed from aluminum not just the suspension arms, but the front stunts, sub frames and brake calipers, a complex and costly move. Unsurprisingly, the BMW 5 Series proved to be an absolute impeccable road car. It offered a remarkable combination of a very compliant ride and strong, sporting handling.

The car’s build quality was unmatched by few cars available at any price. Ironically, the 5 Series lofty talents were so evenly spread, it was sometimes marked down as lacking in character, however, the 5 Series was so brilliantly conceived, it was not changed or updated during its lifespan.

Posted January 26, 2010 Comments(0)

In the early 1990s BMW’s engineering chief, Wolfgang Reitzle was hatching for a premium ‘off roader’ in the manner of the chassis Range Rover. By coincidence Land Rover made contact with BMW at the same time. The British company wanted to buy BMW’s 2.5 liter six cylinder diesel engine for use in the 1993 second generation Range Rover. Then BMW boss Bernd Pischetsrieder decided that it would better to but Land Rover than stretch the BMW brand into a new market. However, BAe, owners of Land Rover were only prepared to off-load the whole Rover Group, so BMW opted to take on the rump of the UK motor industry in 1994. However, a couple of years of troubled Land Rover ownership, and the imminent appearance of the Mercedes M class, convinced BMW to revive its own SUV project. The X5 was loosely based on the four wheel drive 1992 BMW 5 series iX Tuoring. The first X5 prototypes were actually jacked up 5 series models spotted occasionally driving from Germany to Land Rover’s British HQ. BMW’s first rate six and eight cylinder engines powered the X5.

Towards the end of its successful production run, the X5 was fitted with some very powerful engines, including 314 bhp 4.4 liter and 365 bhp 4.8 liter V8s, which further exploited its on road prowess. The X5 was built in BMW’s US plant at Spartanburg South Carolina and was received with wild enthusiasm from the press for its remarkable on road handling qualities. It’s probably fair to say that the X5 was responsible for inspiring a new market for large, road baised, pseudo off roaders.

Posted January 25, 2010 Comments(0)

In the mid 1985 BMW decided to found a new internal division Technik GmbH. It was to be an advanced design and engineering counterpart to be company’s already proven and highly successful Motorsport division. By late Technik’s engineers had launched the Z1 roadster, the first in the wave of modern roadsters. Z stood for zukunft, the German for future. It was an appropriate name given the nature of the vehicle that was being developed. The Z1 would play an important role in shaping the future technology of other BMW vehicles. The Z1 was masterminded by Ulrich Bez and styled by Harm Laagay; shortly after the launch, both men left for Porsche where they had earned themselves deserved reputations as innovators. Although not reveled at the launch, the A1 started life as a ‘mule’ used to develop the complex and clever rear suspension for the 1991 3 Series. Technik, however, put in a much bigger effort than simply manufacturing what at first looked like a re-bodied 325i carbriolet. The Z1 was built on a steel backbone chassis, which gave the car all its strength. The 13 exterior bolt on plastic didn’t provide any strength the Z1 could be driven without them. It also used massive still sections into which the side doors would slide and disappear, giving the driver a truly open driving experience. The car’s actual ‘floorpan’ was a high strength, foam cored sandwich panel bolted to the metal chassis.

At its launch, the car proved to be a revelation in terms of handling and grip, and benefited enormously from the beautifully sculpted, had edged styling Production capacity immediately sold out to two years in advance. The BMW Z1 was not only a step into the future. It was the accumulation of everything that BMW had learned over the decades up to that point about production great roadsters. Without the technological jumps that the development of the car helped bring about, fabulous later vehicles such as the BMW Z3 roadster would not have been conceivable.

Posted January 24, 2010 Comments(0)

Plans for BMW to enter the Group 4/5 World Championships were laid in 1975. The company, then a tiny player on the world car making scene, thought this route would be both a more high profile way of publicizing the BMW badge than Formula One, and would give BMW a chance to compete directly with, and beat – Porsche. The then head of BMW’s Motorsport division, Jochen Neerpasch, decided that a mid engined car would have to be created, a move that would require 400 road going versions for homologation purposes. Unusually for a German car maker, BMW mishandled the birth of the M1, as it became known. It set a production deadline of early 1978 by which to finish a run of 800 productions M1s. Unfortunately, it was a total that couldn’t be accommodated either by BMW’s main production line or the specialist Motorsport division, so the M1 project was framed out. From there on the project went sadly went sadly awry, While Italian stylish Giugiaro was completing the body styling. BMW decided to commission Lamborghini to build it. Lamborghini, however, looked incapable of meeting the quality standards and also seemed on the verge of closure. Other delays, including a redesign of the engine’s cylinder head, meant that the car missed the Group 4 homologation deadline.

The road going M1 was built, but it went through five different companies in Germany and Italy before being finished. And with no race sales to compete in, BMW had to invent the 1979 Procar race series to give the M1 a purpose. Despite being far better conceived and more reliable than contemporary Ferraris or Lamborghinis, only 453 M1 were sold. The result is an extremely sought after car.

Posted January 23, 2010 Comments(0)

BMW first turbocharged design was the mid engined Turbo show car of 1972. Originally just two of these vehicles were built, but the car gave a foretaste of some of the engineering to be found on the company’s first full production model, the 2002 Tirbo of 1973. Its 170 bhp engine was considerably detuned compared with the show car. Despite this, it was still more than enough to give the boxy little two door saloon serious kick. The top speed went up to 130 mph (208 km/h) and the 0-60 mph (96 km/h) time came to just 8 seconds, an astonishing figure for a 2 liter road car in the early 1970s. Lowered suspension and fatter tyres gave the 2002 Turbo better grip than the standard car, but the primitive early turbocharged installation lacked the flexibility and response of modern units, the boost could come in rather viciously. Driving it quickly required a considerable amount of skill to handle the sometime nature of the turbo’s muscular boost.

It was to be a short lived model, which is perhaps a shame. Unfortunately the 2002 Turbo came into being in the midst of the 1970s fuel crisis, and became another tragic casualty of the period’s war on its class of car. Company executives thought that the 2002 Turbo’s aggressive stripes and spoilers were somewhat inappropriate too. BMW withdraw the car form production in 1974, after just 1674 examples had been built.

Posted January 22, 2010 Comments(0)

Bentley had long traded on its history of large and powerful sporting machines, even though it sporting glory was rooted in the 1920s. Shortly after Vickers took over in 1980, Bentley launched the Mulsanne Turbo, which was seen far more desirable than its Rolls badged doppelganger. Bentley built on this reputation through into the 1990s with increasing rapid models, including the unique two door Continental coupe. Vickers but Rolls and Bentley up for sale in 1998, with BMW a front runner to win the sale because of its technical support and engine supply for the all new Rolls Silver Seraph and Bentley Arrange. However, VW swept into buy the two badges and the Crewe factory. It was clear, though, that Rolls Royce aero engines would only allow BMW to use the ‘Flying Lady’ trademark and Rolls name. So VW agreed to build Rolls Royce models until the trademark was handed over to BMW in January 2003, coinciding with the launch of the new Rolls Phantom. In the meantime, VW applied its engineering prowess to re-invent Bentley from the ground up. Its first new model was the powerful Continental GT 2+2 coupe, launched in 2003. The GT was based on a heavily modified platform borrowed from VW’s upmarket Phaeton saloon.

Much of the rest of the car under the unique skin was also derived from the Phaeton, including the basic suspension design, the four wheel drive system and the engine and transmission. The slick, imposing shape was styled under Belgian Dirk Van Braekel, who was also oversaw the magnificent interior, which still featured Bentley’s trademark ‘organ-stop’ air vents, perhaps the only part of the old company carried over. The Continental GT family expanded to include a cabrio and a four door saloon called the Flying Spur. All were notable sales successes.

Posted January 21, 2010 Comments(0)