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Winter is in the air and the offical grey SABCC polo shirts are feeling a bit thin. Yep, the north wind blows right through the fine pique fabric. Maybe it's time for something more substantial?
Look no further than the SABCC Swag Shop. There you can find sweatshirts, hats, tote bags and other great ways to show your SABCC colo(u)rs. The club has a nice selection of goodies for Christmas giving or for your own purposes.
You like coffee, right? You like British cars, right? You like the folks who drive British cars, right? EXCELLENT! Mugs & Motors is this Saturday, November 21 at 8:00AM. We're meeting at Serda's Coffee Company at 3 South Royal Street in downtown Mobile. Drive your British car and park out front. Street parking is free on Saturdays so save your change for the tip jar at Serda's.
Remember - there's no agenda, no program and no schedule. Just Coffee and Conversation for Motoring Enthusiasts!
I've posted a couple of publicity drawings of two iconic British cars - the Morris Minor and Austin Healey Sprite. As you can see from the images, there's something not quite right about the size of either the cars or the people drawn into the artwork.
The proud gent in the Morris is beaming over his purchase of a new Minor. The family running to greet him seems pretty proud of Pop, too. But look at the bloke behind the wheel. If we use the car for scale, Pop must be about 4' 6" tall and weigh in at about 80 pounds. In fact, the kids in the sketch appear to be about the same size as the old man. I've seen several Minors in the flesh and they aren't nearly as la
rge as the sketch would indicate. Were the postwar British people that small or were liberties taken with the Morris?
It seems to be a recurring theme that artist's renderings were exaggerated to show the car larger than it really was. Clap your eyes on the Austin Healey Sprite and you'll notice that the nattily dressed man with the pipe is a bit on the slight side. In fact he seems to be about 4-1/2 feet tall as well.
Maybe the tagline 'Enlarged to show detail' had not been coined yet.
Images from BMC publicity literature
The Tata Nano has very rightfully earned its title as the world’s most cheapest/affordable car. But however, after certain feedback received by Tata Motors, the firm has announced its plans to further tune or tweak the Nano. The tuning will be done within six months with an intention to improve the performance offered by the car.Presently, the car has a rev limit up to 5000rpm which will be raised to 6000rpm to facilitate better acceleration, especially in the first two gears. The car may also feature a new five-speed gearbox. But however, this feature will not be introduced in India. The reason behind this is that Tata Motors does not want to increase the electronically limited top speed of 105kmph. The company has cited safety reasons for the move. A Tata Motors engineer stated, “With a top speed of 105kph, five gear ratios are unnecessary and could result in excessive gear changing for the driver.”
The Tata Nano has very rightfully earned its title as the world’s most cheapest/affordable car. But however, after certain feedback received by Tata Motors, the firm has announced its plans to further tune or tweak the Nano. The tuning will be done within six months with an intention to improve the performance offered by the car.Presently, the car has a rev limit up to 5000rpm which will be raised to 6000rpm to facilitate better acceleration, especially in the first two gears. The car may also feature a new five-speed gearbox. But however, this feature will not be introduced in India. The reason behind this is that Tata Motors does not want to increase the electronically limited top speed of 105kmph. The company has cited safety reasons for the move. A Tata Motors engineer stated, “With a top speed of 105kph, five gear ratios are unnecessary and could result in excessive gear changing for the driver.”
Ever since Lotus discontinued its iconic supercar after a 28 year long run in 2004, the company has been missing a true flagship product. Ever since the Esprit faded out, the Lotus brand became synonymous with perfect-handling, but tiny, track-day sportscars like the Elise and the Exige. Recently the Evora shook things up and demonstrated to the world that Lotus hasn’t lost its touch. To regain the brand’s lost fame as a serious supercar manufacturer, the bosses at Lotus have given a green signal to the development of an all new Esprit.
Lotus’ CEO Danny Bahr expressed it as the “Ultimate expression of the brand”. Given that it’s a Lotus, awesome handling is a given. But this wont be a Toyota engined sportscar. The Lotus V8 will most likely make a comeback. Lotus is targeting a power to weight ratio of 275 to 325 bhp per tonne, which will put it squarely against the likes of the Audi R8 V10.
Ever since Lotus discontinued its iconic supercar after a 28 year long run in 2004, the company has been missing a true flagship product. Ever since the Esprit faded out, the Lotus brand became synonymous with perfect-handling, but tiny, track-day sportscars like the Elise and the Exige. Recently the Evora shook things up and demonstrated to the world that Lotus hasn’t lost its touch. To regain the brand’s lost fame as a serious supercar manufacturer, the bosses at Lotus have given a green signal to the development of an all new Esprit.
Lotus’ CEO Danny Bahr expressed it as the “Ultimate expression of the brand”. Given that it’s a Lotus, awesome handling is a given. But this wont be a Toyota engined sportscar. The Lotus V8 will most likely make a comeback. Lotus is targeting a power to weight ratio of 275 to 325 bhp per tonne, which will put it squarely against the likes of the Audi R8 V10.
