At Motoring Weekly, one of our favourite motor museums is in northern California - the Blackhawk Auto Museum where we first encountered the Alfa Romeo BAT cars: the "Berlinetta Aerodynamica Tecnica" design studies. All three, the BAT 5, BAT 7 and BAT 9 were designed by Franco Scaglione. Scaglione was born in the middle of the First World War on the 26th September 1916. His … [Read more...]
Variable Valve Timing
Engineers and designers have spent decades trying to figure out ways to get more power out of an engine. One question that all engineers have is what the motor will be used for - will it be for an economical commuting car, will it go into a supercar or will it be used in a wagon where torque is more important than raw power. Subsequently, the design of the motor will differ … [Read more...]
Scissor Doors
I’ve written about several types of doors on cars - gullwings, suicide and retractable - and this is a type of door that is mostly recognised today as a Lamborghini styling cue. They first appeared on an Alfa Romeo concept car, the Carabo, in 1968. This car was the work of the famous and prolific designer, Marcel Gandini, whilst he worked for Bertone. Gandini was also the … [Read more...]
Max Hoffman
I enjoy reading classic car magazines from Europe and the US and one name seems to appear in every edition - Maximilian Hoffman! Who was he and why was he such an important figure in the automotive industry? By the way don’t confuse him with his namesake who was a World War 1 military strategist who helped defeat Russian advances in 1917 - a pivotal reason for the Russian … [Read more...]
Auto Italia 2017
A few weeks ago I headed down to Canberra for Auto Italia 2107. This was my fourth visit over the years having been down for 2013, 2015 and 2016. Each year there are two interesting points about the day. The first is that there is usually a "headline" marque - this year it was Ferrari for their 70th anniversary. The second point is that it brings out some of the rarer machines … [Read more...]