Fotos Los cabrio más raros del mundo: aún más rarezas VOL II

Skoda Sport, corrió en las 24 horas de Le Mans en 1950, derivado del Skoda 1101/1102 ‘Tudor’ (que viene de two door ) y que tras una restauración tenían previsto que participara como exhibición este año en Le Mans classic, pero por la pandemia se ha pospuesto para el año que viene




Este le va a gustar @Juankmen y @RADASON



24 JUNE 2020
In 1950, ŠKODA AUTO experienced a very special moment in its history: ŠKODA’s only appearance at the world-famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race.

After the Second World War, ŠKODA launched a new model series: The 1101/1102 ‘Tudor’ featured a 1,089cc four-cylinder engine and soon enjoyed great popularity in many European countries, as well as markets overseas. The vehicles, which boasted a robust and modern design for their time, proved their outstanding reliability time and again on rally tracks and long-distance circuit races. In 1948, for example, they won all four categories of the 2,649-kilometre Raid Polski, in which ŠKODA was represented with its own cars. At the South American Rally Montevideo – Melo – Montevideo, which crossed adventurous terrain, they took first and second place.

But the ‘Tudor’ – whose name is derived from the English ‘two-door’ – also demonstrated its capabilities on traditional circuits. At the 24-hour race in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, the three four-seaters with closed bodywork used by ŠKODA each covered 1,972 kilometres and finished the long-distance challenge in the first three places in their cubic-capacity class. To underline this success, the Czech trio made pit stops together and crossed the finish line in formation. This gave them the confidence to make even more ambitious plans.

For the 1949 season, the Czech car manufacturer developed a special racing variant based on the ‘Tudor’: the ŠKODA Sport. The open two-seater had a wheelbase shortened by 400 millimetres and a particularly flat pontoon body made of light aluminium. It made its debut at the Czechoslovakian Grand Prix held in Brno. However, the brand had its sights set on another goal – Le Mans, the already world-famous 24-hour race in the French department of Sarthe. On 24 June 1950, a Saturday, the ŠKODA factory team finally made it: The enhanced version of the 1101 Sport was positioned diagonally in front of the pit wall of the 13.65km ‘Circuit des 24 Heures’, ready for the Le Mans start at 16.00 hrs, which was still common at that time – the drivers lined up on the opposite side of the track ready to sprint to their racing cars at the signal, jump in, start the engine and speed off. It was not until 1970 that this practice was abolished for safety reasons.

Václav Bobek and Jaroslav Netušil were behind the wheel for ŠKODA. Their 600-kilogram light contest vehicle had a wheelbase that was extended to 2,150 millimetres specifically for Le Mans, which improved directional stability, and sickle-shaped air vents were installed next to the main headlights. These directed cooling air to the drum brakes of the front wheels. Two additional headlights brought light into the dark of the night hours. The rest of the technology was largely based on the standard ‘Tudor’, such as the 12-volt electrical system from PAL and the cross-ply tyres from Barum. The unchanged 1,089cc, water-cooled four-cylinder engine under the low bonnet had, among other things, a slightly higher compression ratio of 8.6:1 and a Solex 40 UAIP carburettor. This enabled it to deliver 50 hp (37 kW) at 5,200 rpm, an increase of more than 50 per cent over the 32 hp production engine. With the usual racing fuel of the time – a mixture of petrol, ethanol and acetone – the ŠKODA Sport reached a top speed of 140 km/h with a consumption of only twelve litres per 100 kilometres. Fully fuelled and equipped with the tools and spare parts that could only be used during a repair stop, it had an operating weight of 700 kilograms.

Jaroslav Netušil and Václav Bobek, both Le Mans débutants, gave it their all. With an average speed of 126 km/h, they soon fought their way up to second place in the up to 1,100cc class in the field of 60 contenders in the eleven-car class. In the performance coefficient special classification, which was still widespread at the time, the duo had meanwhile moved up to fifth place. However, at dawn, after 13 hard hours on the fast track, the car with the number 44 rolled out on its 115th lap. A technical defect knocked the ŠKODA Sport out of the race: The locking element of a crankpin had snapped, and it was not possible to repair it on site.

For ŠKODA this was the only Le Mans race in the company’s history. In the years that followed, the brand’s special models were no longer able to participate in the French 24-hour race due to the difficult political situation.

The original ŠKODA Sport, which today belongs to a private Czech collection and has been fully restored, should have been back on the track in front of crowds of spectators at the beginning of July to mark the 70th anniversary of its Le Mans debut and ŠKODA’s 125th anniversary. However, the Le Mans Classic – held biennially since 2002 for historic racing cars that participated in the endurance classic before 1979 – had to be postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Por supuesto!

 

BMW USA ha preparado 5 unidades de M850i cabrio para el orgullo, con los colores del arco iris, el nuevo logo transparente con la palabra PRIDE (orgullo) en lugar de BMW, y con el slogan Driven by Pride

 

Hubiera encajado mucho mejor el Serie4

 

En Fiero y en media Multipla

 

En todo caso el serie 5...

 

Tanto vale. Yo lo decía por la morrera

 

Si que parece de juguete, igual hasta lleva pedales



Cars Only Bob Lutz Remembers: The 1983 Ford Ghia Barchetta Concept



Bob Lutz admitted in his book Guts that he “possesses a certain duality of mind,” and he ain’t kidding. After all, how could someone spend a career in an industry built on “the industrial logic of scale” (to borrow a phrase from Sergio Marchionne) while trying to connect new vehicles with the lust centers of the human brain without developing a certain amount of creative schizophrenia? But, as anyone who has ever driven a Pontiac Solstice knows, sometimes compromises are made between the conflicting pulls of lust and practicality… and when those compromises must be made, Lutz tends to err on the side of lust. I confronted him about this tendency in our recent conversation, and rather than accept the criticism, he doubled down on his premise that lust-worthy design is more important than practicality. And he illustrated his point by telling the tale of a long-forgotten concept and its troubled path to production.




The story began, almost inevitably, when I asked Lutz if he had any regrets about the Solstice/Sky “Kappa” program. Did he ever second-guess himself on design decisions made in that program, I wondered. Was practicality unnecessarily sacrificed? Would more usability have had any effect on sales of the Solstice or Sky? After the briefest moment of reflection, Lutz answered with a fairly emphatic negative. But rather than leave it at a simple “no,” Lutz unfolded a parable about product development that began the year after I was born.

Do you remember, we did a two-seat Fiesta roadster at Ford of Europe one time? I forget what it was called… we didn’t call it a Speedster, but it was… I guess it was kind of like a Porsche Speedster. If you Google it… it had a unique body… I think we showed it at the Geneva show… 84 I think.

It was a really neat looking car with a very fast front end. It kind of reminds me of the BMW Z3 because the hood had to stay level for a while to clear the engine and then it dropped off sharply. It was a two-seat roadster with a very short back end… the wheels were all the way in the back. It was cute as all get-out… but the functionality was probably close to zero. No back seat, no trunk, nothing… just a very basic, low-cost, two-place roadster.

Lutz remembered the car, he just couldn’t remember the name. With a little Google wizardry and a lucky stumble across this blog item, I found the name: the Ford Ghia Barchetta. And he was only off by one year… apparently the Barchetta debuted in 1983. He was also right about the looks: in many ways it seems like the inspiration for Fiat’s wildly-successful (and gorgeous) front-drive Barchetta, which was built from 1995 until 2005 with only a brief pause. But now we’re getting sidetracked… back to our story, already in progress, with the first compromise made to the concept:

I wouldn’t let them change the engine placement. I said “if we have a chance of putting this into production,” (which I really badly wanted to do), “we have to keep the Fiesta underpinnings.”



So far, so good. But here’s where the story becomes a parable.

I needed some volume to make a viable program out of it, so I figured we could probably do eight or nine thousand of them in Europe, and we gave it to Ford NAO (North American Operations) and said “what can you do with it?”. They did some Supermarket parking lot surveys and they asked women coming out of the grocery store “what do you think of this?” They said “oh, it’s cute. What would it cost?”. “About eight thousand dollars.” “Oh, that’s a lot of money.” And then [the Ford NAO people] said “aaand, you can have this four-cylinder Mustang convertible for $7,800.” “Oooh,” they said, “well I’ll take that.” So they concluded there was no volume potential in the United States… and of course there was, they were just asking all the wrong people.

This encapsulates why Lutz deserves at least some grudging praise from even his toughest critics: lust is difficult to make a case for in the auto business. Simply trying to convince Ford’s US-market fiefdom that they would benefit from such an unusual vehicle in their lineup was an insurmountable task that he tackled anyway. As the romance and enthusiasm slowly drains away from the world of cars, very few executives risk their careers for exciting products that might not make immediate business sense. Sure, this risk-taking seems less laudable in the aftermath of the bailout, but it’s integral to the cultural power of the automobile. And, as the story continues, we’ll find that if you’re going to take a risk on a niche product, you better really take a risk on it.

Then Alex Troutman at [Ford Asia-Pacific] got interested in it for Asia-Pacific, and went and talked to Mazda. Mazda said “no, we don’t like that one because it’s front-wheel-drive, but we’re actually thinking of doing something like that with rear-wheel drive. And Alex said no, ours has got to be off a Ford architecture.



If Lutz had any regrets about not involving Ford in the creation of the Miata, he didn’t let them show. On the other hand, the missed opportunity had to sting at least a little. After all, if you’re taking a risk on an impractical two-seater, why not go all the way with RWD? And with the benefit of hindsight, involvement in a modern icon like the MX-5 would be a point of pride for any “product guy.” But Lutz only had control over Ford of Europe, and by this point he had even lost control of the Barchetta project. It was about to become everything it wasn’t ever supposed to be.

When Alex went back to the states, he got [the program] going again. It was carefully researched, so it was decided that front wheel drive is OK, but we don’t like the front end. So, OK, the front end got more conventional. Then, “it’s no good with no back seat. People won’t buy a car with no back seat.” Well, OK, we can add a back seat. And then, “oh, there’s no trunk space.” Alright, add a trunk. And so it became that misbegotten little Mercury [Capri], remember that? What a horrible thing. That started out as the Fiesta.



That started out as a beautiful, slick, highly desirable little roadster that would have done well. Functionalizing it wrecked it. And I’ll tell you what: Solstice owners had no problem with that top at all. When you’re into emotional cars, it’s about appearance and how cool is it… it’s the same thing as sports motorcycles. Not necessarily comfortable, not suitable to saddlebags… but they look like track bikes and they’re fun to ride.

I know that not all of TTAC’s B&B will agree wholesale with Lutz’s vision, but the tale of the Barchetta’s transformation into the Capri is instructive. When you have a successful design, and cardesign.ru cites Ford press releases saying the German “Barchetta Club” alone had 10k members at one point, you keep it as pure as possible or you don’t build it all. It’s easy to criticize Lutz as being too uncompromising, but in an intensely collaborative process like car development, the ability to say “no dammit, we aren’t going to compromise on this” is a rare thing. If the world were full of cars that are as practical as they are fun, his approach might be dismissible. Since that’s not the case, this is an object lesson in the trade-offs that create crap like the Capri out of a tiny jewel like the Barchetta.

 

Mucho más bonito el forfi

 

Yo diría que son las mismas, aquí puedes verlo mejor.

 

2002 La Forza Spyder, un cacharro artesanal hecho con fibra de vidrio, puertas suicidas, faros en los retrovisores, un V8 Zarrillac Northstar 300 cv y cambio ortomático, a la venta por 19.000 pavos para valientes, el motor suena bien y cuando mete marcha atrás suena una voz diciendo emergencia y algo más que no entiendo, debe ser porque no tiene ninguna visibilidad con ese alerón... y ya le podían haber pegado al menos la goma del marco de la ventana




This La Forza Spyder Convertible has a powerful Cadillac Northstar 32V Aluminum V8 with 300 HP 4 Speed Automatic Transmission Coil Over Front Suspension Upgraded four wheel disc brakes. Space frame chassis. Cadillac Instrument Cluster & Engine Management. Racing Bucket Seats Suicide Doors! Italian Momo Steering Wheel w/ Tilt Column Firestone Firehawk SZ50 tires Jensen AM/FM/CD Stereo Back Up Camera Plexiglas Engine Cover 17 MSW Wheels Stainless Exhaust w/ Stainless Tips Removable Hardtop 4 Wheel Disc Brakes Custom Built Very light and fast car that is 1 of a Kind. This 2 seater roadster draws more attention then you could ever ask for!

 

Y con churros de natación

 

La Cosa VW Type 181, se hicieron 400 unidades de esta variedad, Acapulco Thing de 1974, para el mercado turístico de México y como su nombre indica fueron a parar a Acapulco

 

El único "Thing" que he visto jamás estaba en un estado impecable, amarillo, matrícula belga y me lo encontré en un cementerio alemán de la WWII en la zona de Normandía, al cual le hice una foto junto a mi coche.

 

Lastima de marca

 

Esto es un Ferrari SP2

 

Raruno como pocos, solo se hicieron 3 unidades del Mercedes G -Wagen Intruder a cargo de Heuliez, el mismo que antes hizo el R5 Turbo y el 205 T16 entre otros, la base era un Gelandewagen G320 con el L6 3.2 y cambio ortopédico de 4 marchas al que le calzó un techolata retráctil, toda una novedad en 1996.
Ahora hay esta unidad a la venta, alcanzará un pastizal porque tiene su morbo

 

No se si habrá salido el clase G papamóvil

 

Ambas fotos son de vehículos distintos, no? Las "asas" son diferentes y las ruedas también.