Cars I’d like to build: Silver Arrows Tribute

Almost every day I email my friend Si and we come up with a ‘Random Car of the Day’ to discuss. Today's offering was the Mercedes-Benz W196. The exhaust note I heard at Goodwood still hasn’t faded from my memory. In fact the straight-eight engine sounded so amazing it made me wish that someone would build a modern inline eight. Sadly, the packaging and engineering challenges posed by this layout make it unlikely that anyone will revive the concept.

If I were wealthy enough I would build a Caterham-style car with a straight-eight; probably built up from a couple of four-cylinder motor bike engines. The engineering would take a lot of working out and it might not be the fastest or best car of its type but it would be all mine. I'd paint it silver with matt black, cycle-type mudguards, fit aero screens and find some tartain material similar to the cloth used in the 1950s Silver Arrows - a bit naff, maybe, but intended as a tribute to a racing car I admire.

So there you go; today, in my mind, I'm wearing goggles and a leather flying cap whilst blaring down deserted roads with the sound of eight tiny cylinders ringing in my ears.

Goodwood Highlights 4: Mercedes and Mercedes-Benz

It is a rare treat to see Mercedes racing cars in action. One of the biggest treats was to hear the sound of the gear-driven supercharger on the two SSK models driven up the hill.

I had heard about the high-pitched sound but never previously experienced it. As noises go it is certainly piercing, produced by the straight-cut gears that engage the supercharger when the driver pushes the throttle pedal to the greatest extent of its travel.

The incredible Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix cars of the 1930s were notable by their absence this year (or, if they were there, I missed seeing them).

Instead there was a 1950s W163, less dramatic than the mighty, supercharged eight and twelve-cylinder cars of the pre-war years but possibly more brilliant in their design.

Also present was one of the two 300SLR ‘Ulenhaut’ coupés. It was a development of the open 300SLR that famously won the Mille Miglia. However the disaster at the 1955 Le Mans 24-hour meant that the closed SLR was never driven in competition. What I had forgotten, although I have seen 300SLRs in action at Goodwood before, is just how good the straight-eight engine sounds.

The next big thing?

Matt-finish paint.



Last week I wrote about a special edition of Mercedes’ CLS, which was offered in matt platinum paint. At the time I wondered if it would be the start of a new trend. Now Lamborghini is also offering four matt-effect paint finishes it looks like it could well be the start of a new trend.

It is hard to say how these colours will look in the metal but the Lamborghinis on the Detroit Motor Show stand look pretty stunning. The paint appears to have a sheen, an effect more like a satin paint than a true matt. The Italians don’t say anything about the paint’s practical qualities but the ever logical Germans claim that Mercedes’ matt paint is “highly scratch and dirt resistant”.

What neither firm mentions in its press release is how you’re meant to polish matt paint!

Looking back to go forward

One of the things I enjoy about reporting motoring news is spotting ideas that have been tried before. Last week I was writing about the Mercedes-Benz C-Class BlueEFFICIENCY range. One feature of the frugal Merc that didn’t warrant a mention in the article was the back-to-front layout of the engine.

Just about every car engine has the drive for the camshaft at the opposite end of the engine to the clutch and flywheel. For the new diesel motor Mercedes placed the camshaft drive at the back of the engine. Justification for the layout is to provide a little more clearance under the bonnet for pedestrian protection.

Mercedes isn’t pretending that the layout is a new invention but it did remind me that several engines back in the early days of motoring used a similar configuration. The example that comes to mind immediately is AC’s long-lived 2.0-litre six-cylinder motor. The one question I have over the layout is what happens if you need to change the chain that drives the cam shaft?

British International Motor Show – oldies

It wasn’t just new cars at the motor show; there was the heritage pavilion, located outside and feeling a little like an afterthought. The choice of cars was superb but I think I’ll let the pictures do the talking.



Next to the heritage pavilion was a display of AA vehicles through the ages. My eye was caught particularly by the Morris Ital van. There can’t be many Itals of any sort left so it is quite nice to see one that looks cared for and it certainly isn’t the sort of thing you’d expect to see at a show for new cars.

Inside, I noticed but didn’t photograph a fine looking Mercedes-Benz 300SL gullwing and a certain internet magazine had a scrappy-looking mk3 Austin Allegro as “the worst car ever” on their stand. Frankly I think there are many worse cars than the “All Aggro” and it just demonstrates a lack of imagination on the part of whoever chose it.

Cars in Books

To be a successful writer it is important - or so I have been told, more than once so there must be something to it – to read lots of books. Even if it wasn’t important I like to think I’d still try and find worthwhile reading material; there are few things as pleasurable as losing yourself in a good story.

My interest in cars does mean that I take notice whenever they appear in novels. Most people probably don’t notice but getting the details right helps to draw me into the story. Get it wrong and while, if the story is strong enough, I might not give up on the book I will feel somewhat disappointed. Mo Hayder’s thriller Birdman was a superb can’t-stop-turning-the-pages read. The only fly in the ointment was that one of the main characters drove a car identified as a Cobra. This Cobra was no stark, four-wheeled motorbike – it had air conditioning and electric windows. Any sort of winding windows are incompatible with the Cobra shape as devised by AC; there simply isn’t the space in the tiny doors for the window to wind into. Hayder must have been thinking of a different car.



To understand how to get it right you need to get hold of an Ian Fleming. Perhaps not every detail was technically correct but I cannot recall any serious inaccuracies. What he did well was to give a sense of pace and urgency to what was necessarily a lengthy piece of writing when describing a car chase. The most memorable chase was in Moonraker; Bond, in his grey, 4 ½ litre supercharged Bentley, pursued the villain, Hugo Drax, through London and down to Dover in order to rescue the girl (unconscious on the back seat of Drax’s Mercedes 300S) and save the day. At one point an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 intrudes on the action, you could practically hear the crackle of the Alfa’s exhausts and the whine of the supercharger.


Picture from www.sleepingbeauties.com.au

Thomas Harris, author of Silence of the Lambs, does a much better job. In Red Dragon cars were fairly generic as the narrative focussed on the actions and interactions of the characters. By the time Silence of the Lambs was written Harris indulged in a little more detail; Clarice Starling drove a worn out Ford Pinto, just the sort of car you’d expect a poor student to be driving. In his latest novel, Hannibal Rising, there was a sense of even greater understanding – at one point the young Hannibal Lecter is driving a borrowed van through a rainy Paris evening. To effectively clear the windscreen he had to keep lifting off the accelerator as the wipers worked off inlet manifold vacuum (which causes the speed of the windscreen wipers to slow down as the accelerator pedal is pressed down). It was such an obscure detail, I was deeply impressed to see it used.

Chauffeur for the day

Spent all of yesterday playing with some fancy cars. I don’t think I’ve driven as many cars in one day before; in fact the seven cars I drove would make up most of a normal year’s worth of testing. In order I drove:

VW Phaeton LWB 3.0 V6 TDI
Lexus LS 600hL
Jaguar XJ6 lwb 2.7D
Chrysler 300C (diesel)
BMW 730dL
Mercedes-Benz S300d
Volvo S80 2.5d



Overall the cars were amazingly good, I’m sure diesel engines aren’t supposed to be as nice as they were. In the case of the BMW and Mercedes you might even wonder if it was worth going for a bigger engine. The only unpleasant surprise was how badly some of the cars seemed to cope with bumps. I couldn’t help thinking that a Citroën C6 would be better than all but the 7-series and S-class.

Slow recovery

As my arm heals I am once again able to do with ease the ordinary things I’d always taken for granted. Most things anyway – driving remains a challenge. Gripping objects in my left hand is difficult and painful as is applying any sideways force with my left arm. Managing unassisted steering is a bit of a chore and a gear lever is very hard work indeed. Even pulling on the handbrake feels like painful exertion.

It does give you a new perspective on car design. My Citroën needs more effort to move the lever into the plane of 5th and reverse than it needs to push towards 1st and 2nd. I can manage the push into first or second easily but fifth is hard work and I prefer to use my right hand to select reverse. There can be no need to make things hard work and my car is by no means unique in having a stronger spring on the 5th-reverse plane of its gearbox. In the old days some 4-speed gearboxes had no spring assistance, which made changing gear very easy but I’m not sure there are many cars that are tolerable with just 4 gears. A sequential gearbox would work too, just pulling and pushing for each gear. An automatic would be better.

The design of the old-fashioned pull-up handbrake seems to be falling out of fashion, which is a good thing as it is an absurd piece of design. Pulling it on seems to involve all the wrong muscles (especially when they are impaired in their operation). In my present condition a right-hand handbrake would make more sense (off the top of my head that means cars like the Jaguar XJS, Aston Martins, the Lotus Esprit and the W123 Mercedes-Benz). A lever that could be pushed forward, even with my left arm in its present condition, would be better still; or maybe a foot-operated parking brake is the answer (various Mercedes, the Citroën XM and lots of Americans). I’m not sure an electric handbrake is the answer – with automatic transmission it works well enough but I think something more progressive is needed when balancing on the clutch biting point.

Power steering is the obvious answer to ease the last of my troubles but it needs to be quite direct – don’t want too much arm-twirling. Citroën have probably made some of the most direct powered setups – the SM needed only 2 turns to go from lock to lock and if the CX was slightly less responsive it was still sharp compared to many of its rivals. A C-matic semi-auto CX would work well, I think and there are some CX automatics. An SM would be better, being left-hand drive the gear laver and handbrake can be operated by my “good” arm. But if someone lent me an SM while I recover I’d be tempted to fake my symptoms to prolong the loan.

Classic Motor Show 2007

Although I don’t go to lots of classic car shows throughout the year I try never to miss the annual Classic Motor Show at the NEC, just outside Solihull (it is misleading to refer to the NEC, Birmingham). It fills four of the NEC’s exhibition halls and attracts a variety of clubs and dealers who all do a great job of bringing along interesting machinery. Apologies for the lack of pictures but I’ve never managed to take decent pictures at one of these shows.

A personal favourite was the Bristol Owners Club who brought along the 406S - a special, short-chassis version of the 406 saloon with bodywork in the style of the Bristol 404 (there was a 404 next to it for comparative purposes and an early 411 at the back of the stand looking as sober, purposeful and handsome as only a 411 can). The 406S was one of two short-chassis 4060s made by Bristol – the other receiving a low, 2-seat body by Zagato.

Other favourites included a 1969 Plymouth Road Runner on the Classic American magazine stand. As with most, if not all, cars on display it was spotlessly clean and beautifully presented; a beautiful example of one of my favourite muscle cars. Another big V8-powered coupe that I yearned for was a stunning 2-tone Rover 3.5 litre coupé otherwise known as the P5B.


It is the interior and dashboard of the P5B that I particularly love although the styling and engine are good as well.

If you wanted to wallow - or just take a quick dip - in nostalgia the show is a good place to do so. I saw a Mk1 Ford Fiesta like one owned by my parents and a yellow Mk1 VW Golf like the one owned by my best friend’s family. So many memories of childhood days out…


That was one of the nicer things about this show; it was nice to see basic models not just the sporting or luxury variants of popular cars. Everyone knows about the Talbot Sunbeam Lotus but I had forgotten about the 1.0 litre basic version (and how basic it is). Ford Capris were well represented and while the 3 litre and 2.8injection models were well represented there were also lesser 1.6 and 2-litre versions – including a 2 litre V4 mark 1. How simple, basic and insubstantial those popular old cars seem now. Conversely, are new cars overstuffed and un-necessarily complicated?

Another nice thing to see was interesting details that I’d not previously noticed. There was a Citroën GS and I realised that the radio was between the seats and the handbrake was on the dashboard. I admired the woodwork instrument pod of the Mercedes-Benz 600 and 220SE coupe. I had forgotten how small and neat the Suzuki SC100 is and I still don’t know why but I do think the FD-series Vauxhall Victor is an incredibly handsome car.

Greens get their knickers in a twist

An environmental group who’s aim is “to provide clear, easily understood advice about choosing and using cars in a more environmentally considerate way”, has issued a press release claiming that expensive cars are being registered as minicabs to avoid the London congestion charge. Apparently the congestion charge was presented as an environmental measure, which is odd as I thought it was supposed to cut down the number of cars entering central London. Although in the future it will be based on carbon dioxide emissions.

Now maybe the rich are clever and prudent enough to employ such cunning tactics but I think there might be another explanation. The cars could be legitimate private hire vehicles. After all there must be plenty of people who want to travel around London in a prestigious chauffeur-driven car. How else should these be registered if not under private hire classification? Of course the Mercedes-Benz SLs, Aston Martin DB7 and Jaguar XK are odd choices but that’s only 10 cars.

I’m fed up with environmentalists bleating about how expensive cars are killing the planet. It sounds more like mean and envious individuals wanting to deprive everyone of expensive cars because they themselves see no point in such things.

Autumn Time

The season of mists and mellow fruitfulness is upon us, which means it is time for the annual European Car of the Year contest. Voted for by a jury comprising of 58 members from 22 countries, the number of jurors representing each nation depends on the size and significance of the motor industry and new car market in that country. Each juror has 25 points to award to at least 5 of the seven finalists. No more than 10 points can be awarded to any one car and ties are not permitted. Furthermore each juror must provide a written justification for the way they voted.



The shortlist for the 2008 ECOTY has been released. From 35 eligible cars seven have shown the “right stuff” as potential Car of the Year material. Those cars are the Fiat 500, Ford Mondeo, Kia Cee'd, Mazda 2, Mercedes-Benz C-class, Nissan Qashqai and the Peugeot 308. Picking a likely winner from that lot is incredibly difficult. The Ford and Fiat are both highly regarded and both marques have a strong history of COTY winners. Only once, in 2005 when the Toyota Prius won, has a car built outside Europe been the outright winner – so it is unlikely that the Mazda 2 will win. Mercedes have only enjoyed one COTY win and nothing I’ve read about the C-class suggests that it could beat the Fiat of Ford. The Nissan might suffer because it looks like the sort of car we are supposed to hate – a SUV – or profit because it doesn’t fit typical classifications. The Peugeot will do well with the French judges but probably not any others where as the Cee’d could do surprisingly well.



I think this is the strongest COTY line-up in years. Only the Peugeot 308 and Mazda 2 seem incongruous – the Lexus LS and Land Rover Freelander might have been more interesting finalists but possibly not consonant with the spirit of the time. My prediction is that the Fiat 500 will win, the Mondeo will be second and it will be close for third place between the Mercedes C-class and the Kia Cee’d. Kia challenging Mercedes, who could have predicted that?

Thoughts on this week’s Autocar

If I understand these things correctly a blog should be topical and updated regularly. Being topical isn’t necessary, I suppose, but it is interesting that the more I write the more ideas come for future entries – which is great for ensuring a steady stream of entries.

Every week I read Autocar, it is a good way to get an overview of the important motor industry news and it is a good read to boot. It is interesting to see what stands out. In the 2007 Green Grand Prix a passing mention is made of Mercedes’ BlueTec low emissions engines. It is interesting that Mercedes have focused on reducing hydrocarbon, nitrous oxides and particulates at the expense of slightly higher CO2 emissions. Because that approach isn’t compatible with a CO2 based tax system BlueTec isn’t coming to the UK. So is an obsession with carbon dioxide actually harming the environment by increasing emissions of other pollutants?

Sighting of the day: Mercedes-Benz 260E

On my way home from work today I spotted this Mercedes 260E – a W124 model. The first thing that grabbed me was the condition; it looked clean, tidy and almost factory fresh. The interior looked equally untouched by the passage of time. As far as I can tell only the alloys – from a later model – are not original. The second unusual thing was that it was the 260E instead of the 230E or 300E both of which seem more common.

Seeing a 17 year old Mercedes in such great condition reminded me why Mercedes enjoy a reputation for quality and longevity. There are lots of different opinions about which was the last real Mercedes but the W124 series was among the last real, over engineered cars.