New sports cars maintain racing origins
By Alastair Doak
Nuvolari, Ascari, Fangio, Moss and Clark.
These were just some of the men who made household names out of sports-car carmakers such as Ferrari, Maserati, Lotus and Porsche.
These men won the respect and admiration of people of all ages and nationalities by either hurtling their machines at breakneck speeds around the racing circuits of the world, or gingerly sweeping around those same circuits in an exercise of precision.
Technique depended on the track and related directly to the handling of the particular racing car they were driving at the time.
These performances, rightly or wrongly, won the sports-car carmakers their road-car reputations.
Ferrari, perhaps the best-known of all, has successfully wrapped its sales success around the glory of its Formula One exploits, even if it has failed to produce a world champion for close to 20 years.
In the early days, Ferrari's winning formula meant putting the most powerful engine available in the most unrefined of chassis.
Even today, Formula One teams are attempting to cash in on their on-track strengths. British carmaker McLaren is one such company.
Its road-going offering is simply known as the McLaren F1, a three-seater packing a BMW-designed and built 470kW 6.1-liter V12 engine. What's different about this car is the unusual seating configuration. The driver sits in a custom-made seat in the middle of the car ahead of the two passengers, who are relegated out of view behind the driver.
At more than US$1.2 million each, it is no wonder McLaren had a spot of bother reaching its planned volume of 300. In fact it will go out of production towards the end of the year with just over 100 sold, thus ensuring its collectible status in the years to come.
Jaguar Cars, a company which earned its international racing stripes at the Le Mans 24-Hour race, used the twin-turbo XJ220 -- at more than US$500,000 a pop -- to help relaunch the company after the Ford takeover.
These reputations have only been won in the past 40 years or so, yet these sports-car carmakers have some of the most marketable names of any companies in the world.
Yet in recent years, their reputations have been under pressure from the Japanese.
The gap has narrowed between the "pure-bred" sports cars and those on offer from more mass market carmakers, particularly the Japanese, which offer the Honda NSX, Mazda RX-7, the Toyota Supra and the Nissan 300ZX.
They deliver almost as much speed, similar precise handling and nearly as much driving enjoyment for nowhere near as much money.
The traditional sports-car carmakers have felt this sales pinch.
They've been forced to work long and hard to offer better ergonomics and build quality. The aficionado no longer tolerates sloppy quality for so much money.
In all, they now deliver smarter, more livable ultracars.
A Ferrari or Lamborghini can now be driven all day every day, no matter how hot or cold. These cars now behave.
And this livable sports car trend will get another kick along in a few weeks time.
Ferrari will take a big step toward answering the ever- demanding buyers, who at present may opt for the ease and comfort of a Honda NSX or a tweaked V8 BMW 5-Series, rather than a pure- bred sports car.
The Italian carmaker's range-topping two-seater, the car that will replace the present 512M, will have an automatic gearbox as standard.
It debuts in the hands of the current favored Formula One son at Ferrari, Michael Schumacher, and its other Formula One driver, Eddie Irvine, at an international launch later next month in Germany.
Purists need not fear, this is no ordinary auto slush-box, as they say in the motoring vernacular.
If you have watched a Grand Prix in recent times you will no doubt have heard Formula One's Murray Walker talking about the drivers changing gears with paddles placed behind the steering wheel, rather than a conventional gear lever.
The new Ferrari gets a similar sequential system. Press one paddle to go up a gear and another to go down, just like Michael Schumacher.
Yet, this car really will pamper owners more interested in pose than performance.
When all that paddling becomes tiresome, then the six-speed gearbox can be switched to full automatic mode.
Not that this is just another auto box with a trick manual change. This gearbox, the first of its kind in a road car, has a proper manual gearbox clutch to ensure every ounce of its substantial power output gets to the rear wheels.
And being a Ferrari, the power figure promises to be more than adequate.
The company is expected to power its latest beast using a 5.4- liter V12 engine.
Its the same engine used in a 456GT, the four-seater in the prancing-horse stable but, according to Ferrari, has been "slightly improved". "Slightly improved" translates into meaning the vehicle produces a hell of a lot more power.
How about an estimated 360kW instead of the 456GT's already adequate 320kW?
The new car also borrows its platform from the 456GT but keeps weight down and performance and handling prowess up by wrapping the front-mounted V12 in a shortened version of that car's chassis.
Expect 0-100km/h in less than 4.5 seconds and a top speed close to 300km/h.
The car will also be the first Ferrari to carry an official name rather than just a number.
The Daytona and California may be remembered as famous Ferrari models but they were nicknames, not official factory titles. At present, it goes under its code name F133.
The new model, already in production at Ferrari headquarters at Maranello, goes on sale in July costing about US$250,000.
If this car fails to get the credit card juices flowing then the "other" looming sports car event is the debut of the next- generation Porsche 911. It will hit the streets in 1998.
It earns event status as it will represent the biggest styling change to the now 33-year-old and much-loved 911.
Fans of the 911 will be glad to know Porsche have kept the silhouette, with its fixed headlights and rounded cabin, although the flush-glass windscreen is more laid back.
As many would expect, aerodynamic drag is reduced and top speed increased.
However, Porsche has also taken a leaf out of the practical sports car handbook, with the new car longer and wider than the present model.
The bigger body will offer more accommodation, particularly in the back, while the extra width also gives more elbow room and no doubt the heavily offset pedals and skewed driving position will be a thing of the past.
Access to the rear seat has been made easier with the car getting substantially bigger doors.
Overall the car uses many of the styling cues from the company's new entry-level Boxster model. The Boxster, to be powered by a 2.5-liter water-cooled flat-six engine, will cost under about US$40,000.
A 3.3-liter 205kW version of the same engine is tipped to power the car, although speed freaks will be glad to know a 260kW twin-turbo version is also planned.
The car's lights look similar to the Boxster's and praise be, it will get a modern, well laid out dashboard.
So the news is good. Aspirants wishing to slip behind the leather-clad steering wheels of a Porsche, Ferrari or other "pure bred" sports car can rest easy. Their dream machines for beyond 2000 are sitting just around the corner.
It's just a matter of having the cash to acquire the dash.