UK’s motor vanity fair (24) [Bâlciul deşertăciunilor cu motor din UK]

Although I dedicated another episode to this legendary British car, I feel that there’s a little more to say before exhausting (or maybe not?!) the topic.

In tune with the season, these images (taken by my reader C.L.) are meant to illustrate the good news of 2011 for England’s motor industry.

The Chinese owners of MG have kept their word, and seem more determined to succeed than the previous German owners (BMW).

Not only that they reopened a former MG plant in Birmingham, yet the result of their work could be seen on British roads as of April 2011.

The (re-named) ‘Modern Gentleman’ is back. A new model (MG6 1.8T Fastback) was launched in spring, for a starting price of £ 15,495.

Obviously, many could argue that this ‘renaissance’ of the motor industry in Britain is rather symbolic, having a negligeable impact (what’s more fragile than ‘air bridges’? :-) on the whole of UK’s economy.

Over 75% of the ‘new MG’ is build in Shanghai, shipped to Britain, and finished by less than 100 skilled British specialists.

Anyway, irrespective of the adverse global economic climate, why wouldn’t we hail any little success, in this world so flooded with bad news about the automotive industry?

It took 16 years for the brand’s fans (some of their car clubs: here, here and here) to see a new MG and their patience was rewarded.

There are less than 10 years since no new ARO left the assembly plant in the Romanian municipality of Câmpulung-Muscel, Argeş county (AG).

MG has always been an elitistic brand, such as it’s birthplace (Oxford) is. Still, we are witnessing its resurrection.

Would it be so exaggerate to dream that ARO – a ‘SUV for the masses’, exported to over 110 countries – could be reborn thanks to its current British owner of Romanian descent?

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

[EN] No comment / [RO] Fără comentarii (16) – BMW Obsession / Obsesie BMW

[EN] BMW – a German probably as loved in the UK (pics 1 + 4) as it is in Romania, at least according to what I could see. [RO] BMW – o maşină germană probabil pe atât de iubită în UK (pozele 1 + 4) precum şi în România, cel puţin din ce am putut vedea.

[EN] Indeed, Britons have some big BMW car clubs (+ here, here, here), but they seem far from the ‘BMW obsession’ from Romania. [RO] Într-adevăr, britanicii au nişte mari cluburi auto BMW (+ aici, aici, aici), dar par a fi departe de ‘obsesia BMW’ din România.

[EN] In the 2nd pic: a BMW-inspired urban ‘work of art’ in Bucharest. [RO] În cea de-a 2-a poză: o ‘operă de artă’ urbană din Bucureşti inspirată de BMW :-)

[EN] In the 3rd pic: an old Romanian Dacia tuned up with a BMW bonnet.*** [RO] În cea de-a 3-a poză: o veche Dacie românească tunată cu o capotă de BMW :-)

*** [EN] NOTE: ...as Britons call it, while Americans say ‘hood’. [RO] NOTĂ: ...cum o numesc britancii, iar americanii îi spun ‘hood’.

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

UK’s motor vanity fair (18) [Bâlciul deşertăciunilor cu motor din UK]

I hadn’t heard anything about this Panther Kallista (made by Panther Westwinds) before going to the UK, nor have I ever seen another apart from this one, that I photographed somewhere near Trafalgar Square.

Nevertheless, I can undoubtely say that this is one of the most beautiful cars I have seen in my life, and – to my utmost surprise! – second hand versions are not prohibitely expensive.

Some evidence: £ 5, 750 (production: 1983/ mileage: 64,000); £ 6,950 (1984/78,726); £ 7,800 (1988/50,000), plus a not-so-cheap one – £ 16,500 (1979/7,100).

Like any respectable brand, Panther also has several car clubs (here, here, here), and all I can say it is pretty likeable… as an expensive toy :-)

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

UK’s motor vanity fair (16) [Bâlciul deşertăciunilor cu motor din UK]

Apart from the Congestion Charge making London such a liveable city compared to other metropolises, the UK’s capital is on the way to becoming “the electric car capital of Europe.”

This is the ambition of its Tory mayor, Boris Johnson, who announced over a year ago that he’s planning to invest £ 20 million in this ‘green project’.

Back then, Gordon Brown had promised that the UK Government would give the rest up to £ 60 million, as London couldn’t afford the entire investment.

But that was before the country’s finances went from bad to worse. Would David Cameron’s Government keep Brown’s commitment?

According to Johnson, cars like those in these images – the pics 3 & 4 being provided by C.L., a reader of this blog – should evolve from a mere peculiarity on London’s streets into being an ‘easy choice’ for Londoners.

Even his administration (Greater London Authority – GLA) is supposed to replace at least 1,000 of its fleet with electric vehicles.

It’s very likely that not all of them will be as little as those shown here, rivaling in size with most other small cars.

Actually, this G-Wiz car is smaller than Daimler’s Smart, and BMW’s Mini, and it’s obviously a strange type of vehicle (but already having a car club).

Meant to be driven almost exclusively within cities, not on motorways or country roads, such a car is sold for an average price of £ 7,000 – more than Tata Motors’ Nano :-)

A G-Wiz promises savings of over £ 9,000 per year, and has no carbon footprint… in case some buyers may still be fooled by this (anthropogenic) Global Warming swindle.

Some 100,000 electric cars should appear on London’s streets in a few years, and Johnson promises to build 25,000 charging points.

Not for the sake of reducing carbon emissions, but because such cars would make London even a more pleasant city, I wish Johnson’s ambition would turn into reality!

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

UK’s motor vanity fair (12) [Bâlciul deşertăciunilor cu motor din UK]

Although I didn’t like the ‘looks’ of this brand, I couldn’t help noticing quite a few Saab cars, as I was strolling on the streets of Edinburgh.

I couldn’t tell why (I’ve got only ‘aesthetical’ reasons), but I simply find those cars to be some of the ‘ugliest’ in the world.

As always – since there are plenty of jazz and balet fans in the world, why couldn’t there be Saab lovers?! – my opinion could be challenged by the 4,500 members of this Saab Owners Club.

This surely doesn’t look like a car club ‘for the masses’, but rather like some kind of an ‘elite club’.

Not the best of advocates I could invoke, but statistics prove that my dislike is by no means exceptional. Vehicles of this Swedish manufacturer (owned by General Motors) make up only 0,658% of the car park of Britain – some 250,000 cars.

This unofficial history of Saab states that it is one of the quirkiest brands in the world. So be it, but then it seems people tend to buy less and less innovative (weird?!) products in times of crisis.

In spite of the overall car sales in the UK being up 30% in October, Saab sales plummeted by 66.8%.

Results are equally bad elsewhere in Europe, and in the USA as well, therefore the only surprise to me is how some car producers can still survive, after a year of appalling results…

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

UK’s motor vanity fair (11) [Bâlciul deşertăciunilor cu motor din UK]

If there were a British car that I like, that wouldn’t be a luxurious Jaguar, Aston Martin, Bentley or Rolls-Royce. What I would like to drive – and probably not just as an ‘experience’ but as an owner, using the vehicle every day – is a Mini.

Not that I’d be any auto expert, but I really find this car to be – either the original Mini or the newer BMW Mini – a masterpiece of British (and German, since 2001) craftmanship. I guess any of the fans in this British Mini car club would agree with me.

Anyone knowing me could easily imagine I’m not crazy about fancy vehicles, and even if I had the amount of necessary money, I wouldn’t throw it on a car as a ’motor idol’. But I’d like to have a Mini as a useful (and also pleasing) object.

In my view, given the prices of today in Europe, I guess one could buy a good car with a maximum of 15,000 euros. Spending more would be such a waste, in my opinion.

Sadly, according to the price lists (that can be seen here, here, here – for the UK or here – for Romania), this little car is not quite cheap. Buying a fully optioned version would take the cost well beyond my artificially set limit of 15,000 euros.

Considering the beauty of the car and it’s technical specifications, I’d say it’s a fair price. The only problem is posed by it’s size. It seems to be too small for a family car... However, weren’t the VW Beetle or the Fiat 500 also small? Still, whole families (4-5 people) got into them...

If the future of Vauxhall and Saab (maybe Jaguar as well, as I was writing in a previous episode) doesn’t seem to be bright these days, I hope the that the takeover of Mini by BMW (a decade old this year) was a good deal, and will continue to be so.

.

In 1945, the Brits were too narrow-minded to foresee the future of the Beetle, which they could freely steal from the part of Germany they were occupying, and set productions lines in the UK. It’s good to see that BMW was not equally stupid to let the Mini perish.

Of course, the current Mini only bears some exteriour similarities to the Mini that Mr Bean drove, and it’s a completely different motorized beast on the inside. God willing, maybe one day I’ll drive such a car, although there’s no way this could ever be a ‘priority’ of mine…

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

UK’s motor vanity fair (3) [Bâlciul deşertăciunilor cu motor din UK]

If there’s one thing that the Brits couldn’t possibly hate about the Germans (and they still have quite a distaste with many things from that once ‘rival’ nation), well, that would be a... German automobile.

Before I’m going to disclose to you (in a future episode) which brand really left me speechless due to its overwhelming presence on Edinburgh’s streets (anyone feel free to take a guess! :-), here’s another car that the Brits like, but it seemed to me that not to the extent the Beetle is adored in other parts of the world.

Indeed, there’s at least one British fan club of this new VW Beetle, however, I didn’t see as many cars like these as in Bucharest, for instance. Is is because these people have their own Mini Cooper/One as a rival symbol to the Beetle?

Are there other reasons? Am I completely wrong, and, in reality, there are enough new Beetles relative to the size of the UK car market, therefore my unqualified opinion is incorrect? I really don’t know.

Although I feel that my comments are utterly pointless in accompanying this series which is more about images than about words, I can’t help making at least another one.

There is no doubt that the Beetle is a beautiful car, and blesssed are those who like it for what it is – a useful object –, and nothing else! On the other hand, I don’t think car clubs are necessarily something bad, as I believe most of them are about friendship between human beings, not about worshiping ‘motor idols.’

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/ Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]