Car Throttle

We pick up with the story of the Czech Tatra brand where we left off, at the end of WWII.  After the defeat of Nazi Germany, Czechoslovakia became a communist state in 1948 - although Tatra was nationalized in 1946 - and Tatra was renamed Tatra Národní Podnik.  Tatra continued to produce their pre-war models for a brief period (as well as heavy trucks, which by this point they had become well-known for.)  Tatra began designing a clean-sheet model, to be called the (T600) Tatraplan. The name Tatraplan came from two things - the Soviet 5-year economic plan, as well as the Czech word for airplane (Eroplan), noting the cars aeromotive inspirations. The T600 continued to use the Tatra backbone chassis concept, but the

We here at CarThrottle, like any other automotive site, are guilty of the "new" fetish.  Even though that new version of the Gallardo is just like the last 32 "special editions" before it, only with a crazy paint scheme, we'll still report on it.  It's typical, and I'm not saying it's a bad thing - news is new stuff, everyone loves new stuff. But it's important to retain perspective on the historical aspect of the industry.  Giving credit where credit is due.  At this point in the auto industry, there aren't a whole lot of new, original ideas - they're just recycled ideas, perhaps with a new twist on them.  But in the formative years of the automobile, there were pioneers, people who came up with

Let's get a little bit more nostalgic this time around. Sometime back in April I wrote about the Ferrari Testarossa, but this time I want to go slightly further back to the era of the swinging 70s. In 1969, British Leyland owned the Mini brand and they wanted to facelift the classic 'round front' Mini. This was launched and called the Mini Clubman. The subsequent Austin Mini 1275GT (1275 is basically the engine size in cubic centimetres) was the Mini Clubman's fastest variant and the one that British Leyland replaced with the classic Mini Cooper S as the fastest Mini you could buy in the mid to late '70s. The Mini Clubman was not really slated to replace the original (since 1959) Mini round

Wait, what?  France had a sports car company? And there was another one?  If you don't count Bugatti (and most people don't; hasn't been French in decades), when you ask most car people what sports-car brands France is famous for, they might come up with one: Alpine.  Jean Rédélé's particular brand of rear-engined Renault-powered weirdness achieved some international success with rally specials like the A110, and later with rear-engine sports cars like the A310, GTA, and A610. But for the most part, that's about as far as the story goes.  France isn't really renowned for sports cars.  They've made sporting cars.  You can't look at an R5 Turbo or Clio Renaultsport and not nod your head and think, "awesome."  But France doesn't really have a

While everyone is busy with the newest, latest and possibly greatest supercars that are currently being launched over at this year's Geneva Motor Show I somehow think that it is appropriate for Car Throttle to showcase a modern classic; the Ferrari Testarossa. This car, like the Lamborghini Countach, the Ferrari 512BB and the Ferrari 288GTO were dream cars that we often found tacked onto walls of many an adolescent school boy all around the world. The Ferrari Testarossa was also one of the maddest, bar the Countach ever to grace the wall of the school boy. Produced from 1984 to 1996, including the later 512TR and 512M models, the Testarossa or “Redhead” was designed by Pininfarina and was famous (or infamous) for introducing those massive

Volvo and Performance are not really two synonymous terms. Volvos have always been (well, until recently) square cars for even more square people.  Tough engines, comfy seats, angular styling - great for hauling the kids to soccer practice, not so great for hauling ass.  Right?  Well, this guy begs to differ:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGDxgYWG5MU

As it turns out, if you roll up next to a Volvo 850 at a stoplight and it sounds like an angry chainsaw, you probably shouldn't race it if you want to escape with your dignity intact.  Domestic Muscle guys have been learning this lesson the hard way for years. Now, to be sure, Volvo made some quick cars before the T-5 motor came out.  The 740 Turbo wagons in the

I recently read some news on Auto Express that the next Bugatti Veyron will hit 270mph. This is extremely good news to those who think that 250mph is still slightly pedestrian and extremely bad news to those politically correct spoilsports. Whatever the reason, this has got me thinking again about the big Bug and what it means to motoring and basically humanity as a whole. To those that do not agree, please do tell me one significant engineering achievement that blew your mind away. The Three Gorges Dam? It's just concrete blocking a very large river. The Taipei 101? It's just another tall building that will be replaced by another (has it been replaced? No matter, it isn't important). I honestly can say that aside from

No one is denying that most AMG's are sick cars. What's not to love?  A big, solid Mercedes with an absolute monster of an engine shoved under the hood is a great thing, something to wake up in the morning and be thankful for in today's market filled with fuel-sipping hybrid garbage.  But frankly, seeing an AMG Mercedes isn't quite as exciting as, say... a Ferrari F355.  Or a 911 GT2.  Or a Gallardo.  They're common, even in boring areas like Raleigh.  Heck, there's a guy that rolls up to my Starbucks every day in an SL55 AMG.  And another lady with a CLK63 AMG Cabriolet.  But while I was filling up the Accord today, a truly uncommon AMG pulled in next to me, and I

Let's talk about the Caterham 7.  When the dealership took over production rights to the original minimalist Lotus sports car in 1973, I doubt they knew how many people would still be making copies and derivatives of it today.  Heck, I doubt they knew they'd still be making it today.  Wikipedia lists a few brands that make Lotus/Cateram 7 clones, copies, and spin-offs.  Here's their (surely incomplete) listing: Almac, Alpha Sports, Aries Motorsports, Barnard, Birkin, Boes, Brunton, BWE, Chevron, Chinkara, Cobra, Dala7, Daytona, Dax Rush, Diardi, Donkervoort, Elfin, Esther, Fraser Clubman, Gillett, Gregory, HKT, Irmscher 7, Leitch Super Sprint, Locust, Luego, Mac #1, Martin, Mitsuoka, MNRacing, MK, Nota, Pegasus 7, PRB, Quantum, RaceTech, Raw, Robin Hood(!), Shawspeed, Superformance (S1 Roadster), Sylva, Tiger, Tornado, Vindicator, WCM

You know, it's hard to imagine, but once upon a time it wasn't just Mitsubishi and Subaru. The Rally special used to be a requirement for competition, not a marketing package.  The Evo has a rally "heritage," but Mitsubishi doesn't even run a works rally team any more.  The newest WRX is an awesome street car, but it's hardly the hardcore homologation special it started life as.  Most people tend to think that Subaru or Mitsu started the whole Japanese Rally-Rep category, as they're the two brands most closely associated with that market.  It was Toyota, in fact, that kicked off the whole segment - as the first Japanese manufacturer to really take rally racing head on.  Hard to imagine now, while they're taking the