Articles by Jakob
Retro and Classics
06/07/17
The Porsche 550 is a car that is well-known amongst classic car enthusiasts for winning numerous Grand Prixs and amongst the classic move enthusiasts for killing James Dean. Not as popular today - in fact unpopular enough to make it hard to find information about in the internet that isn’t in German - is its direct and successful competitor, the AWE R3.
Retro and Classics
29/03/17
Commodore? Does that ring a bell? I guess so. Nowadays the name Commodore is reserved for cars that have thousands of dollars spent under the bonnet just so that they could do a burnout as big as possible. However, that wasn’t always the case. The first-generation Holden Commodore actually is equivalent to the third -generation Opel Commodore. The car this post is about is the Opel Commodore A, more specifically the GS/E version.
Japanese
26/01/17
With the eventual release of the next generation Supra coming closer and closer, you read it more often than once that people think what the Mk.IV was and what the Mk.V must be. Mostly these are people who weren’t even born when the production of the Mk.IV ended and will never be able to buy the Mk.V anyways, but that’s beside the point. In the post I’m going to refer mainly to the Mk.IV supra since that’s what people associate with it. I’m aware there are more than just that one.
Retro and Classics
06/12/16
If you are not from Germany or over 70 years old, chances are high you never heard of this car.
Retro and Classics
19/11/16
“Make love, not war” or how did that saying go again?
Retro and Classics
15/11/16
I’m not quite sure whether a car from the year 2000 fits under can be considered retro, but the Omega -Opel’s last executive car- certainly is a classic, so I will just leave it here.
Retro and Classics
01/11/16
Think of an 1980s European car. Just one. Done? Okay. You thought of one of the following: BMW M3, Ford Sierra Cosworth, Audi Quattro, Lamborghini Countach. I don’t blame you for it. These are by far the most popular ones amongst the cars that were driving around in the 80s, well, on this side of the iron curtain at least. But there are cars that have the whole 1980s flair too, of which I’m going to list ten examples. Not in any particular order though.
Opinion
06/09/16
Your better half has got children now and you need something to carry them but a football mum van isn’t an option? Things like canoeing or transporting EUR pallets are your hobby? Don’t worry, we have you covered. Here you have a list with wagons for any demand and any type. Note: in this list, only cars that can currently be bought new are considered. Used cars are an option too, but for fair comparision, the catalogue price is taken.
Retro and Classics
25/07/16
It’s the late 1980s. The old Wartburg 353, albeit slightly revised in 1975, is still almost the same as it was over 20 years ago, with the engine originating from 1940. Exporting the Wartburg to important foreign markets, such as the UK, has been prohibited since it doesn’t match the modern emission regulations. A new engine is badly needed.
Retro and Classics
17/07/16
In a post yesterday, I did a small guess-the-car ( https://www.carthrottle.com/post/wp6m684/ ), and apparently not many people knew the car in question was an EMW 340. Well, I wouldn’t judge them for that. If you can name an EMW 340, chances are high that you either are from Germany or just are a die-hard fan of GDR cars… probably both. So I thought I’d make a small article about it.
Formula 1
24/06/16
Top Gear has conducted that driving under influence of a ‘stache can be dangerous, but these five F1 drivers did it nonetheless. 5. Keke Rosberg Keke Rosberg was a Finnish F1 driver of the 1980s. He became the F1 world champion in 1982 with Williams F1, despite only winning 1 of 16 races and having an DNF in 3 of them.
Tuning
05/06/16
1. Lower it to the point when it's absolutely undriveable anymore This the most important thing. When you want Street Cred, you want to have your cars nice and low and undriveable. No car with stock ride height will ever get a good Street Cred. Lower car means stiffer shock absorbers, which means less ride comfort, this results in absolute manliness for your and your car, thus increasing your Street Cred.
Retro and Classics
17/05/16
Some of you may have heard of the Elise-base sports car with the funny name and the ludicrous price tag. But did you know that this surely wasn’t the first car of the manufacturer? The Melkus originally was developed in 1968 by the former racing driver Heinz Melkus as a celebration for the 20th anniversary of the GDR. RS stood for Rennsportwagen , racing sports car in English. But it was harder than expected.
Retro and Classics
16/05/16
Contrary to what some people think, the East German automobile industry was not always trash. In the early years of the GDR, there were many cars that were real dream cars. One of them is the subject of this post, the Wartburg Sport, factory designation “313”.
Retro and Classics
11/07/15
RR Merlin engine (as used in the Spitfire) generating 1600bhp, slapped on a chassis made of two Daimler Dingo scout cars. Reached over 250km/h in third gear , not tested any further.
GIFs
19/04/15