Andrew Frankel – Road cars

Browse pages
Current page

1

Current page

2

Current page

3

Current page

4

Current page

5

Current page

6

Current page

7

Current page

8

Current page

9

Current page

10

Current page

11

Current page

12

Current page

13

Current page

14

Current page

15

Current page

16

Current page

17

Current page

18

Current page

19

Current page

20

Current page

21

Current page

22

Current page

23

Current page

24

Current page

25

Current page

26

Current page

27

Current page

28

Current page

29

Current page

30

Current page

31

Current page

32

Current page

33

Current page

34

Current page

35

Current page

36

Current page

37

Current page

38

Current page

39

Current page

40

Current page

41

Current page

42

Current page

43

Current page

44

Current page

45

Current page

46

Current page

47

Current page

48

Current page

49

Current page

50

Current page

51

Current page

52

Current page

53

Current page

54

Current page

55

Current page

56

Current page

57

Current page

58

Current page

59

Current page

60

Current page

61

Current page

62

Current page

63

Current page

64

Current page

65

Current page

66

Current page

67

Current page

68

Current page

69

Current page

70

Current page

71

Current page

72

Current page

73

Current page

74

Current page

75

Current page

76

Current page

77

Current page

78

Current page

79

Current page

80

Current page

81

Current page

82

Current page

83

Current page

84

Current page

85

Current page

86

Current page

87

Current page

88

Current page

89

Current page

90

Current page

91

Current page

92

Current page

93

Current page

94

Current page

95

Current page

96

Current page

97

Current page

98

Current page

99

Current page

100

Current page

101

Current page

102

Current page

103

Current page

104

Current page

105

Current page

106

Current page

107

Current page

108

Current page

109

Current page

110

Current page

111

Current page

112

Current page

113

Current page

114

Current page

115

Current page

116

Current page

117

Current page

118

Current page

119

Current page

120

Current page

121

Current page

122

Current page

123

Current page

124

Current page

125

Current page

126

Current page

127

Current page

128

Current page

129

Current page

130

Current page

131

Current page

132

Current page

133

Current page

134

Current page

135

Current page

136

Current page

137

Current page

138

Current page

139

Current page

140

Current page

141

Current page

142

Current page

143

Current page

144

Current page

145

Current page

146

Current page

147

Current page

148

Current page

149

Current page

150

Current page

151

Current page

152

Current page

153

Current page

154

Current page

155

Current page

156

Current page

157

Current page

158

Current page

159

Current page

160

Current page

161

Current page

162

Current page

163

Current page

164

Current page

165

Current page

166

Current page

167

Current page

168

Current page

169

Current page

170

Current page

171

Current page

172

Current page

173

Current page

174

Current page

175

Current page

176

Current page

177

Current page

178

Current page

179

Current page

180

Current page

181

Current page

182

Current page

183

Current page

184

Current page

185

Current page

186

Current page

187

Current page

188

Current page

189

Current page

190

Current page

191

Current page

192

Current page

193

Current page

194

Current page

195

Current page

196

Murray works his magic

There are few better ways to obfuscate the truth than to throw a superlative at it. In public your claim appears unambiguous and explicit, in private it withstands no scrutiny at all. Years ago I was proudly told by a car manufacturer that its shiny new product was ‘the most spacious in its class’. Seems clear doesn’t it? It was nothing of the sort. What it had done is calculate that you could get more ping-pong balls into its cabin than any other car it considered to be a rival which, if you’re a human being, is an entirely meaningless measure since ping-pong balls can visit places humans cannot. Second, because there are no rules as to what qualifies a car for entry into any given class, it had made up its own which conveniently excluded a couple of spacious rivals.

What, then, are we to make of: ‘this is the biggest revolution in the car industry since the Ford Model T’? It’s a claim so extravagant that, as it is also mere opinion, it would seem easy to pull it to pieces in seconds. Indeed it is probably the single most bold assertion I have heard anyone make in 20 years writing about the industry, and I’ve heard a few. But if I had to guess, I’d probably go along with it. The reason why is simple: the claim was made by Gordon Murray.

The revolution is his T25 city car, and when he made his claim to an assembly of friends, journalists, former colleagues and investors at his design studios in Shalford one day last month, I doubt one of us even blinked.

Another quite believable Murray superlative is that the T25 – the 25th car which he has overseen from concept to reality – is the biggest challenge he has faced in his career to date. When you realise what this little miracle on wheels is trying to achieve, you will see that designing championship-winning F1 cars or even the world’s fastest supercar is as easy as falling down the stairs.

Conceptually, the closest and, you might argue, only rival for the T25 is the Smart ForTwo, a car for which I have almost unlimited admiration. So here are a few facts for you to chew over: the T25 is 300mm shorter than a Smart, but will seat at least three and possibly four people, yet while the T25 will weigh 500kg, the Smart weighs 750kg – half as much again. The cheapest Smart costs £6905, the projected price of the T25 is £5500 which, if realised, would make it one of the very cheapest cars on sale. A Smart’s combined fuel consumption is a little over 60mpg while the T25’s is a little over 80mpg. But while the Smart has a power-to-weight ratio of 81bhp per tonne, the T25’s is said to be 92.7bhp. A Smart emits 112 grammes of CO2 every kilometre, the T25 just 78. A Toyota Prius, by the way, puts out 104g/km.

And now a word of caution: all these figures quoted for the T25 are not real but computations, as the first car will not run under its own power until next March at the earliest. But Gordon Murray is the man who originally promised the McLaren F1 would have at least 500bhp and when the car came out, it had 627bhp.

Sadly, although all the major design work of the T25 is complete and a finished styling buck exists and was at the launch, wrapped up in what looked like hi-tech tin foil, Murray declined to show it to us. The excuse, however, was good. Although Murray and his team are and will remain exclusively responsible for the design and engineering of the car, the rights to manufacture and sell it will be licenced to a major car company and until that is done, under wraps it remains. Which company might it be? Gordon’s not saying, though there was much mutter in the room about Honda and as he is a long-time fan of the marque (owning an NSX for years and using its lightweight yet practical design as inspiration in part for the McLaren F1), it seems an entirely credible option.

The T25’s appeal to an ever more congested world is clear. You can fit three in a standard parking bay and, if legislation can be drafted to allow it, two side by side in any given motorway lane, transforming the motorway network’s potential capacity. But perhaps the most remarkable aspect of this new car is not what it is so much as how it will come to be. When I asked Murray what was more impressive, the car or the revolutionary way in which it will be built, he said, “You guys [the press] will think it’s the car’s design, but for me it’s the way it will be manufactured.”

He elaborates further: “The car will not be a monocoque, but a body on frame design allowing cheap panel replacement and six different body styles on one platform. Instead of having stressed panels, all ours do is keep the rain out. The whole car takes three hours to build (a standard hatch takes around 10) and while the average car has 450 pressings this one has, er, none.” He won’t say what it’s built from but does say the bodywork material has never been used in the car industry despite the fact that, “it’s been staring us in the face for years. Think water bottles”.

And what about if you crash it? “The car has already been through over 80 simulated crash tests at MIRA and has performed just fine.” He predicts at least a four-star Euro NCAP rating.

The way it will be built is more astonishing still. It needs a factory one fifth the size of that required to put out an equivalent number of conventional cars, and the car can be shipped in flat-pack form, which means 12 times as many T25s can get on one boat. As Murray says the economic advantages are considerable, but the real appeal is likely to be in the environmental savings. “Look at current hybrids: they’re environmentally great – as a marketing exercise – but viewed over their entire life cycle from manufacture to disposal they’re terrible. What is needed is a completely fresh approach in all areas from design and engineering, to manufacture and distribution.”

And if you’re thinking the result is going to be some shrink-wrapped Noddy car with all the visual and dynamic appeal of something a dog might leave on a pavement, you reckon without Gordon Murray who couldn’t design a boring car if he tried. “Look at the original Mini – it was a completely classless car and sold to everyone from rock ’n’ roll to royalty. Moreover, the T25 weighs just 500kg – believe me, it will be fun to drive.”

Murray first had the idea for the T25 in 1993 but relentless calls on his time have kept it on the back-burner until now. Perhaps that will come to be seen as serendipitous because there is no question that the reception such a car would have received even 10 years ago is very different to that it is likely to garner today.

Even so, he reckons it will be 2012 at the earliest before any one of us can go out and buy a T25 – which, if the price of personal mobility continues on its current path, looks likely to be not one moment too soon.

Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé

I reported on this coupé, the third car to be based on the Phantom platform, back in the April edition but, at the time, was allowed only to look around it.

Now, after a day driving it in France and Switzerland, I can confirm it is very much as it appears: a svelte and sophisticated carriage which for its gorgeous looks and dashing character is the most appealing product yet launched by the renewed Rolls-Royce. But the news is not all good: they’ve stiffened the chassis, not by enough to make it handle but sufficient to remove the smooth edge from its ride quality.

Also I can confirm that its much criticised ‘Sport’ button is not only inappropriate for such a car, it is also completely pointless. Nevertheless, it brought most of Geneva to a standstill so, from Rolls’ point of view, I suspect that qualifies as ‘job done’.

Ford Focus RS

What’s the most impressive feature of this new Focus RS? Its 300bhp motor, sub-6sec 0-60mph time or limited 155mph top speed? Not even close. It’s the fact that it achieves all of the above while directing its power through the front wheels alone.

Sounds like a recipe for disaster, or at least torque-steering off the road. But Ford is adamant that four-wheel drive was ruled out on the sole grounds that, with trick front suspension geometry and a Quaife limited slip differential, the car does not need it.

Unfortunately it will take some time to discover the truth of it: while the RS will have been revealed to the world at the London Motor Show by the time you read this, it doesn’t seem likely that anyone will get to drive a production version this year.