Walter Hayes feedback from Richard Hayes October 31, 2009
Posted by richard in : History , add a commentWell, I’ll be. My piece on Ford’s Walter Hayes? It’s only gone and got a response.
From, no less, than his son, Richard Hayes. Honoured, me? You betcha!
Luckily, Richard says he read and enjoyed my piece on his dad, ‘which catches him well.’ However, he’s got a couple of points to add. First: Walter Hayes was never actually honoured.
It seems I’ve knighted him, in error. Well, that’s just wrong, in my book. It seems the Queen somehow missed Walter’s name on her annual list: but it’s no more than an oversight, I’m sure.
There’s more. It turns out Walter Hayes ‘was a great motorsport fan and loved it, contrary to what you wrote,’ said Richard.
‘He took me to races all over the UK and the world, and enjoyed every formula – touring cars, FF, sportscars, F1, rallying, historic, etc…’ Which is great news! One of Ford’s top men is a motorsport nut, after all. And so, all is good in the world.
Even better, Richard has promised to speak some more with me – I said I’d like to bring out more of his dad’s remarkable career, to which he said ‘I would be happy for you to do some follow up pieces on my father – and will offer as much help as I can.’
This is great news! Readers, we’re going to learn some crackers, I just know it. Richard’s already tempted me, with a story about Max Mosely, Lord March and the Goodwood Festival of Speed…
Advice from Ford’s Walter Hayes
How Ford put the boot into the Sierra
TDI earns its place in history October 28, 2009
Posted by richard in : Technology , add a commentVOLKSWAGEN is finally pensioning off its long-serving 1.9-litre TDI diesel.
The car that really gave the modern diesel credibility has had a good innings, but it’s now being put out to pasture, after driving (almost) billions of VW Group cars off the production lines.
It’s been around in the Golf since 1994, after production was slowly ramped up in the Audi 80. Coming to the Golf was big-time for this then-startling new powerplant; because, unlike its rivals, Volkswagen had mated 1896ccs of blown four-pot to direct injection.
Controversial, this was, at the time. Direct injection is noisier and rattlier than indirect, you see; every single driver who’s experienced the 1.9-litre’s characteristic rattle ever since will attest to that.
The benefits, foresaw canny old Volkswagen, come in more compact combustion chambers. These lose less heat to the surrounding coolant – which, VW reckoned at the time, equals a 15 percent efficiency saving.
It was punchy. 90hp at 4000rpm was superb for 1994 – particularly in the 1145kg Golf (yes! I had to double-check: 1145kg, for the ‘heavy, safe and solid’ MkIII Golf? Now, a Clio weighs more…). This saw it to 60mph in 11.5secs; fast enough to have Autocar & Motor asking when the GTi-bodykit version would arrive. (Seems they were ahead of their time, too).
But just as impressive was the 149lb/ft torque output, particularly as it came in at just 1900rpm. This, remember, was before the days of PD pump-jet injection; the 1.9-litre TDI’s trademark low-rev surge is an inherent trait, it seems. It’s a damn strong engine from the innards out.
OK, said Autocar & Motor, the tickover is ‘boisterous’, which may put some off. Back in those diesel-pensive days, it more than likely did. A £2k price premium over oil-burning French rivals didn’t help its cause, either. But, such it always is for VW.
This couldn’t dim the significance of a fine engine, though. Even its first mainstream installation saw it mark itself out as special. Evolution through the years, particularly in the MkIV Golf, underlined its place in history.
Will its replacement, the 1.6-litre TDI, be as venerable? Time will tell. For now, though, here’s a cup of oil to a diesel that I’ve seen, through car magazines, develop, delight and dominate. Classic Diesel, here’s your first-issue feature car…
Volkswagen Golf looks to history for GTD inspiration
Volkswagen Golf GTD photostream on Flickr
You do me National service October 24, 2009
Posted by richard in : History , 1 comment so farLEYLAND Nationals are extremely popular, it seems. Following my recent blog, I’ve received loads of feedback…
… including, via aronline, some more info. Mr. Kipling and Scott Hutchings have both put me right on a few points, and offered further insight on others. I felt it only right to share their comments here…
Mr. Kipling…
The National was only popular, he explained, because Leyland made it pretty much the only single deck city bus you could still buy. Bus companies then would never have considered buying ‘foreign’. It was the National or nothing. Also, the National Bus Company forced companies to buy it. Even if it was totally unsuitable.
The roof pod was actually standard during the whole production run. The podless variant was an option introduced in 1978 to make the National cheaper. It was called the ‘Series B’.
It seems the great promise of the National wasn’t fully realised at first. The bus may have been modular in construction, but during the first few years of production, Leyland would only offer it in one length, and inexplicably with dual doors only.
He even revealed some typical Leyland flexibility. To top it off, buses would only be painted in a single colour at the factory. The customer wants two colours? Tough, they’ll have to paint it themselves!
However, the National 2 was a well-sorted bus!
Scott Hutchings…
At the time the National was on the drawing board, explained Scott, one-man-operated single deckers were legalised and Leyland thought there would be a large swing towards single-deckers.
As it turned out, the National was unwisely influenced by the needs of London Transport and the large city operators. When one-man-operated double deckers became legalised, those same operators all rushed to stock up on these vehicles; the planned market for single deckers never materialised.
Meanwhile, the National Bus Company (NBC) had been formed, and so the Government threw the two together to form a new company to build NBC vehicles going forward. This company was called Leyland National Co. Ltd, with Leyland and NBC owing half. Happily, Leyland just happened to have a single decker on its books for NBC to buy. Hence the name of bus, the Leyland National.
Government meddling? Check. The Workington factory wasn’t wanted, as Leyland looked to build it in a new factory near its base in Lancashire. However, like Rootes at Linwood, the Government was pursuing a policy of persuading vehicle manufacturers to locate to areas where there was high unemployment and traditional industries were in decline.
Leyland still thrived despite this. Even in 1979, BL was the largest producer of bus and coach chassis in Western Europe. 15 years later, it had gone.
Hutchings saved the real killer fact until last, though. Get this: In 1973/74 Ron Ellis held tentative talks with his counterpart at Fiat, where there was discussions surrounding Leyland becoming one of the founder members of IVECO.
These talks came to nothing. Michael Edwards revived the talks in 1978 and they came so close to being signed off that Des Pitcher, who succeeded Ron Ellis, was halted at Milan Airport when on his was to sign an agreement…
It begs an interesting question as to what would have happened if it had been signed… would the co-operation have also extended to cars?
Thanks, chaps: cracking stuff… anyone got any more to add?
Advice from Ford’s Walter Hayes
Marina and the Escort October 24, 2009
Posted by richard in : History , 3commentsCARS famous for being bad are not hard to find, worryingly.
Take the might of British Leyland, back in the 1970s. It foisted the Morris Marina upon us. Then had the cheek to call this one-time-intended Ford Escort competitor a Ford Cortina rival.
Ford itself wasn’t immune, mind. 20 years later, the blue oval imposed the MkIV Escort onto an unsuspecting public, who… well, bought it in sufficiently-reduced droves to get Richard Parry-Jones’ revolution signed off.
(In this respect, it’s actually one of the biggest hero cars of the past century, but that’s faint praise indeed.)
Ther similarities between these two bad cars are uncanny. Both were anonymous design-by-committee jobs. Both treated the public’s demands in a lowest-common-denominator kinda way. Both were launched with major handling flaws that demanded fast action.
In the Marina’s case, it’s part of folklore. Big Jeff Daniels attended the European launch, and nearly wiped himself out in a terminally-understeering 1800. His colleague at Autocar, separately, almost did the same.
They thus did the unthinkable, and paired up to put their case to Longbridge. Ah, dear boys, was the response. We know. They’re pre-pros. Rest assured, it’ll be fixed. And, fair play, it was. Albeit using subterfuge I’ll detail later.
History repeated itself with the Escort. Lo, came the press launch reports. How it rolls! And leans! And…well, I’ll let the picture I took of Autocar’s road test do the talking. That’s a terrifying level of roll for a car said to be for the ‘90s.
Ford’s solution? Take a leaf out of BL’s book. Blame the fact pre-pro cars were used. And rush through the standard-fitment of a front anti-roll bar for production 1.4-litre models.
As with the Marina, it didn’t make a bad car into a good one. But it did turn a liability into a mere chronic underperformer.
For Ford, there was even a bright side. The Escort’s hideousness led directly to the MkI Focus: very good CAN come from very very bad.
This car, coincidentally, has another BL link. One chassis bigwig I spoke to recently called it the ‘best handling front-driver since the Mini.’ Funny how things turn out…
The most depressing engines in existence
Advice from Ford’s Walter Hayes
Wake up with the sun October 11, 2009
Posted by richard in : What I learned today , 1 comment so farSUNROOFS in cars have really fallen out of favour in recent times. Little wonder, now air con’s de rigueur.
But I had a revelation last week, that made me realise they still have their place – as lifesavers.
One test Renault Grand Scenic. Dynamique spec, with a few choice options, including the whizzy electric sunroof.
In the style of the Peugeot 205, this slides outside the vehicle, rather than inside, so looks super-cool on the move.
But, as well as popping ‘up and over’, it also tilts upwards, like the roof of every 1980s company car driver’s dreams. Tilting sunroof, at the turn of a knob rather than the crank of a handle. Majestic.
I did this, randomly, one morning. Know what happened? I immediately felt loads more awake. Why? Because all the stuffy air that was unknowingly rising within the cabin had an instant route to escape. There was now airflow in the Renault, from fresh in the vents, through me, and out the roof.
The carbon monoxide levels in the car plunged, I felt a million dollars and Renault had someone closer to justifying the heinous cost of electric sunroofs nowadays.
Far from being frozen out by air con, the sunroof still has a place – as a safety aid. Hot air rises. Here’s its escape route… meaning that bit less risk that it’ll be you relying on a lucky escape.
Of course, they probably knew all this in the 1980s already. Again: to learn, first you must look back…
Why Ford Econetics break the rules
RenaultSport past to inspire turbo future
Schizophrenic Ford learns how to handle a note October 11, 2009
Posted by richard in : History , 3commentsFORD’S Fiesta was the turning point. Before that, explained Ford’s handling God, Richard Parry-Jones, the blue oval had a schizophrenic approach to good handling.
‘We had good handling RS products, and no more than average handling on our everyday products.’
In his book, that was bad. ‘I felt very strongly that customer satisfaction and the image of the vehicles were very closely tied to the handling experience.’
Praise the Lord, for this protestation by Welshman RP-J, back in 1997. Indeed, as the Fiesta was already so good by 1996, so Parry-Jones wanted to take things a step further.
But not, alas, by recreating the XR2i and making it decent. No, back then, the hot hatch was dead. Murdered by thieves nicking ‘em and making the motors virtually uninsurable. Enter instead a hastily-conceived small coupe, designed entirely on computer in double-quick time. The Ford Puma.
70 percent of the parts were Fiesta. The biggest difference was the launch 1.7-litre Yamaha engine, with 125bhp and a delightfully high rev limit. An engine whose noise RP-J knew before it was even designed. See, he employed a musician, to record the exact sound he wanted for it…
Why? To pass the 50-metre test he invented. ‘It’s what customers notice straight away. They can’t explain it in engineering terms, but they know if a car feels right as soon as they get in it.’
This is why, he said, he corners slowly – probably no more than 25mph. ‘When you’re cornering hard, most cars can communicate a bit, but the most difficult time is at almost no speed.’
Forcing engineers, he says, to get rid of all the noise and vibration, while enhancing what signals ARE there.
What’s crucial here?
• Steering
• Throttle response
• Engine soundtrack
Hence his recruitment of a musician. Schizophrenic, RP-J? Not at all. It’s because of him that Fords no longer are, either. The man deserves a Knighthood.
How Ford put the boot into the Sierra
The Leyland National October 10, 2009
Posted by richard in : History , 3commentsI got a cracking book on buses from the library last weekend.
It, in all its glory, is The British Bus Today and Tomorrow – which, seeing as it was published in 1983, should perhaps now be retitled Yesterday and The Day Before. Ahem.
It’s largely incomprehensible. Complex things, buses, and the Barbara Castle-led politics behind them, and the companies that made them, and the way in which they were made. Largely, my eyes glazed as I flicked.
(Who else, like me, enjoys old pictures of street scenes, because it lets them peer at the cars, the shops, the buses and the amount of people smoking?)
Excitingly, though, I did find something to connect with – the Leyland National single decker. You WILL know about this, as they were built from 1972 to 1985, and over 7000 them made it onto our roads. They were operated all over the country and, for their time, were blimmin’ clever.
The Leyland National was one of the first buses to use integral construction. Before then, chassis had come from one supplier, bodies from another. Hence the confusion. By merging Leyland with National, the new firm’s creation replaced a shedload of older buses, and invented a revolutionary modular construction process while they were at it.
By the 1980s, it had three-quarters of the single-deck bus market. It introduced ‘new standards of passenger comfort’, and was thus deemed a success. Mind you, it was almost killed early – the factory was barely building one a week in the early ‘80s. That’s in a factory designed for 40 a week. But things did pick up, and the old bus continued. And carried on its market monopoly, too.
Six things you (certainly I) never knew about the Leyland National:
1: MkI models had an 8.3-litre straight-six Leyland 510 turbodiesel. Bus companies hated it, as it was thirsty and, if not religiously maintained, smoked a lot. Let’s face it, how many bus companies stick to F1-standard maintenance schedules? Leyland’s later solution was just as brilliant, though. Reduce the power to reduce the smoke. Great.
2: Models between 1972 and 1978 had a rear roof pod. This contained the heating kit, which heated at roof level. Bit daft, given how heat rises. So, from 1978, the interior was revised and given cheaper but more effective under-seat heating. They also reduced the interior light count of these models. Well, it was the Winter of Discontent.
3: Two lengths of Leyland National were offered. The shorter ones could be spotted from squarer windows. There was also, from 1979, a facelifted National 2. This had more engine choice, including a more reliable 680 engine, and a radiator in the front.
4: It was built in Workington, Cumbria, on car-type production lines. Leyland reckoned on building 2000 a year. Not like them to overestimate things; eventual demand settled down to, yep, half that. Also typically Leyland, early ones were unreliable, mainly from that fixed-head, maintenance-hungry engine.
5: It was launched at the 1970 Commercial Motor Show, where a model plated ‘BL 1971’ boldly took centre stage. This example had twin door exits on the side – such was the flexibility of the bus, single or dual doors could be fitted.
6: Nationals remained in service well into the Millennium, usually fitted with Volvo or DAF engines. It was replaced by the Leyland Lynx. That’s another blog post entirely.
But there’s a reason above all why I love the Leyland National. It’s oh-so-distinctive engine rattle. You could tell when one was approaching without seeing it, every single time. So that’s me off to a future owner’s club meet, for sure.
If you’re me, salivate at the images here, too. Oh, and here. Lovely!
Advice from Ford’s Walter Hayes
How Ford put the boot into the Sierra
BMW M3 Edition Coupe photostream on Flickr October 10, 2009
Posted by richard in : Minutiae of cars , add a commentBMW’s M division are setting out to do more bespoke stuff for the AG giant.
Enter the BMW M3 Edition Coupe, a super-special and very desirable version of the super-special and very desirable M3 Coupe.
Really, how can it fail? Indeed, press reports until now have been blinding. I’m not about to change this. Instead, I focus on some of the details, via my M3 Edition Coupe photostream on Flickr.
Head on over there, take a look-see, and leave any comments you see fit!
BMW Z4 has 3 Series Convertible to thank
How motoring writers used to do it October 7, 2009
Posted by richard in : What I learned today , 2commentsI don’t remember when car launches were for real men. Wish I had been about, though, back in 1983, when Peugeot launched the sacred 205.
A small airfield in the middle of bleakest Morocco, reported Car Magazine from the scene. Throwing it down with rain, it was. Within a Spartan hangar, PSA bosses were telling our man all about the 205.
Before sending him out to, over two days, drive 650 miles of the world’s worst roads. Now that’s a launch drive.
So, what were his surely slightly daunted first impressions? Well, he loved the looks, even if the rear end did look like an Austin Allegro (aye, what, etc).
He reckoned the heating and ventilation were ‘excellent’ (so wasn’t fazed by supermini air con being 15 years away – like I say, hardy souls), and deemed the ‘sufficiently precise’ four-speed gearbox passable.
His favourite model was the 60bhp 1124cc engine finding it the nicest and most well balanced of the lot. He didn’t like the GL trim, mind, finding it austere, and grumbled the GT had overly hard suspension, plus a noisy and relatively uncivilised 1360cc engine. Which wasn’t that fast, anyway.
The balance of typically French soft ride and near-Teutonic firmness of handling and roadholding made him happy. He wasn’t’ wrong there, either – the 205 was exceptional in both regards. The steering was also light and precise, brakes were progressive and the ride, he reinforced, could only be described as tres bon. Pity the soft seats spoiled his 650-mile epic.
Sure, it rolled. It also understeered a fair bit. But, by the end, our man nevertheless seemed to like it, even if he didn’t realise what an icon it in fact was. Maybe he was knackered from his 1000km epic across Moroccan deserts? Makes the 120km I’ve just done in a BMW 760Li seem like small beer…
Mind you, bet he didn’t have my 18-minute deadline for copy at the end, either.
Speaking live on City Radio FM
Skoda’s cool 404 October 5, 2009
Posted by richard in : Technology , add a commentSKODA’S price list download function is, err, down.
But instead of getting a boring old ‘Not Found’ message, Skoda’s exceedingly web-savvy net guys have designed a bespoke page.
How cool is this? With simply superb detailing (‘In for a service’ indeed!!), it properly helps reinforce the customer-friendliness of the brand. I almost don’t mind that I’m unable to download pdfs.
Simple things like this help make brands. Volkswagen does it well, Audi does it well. Examples such as this page show Skoda’s learning fast from its chiefs.
Still yet to get the pdfs, mind.
