*RETRO‑MOTORING

 

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

VW Golf Oettinger 16s

As the hot hatchback arms-race began to really get going in the early 1980s the leader of the pack, the Mk1 Golf GTI, had already been around for a few years and the competition was catching up. The Mk1 Astra/Kadett D GTE, Ford Escort XR3/XR3i and various others were making significant inroads into the VW share of the market.

More power was clearly needed, but the enlarged 1800cc engine couldn't come soon enough for VW France and the factory 16 valve head was years away. So with assistance and support from the Wolfsburg factory the tuning company Oettinger was called on to develop more power for the 1600 unit. Turbocharging the Mk1 Golf GTI had caused problems for those that had already tried it, and a bigger capacity block wasn't viable.

The solution came in the form of a 16 valve twin-cam cylinder head and uprated engine components to match. With the various improvements the engine was good for 136bhp (a similar figure to VWs own 1800cc 16v engine in the Mk2 Golf) and a rapid 0-60 time of 7.5 seconds.

P3080371 (by retromotoring)

P3080374 (by retromotoring)

P3080372 (by retromotoring)

Bodywork came in either dark grey or white, with a BBS bodykit and ATS Alloy wheels. "16s" badging was a further clue to those left trailing in its wake - the "S" being short for "Soupapes", the French word for Valves. Lots of other interior and mechanical detail changes helped to lift the 16s above the regular GTI model.

DSCN0202 (by retromotoring)

Between 1200 and 2000 cars were built, sold in France and Switzerland as official VW products with the full factory warranty. They are a real rarity today.



Monday, September 21, 2009

Porsche 911 S Stainless Steel Car

F. Porsche KG, Stuttgart, 1967.

Stainless Steel Porsche 911 (by retromotoring)

Stainless Steel Porsche 911 (by retromotoring)

Stainless Steel Porsche 911 (by retromotoring)

Stainless Steel Porsche 911 (by retromotoring)

Stainless Steel Porsche 911 (by retromotoring)

This Porsche 911 S served as a test model for the use and processing of non-corroding steels in automotive manufacturing.

The body parts are made of cold-rolled sheet steel shaped by machine and in part by hand. The individual parts are welded. The body was not painted, but only ground and brushed. During its 7 years of operation, the car was driven 150,000km. The material passed all tests.

(text from the Deutsches Museum verkehrszentrum).



Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Unipart Instrument Mounting Console

A very generous recent donation to the Retro-Motoring archives, courtesy of William "RaggedyRacing" Ball.

Unipart Instrument Mounting Console (by retromotoring)

A lovely retro-period auxiliary instrument cluster, complete with the original box and stick-on metal-effect surround for the dials. Part number GAE130. Fantastic!

Unipart Instrument Mounting Console (by retromotoring)

Unipart Instrument Mounting Console (by retromotoring)

Cheers Bill!



Sunday, September 13, 2009

The Archives

A few shots of my magazine archives. Stacks and stacks of magazines from about 1950 to the present day. Almost every issue of CAR and CCC, hundreds of Autocar and Motor, Hot Car, Custom Car, Street Machine, What Car?, Performance Car and many many others.

P9130004 (by retromotoring)

P9130009 (by retromotoring)

P9130013 (by retromotoring)

P9130018 (by retromotoring)

P9130003 (by retromotoring)

P9130019 (by retromotoring)

I am slowly getting them organised into binders as funds allow!