The Best ///M/Barge/General Rant/Look at this/O/T(Vol XIX)
Discussion
Fast Bug said:
That shape Esprit look really good... even better without the rear wing.
Not huge a fan of the later Esprit. It's still got that beautiful simplicity of the earlier cars wedge shape but it's been softened and diluted to bring it up to date with it's contemporaries. Seems a bit of a mongrel stylistically.
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VS
|https://thumbsnap.com/GEoMB219[/url]
I also find the interior pretty bland.
VS
I'll get my coat...
ETA. I wouldn't kick one out of bed mind.
[url]VS
|https://thumbsnap.com/GEoMB219[/url]I also find the interior pretty bland.
VS
I'll get my coat...
ETA. I wouldn't kick one out of bed mind.
braddo said:
Would be interested to hear more detail of how that came about. 
I was born on the other side of the divide....Grandad was into his cars, Dad did an MSc in Vehicle Engineering, and was really into rallying. Started off with Ladas, moved on to a FIAT 131 Abarth, occaisionaly drove a 911, Renault 11 Turbos, the NIssan above... The holy grail was of course the Audi Quattro and the Delta which came after it... Never got to try them as Communism collapsed and support for the sport, which was still fairly amateurish evaporated.
Rallying in the Soviet block was always a state sponsored affair. Usually large companies would have a rally club/team and if they happened to be earning FX, they would often buy the latest and greatest from the West...The 131 Abarth was bought ex-works for another driver as part of a deal where FIAT received some forklifts in exchange. When the FIAT was no longer competitive, it ended up in my dad's club... The 911 was an ex-Almeras Frers car which was super competitve, but was super expensive to run, hence he didn t get many outings. The Nissan was the nicest to drive, but it wasn't very competitive against the rest of the Group B monsters. Then it was "sold" to another club in exchange for some spares for the club's Schnitzer 635CSi Group A car - all wheeling and dealing...
Cheburator mk2 said:
I was born on the other side of the divide....
Grandad was into his cars, Dad did an MSc in Vehicle Engineering, and was really into rallying. Started off with Ladas, moved on to a FIAT 131 Abarth, occaisionaly drove a 911, Renault 11 Turbos, the NIssan above... The holy grail was of course the Audi Quattro and the Delta which came after it... Never got to try them as Communism collapsed and support for the sport, which was still fairly amateurish evaporated.
Rallying in the Soviet block was always a state sponsored affair. Usually large companies would have a rally club/team and if they happened to be earning FX, they would often buy the latest and greatest from the West...The 131 Abarth was bought ex-works for another driver as part of a deal where FIAT received some forklifts in exchange. When the FIAT was no longer competitive, it ended up in my dad's club... The 911 was an ex-Almeras Frers car which was super competitve, but was super expensive to run, hence he didn t get many outings. The Nissan was the nicest to drive, but it wasn't very competitive against the rest of the Group B monsters. Then it was "sold" to another club in exchange for some spares for the club's Schnitzer 635CSi Group A car - all wheeling and dealing...
That is several parts enlightening, interesting and excellent. Grandad was into his cars, Dad did an MSc in Vehicle Engineering, and was really into rallying. Started off with Ladas, moved on to a FIAT 131 Abarth, occaisionaly drove a 911, Renault 11 Turbos, the NIssan above... The holy grail was of course the Audi Quattro and the Delta which came after it... Never got to try them as Communism collapsed and support for the sport, which was still fairly amateurish evaporated.
Rallying in the Soviet block was always a state sponsored affair. Usually large companies would have a rally club/team and if they happened to be earning FX, they would often buy the latest and greatest from the West...The 131 Abarth was bought ex-works for another driver as part of a deal where FIAT received some forklifts in exchange. When the FIAT was no longer competitive, it ended up in my dad's club... The 911 was an ex-Almeras Frers car which was super competitve, but was super expensive to run, hence he didn t get many outings. The Nissan was the nicest to drive, but it wasn't very competitive against the rest of the Group B monsters. Then it was "sold" to another club in exchange for some spares for the club's Schnitzer 635CSi Group A car - all wheeling and dealing...
braddo said:
Indeed it is. Cheers Cheb.
Your Dad must have been quite the driver to land those seats. Was any of the driving in competitions in the West or all behind the curtain?
Not good enough to compete in the West - there were a handful of EEuropeans who ended as works drivers and drove in some Western rallies - Sobieslav Zasada of Poland - regularly drove and won with a Porsche, which was kind of werks supported. Attila Ferjancz of Hungary and Ilia Chubrikov of a Bulgaria were on the Rothmans team with Renault 5 Turbos, but they were the exception rather than the norm. Your Dad must have been quite the driver to land those seats. Was any of the driving in competitions in the West or all behind the curtain?
It’s also worth noting that when the cars were initially acquired they were beasts. Two or three seasons down the line, when they had trickled down to drivers like my dad, more often than not they were sheds. Funnily enough, the ABARTH’s last owner almost did use it as a chicken coop before a canny Italian acquired it and apparently totally restored it.
braddo said:
Very interesting. It might have been 'domestic' rallying but clearly still highly competitive with big companies bankrolling the cars and drivers needing to compete to drive them.
It was strangely very amateurish and professional at the same time. We still have tens of books in the library at my dads place written by western and eastern authors on subjects such as “driver psychological preparation”, “methods for fitness preparation by drivers and co-drivers” or “fuel injected systems of western automobiles” and yet, the drivers and co-drivers had normal day jobs, other hobbies etc. One of my dad’s friends who got him the seat in the first place was a fully practicing military orthopaedic surgeon for example.They would “train” on the open roads, often in Ladas so not to attract attention by other teams. And indeed my dad had some stories.
Scho said:
Not huge a fan of the later Esprit. It's still got that beautiful simplicity of the earlier cars wedge shape but it's been softened and diluted to bring it up to date with it's contemporaries. Seems a bit of a mongrel stylistically.
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