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[oldhat]

Please post your lesser-known motoring related stories here.

Example:

Nissan's L series engine has had a long and successful production life. It was utilised in a large variety of vehicles from the classic Datsun 510, 240Z and Skylines, to commercial vehicles such as the 620 pickup and off-road Patrol. It was however, originally a Mercedes-Benz design!

After WW2, a Japanese aircraft manufacturer went into car production, changing it's name to Prince Motor Company in 1952. In an effort to reduce development costs, they licensed a modular 4 and 6 cylinder engine design from Mercedes-Benz. By 1966, Prince had developed the engine sufficiently that it no longer required licensing.

Nissan absorbed the Prince Motor Company in 1966 and initially continued to produce Prince's Skyline and Gloria models. These soon became Datsun and Nissan models, and their Mercedes-Benz derived G series engine became the Nissan L series.

 

[oldhat]

In 1999, Honda released the S2000. It was claimed to have the highest specific output normally aspirated production automobile engine in the world. It's engine had a displacement of 1997cc. Power output was between 177kW and 184kW(depending on target market) and redlined at 9000rpm.

However, in 1967 Alfa Romeo produced an engine with a similar power output. The Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale featured a 1995cc normally aspirated engine, redlined at 10000rpm and had a claimed power output of 172kW. When the first engine was tested on a dynamometer, it recorded 181kW at 9400rpm.

 

[TheChamp]

Impressive, even today Honda still build the best NA engines, their 1.5l engines punches way above their weight.

 

[Thugscub]

And in SA the wheel is yet to be discovered.

 

[TheChamp]

And in SA the wheel is yet to be discovered.

That's truly a lesser known motoring related story.

 

[oldhat]

During the late 1970's, Intermotormakers of Parow, Cape Town, acquired the rights to assemble both Lotus and Lamborghini sports cars in South Africa. Jan van der Baan was an American importer who was impressed with the quality of the cars he was receiving from South Africa, as they were superior to those from the factory in Italy! He placed an order for 200 South African built Lamborghinis, but the factory in Italy could not supply enough parts for 200 cars.

The American importer, his bankers and Gerrie Steenkamp of Intermotormakers then met with the owners of Lamborghini(Rosetti and Leimer) and soon negotiated a deal: Lamborghini would move it's entire operation to South Africa! As plans were underway, the Italian government heard about the deal and immediately put a stop to it.

 

[oldhat]

During the late 1980's/early 1990's many manufacturers wanted to produce engines for Formula One. The rules allowed for a normally aspirated engine of no more than 3.5liters. Here are a few that did not quite make it;

HKS 300E:
The Japanese auto tuning parts manufacturer HKS built and tested a 60valve(5valves per cylinder) 3.5liter V12 engine that produced 680HP and revved to 13500rpm.

Isuzu P799WE:
Isuzu produced and tested a 3.5liter V12 engine producing 755HP and was capable of 13500rpm.

Nissan VRT35:
Nissan produced and tested a 3.5liter V12 engine that managed 630HP and red lined at 11600rpm.

 

[oldhat]

While driving a Citroën 2CV through the Moroccan desert on a project during 1993, French electrician Emile Leray hit a rock, badly damaging the car. Over the next 12 days he stripped the car and used the salvaged parts to construct a makeshift motorbike. He even attached the cars registration plates to his contraption.

He then rode back to civilization successfully, where he was fined because the registration did not match the vehicle.

 

[WaxLyrical]

While driving a Citroën 2CV through the Moroccan desert on a project during 1993, French electrician Emile Leray hit a rock, badly damaging the car. Over the next 12 days he stripped the car and used the salvaged parts to construct a makeshift motorbike. He even attached the cars registration plates to his contraption.

He then rode back to civilization successfully, where he was fined because the registration did not match the vehicle.

 

[Mekon]

Apparently the Nissan 1400 bakkie engine is actually an Austin design from the 1950's ??

 

[oldhat]

Apparently the Nissan 1400 bakkie engine is actually an Austin design from the 1950's ??

It is indeed very similar. Nissan's E series engine from the 1950's was based on a BMC(Austin) design. The Nissan A series engine, as used in the 1400 bakkie, replaced the E series but had quite a lot in common with it.

 

[oldhat]

Towards the end of it's production run, the VW Golf MKII was no longer competetive is South Africa's Group N production racing category. Limited edition homologation specials such as Opel's Kadett GSi 16V S "Superboss" and BMW's 325iS "Shadowline" were just too quick.

In effort to compete, Volkswagen South Africa decided to develop their own limited edition Golf MKII 2.0 "Spitze". They sourced a high performance 16 valve cylinder head from Schrick Motorsport and installed a revised inlet and exhaust system. The car was also fitted with larger brakes, wheels and tyres from the VW Corrado, with stiffer suspension rates.

During development the engine produced around 130kW but there were a few problems. Due the engine's design limitations, they had to use an 92.8mm stroke to achieve 2.0 litre displacement. This led to extremely high piston speeds at peak rpm. There were also rumours of oil starvation to certain bearings.

The project was therefore scrapped and the development cars were retro-fitted with standard components so no examples survived.