When a Key is Not a Key or When an Automatic is Called Something Fancy

Yes. We have a key called an 'Emotion Control Unit" by Aston Martin and now Lotus calling the Automatic gearbox an "Intelligent Precision Shift" in the new Evora IPS. It is basically an automatic gearbox. The people in marketing have decided to crack their heads over something so mundane as a normal torque convertor type automatic transmission because they did some tweaking here and there.

Now as a result of this, I hereby declare that the driver's side door of any car be called ........
“The Gateway Towards Speed, Power and Glory”


This makes perfect sense doesn't it? Click here to read the article I wrote for CarThrottle.com.

2011 JDM/2012MY GT-R Has The Seat Color That I've Always Wanted in A GT-R

Something I've always wanted in a GT-R. Sakura colored seats. It should go very well with the blue shirt I am wearing. The 2012 Model Year GT-R specifications have been leaked. I happened to review it on MyAutoBlog.Org. Click here to read about it.

Joy Is Irritating

Ah....The BMW marketing people. How irritating Joy has recently become because of them. Click here to read the article that I recently wrote for CarThrottle.com

Some Interesting Pieces That I Did for MyAutoBlog

Here are some pieces of news that I recently wrote for MyAutoblog.org. Nothing unusual. But they do tell you the latest happenings around.

• Ultra expensive BMW E92 M3 GTS is only fractionally faster than older E46 M3 CSL. Around US$170,000 but only gives you a second faster than the older car. Click here to read it and what I think about it.

• The 'Unclemobile' Toyota Corolla Altis gets facelifted in Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand - it gets s 1.6liter with more grunt and a 6 speed manual -which is very appealing to me but most probably will never be sold here due to a supposed lack of demand for a manual gearbox. Why can't Malaysians want a car with these options so that it gets sold here? They also get a 2.0liter 6speed CVT with paddle shifters - which is what we may get when the facelift arrives. But CVT gearboxes actually aren't nice. They hold on to high revs while the speed catches up instead of climbing up together. Droney and rubber band in feel. Read this here and expect a Toyota Altis facelift sometime soon.

There are other articles of course. All you have to do is go over there to read about it. 

The Last GT-Four

I recently did this piece on the Toyota Caldina GT-Four for CarThrottle.com. The last of the Mohicans, the last of its kind for the time being maybe. All in all, the Caldina is a nice looking station wagon, and that's about it really. The rest is very typical Toyota. Smooth, linear in its power delivery, long lasting reliability and quality. It makes easy cruising at 150-170km/h (higher speeds are possible but the 4 speed autobox limits refinement a tad bit) . But do not expect it to be like an Impreza WRX or a Civic Type R or a Lancer Evolution. Do not even expect it to be as sporty as a Celica GT-Four. Which actually isn't that mind blowing also as its smooth, linear and feels too refined to be an all out sports car - a sports tourer maybe. Even though it is a rally special.

I should know as I have driven both. Do expect it to be a refined, grand tourer, fast enough to take out those pesky MPVs that litter the highway during festive occasions as well as those seemingly impatient Honda Accord and Toyota Camry drivers that flash their headlights as if they are the only cars fast enough on our roads.

Anyway, I am babbling a bit. Click here if you want to read the article.

A Top Performance Tip For This Month of Ramadhan

This is a top performance tip from yours truly.......

The month of Ramadhan is a good time for all motorheads, especially if you're fasting. If you lose 5kgs by fasting, your car will have improved power to weight ratio. Your car will accelerate slightly faster than before. For example -Your car makes 100bhp and weighs 1,000+ 90kg (that you weigh) = 91.7bhp/ton. If you weigh 5kg less = 92.1bhp/ton. See the marked improvement?

A heads up to Mr. Zairul Nizar for the fruitful discussion we had last Saturday night on this performance tip and other really interesting stuff (which was really really interesting, mind you)!

Ramadhan Musings, the Perodua Nautica's a failure and the Daihastu Copen

It’s the month of Ramadhan or the month of Fasting for Muslims all over the universe. Now things usually slow down to a crawl’s pace if you’re dealing with the Government as everyone is tired, sleepy, thirsty and hungry. This happens in a country where there is a large Muslim population. But all the better, the pace slows down. There are less queues at most payment counters, there are more parking spots around my office building, there are also less people on the roads during lunch time too.

There are however more traffic jams at around 5.00pm or so as everyone wants to get home at the same time. There is an increase in sugar consumption as everyone buys kuih that is sold at those “Params”, which is actually short for ‘Pasar Ramadhan’ or the Ramadhan food market. Where Malaysians from all walks of life buy all sorts of Malay food sold there. By Malaysians I mean everyone. Not only those that are fasting mind you.

Anyway, this is also the time where I don’t frequent these places. The food sold there isn’t actually that fabulous. Most are cooked with less passion and soul than the people at Proton assembling the Saga. Most are selling food for the sake of making money. Which is why the food from some of these stalls are truly and deeply horrific. Which is the reason I now refuse to go to these ‘Params’ unless my life depended upon it. Food that is prepared without passion is somehow less tasteful.

 But since you can get food almost everywhere, and if you’re like me, able to whip up food that Jamie Oliver would be proud of and the added bonus of a wife that can really cook. Why bother going to these passionless food stalls. If it’s a restaurant I wouldn’t mind, as they’re in this business for the long run. They’ve got a reputation to maintain.

Yes there are those that actually have restaurants but sell their stuff at these ‘Params’, but why do you want to suffer the haphazard traffic and parking caused by those inconsiderate buffoons who think that they’re the only ones who are fasting and cause a traffic jam? Just cook your own, or buy from a proper restaurant. The food is healthier, better and you know where it is from.

Anyway, have any of you seen a Perodua Nautica (nee Daihatsu Terios/Toyota Rush) on the road lately? Well I haven’t. I suppose Perodua only sold seven of them since 2008. Now I remember the smart Alec people in Perodua at the point of the Nautica’s launching telling the press that we have to import and sell the Nautica at a premium price due to the small volume of sales. See what happened? No one wanted a RM90k SUV that was tiny.

One other really glaring reason was the Toyota Rush. Toyota brought in the Indonesian Rush which is basically a 2WD long wheel based version of the Rush/Daihatsu Terios. This car had more space, better trimming and was almost cheaper than the fully imported 4WD Nautica. While imported, it did feel cheaper as there were no plastic trimmings on the wheel arches and the interior was plainer. Perodua brought in a pretty basic vehicle and wanted people to pay a lot for it.

The Toyota Rush had 2WD. But no one actually bought a Nautica or the previous Kembara for its off-road capabilities. Malaysians wanted a cut price RAV4. This is all. The tall driving position was favored by the women as it enabled them to drive in the city with ease. Unintimidated by other drivers around them. This had nothing to do with the Nautica’s capabilities at all. And then you add the fact that Malaysians think of resale value and branding, where Toyota seems to come up better than Perodua in both areas you now know why the Rush keeps selling and the Nautica didn’t.

So this was niche marketing and product sales that had basically failed. But I am suggesting that Perodua ‘Think Niche’ again. This time bring in that Daihatsu Copen and rebadge it as a Perodua. The Copen has been around for a while already (since 2002) and it is a nice small starter ‘coupe’ for Malaysians. If you think about it that is.

Imagine Perodua bringing this tiny, tiny coupe into Malaysia. Use the Myvi 1.3liter engine like the European versions of the Copen and you have a cheap to maintain little coupe. The mechanical parts are shared and only the body parts are different. Since the car has been in production for a while in Japan, parts for this car could be cheaper already. I mean this little car costs slightly more than the Terios (about SG$95k over sg$85k) in Singapore so it could be sold at around the same RM90k that Perodua was asking for the Nautica.

Yes, I am well aware that Top Gear said the Copen is ‘slightly gay’ but it is a sports coupe. It is a niche vehicle. It is cute. Lots of Malaysian women would want one. The fact that the car sits two is immaterial as no one actually buys a Nautica as a family car in the first place. I usually see one or two people in a Kembara usually.

In fact, if it is cheap, there would be quite a few men who would buy this as their weekend car. They’ll make it a little butch by changing the rims and tires. Put in a noisier exhaust system. They’ll also slap on those stickers here and there to try making it into a race car lookalike. Take a look at this slightly modded Copen below and then tell me it doesn’t look good eh? (pic:bespokeventures.com)

I mean, when was the last time a Malaysian company produced something really sporty looking? I wouldn’t call the Satria Neo CPS to be something truly sporty. It is a warm hatch. But does it look unique? In fact the last quite unique looking Malaysian car was the Putra. Think about it. Two doors, a boot. Very coupe. Not very Hot Hatch like. While a hot hatch is nice to drive, a road presence of a coupe is nicer.

So no matter how ginger beer, hairdresser’s car, girly or tiny looking the Copen is. I believe that this car would be a great addition to Perodua’s stable. Hello, anyone from Perodua reading this? Import the Daihatsu Copen in and sell it for RM90k. And people will buy.

If it doesn’t sell, well, at least you’re willing to bring some life into a quite dull and normal Malaysian car industry. Unlike the Nautica that is.

The Future is the Automatic Transmission

Hello people.... This here is an editorial piece I've written especially for CarThrottle. Click here to read it.

If I Cannot Afford A New Audi I'll Just Have To Make My Car Into One

Posted on MyAutoBlog.org by yours truly. There have been so many Sagas with a Subaru scoop, bodykit going around but the owner of this car is more ambitious......... Click here for more details.

2010 meets the 1990s: My Review of the Proton Satria Neo

Read about my thoughts on a 2010 Proton Satria Neo over here.

The Audi A4 Gets To Breathe, and Fart a Little Easier....

As what the owner said, "It Ain't Rocket Science". That being said, the mods do work very well. Read it in CarThrottle.org.

I Recently Spotted A Peugeot 3008 ...........

The Peugeot 3008 (Hippopotamus amphibius), or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae (the other is the Pygmy Hippopotamus – or the Austin A40 – now extinct.) The 3008 is the third largest land animal (after the elephant and the white rhinoceros) and the heaviest extant artiodactyl, despite being considerably shorter than the giraffe.

The 3008 is an SUV, and therefore it can be semi-aquatic, able to cross small streams and city flash floods, and climb tall roadside kerbs, rivers and lakes where territorial SUVs preside over a stretch of river and groups of 5 to 30 females and young. During the day they remain cool by posing in local watering holes like Bangsar or Sri Hartamas. They emerge at dusk to graze on Starbucks Coffee and other places where expensive coffee and clothing is served. While 3008s rest near each other in the water, grazing is a solitary activity and the 3008 are not territorial on land.

Despite their physical resemblance to pigs and other terrestrial even-toed ungulates, their closest living relatives are the slightly dumpy looking Audi Q5 (the Q7, while huge looks so much better looking – somehow those longer overhangs front and rear and that longer bonnet helps a lot) from which they diverged about 55 million years ago. The common ancestor of Q5 and 3008s split from other normal looking SUVs (like a Mitsubishi Airtrek, Subaru Forester, Range Rover, Freelander etc) around 60 million years ago. The earliest known 3008 fossils, belonging to the genus ugliesthippoaroundus in Africa, date to around 16 million years ago.

The Peugeot 3008 is recognizable by its barrel-shaped torso

, enormous mouth and teeth, 

nearly hairless body, stubby legs and tremendous size. Check out the overhangs front and rear. 

It is THAT disproportionate in terms of looks.Press photos make it look decent. My photos make it look decent too. You have to see it for yourselves to see how horrid it is. Anyway, it is based on the the third-largest land mammal by weight, behind the white rhinoceros and both species of elephant. Despite its stocky shape and short legs, it can easily outrun a human with its efficient 1.6liter 156bhp turbocharged engine. 3008s have been clocked at 30 km/h (19 mph) over short distances due to having the same engine as the current Mini Cooper S, the Peugeot 308GT and also due to its 6 speed automatic gearbox (over the ancient 4speed automatic in the 308 sold here in Malaysia).

And that folks, is the new Peugeot 3008. NAZA underestimated the demand for this in Malaysia as for RM145K, people seem to want this funny looking SUV. Some even chose to buy this due to Audi having a 1 year waiting list for its Q5 over the 3008's 8 to 10 month waiting list. Being more than a 100k cheaper yet still a European import makes it pretty desirable. But it's plain ugly and pretty pointless as it has no real off-road capability whatsoever. I'd never buy an SUV just for its commanding driving position especially if it looks like a hippo. People are buying for the badge, purely for the badge and the image (what image?) that a continental has over here in Malaysia.

Much like those Avanza owners. Buy a crap van just because its a Toyota. Now they're buying an ugly SUV because its a Peugeot. Please people...if you want to buy a Peugeot here in Malaysia, there is the  407 and pointy nosed 308 for you to buy. Not a water loving mammal.

An Article from Another Blog Caught My Eye and Some Thoughts on High Mileage Cars

After a bit of light reading at syedoutsidethebox.blogspot.com I have extracted this for you to read.

“The CEO (of Proton) said that they have sembahyang hajat when they embark on something or other at Proton. The CEO and his Managers all sembahyang hajat together, with the CEO playing imam.

 

My view is this. Cars are made of steel, aluminium, parts and components. The European cars can now give up to 60 MILES PER GALLON or equal to 20 kilometres per litre of diesel !! The new technology in Europe is diesel driven. It is becoming clean, with a very low carbon footprint and gives great mileage.

 

Even the Chinese cars like Chery (a recent member of the car fraternity) are latching on to European standards and technology. I dont know how sembahyang hajat plays into all this? I believe at least one religious person has said before that the 'sembahyang hajat' does not work. “

The above was an excerpt from the above mentioned blog where some political in nature Malaysian bloggers had dinner with the CEO of Proton so that he can explain some politically charged issue that I have no concern of whatsoever. We all know that ‘Sembahyang Hajat’ means a Prayer for a Wish/Request. If the above statement is true  (Note the ‘IF’ word here) this is what Proton is resorting to conducting all the time when it builds cars for the general public to sell then we now know the actual problem of Proton. They are hoping for something called Divine Intervention.

Divine Intevention is a term for a miracle caused by God's active involvement in the human world. I mean would God actually dabble with the creation of a new Proton? Would The Almighty be willing to turn a lemon, like say the Satria Neo I drove recently, and turn it into a Ferrari Enzo beating creation? Or send his Angels down from Heaven and mould that ugly Proton Waja into a Maserati Quattroporte everytime a Waja leaves the assembly line? Would the same Angels also tune that exhaust note of sad, dumpy looking Proton Saga and make it sound like something Mozart wrote?

Actually I don’t think so. You have to actually help yourself first before others can help you. If the product is already a half baked one, then you’ve got it all wrong. Even sembahyang hajat will not help.

A systematic definition of miracles performed by apostles. Of course, no one in Proton are apostles, but the following defines what a miracle is in an Islamic sense. I am using this since Sembahyang Hajat was brought up and if they did one everytime they launched a car, they must have did it when they launched the Satria Neo, Persona and Saga. Anyway, the definition of a miracle can be found in the work of the Muslim scholar al-Īd̲j̲ī Mawāḳif, historian A.J. Wensinck states.The main purpose of miracle is to prove the sincerity of the apostle and has to satisfy the following conditions:

1.     It must be performed by God

2.     "It must be contrary to the usual course of things"

3.     It should be impossible to contradict it

4.     "It must happen at the hands of him who claims to be an apostle

5.     "It must be in conformity with his announcement of it, and the miracle itself must not be a disavowal of his claim"

6.     "It must follow on his claim.

Right. Number 2 means that the miracle ‘must be contrary to the usual course of things’. If the build quality of a Proton is usually bad, (remember that Satria Neo I talked about recently? Bad seat, bad air-cond blower etc.), then nothing could ever stop everyone from criticizing it.

This is the same if it was a Toyota Avanza. I say that the car is absolute crap because it is. No miracle can ever change the fact that it has leaf springs, a badly designed shape and a lorry chassis. If it were built differently, it wouldn’t be an Avanza. The only miracle I see that Proton wants to emulate from Toyota is the fact that lots of people are gullible and, to put it bluntly, idiotic enough to buy one. So maybe, on that note, all those Sembahyang Hajat actually works. People are rushing out and buying at dumpy looking Proton Saga. With that, I take back everything bad I said in this article about Proton conducting the Sembahyang Hajat. Or do I?

Now speaking of cars that have actual quality, this E-Type from the early 1970s (a Series III V12) recently made its way across the border up North. A thousand kilometer trip was not a problem for it and the only set-back that happened to it was a speedbump that was too high, resulting in a cracked exhaust that was easily fixed. Oh, I was there when the mechanics took the car to get the exhaust repaired. Ever heard a Jaguar V12 unsilenced? I have. It was epic.

On the same note, the owner of that wonderful car also made another 1,800km trip in a 1995 Toyota Estima Lucida which had over 260,000km on the clock without any issues.

Cars like these will go on forever. Like the Mercedes W124 I reviewed earlier. It seems that the notion where old cars are clunkers and break down all the time should be put to rest. It all takes some routine maintenance. Stuff that needs to be changed, when it needs to be changed, should be changed. Cars with great build quality will last nearly forever. No extra prayers needed. Just a simple ‘Bismillah’ before you start your day is all you need….. If you’re a Muslim that is, and a short prayer for a splendid and productive day for others out there is all you need to do. It is as simple as that folks.

Proof That LED Driving Lights is More for Style Rather Than Safety

Good afternoon. I had this piece written showing evidence that those LED lights you see on those Audis, Porsches and other cars are purely fashion or style statements. Click here to read the article posted on MyAutoblog.org.

Some Photographs and A Few Interesting Postings on MyAutoBlog by Yours Truly.....

Hello again. I have been pretty busy travelling around the Peninsular recently. I made a 2 trips down South. One to Muar, Johor and one more to the Lion City for a change of air. I basically went to someplace a little more hectic but surprisingly more organized than Kuala Lumpur, so it was good.

The 'murtabak singapore' at Zam Zam and at Victory next door ( both pictured above) is nice on a Sunday morning, or for lunch or for dinner.

Oh yes. Check out this little Suzy. It is smaller than a Jimny SJ413. But it has chunky off-road tires, taller suspension and all the off-road goodies. I wonder if this little car does leave the island for off-road jaunts in Malaysia.

Now I've not been quiet on the writing front. I have been writing new pieces for MyAutoBlog.org.

The following are some that I think are worthy to share in here...........................
1. The Beacham Jaguar MkII.  You now don't have to send that Jag of yours for a modernization in the UK anymore. Click here to read the article.

2. Gordon Murray's T25. A nice small car concept. I like small cars. The original Mini is one of my favourite drives and so was my 2nd Gen Honda Civic. Of course, this is smaller than my Civic, and smaller slightly than the Mini. Go here to see some pics and a writeup about it.

3. Drive a black car? Some more useless research conducted by people who want grants from the government or to show that they are doing something with taxpayer's money at all those Institutes of Higher Learning.

4. The next Suzy Swift is out. Check out how much it doesn't differ here. It may be longer, wider and taller, but it stays the same.

5.Late night shopping at Mustafa's in Little India, Singapore, a Toyota with a Subaru Scoop (even in Singapore we get mods like this) and an old W124 wagon plying the streets of Singapore at night. They don't throw out their old stuff all the time if you know what I mean. Click here for this.

Of Glee, its similarities to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and the 2010 Satria Neo M-Line

So. Glee has become a supposed international phenomenon. Critics seem to love it and the fans, like the Trekkies from Star Trek, have called themselves 'Gleeks'. The series features numerous song covers sung on-screen by the characters and the musical segments typically take the form of performances, as opposed to the characters singing spontaneously, as the intention is for the series to remain reality-based. Or so the show's producers say. But let me tell you that Glee is nothing new to people here in Malaysia, or India for that matter.

It is like watching a Hindi or Tamil movie from Bollywood, India. People in those movies break into song and dance in the middle of something. Just like Glee. There, we get Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Madhuri Dixit and a brimful of Asha on the '45. These actors and actresses act in movies that have song and dance every 20 minutes or so. In Glee, we have four to five songs, where the same thing happens. People break into song and dance for no apparent reason whatsoever. Or just to look good while dancing and singing like part of an MTV music video. The only difference is that Glee is in English and not Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, Telugu or any other Indian movie made out there nowadays.

Of course the comedy and the witty dialog would keep you anchored to your telly and watch the movie but the truth is, you're watching an Indian movie being played out in English. Even I find it quite entertaining actually. BUT there is nothing for you to think that Glee is a super cool television program that is totally innovative and unique. It is a Hindi/Tamil/Telugu etc movie adapted for television and then to English. Actually if you wanted to watch people singing, go to a concert, open up YouTube or go to your local pub.

Imagine Glee without the song and dance, would you bother watching it? Imagine watching the hit Hindi movie Kuch Kuch Hota Hai without the song and dance. So you tell me how cool is that then? There. I've said it. It is actually the same thing. So all you Gleeks out there should just borrow or buy some Indian movies and you can get the same high in a different language.

So in the words of Mr “Everything Comes From India” from the BBC series 'Goodness Gracious Me', Glee is Indian (as is Mona Lisa, Leonardo DaVinci, the Queen, etc). There. I've gotten it off of my chest. Now let's talk about cars again.

The Proton Satria Neo is one car which really does not fit me. My good friend recently got one for his wife to use, which is all very fine as the wife is petite. Unlike yours truly who keeps hiting his head everytime he enters the car. I even hit my head trying to adjust the seat. I really forgot about how low the roof of this car was as the only time I actually sat in a Satrio Neo was at the launching and if I remembered properly I hit my head then too.

And yes. That sunshade is utterly useless as it blocks the view completely if you are taller than 5foot 7inches and drive in a proper, straight up position.

Anyway, since I've already complained about this fact before in one of my very first articles (do browse through my earlier stuff and see if you can find it) I'll move on to something different about the Satria Neo aside from the iffy build quality of the car my friend bought. Which was a noisy air-condition blower that goes 'RRRRRRRRRR' if you set it more than one-thirds of the blower speed (lucky being a Proton it was still cold at the speed) and that the seat won't ratchet. Which is really rubbish since the Satria Neo has been around for around four years. Warranty claim will be made on both issues at the 1000km service.

But the main gripe of this article and in true journalistic (or artistic) license I shall harp about the problem of the Satria Neo when you have to use the car at night.

As you can see, the main meter cluster is very nice to look at at night. So is the radio and air-condition controls.

But as soon as you look at the gear gate, you go 'Ahhhh, it has an old world glow to it' ...like it was from a bakelite cased radio that is backlit by a reddish, yellowish glow from a time long forgotten. The 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Or at the very best, a meter cluster that is lighted from from the 1970s that makes the fonts look blurry and dull.

Basically what I am stating here is that the gear gate is lighted up really badly. It looks like something from days long gone. It does not even properly match the glow from the radio and air conditioned controls. Why is it so hard for this car manufacturer to get even a simple thing like this right? The picture on this does not show the difference as much as I wanted to. But if you have the chance of sitting in a Satria Neo when its dark, you should try looking at the gear gate area when its lighted up.

The great thing was this fact was pointed out by my friend. Basically his statement summed up the car. “The car isn't that bad with the faults that I've found (the blower, the faulty driver's seat and that ugly glow) as the car only cost RM51,000. ” he said. But then just a second later he added “Actually no. It's actually bad, very bad.”

Yes. The Satria Neo M-Line looks good, handles very well (great chassis – you should try it) and now with the IAFM module does not have that stupid torque dip. But again, it is let down by impracticality (for taller people), iffy quality and that retro-when-its-not -supposed-to-be back lit gear gate.

Oh yeah. My friend got the car about 3 weeks ago. This was the car on the first day of ownership. New 17inch rims replaced the stock 16inch rims and tires.

After the second week the car now has a full R3 styled bodykit and does not even look like this anymore. Sometimes my friends really surprise the heck out of me. I may post pictures of it soon in full drag.

Two Articles of Mine on CarThrottle.Com For Your Reading Pleasure

I've got two new articles of mine on carthrottle.com. Click here to read about Lady Gaga, Too Much Money and Mad Cars and here to read about Why I am not too keen on  Hybrid and Electric Cars. Of course I have written about this on myautoblog before, but this is an expanded and a little more detailed article than before. Enjoy.

Racing with the Proton Saga -

Hello. Today I have decided to showcase our venerable and not so good to drive 1st Malaysian car on CarThrottle.com. I somehow believe that if I write stuff like this and the previous piece on the time attack at Sepang people elsewhere will find out more about us in this part of the world. Click here to read about it.

C'était un Rendez-vous ("It Was A Date")

A minor masterpiece in my opinion. And again in my opinion would never be repeated. We let the Wikipedia explanation of the short film tell you guys a bit about it. I think such a movie would and could never again be shot in any city street like the way it was shot. No stunt doubles, just pure madness (up to a level that is). Click here to view the film.

"The film shows an eight-minute drive through Paris in the early hours of the morning (05:30hrs), accompanied by sounds of a high-reving engine, gear changes and squealing tires. It starts in a tunnel of the Paris Périphérique at Porte Dauphine, with an onboard view from an unseen car exiting up on a ramp (and from there following this route) to Avenue Foch. Well-known landmarks such as the Arc de Triomphe, Opéra Garnier, and Place de la Concorde with its obelisk are passed, as well as the Champs-Élysées. Pedestrians are passed, pigeons sitting on the streets are scattered, red lights are ignored, one-way streets are driven up the wrong way, center lines are crossed, the car drives on the sidewalk to avoid a garbage truck. The car is never seen as the camera seems to be attached below the front bumper (judging from the relative positions of other cars, the visible headlight beam and the final shot when the car is parked in front of a curb on Montmartre, with the famous Sacré Cœur Basilica behind, and out of shot). Here, the driver gets out and embraces a young blonde woman as bells ring in the background, with the famous backdrop of Paris. Shot in a single take, it is an example of cinéma-vérité. The length of the film was limited by the short capacity of the 1000 foot 35mm film reel, and filmed from a (supposedly) gyro-stabilised camera mounted on the bumper of a Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9. A photo has surfaced that seems to reveal an Eclair cam-flex 35mm camera with a wide angle lens, and a typical "speed rail" hard mount - no gyros - on a Mercedes. This model, which could reach a top speed of 235 km/h (146 mph), was only available with a 3-speed automatic transmission. Yet, one can hear gear changes up into 5th, as well as heel-and-toe down-shifting with a high-revving engine indicating speeds of well over 200 km/h. Calculations made by several independent groups showed that the car never exceeded 140 km/h (85 mph). Lelouch himself claimed that the top speed achieved was over 200 km/h, somewhere between 230 km/h and 240 km/h. It is suggested that the soundtrack was dubbed with the sound of Lelouch's Ferrari 275GTB, which has a corresponding number of gears and a V-12 sound that is quite distinct from that of any V8, including the 6.9 liter V8 of the alleged Mercedes camera car.

A making-of-the-rendezvous documentary indicates that Lelouch himself was the driver, that the car driven was the Mercedes, although the sound track is from a Ferrari. One observer was posted, with a walkie talkie, close to the Louvre palace at the only blind junction (archway) to assist the driver, however Lelouch has revealed that the radios failed, and if the assistant had tried to warn him of a pedestrian the message would not have been received.

In 2002 Spirit Level Film and Lelouch restored and re-mastered Rendezvous from the original 35 mm negative and released it on DVD.

Comments attributed to Lelouch indicate that he acknowledges the moral outrage over his method of shooting this film as valid. He also states that he was prepared to take the risks in making the film, but that he however was also ready to drop it if he came across any unexpected risk (pedestrian, hurdle, etc.)."

Anyway it was 1976, long ago...but it was bloody marvelous!

Old vs. New Part II: 1990 Mercedes Benz 200E W124

Hello again and welcome to Part II of the Old versus New article. Previously I wrote about the newly facelifted Proton Persona SE Elegance. It is an affordable Malaysian made car which I think is a good car to drive. Albeit with a compromised driving position. The car I drove was fresh out of Proton's car lot and was quite a decent drive. Surprisingly it also felt well screwed together. Cheap, but well put together.This car is something that I would recommend to a person who wants a sprightly drive yet is still looking for this at the lower end of the car buying spectrum.