alfa romeo flat 4 - rudolf hruska

Car engines are strange designs, different at least because they can be appreciated on many levels.

Firstly, there is the aesthetic; appreciating the engine visually, either in situ or out of the car and certainly in dismantled, component form. Then you can appreciate them aurally, as so much has been said and written on the sound effects produced by so many popular performance cars it would be foolish to omit this quality. And lastly, and engine can be admired for the performance that it endows the car in which it is installed in with. The on-paper specifications can be impressive, but ultimately as a design, all the dimensional representations of an engine can amount to naught if it doesn't deliver some level of exhilaration, or at the very least - some satisfaction.

So it is with that introduction that I choose to deliver one of the most pleasing engines that any common man can lay their hands on - the Alfa Romeo, horizontally opposed four cylinder. This engine was introduced in 1971 in its diminutive 1186cc form as the motive power for the then, all-new Alfasud.

The engine was as the rest of the car, a radical departure from most of what Alfa Romeo had always stood for; for starters it was a front-wheel drive car. Secondly, the engine itself had four, horizontally-opposed cylinders with overhead valve gear driven by a single overhead cam. That, for a company who's reputation hinged on their sonorous DOHC 'fours' was unusual. Stranger still, that single overhead cam was driven not by the altogether commonplace duplex chain drive, but by a pair of toothed rubber belts, and induction was courtesy not of the paired Webers that by the early seventies had become de-rigeur on Alfa Romeo engines, but by a single ventura, Dell'orto carburetor!!

The early versions delivered just 63bhp, but it is right here that you develop a fondness for this engine. Its delivery, as a free-revving, aural delight is what really satisfies. As the revs gather, the engine smoothens right up to its lofty 6750rpm red-line. Noteworthy: at the time that the Alfasud was being developed, Alfa's racing arm 'Autodelta', was winning the world sportscar championship with 12 cylinder boxer engines, and whilst it is intangible as to how much of that technology found its way into Alfa's baby, there can be no doubt that some spirit rubbed off.

The flat four grew in size, first to 1.3 litres and then on to 1.5 whilst the fuel delivery was up-specced from the original 32mm Dell'orto to a dual throat Weber, then paired Weber IDA's before the ultimate 1.7 litre versions were gifted with DOHC 4 valve heads and nearly 130bhp.

In any iteration, the engine is a delight to spin out to its rev ceiling, take in the rasping exhaust note and savouring the the power delivery through the front wheels. 

Like many boxer engines, it is a visual disappointment when fitted in the car. Early versions are dominated by the large, round tin air cleaner that later became ribbed plastic on Alfasud tis. Later still, the twin carb engines were a slightly prettier sight with a carburetor and manifold sprouting out of each head, joined by a flat, oblong filter arrangement but all the castings and exhaust manifolds remained hidden, under the engine - a legacy of the boxer engine's purposeful design that bestowed it, and the cars that it was fitted in with qualities well beyond their often mundane and utilitarian day to day commutes.

Many frailties can plague these engines, but the thrill of the start up, the enjoyment of exploring its limits and the sound of its exhaust note are worth every headache.

citroen cx - robert opron

 

I add the CX at the risk of making this list the ultimate collection of French cars! The CX however, the car that superseded the legendary and evergreen DS, was so successful and unique as a seventies saloon and so quirky in its styling that I simply cannot ignore it.

Robert Opron, the bespectacled bow-tie wearing designer who came from designing stoves and refrigerators for Arthur Martin, had the unenviable job of becoming the head of Citroen styling after the legendary Italian Flaminio Bertoni had passed on. Bertoni was the creator of the Traction Avant, the DS and the Ami, arguably Citroen's three most classic models. Bertoni was the first stylist to use clay models, and relied greatly upon them, using only minimal drawing to convey his ideas. Opron on the other hand, was a great drawer, being able to express entirely his concepts and ideas to clay stylists. 

The CX was released in 1974, and its production run lasted until 1991, one can imagine how the CX looked along side its contemporaries. It was certainly never copied. It could be nothing if not a French saloon, low and broad with Opron's signature faired-in headlamps, a nod to superior aerodynamics. The concave rear window on the fastback profile and adjustable side skirts that provided a road seal when the big Citroen was set on its lowest ride setting, helped to generate vacuum under the body.

The lure of the CX to its enthusiasts is much the same as all Citroens; they are eccentric and off beat. To own and drive a CX today is surely a little out of the scope of the 'normal' motorist and certainly employing an early car in a typically seventies hue as a daily hack will have you inducted into a unique club. Sure to turn every head on any high street, there are not many cars left like the CX.

faema e61

Fabbrica Apparecchiature`ElettroMeccaniche e Affini

In 1961 Faema wrote an important chapter in the history of espresso machines when they released the E61 with its internal pump to regulate pressure at approximately 9 bar to produce 'perfect' espresso. The E61 was also relatively laden with other features, but it is arguably one of the best looking automatic espresso machines ever built.

Whether an individual was responsible for the design or not is unclear, but it is certainly the machine's aesthetic that is responsible for its sustained popularity as in 45+ years since its inception better machines have come and gone and it is still a popular machine for commercial and domestic use and is seeing restoration by coffee enthusiasts all over the world. The E61 is quite possibly the most collectable espresso machine on the planet and it is easy to see why.

onitsuka tiger - mexico 66

Cannot list the specific designer of these magnificent trainers, but Onitsuka Tiger was the brainchild of one Kihachiro Onitsuka a Japanese entrepreneur who is essentially responsible for the first Japanese sports shoe.

The Mexico 66 is to many the quintessential design from the company, not for sporting applications but as a fashion accessory. Sports shoe technology has come a long, long way since 1966 when this design was first released, so it is something of an irony that there is still a market for them. But like many classic designs, the Mexico 66 is representative of an era.

The Mexico has been released in a multitude of colour combinations over the years, ranging from white strips over black, through to a yellow/red/green combination released in 2004 and many in between. The Mexico is one of the many trainer designs that is eternally versatile in its wear applications; a true fashion accessory!!

It was the first Tiger trainer to feature what are now the signature stripes on the side panel. They served a greater purpose than pure aesthetics however, known as 'Tiger stripes" they reinforce the shoe's side panels for greater lateral support whilst running.

The leather upper is of extremely light weight (as they were intended for sprinting...) and the suede toe piece added durability to what was an already durable design although, anyone who is a serial Mexico collector will tell you that its the least stain-resistant part of an otherwise easy-to-clean trainer!

Right at home under jeans, with shorts, socks, no socks - the Onitsuka Mexico 66 is one of the great and enduring sport garment designs that not only offers a great look but unparalleled comfort!

mercedes benz W123 TE - bruno sacco

Produced from 1976 to 1985, the W123 Mercedes Saloons, Coupes and Estates bridged the gap between the classic, and the modern Mercedes.

The model which has always been the range 'star' if you like is the CE; the coupe. A restrained, pillar-less design which was handsome yet fairly sober, ever by Mercedes Benz standards. The model that is now starting to make a comebackhowever, is the TE - transport und tourisik, the humble station wagon. Dismissed by many for years, canibalised for spares and worth a pittance, it is the new 'cool old Mercedes'.

Possibly because its the most practical incarnation of the model, or perhaps because it was, in many ways the very first of a now popular genre - the mid-sized 'prestige' estate. Today, high calibre estate cars from the likes of BMW, Volvo, Alfa Romeo and certainly MB are common, but in the seventies the concept of the station wagon was almost one of a more commercial or down-market application. A humdrum workhorse that was used and abused by the family! 

This made Bruno Sacco's W123 estate possibly the first upmarket, factory designed and built station wagon in Europe. Volvo had made factory estate versions of the Amazon, as had Triumph with the 2000 and 2500 but those by comparison, were not luxury cars.

The W123 TE changed the perception and began a new trend in luxury estates. Sacco's tidy lines were most successful on the TE, where there was the opportunity to offer more balance, and the long roof and extra glass lent a detailed look to the design. As a seventies design, it retains the high-street fashion look, the look of quality that the plastic-clad cars of the eighties lacked.

 And this is probably why today, the TE is becoming fashionable again. It is totally different from any other station wagon on the road, it is a  restrained machine, that speaks quietly of its owner. People can be found, kerb-side admiring W123 Mercedes again as they're shedding they're dowdy, bargain basement, used-car image and there is a pride driven by the most-produced Mercedes Benz of all time.

Find one soon, and use it.

matra 530 - philippe guedon

An excersize in creases is the Matra 530 to me. A typically French design by one Philippe Guedon; obscure and like nothing else so that it is nearly impossible to describe. 

By comparison, cars in the same genre like the Fiat X1/9 are simply common and even its predecessor, the Matra Djet is quite ordinary. The 530 is like a cubist work on wheels, appealing - like all my favourite designs, to only a small group! It wasn't a particularly popular car, less than 10 000 units were constructed from 1967 and all were left hand drive, confining this piece of automotive, sculptural master-class to Europe where even there, they are rare.

Said to have been inspired by its competitive stable-mate, the Matra MS620 sports racer, the 530 was a design that was destined for the people. There was nothing very exotic about the diminutive Matra at the time of its launch. A mid-mounted Ford Taunus V4 of 1.7 litre capacity provided motive power, but this is just a detail. The real joy in owning one of these jewels must surely be the sense of occasion when using it, and enjoying it - targa-roof removed on a beautiful day, imagining that you are taking a leisurely drive along the Champs Elysees or perhaps a more concentrated and urgent sprint through Maison Blanche, wishing that there was rather more than 1.7 litres behind the seats...

In any case, a stunning design that speaks of the time and place that it was created, and a car that we are unlikely to see built again.

 

range rover

My enthusiasm for off road vehicles is about zip. I have no time for them, their ungainly road manners and the concept of having such a hulk of an object as a vehicle for general road use. As a car driver, I also find them annoying as they're impossible to see around or over, and the people that drive them seem to proudly sport a growing disdain for anything smaller than their own vehicle on the roads and in car parks.

Therefore it is with some surprise - even to myself, that one of my favourite designs is an example of a type of vehicle that I openly despise. 

The Range Rover was launched in 1970 to a public who held the off-road-vehicle as just that; a cumbersome yet purposeful device employed for use by farming types, surveyors, builders and anyone else who would regularly traverse roads that were less than 'made'. More interestingly, it came from the same creators who brought the world the Land Rover, possibly the Range Rover's absolute antithesis - a truly rugged design, purposeful by all measures and really uncompromising. The Range Rover by comparison was really a compromise by blending the mechanical elements and designed-in robustness  of the Land Rover with the luxury and civility of any of Rover's saloon cars at the time.

Conceptually, the Range Rover was a pioneer for it spelled the beginning of the appeal of the 'Luxury SUV' as we know it today, and the idea of it having been a gamble is truly mystifying given the demand that there was for it, not only in its first years as a two door wagon, but beyond the beginning of the 80's and into the 90's as a true four-door, multi-purpose station wagon. It was, as a design, the fore runner of the entire genre we today regard as the 'sport utility vehicle'.

Spen King, Gordon Bashford and Graham Bannock were convinced in the mid nineteen sixties that there would be a demand for an up-market off roader and through combined use of conventional LR underpinnings and new thinking in the styling department the idea of the "100 inch station wagon" was born. Stylist David Bache was primarily responsible for the sculpted form that took shape from 1967 to 1969 as a subtle reform of the original shapes manifested by Spen King and Gordon Bashford that would see production and release by 1970.

Look at a 1970 - 1995 Range Rover wagon today and you will look at a shape that looks not long out of date, so one can imagine the impact that it had in 1970, when so much of automotive styling still relied on soft curves and gentle creases. The original Range Rover was an excersize in chiseled sculpture and refinement of straight lines - the 25 year production run of that original shape is sure testament to that. 

It took Land Rover Cars, as the company was known post-1978, until 1983 to respond to customer demand for a four-door body shell. More as a consequence of internal politicking and lack of funds after Rover was absorbed into British Leyland than as sheer ignorance to demand, was there such a delay, but it allowed other companies to make adjustments and modifications to the Range Rover. Arguably, none more so than Peter Monteverdi, the Swiss who's company was responsible for 60's supercars such as the 350S, and the Hai, produced the first four-door Range Rover and looking back, it is hard to see how else the design would have been resolved, but nothing changes the fact the Monteverdi's car reached production before Land Rover's and the basic design of the four-door wagon is still credited to him by many.

Driving a Range Rover today is a revelation. When so many cars make you feel so remote from the outside world by shrouding the driving experience in electronics, the original Range Rover makes you feel like the king of the road, with a high driving position and nearly 200lbs + of torque, not to mention a truly resonant exhaust note few other factory produced four wheel drives can boast the feeling they leave the driver. And the drive is what all great cars - and possibly all four wheel drives - should be about.

ray-ban wayfarer.

Sunglasses. An item owned by nearly every adult and most children. Essentially a functional item that has long been regarded as a fashion accessory and thus, an item that has been interpreted by so many designers that the styles available are truly endless and impossible to recollect. 

There are legendary styles, but arguably none more legendary than Ray-Ban's Wayfarer, often cited as the best selling sunglass design of all time, since its launch in 1952. The Wayfarer was penned by Raymond Stegeman, a designer who was responsible for many patent designs made famous by Ray-Ban's parent company, Bauch & Lomb.

The Wayfarer is a truly timeless design, demonstrated by a revival after the downturn in the 1970's. The Wayfarer was one of the first sunglasses made in cast plastic instead of relying on metal frames and as a result they are often best remembered as a symbol of the 1980's! The ultimate tribute to any design is their adoption in popular culture and in that respect the Wayfarer is the king of fashion accessories. From  their appearance on Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's, to nearly any photograph of Enzo Ferrari after about 1960. Andy Warhol was a serial Wayfarer-wearer and today there are numerous personalities who would wear no other style. So enduring and evergreen is the look, it has been copied endlessly and will remain a permanent item on the list of legendary designs.