Elsewhere in this issue you can read all about how the NSU Ro80 wasn't the fragile horror that it's often made out to be, but here's where the Wankel rotary engine started; with the NSU Spider, which was the first production car to feature such motive power. Launched in 1964, the Spider was a two-seater convertible with a rear-mounted engine. That engine was a single-rotor unit that put out 50bhp, and the more you revved it the smoother it became. Red-lined at 6000rpm, it was possible to spin it all the way to 8000rpm, and presumably self-destruction soon after.
If the Formula One circus wasn’t already reeling from the shock of big-haired drivers sporting pork chop sideburns and man-medallions, nothing could prepare them for the arrival of the six-wheeled Tyrrell P34 in 1976
Not only is the X7 BMW’s largest SUV (for now), it can also carry the largest number of passengers, with space for seven in comfort. Eclipsing even the X5, which can also be ordered in seven-seat guise, The X7 boasts an additional 229mm of length, of which 130mm has been added into the wheelbase. Measuring over 5.1 metres long, it’s a bit of a beast and first went on sale in 2019, initially with a choice of 261bhp xDrive30d or mighty 394bhp M50d engines.
The DS 7 Crossback first made its debut back in 2017 and was the first purpose-built car to wear the DS Automobiles badge, rather than having previously featured a double chevron Citroën logo up front.
While airbags have been an almost ubiquitous safety feature on cars since the 1990s, their origins can be traced back to American engineer John Hetrick in 1952. In the spring of that year, Hetrick, his wife and his seven-year-old daughter were out for a Sunday drive in their 1948 Chrysler Windsor. Cresting a hill, Hetrick encountered a rock in the road and swerved to avoid it.
Lots of us enjoy and admire our cars, but Joschka Röben from near Hannover in Germany can say that a 1993 Bentley Turbo R changed his life. Here’s Joschka’s story.
After a 10,000-mile journey and a chequered history including five years locked away by the customs people, this lovely Shadow II found a caring Australian home.
