Youtube hearted comments of John Luetjen (@jehl1963).

  1. The 3 second turbo lag is just enough time to take a drag on a Gauloises which would be required to be hanging nonchalantly from the corner of the driver's mouth.
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  2. Back when 1600 CC's was enough. This car encompasses what made German cars of this era and earlier great. Americans picture the Autobahns full of Mercedes S classes and Porsches. The reality is that those were way outside the budget of most Germans. Most got by with 1.6 liter and 2.0 liter Ford's, Ooels and VW's, and often even 1500 or even 1300 cc engines. But the engines would be unburstable. A 1600 cc car like this BMW would still be able to cruise down the Autobahn at 4000 rpm, 5000 rpm or more for an hour or two at over 100 mph, without wondering or overwhelming the chassis. Very unlike the American cars of the time.
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  3. When I was younger I had the opportunity to drive the 500's slightly more modern descendant, the 850 around Germany for a few weeks. It was an absolute hoot since you could (needed to?) drive it like Mario Andretti just to keep up with traffic. There was no excuse to not drive it flat out all of the time. Try doing that with most modern cars and you'll end up in jail. I think we've kind of lost touch with how little HP and speed you actually need to get around. With 250 HP sedans becoming the norm, we've forgotten how usable 50 or 60 HP can be.
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  4. To answer the question -- the gearbox was called a 914 gearbox. ~98% of the parts are common with the 901, except that the final drive is assembled on the opposite side of the case so that the output is "backwards" compared to a 901 gearbox, and the case is machined slightly different with the vents located in a different location so that they won't overflow during normal use. Of course the linkage is different too. If the engine is stock spec, the drivability difference to the E that you mentioned is down to the milder cams. The T's peak torque was from 3500 RPM to 4500 RPM, the E's peak torque was from 4000 RPM to 5000 RPM, and the S's peak torque was from 5000 RPM to 6000 RPM.
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  5. Looking at the car again in this video, you can see a few areas where Ford may have been "inspired" by as they designed the original Capri.
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  6. Keep in mind that Porsche was started as an engineering consulting company, who also happened to make cars. There are tons of cars (and even some motorcycles), not to mention post WWII tanks which were engineered by Porsche, but people would never recognize as such. Given the sensitivity of their customers to having their engineering called into question, Porsche has kept these projects strictly hush-hush. Some which have been acknowledged (in addition to the 500E and the Audi) are the 1999-2005 Opel Zafira, 2003-05 Renault Clio V6 Renault Sport “Phase 2”, 1976 VAZ-Porsche 2103, 1984-2003 VAZ-2108/Lada Samara, 2000-03 Subaru Legacy B4 Blitzen, 1953 Porsche 542/Studebaker Z-87, 1984-93 SEAT Ibiza “System Porsche”, 2006-15 Daewoo Tosca/Chevrolet Epica and the 2002-18 Harley-Davidson V-Rod. I'm sure that there are others which are still secret.
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  7. I seem to remember that an American car magazine titled a review of a Monteverde (or a similar car) : "All of the benefits of an Italian supercar, without the stigma of low price". That seems to sum it up pretty well!
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  8. Being an American who lived through the 70's -- and even once drove a US version of the Spyder -- it didn't cause Fiat to leave the US. In fact the Spyder (and the X-1/9) both contined to be sold in the US for a few more years under the Bertone and Peninfarina name. It was Fiat's other cars which torpedoed the brand. Fiat couldn't maintain their sales network on just the sports cars. It also was getting very expensive to meet the US pollution and crash safety requirements. The costs of these certifications was being spread over a shrinking fleet of models. They could be sold as Bertones/Peninfarinas because they could operate under the reduced requirements of a "specialist" manufacturer. These required fewer cars to be crashed for study and shorter emissions tests. So rest assured, the pretty Spyder didn't kill Fiat in the US, the government bureaucrats did! We can take shallow solace in the fact that it was done for our own good. 😢
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  9. Is this a lead-in (read effort to bump up demand) to selling the Influenzo?
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  10. At 12:35 you pointed out that "They (MB) had figured it out." Yes they had! They were arguably the most technically advanced car manufacturer of the 50's, 60's and 70's. Then, the accountants took over! MB has never been the same.
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  11. I've always been impressed with how Triumph was able to exist and develop their cars for as long as they did on a budget that was most likely less than GM spent on the Corvette's interior in that era. Also, it's interesting how offset the steerimg wheel is from the pedals.
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  12. The 914-6 essentially had the braking system from a 911 of that era on it. Given that the pedal shouldn't be soft, but should feel like there is a block of wood under the pedal. I suspect that either The brake fluid is old or the master cylinder is going.
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  13. Looking at it from a purely economic perspective -- the £900 that you spent on the car already is irrelevant. From an investment perspective it's a sunk cost. It's gone. All that is important is the future investment (what MB suggested) and the return (what you can sell the car for). For example, if you bought the Porsche GT3 from your brother for £9, does that mean that you'd never consider investing more than maybe £50 in the car? Of course not! As a wise flipper, you'll invest what you need to in order to maximize the value of the car when selling it. The concept of the purchase price defining what you'll invest in a car is curiously common, but economically silly.
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  14. At the beginning of the video you mention some companies that made previous big planes, but neglect to mention the Messerschmitt Me 323 Gigant! The Me 323 shares many aspects with the AN225, including the 6 engines, large front loading hatch and style of landing gear.
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  15. No seatbelts in an Italian car? Eh! You're not going to live forever! Enjoy today, who knows what tomorrow will bring. To drive in the style intended for this 1300 cc Lancia you should have a cigarette hanging from the corner of your mouth while you blast around at 10/10ths. Who needs seatbelts?
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  16. Do Fiesta owners wave at each other? 911 owners almost always do. if you have a 911 (or even a Boxster) -- you're in the club!
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  17. Interesting -- the clock's second hand goes counter-clockwise!
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  18. Lovely car. I have one just like it. Aside from technologically dated items (i.e. the ignition system) the cars were very well put together, and the engines were pretty under stressed. Most of the issues that I've found with my car were inflicted by a previous owner (or myself!). The clutch was most likely one of the weak links (although adequate), and was redesigned to a completely different concept ("push-type") in 1970 to deal with the increased torque of the 2.2 liter engines. I suspect that the original owner would "ride the clutch" or rest their left foot on the clutch pedal, thus prompting it's failure in just a few thousand miles. If treated correctly, the clutch should be good for 10's of thousands of miles if not almost 100k miles. Being a Porsche owner, I have to nit-pick. Both the 911R and the '69 911E were both 2.0 liter cars. But the '69E's MFI system was specifically tuned for the E's engine configuration. It couldn't adjust itself to changes in the configuration (such as the different exhaust) without being specifically retuned. I doubt that the rich running has anything to do with the cold-start function which is completely unrelated to the exhaust. The original cold start enrichment feature was fairly nasty, and just pours raw fuel down the intake trumpets. What could go wrong with that?! Most were quickly deactivated. The '69's are actually very easy to rig a manual cold start enrichment (just like the factory race cars). Manually applying 12v to the enrichment solenoid will peg the MFI rack full rich and allow the car to start easily, and then disconnecting that 12 volts will allow the MFI to return to it's normal tuning after the engine is starting. Starting in 1970 the MFI was updated to do away with the raw fuel feature, and used a completely different cold start concept.
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  19. Did you Nick the heads while you had the chance? 😉
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  20. Curiously -- this seemed to be very much the environment the 250SL was designed for. Even in 1967, I'm sure that it would cruise on a Autobahn at 100 plus for as long as the fuel would hold out. But Germany also has a lot of roads similar to what you were driving on at around 12:45.between the separate towns.. The 50 kph village speed limits would be cancelled and you could open the car up and be driving through forest or fields for about 3-10 miles until you came to the next town when you'd clamp on the brakes to slow down to 50 koh again. In the US they might be called "state roads". In those days (and even today) there is more to driving in Germany than Autobahns. The Mercedes SL would have been king of that environment.
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  21. Listening to it, I had a flashback to the ITB (SCCA Improved Touring B)) race car that I used to have.
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  22. Congratulations and enjoy the drive in your M5!
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  23. IBefore filming Tedward turns the side mirror down.) What is behind me --- issa No Importance!
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  24. Excellent analysis. But also keep in mind that the US$ has depreciated quite a bit too.. In both cases it is because of rampant government deficit spending during and after COVID. So if you really want to understand the value of a currency, you need to compare it to a "basket of goods" . For example the price of gold, oil and some other commodities. You already compared it to the price of oil, but as you mention that also goes up and down quite a bit with supply and demand. Using the price of gold for example (in US$'s), this has gone up by almost 50% since 2019. This could just as accurately be summarized as the value of the US$ has gone down by 50% in that time. The Euro by a little more than that, the Pound Sterling went up by a little less.
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  25. Regarding the headlights, you really should apply some clear-coat lacquer over them to seal them so that they won't promptly fog over again. The fogging occurs from UV light, and covering them with a lacquer that blocks UV light really helps. Now which lacquer??? I don't have a good answer. I've seen 3D printing companies use some that goes on clear (rather than yellow) and stays that way. Unfortunately I don't know the manufacturer or brand. :-( The Project Farm YouTube channel has a very well done survey of the different products for job.
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  26. I never noticed until watching this video, but the front of the car definitely has shades of Ferrari 412.
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  27. Italian Infighting and strikes caused the issues?!! Who'd have thunk?
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  28. I wonder if the rear brace in the trunk was bent in order to provide some support on a 2nd axis. BTW - I suspect that the Acton PD's phones were ringing off the hook while you were driving around. ;-)
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  29. Congratulations. I suspect that the Type R has a lot aluminum suspension components. Based on my experience, if you are going to be driving it in the winter and you want to keep the car a long time -- you are going to want to get it up on a lift and liberally coat the aluminum pieces with Tectyl or a similar sealent. Sure, aluminum will develop a thin layer of oxide as soon as it contacts air, which isn't a bad thing. But where the aluminum comes in contact with steels or iron, it will sacrificially oxidize. This is a specific problem where steel bolts and inserts come in contact with Aluminum. The aluminum oxide that is created in the holes is super hard and sharp (aluminum oxide is used on sand papers), and will seize the bolt.
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  30. Condition? That car is better then new!
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  31. As far as the Bismirck's suspension, I'd check the spring rates of the springs that are on the car, and then take that information along with the car's weight to the shock/damper people. Ideally, you'd also have an idea what the weight is of the suspension pieces is at each corner. That is the information that the shock/damper people will need to make a recommendation since the shocks/damper have to match the suspension frequency. Alternatively, make sure that you have stock springs at each corner and than at least you can go with stock shocks/dampers. The final way to do it is to buy matched springs and shocks/dampers that others have already engineered.
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  32. A couple of thoughts - I think you definitely want to have a metal plate above the carb throats since carbs will often back-fire some flames, even if you don't hear it -- for example... https://youtu.be/h7JjWKwakNE?t=147 . The last thing that you want is either flame or heat damage to the Influenzo. K&N makes some filter kits that individually fit over each 40 DCNF carb in their racing section that would seem to be a neat solution. I'm pretty sure that Pipercross and other filter companies will have similar set-ups.
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  33. The biggest tragidy about the car is that BMW has never made the slightest effort to follow-up. Sure they made sports cars that competed with Porsche (just as the hope was that the M1 would be an effective weapon against Porsche's 934's and 935's). But in the end, the Porsche family (via various holding companies) got the last laugh when Audi took the M1 idea, and successfully implemented it in the R8. Congratulations, Jack, on getting this M1 to test. It should be worth at least a few thousand views and likes!
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  34. Here I thought the episode was going to end with a rod poking through the block, or the car turning into a pile of ashes!!! But that's not the case. It still starts and runs, drives smoothly. I wouldn't track it, but you're still in an OK place.
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  35. Tedwards next adventure -- Macan Turbo up Pikes Peak!!!
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  36. Never mind!! The fuel light.
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  37. Ah yes - that archaic torsion bar suspension in the 911. People seem to forget that EVERY F1 car, F2 car and F3 car, as well as Indy cars and modern prototype sports for at least the last 20 years (if not longer) has been made with (archaic) torsion bar springing!
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  38. "... Very familiar if you're used to a Perfimonte..." Ohhhhh! Now I know what you're talking about! ;-)
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  39. In 2008 in the real world (as opposed to F&F or video games), Eric Curren got 3 wins (4 podiums) in a Cobalt SS in Ithe Grand Am, Koni Challenge GT series, against Acura TSX's and RSX's, Mazda RX5's and RX8's, BMW 330s and Mini Cooper S's.
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  40. For light performance cars like the Elise, I suggest you set the corner weights before getting the alignment done. When you do the corner weights, be sure to ballast the car to include the driver (and potentially a passenger if you envision having a second person in the car). A few bags of concrete or a friendly neighbor will do for ballast.. Ballast which is +/-20 pounds to your weight is adequate. You can then adjust the corner weights using the fine spring height adjusters on the shocks. Corner weight is important on cars which have a low spring weight, and are relatively stiffly sprung, which is why most street cars don't really need it unless you're going for maximum track performance. By the way -- I suggest you dampen your enthusiasm for shock humour on this channel. 😉
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  41. Very clever troubleshooting! Good job!
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  42. $3500 ( or £ or €) is certainly a chunk of change, but considering the alternatives it's not so bad. You could easily spend that on just a set of wheels. If you sold the car now in its current configuration I'm pretty sure you'd be well under water. Invest in the head and you'll most likely have a $75,000 car. Also, don't just pitch the scrap head. 30 to 40 pounds of aluminum has a meaningful value. Remove all of the non-aluminim bits and take it down to your local scrap metal recycler. You may be pleasantly surprised what you'll get for it. Keep in mind they pay more for pure aluminum parts than for an amalgamation of aluminum and other metals like steel.
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  43. Wow! My 3 favorite car channels all review the Z3M in the same week?!!! Maybe it's time to buy a lottery ticket!
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