Ultimatecarpage.com update (11-20-06)

[Wouter Melissen]

Dear Ultimatecarpage.com visitor,

Many rally fans look back at the Group B years with melancholy, but very few know that there was an even more extreme class proposed to replace Group B in 1987. Known as Group S, homologation could be achieved with only ten examples produced, so it was effectively open to prototypes. Unfortunately, because of tragedies Group S was abandoned and for 1987 the much more docile Group A class was used for the World Championship. Only one car was ever produced following the Group S regulations; the Lancia ECV, which is short for Experimental Composite Vehicle. It featured a carbon fibre monocoque chassis and a twin-turbocharged four cylinder engine, making it the most extreme rally car ever. Talking of the 'most ever'; today we also take a look at the Lotus 30, which can be considered the worst Lotus ever made even though it's still a race winner. The British company has always excelled in building small engined sportscars that could take on much more powerful competition. With the 30 they tried to join the big boys, but the backbone chassis was simply not up to the task. The featured car is one of the second series that was slightly better than the original version.
It's been a busy week at Volkswagen with the announcement of two interesting novelties. First up is the Neeza Concept, which was designed and developed in China and recently launched at the Beijing Motor Show. At the end of the month a second addition to the R-series will be unveiled in Essen in the form of the 300 bph Passat R36. Mazda released the first sketch of the Nagare Concept set to debut shortly in LA.
Swiss engineer Georges Roesch proved in the early 1930s that racing cars did not have to be complex or noisy to be successful with his Talbots. This week we take a closer look at one of the three Talbot 90 Works cars and the only one to have survived in the original condition.

Enjoy the links:

Ferrari 312/69 F1
http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/frame...hp&carnum=2963

Lancia ECV Group S Prototype
http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/frame...hp&carnum=2981

Lotus 30 S2 Ford
http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/frame...hp&carnum=2988

Mazda Nagare Concept
http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/frame...hp&carnum=2985

Talbot 90 Brooklands Tourer
http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/frame...hp&carnum=2979

Volkswagen Neeza Concept
http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/frame...hp&carnum=2984

Volkswagen Passat R36 Variant
http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/frame...hp&carnum=2983

Volvo XC90 V8 Sport
http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/frame...hp&carnum=2986

Regards,
Wouter Melissen