Clan Crusader

The Clan Crusader was produced by the Clan Motor Company in Washington, Tyne and Wear in the United Kingdon between 1970 and 1974, and since then several efforts have been made to bring the car back to production.

The Clan Crusader typically had a Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) Monocoque (French for single [mono] and shell [coque]), body with Hillman Imp Sports Engine from the Rootes Group (later Chrysler Europe).

The Clan Crusader was designed by a group of engineers who had previously worked for Lotus and were led by Paul Haussauer with John Frayling focusing on the styling. The Clan company was set up in 1969, and production started in 1971 at a new factory in Washington set up with the help of a government grant.

The Clan Crusader was available fully built or in a kit version. Although the car received good reviews and achieved some competition success, it was expensive at £1,400 when compared with rivals and as a result the company shut down in November 1973. Total production of the first phase of the Clan Crusader was 315.

The exact specs of the Clan Crusader (licence plate: NYL 7L) in these Car Journal photos are as follows:

Engine
Rear mounted, 55 BHP, 4 Cylinder, 875 CC. All aluminium, Single overhead Camshaft with Twin Spromberg Carburettors. Based on the Coventry Climax Featherweight design.

Transmission
Transaxel containing 4 speed all syncromesh gearbox with Hypod bevel final drive

This Clan Crusader has been an on-going restoration project since 1992 and the car has been off the road and dry stored. It was put back on the road for the Clan Owners Club 30th anniversary on 1st June 2008.

RAC - Royal Automobile Club

The RAC is a UK breakdown company that was originally formed in 1897 to assist members with motoring services including roadside assistance. During the early 1900's the RAC started to introduce mobile patrols that saw the patrolmen wearing a uniform that was very similar to the military police of the day, they even had an rank structure very similar to the army! They rode around on motorbikes and sidecars to carry their tool kit and an array of spare parts (fan belts, engine hoses, fluids and spare petrol). The only way the controllers could contact the mobile patrol men was by telephone, so they had to wait in laybys and at major road junctions by the public telephone box so they could be contacted. This was until the advent of basic radio sets around 1930, which allowed two way contact with the local HQ.


During the 1960s the patrol men upgraded to small vans and by 1970 the last of the motorcycle patrols had been superseded. Most roadside telephones had been phased out and the advent of the mobile telephone saw the remaining roadside telephones become redundant and the last of the RAC telephones were withdrawn from service.


Since being sold by the members of the Royal Automobile Club in September 1999 to Lex Service plc, who in 2002 renamed themselves RAC plc, RAC was been acquired by Aviva plc for around £1.1 billion.


Car Journal hopes you enjoy the photos taken of our friendly local RAC patrol man in action in London one night in August 2008.

Porsche's new Panamera

As Car Journal reported back in February 2008, the Porsche Panamera is going to be unveiled at the 2009 Geneva motor show.

The Porsche Panamera is the fifth range from Porsche (Porsche Boxter, Porsche Cayman, Porsche 911, Porsche Cayenne) and is developed to be a strong competitor to the Volkswagen four-door coupé, the future Aston Martin Rapide and the Mercedes CLS.

Even thought the Porsche Panamera takes some inspiration from the design elements of the 911 range, there are also significant differences:

While the Porsche 911 has always kept its rear-mounted boxer engine, the Porsche Panamera will be available with a choice of three front-mounted motors although they are set back as far towards the centre of the car as possible.

Powering the entry level Panamera will be Volkswagen’s 3.5 litre 6 cylinder motor developing 300 bhp, while Porsche’s own drive train will be a direct-injection eight-cylinder petrol engine, available in naturally-aspirated guise (350 bhp) and with twin-turbo (560 bhp).

The Porsche Panamera should have enough grunt to be enough to beat the competition for a while as Mercedes’ CLS 63 AMG comes up with "only" 514 bhp! However, should Stuttgart make the CLS even stronger, Zuffenhausen would strike back with the Porsche GT’s 700-bhp ten-cylinder unit!

The aim of the Porsche Panamera is to be a true sports car while at the same time it shall be a family car for every day use with 4 full seats, a luggage compartment of around 450 litres and easy access to the rear. When it hits the road in 2009, Porsche hopes to be able to sell 20,000 units annually – and to jump over the barrier of 100,000 sold cars per year.

St Lucia Tourist Board & Ubiquitous Taxi Advertising Promotion

Hurry for your last chance to get your entries in by 21 July for this unique competition run by The St Lucia Tourist Board and Ubiquitous Taxi Advertising which allows both passengers and drivers given the chance to win a 7 night stay on the Caribbean island of St Lucia.

The tourism body is having Ubiquitous Taxi Advertising in both London and Manchester painted with advertising while drivers will hand out 2 part entry postcards to their passengers that allow both the cabbies and their customers to enter the competition.

Two prizes will be given away in each city – one for the passengers in a prize draw and one for the taxi driver who has generated the most entries. Each of the four prizes includes a stay at a St Lucia resort and return flights on Virgin Atlantic.

Andrew Barnett, managing director of Ubiquitous Taxi Advertising, said: "We have a history of effectively promoting holiday destinations and airlines using our cabs and obviously we are really pleased that the St. Lucia Tourist Board has chosen us for this promotion."

Audi R8

The beautiful looking Audi R8 is in fact based on the Lamborghini Gallardo platform (The Lamborghini Gallardo is named after a famous breed of fighting bull) this is because Audi has full ownership of Lamborghini. In fact 15% of the Audi R8 is shared with the Lamborghini Gallardo, including the transmission and chassis. The Audi R8 is made distinct by its exterior styling, engine, cabin, and pricing.


In the production of the Audi R8, 70 workers fit 5000 unique parts by hand resulting in the fact that the Audi factory can only produce 25 cars a day. The Audi R8 has also been credited as the only car in the world to undergo a CT Scan. Even more amazingly ninety-five lasers inspect the entire car in 5 seconds, to ensure that over 220 measurements are within 0.1 mm (0.004 in) of the programmed plans.[6] The Audi R8 2-seat coupe is already available in Europe, and will be made available to the USA in the summer of 2008. In addition, an open-top roadster, Porsche Carrera GT-like model is rumored to follow in 2009.

The Audi R8 also features an optional Bang & Olufsen sound system, and "Audi Ceramic" Carbon-Ceramic composite brakes with mono bloc alloy Brembo calipers on all four wheels. The Audi R8 is fitted with the same 414bhp 4.2 V8 engine from the Audi RS 4. Jeremy Clarkson described the Audi R8 as "one of the best engines made today and a drive in the R8 has not changed my mind. It does everything, brilliantly."

It has achieved the following accolades:

• European Car Magazine rated the Audi R8 as Car of the Year.


• Top Gear Magazine named the Audi R8 the 2007 Car of the Year.


• Automobile Magazine awarded the Audi R8 the 2008 Automobile of the Year.


• The Audi R8 was awarded SportsCar of the year by German magazine Autobild.


• Playboy Magazine awarded the Audi R8 the Car of The Year for 2008.

Audi R8 vital statistics

Engine: 4163cc, eight cylinders
Power: 414bhp @ 7800rpm
Torque: 317 lb ft @ 4500rpm
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Fuel: 19.3mpg (combined cycle)
CO2: 349g/km
Acceleration: 0-62mph: 4.6sec
Top speed: 187mph
Price: £76,825