Mr Taz1829 doesn’t seem at all to suggest that Group B development of the V624V was going to be turbocharging. Just that its later development path, through turbocharging, would ultimately lead to the XJ220 engine.

Mr Orlove, you somewhat forgot to mention that the 6R4 was developed by Williams, the F1 outfit. Patrick Head was in charge of the chassis. And it was probably the first ever rally car with proper aero work done to it.

You realise it is a translation problem, right? They meant “whisky from the UK” (in the Continent they haven’t mastered yet the differences between England, Great Britain and United Kingdom). There is a similar glitch with “technique” – which in this case should have been “mechanicals” (or, perhaps, but unlikely, “tec…

That quote from the Conam website... “whiskey from England” and “Opel technique” are absolutely delightful.

A hideous kitschmobile.

I may not agree with calling anyone a dumbass but it was an egregious mistake.

His father’s actual name was Di Tommaso. Alejandro’s father (or maybe his grandfather) changed the original suname so that it sounded more Spanish.

It is quite likely that once he moved to Italy Mr de Tomaso would use Alessandro whenever it was convenient, even if his birth certificate said “Alejandro”.

No, it does not. It’s a sad “update” of the original. Which, by the way, was a brand, as in for branding cattle.

Not really. Loubet senior (Yves Loubet) is not exactly an unknown rally driver.

Allegedly, one of the first owners of the Boomerang really used to drive it around; he would do the rounds of clubs and discos in it – some of which he was also rumoured to own.

I thought about the Phrygian cap. That bust seems to have something on the forehead though.

Well, don’t expect a GS/GSA (or ID/DS or CX) to be at all fast if you are towing anything. Those cars were designed for highish-speed cruising on very flat roads, but emphatically not for towing (or, at least, for towing at any decent speed)

By the time the GSA came out some were already 1.3.

I wonder... if that bust could be trying to remind us of “Marianne”.

Simple mechanical tachometers are not really different from a mechanical speedo, with a cable connected to a worm drive, usually attached to the camshaft or even the shaft of the dynamo.

That’s the way they used to be. Look at the opening of Grand Prix on YouTube and you’ll see exactly the same phenomenon.

Just the fact that you’d rather test a Ferrari GTO than an F40 shows you have your heart in the right place. Time has been kind for the F40, but the really fascinating car of those two is the GTO.

In 1990 saw a “Rothmans” G-Wagen in the little scrapyard they had in... Weissach? (Or was it Zuffenhausen? They also had a cute Bergepanzer in there... but I digress.) Maybe it was that one.

Extremely interesting information, thanks.