Ruben van Praagh's Home Page
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TOP FIVE OF FAVOURITE CARS for you to either buy or admire: the PICKS OF THE MONTH - |
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More than 4000 visits since the 17th of January 1997
-Gee, what an honour!
Quattrovalvole, 'there's no substitute for cubic inches', turbo
- you name the engine and I'll hope to be of service.
Pininfarina, I.D.E.A., Bertone, Sbarro, Porsche - Designers rule
the waves.
Volvo, Renault, Opel - The best 'normal' cars from Europe.
And above all, there is the Ferrari Testarossa.
To see the testarossa story with more , click HERE!
What I think of the Ferrari Testarossa is probably beginning to
become clear in your mind, but I'll explain further anyway. The
Testarossa Link will give you all the information you need on
the technical side of it. However, it does not explain my
fascination with the car.
On popular (yet singular) demand, a few Testarossa-facts:
ABOUT THE TESTAROSSA
The Testarossa to me is the most beautiful car in the world. I
don't consider it the best, because there are many BMW's and
Mercedeses that are built much better. It's not horsepower
either- I would go for a McLaren or an XJ220 then. Nor is it
Ferrari, for I could then have better picked one of the GTO's,
the F40 or the Daytona. No, it's the shape, combined with the
superb engine in the mid-section. The essence is in four design
factors and many on other levels.
The essential design factors are, of course, the
'cheese-scrapers' on the sides, the long nose vs. the short-yet
long!- tail, the delicate widening of the body from the front to
the rear and then of course the B- and C-bars, with the move
from roof to bonnet, so spoiled in the 512TR, leading to a tiny
dent in the top of that bonnet.
Of seemingly lesser importance are the huge front window and
the covering plate on the bonnet, with the PERFECT
third-brakinglight integrated in the American version.
testarossa comes from the 1957 Ferrari Testa Rossa, a racing model that saw several versions with differing degrees of transparency in the bodywork (sometimes you could see the engine, in others you couldn't) as well as differing degrees of aerodynamics.
Like the original Testa Rossa (litterally: Red Head, Italians put adjectives after the subject), the Testarossa features cylinderheads painted bright red, something which makes the engine look better and has therefore been featured more often again since 1984.
The above implies the obvious: a black Testarossa is NOT a Testanera!
The Testarossa was the actual beginning of what took Pininfarina's Ferrari's through the eighties: those 'cheese-scrapers' can be found on the Mondial and the 348 as well.
As late as 1994, the 512 TR, which almost fully shares its interior with the Testarossa, was praised for being one of the most practical supercars. It was more spacious than any competitor of the time, which included the Diablo and the EB110, as well as the XJ220.
Many people regard the Testarossa as the car of the decade for the 1980's, in good but also in bad senses. It is considered a true icon of its time, unfortunately mainly in the sense that is found to be too extravagant and a toy for the rich boys. Differences of opinion exist between those people and myself, obviously.
To see the testarossa story with more , click HERE!
And these are the Picks of the Month:
DECEMBER 2002
Renault Megane 1.6 ---Buy!--- Hyundai Sonata 2.0 Automatic ---Buy!--- Maybach 57 ---Admire!--- Honda Accord 2.3 ---Buy!--- Volkswagen Phaeton W12 ---Admire!---
A 'Buy!' sign indicates that, if you are currently going
to buy a car, this one might just be worth your while.
An 'Admire!' sign indicates that, unless you have special
financial or other powers, this car is not for you (or me).
The Picks of the month are selected after a hefty process that
allows for no automobiles (barring very special exceptions) that
are currently out of production or that will not be produced
within the foreseeable future.
The Renault Megane is the new European car of the year and it is the first 'commoners' car' to reach the Five Star NCAP crash rating - a great feat for the masses.
My great uncle bought Hyundai's Sonata and is very satisfied. Especially the heater is good, as is interior space.
If you're going to spend an unbelievable amount of money to buy a car, make sure it's one you can drive - get the shorter Maybach for better handling and better proportions.
Get the new Accord (Europe's version, at least) as an alternative to a smaller-engine 3-series. It'll only hurt once you trade in.
The Phaeton is built in a see-through factory. It shows VW must have nothing to hide and be very proud of itself. If only the V6 version would be just as good, they'd have a full right to be.
Citroen C4 on French roads already
Citroen is testing the C4 in the open. Early in the summer of 2003, a C4 was being driven across France on a truck without any mock-parts or black plastic. This particular one was the new Break, which suggests it will be available with the Berline 5-door from the get-go.
More news of previous episodes.
Links to other sites on the Web - The Small List
Ferrari Testarossa
Ferrari General Site, Italy
Go to the KAMPONG HEREN 16 HOMEPAGE for Field Hockey Information
About Me .... with an autolisting of the cars we (as in: my parents) own or owned.
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And people,
Just remember:
© 1997-2001
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