Id not seen this before!
Enzo vs F1
Enzo vs F1
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I like Gordon Murray. He has a passion for lightweight cars, and that is far too rare in designers these days. He loves tiny little cars too. Sure, the Veyron is just bloody magnificent, but its hardly light... It's a sledgehammer in a world of nuts!
I had the misfortune to hire a new-shape Vectra not long ago, and it was simply mahoosive! A complete and utter waste of our planet's resources from the moment it was built. Anyone caught driving a car over 1.2 tons should be shot. Instantly. In the face. What the hell is the point in the advancement of engine technology if all the designers think, "Great, more power. We can use it to pull another 400kg of heated dual-zone satnavs!"
It's just spiraling out of control. 4x4s get all the stick from the hippies, but what does your average Golf weigh these days? More than my house, that's for sure! Then what about a 300C? Each one comes with its own postcode! It's getting crazy, and unless the world all hold hands and agrees to stop trying to out-luxury and out-safety each other by driving a bigger car than the one which might crash into them, we're all doomed to sit back and watch the forecourts collapse under the weight of the next supermini.
Head for Italy and observe with pleasure how many teeny-weeny cars are buzzing about the cities. They're everywhere. Some make the Smart ForTwo look big. It's brilliant, and it works because they don't have to worry about being smacked into by a Land Cruiser. Everyone has a small car, and it's not just acceptable, it's cool! It's only a city solution, but we don't even try in the UK, because the first man to try to set the trend will be laughed at and questioned in-depth about his sexual preferences. Well, personally I'd take style advice from Gucci over BHS any day. If Italy says the micro car can be cool, I shall continue live in hope for us Brits. Sure, I could just move to Italy, but I enjoy my job. If I moved, I'd have to resign, become lazy and sit around all day in about £900 worth of shoes, smoking bad cigarettes and slowly turning to leather.
So, small cars it is then. "But I have to drive on the motorway", they cry. Don't even begin to tell me weight in a car is necessary because safety equipment is heavy. And don't try to tell me it's progress. Take it out. All of it. Airbags, SIPS, the lot. Stop decreasing the standards of driving on our roads by adding a 2-ton safety cocoon of perceived invincibility around every moron who can demonstate his ability to reverse round a corner! Replace it all with a proper L-test followed by real driver training. Driver training works!
Smart, with your clever cars and you fab little 3-pot engines, I salute you, and all those like you. As for Gordon Murray, he's a modern-day Colin Chapman, and if I was a blonde Swede called Elizabeth, I'd have his babies!
Apologies for the threadjack. Rant over.

I had the misfortune to hire a new-shape Vectra not long ago, and it was simply mahoosive! A complete and utter waste of our planet's resources from the moment it was built. Anyone caught driving a car over 1.2 tons should be shot. Instantly. In the face. What the hell is the point in the advancement of engine technology if all the designers think, "Great, more power. We can use it to pull another 400kg of heated dual-zone satnavs!"
It's just spiraling out of control. 4x4s get all the stick from the hippies, but what does your average Golf weigh these days? More than my house, that's for sure! Then what about a 300C? Each one comes with its own postcode! It's getting crazy, and unless the world all hold hands and agrees to stop trying to out-luxury and out-safety each other by driving a bigger car than the one which might crash into them, we're all doomed to sit back and watch the forecourts collapse under the weight of the next supermini.
Head for Italy and observe with pleasure how many teeny-weeny cars are buzzing about the cities. They're everywhere. Some make the Smart ForTwo look big. It's brilliant, and it works because they don't have to worry about being smacked into by a Land Cruiser. Everyone has a small car, and it's not just acceptable, it's cool! It's only a city solution, but we don't even try in the UK, because the first man to try to set the trend will be laughed at and questioned in-depth about his sexual preferences. Well, personally I'd take style advice from Gucci over BHS any day. If Italy says the micro car can be cool, I shall continue live in hope for us Brits. Sure, I could just move to Italy, but I enjoy my job. If I moved, I'd have to resign, become lazy and sit around all day in about £900 worth of shoes, smoking bad cigarettes and slowly turning to leather.
So, small cars it is then. "But I have to drive on the motorway", they cry. Don't even begin to tell me weight in a car is necessary because safety equipment is heavy. And don't try to tell me it's progress. Take it out. All of it. Airbags, SIPS, the lot. Stop decreasing the standards of driving on our roads by adding a 2-ton safety cocoon of perceived invincibility around every moron who can demonstate his ability to reverse round a corner! Replace it all with a proper L-test followed by real driver training. Driver training works!
Smart, with your clever cars and you fab little 3-pot engines, I salute you, and all those like you. As for Gordon Murray, he's a modern-day Colin Chapman, and if I was a blonde Swede called Elizabeth, I'd have his babies!
Apologies for the threadjack. Rant over.
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A-Bloody-mengraeme wrote:I like Gordon Murray. He has a passion for lightweight cars, and that is far too rare in designers these days. He loves tiny little cars too. Sure, the Veyron is just bloody magnificent, but its hardly light... It's a sledgehammer in a world of nuts!
I had the misfortune to hire a new-shape Vectra not long ago, and it was simply mahoosive! A complete and utter waste of our planet's resources from the moment it was built. Anyone caught driving a car over 1.2 tons should be shot. Instantly. In the face. What the hell is the point in the advancement of engine technology if all the designers think, "Great, more power. We can use it to pull another 400kg of heated dual-zone satnavs!"
It's just spiraling out of control. 4x4s get all the stick from the hippies, but what does your average Golf weigh these days? More than my house, that's for sure! Then what about a 300C? Each one comes with its own postcode! It's getting crazy, and unless the world all hold hands and agrees to stop trying to out-luxury and out-safety each other by driving a bigger car than the one which might crash into them, we're all doomed to sit back and watch the forecourts collapse under the weight of the next supermini.
Head for Italy and observe with pleasure how many teeny-weeny cars are buzzing about the cities. They're everywhere. Some make the Smart ForTwo look big. It's brilliant, and it works because they don't have to worry about being smacked into by a Land Cruiser. Everyone has a small car, and it's not just acceptable, it's cool! It's only a city solution, but we don't even try in the UK, because the first man to try to set the trend will be laughed at and questioned in-depth about his sexual preferences. Well, personally I'd take style advice from Gucci over BHS any day. If Italy says the micro car can be cool, I shall continue live in hope for us Brits. Sure, I could just move to Italy, but I enjoy my job. If I moved, I'd have to resign, become lazy and sit around all day in about £900 worth of shoes, smoking bad cigarettes and slowly turning to leather.
So, small cars it is then. "But I have to drive on the motorway", they cry. Don't even begin to tell me weight in a car is necessary because safety equipment is heavy. And don't try to tell me it's progress. Take it out. All of it. Airbags, SIPS, the lot. Stop decreasing the standards of driving on our roads by adding a 2-ton safety cocoon of perceived invincibility around every moron who can demonstate his ability to reverse round a corner! Replace it all with a proper L-test followed by real driver training. Driver training works!
Smart, with your clever cars and you fab little 3-pot engines, I salute you, and all those like you. As for Gordon Murray, he's a modern-day Colin Chapman, and if I was a blonde Swede called Elizabeth, I'd have his babies!
Apologies for the threadjack. Rant over.
2010 Honda VFR1200F
1990 Honda VFR400 NC30
2000 Honda VTR1000 SP1
2000 Kawasaki ZX-7R
1990 Honda VFR400 NC30
2000 Honda VTR1000 SP1
2000 Kawasaki ZX-7R
- offshorematt
- Posts: 626
- Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2005 8:25 am
- Location: Aberdeen
I agree with your every word. Unfortunately Gordon attempts to write the same article EVERY month in his EVO column without the same humour. The man should stick to designing awesome cars and give up on dull journalism...save it for the Telegraph motoring supplement - the average EVO reader is already converted...graeme wrote:I like Gordon Murray. He has a passion for lightweight cars, and that is far too rare in designers these days. He loves tiny little cars too. Sure, the Veyron is just bloody magnificent, but its hardly light... It's a sledgehammer in a world of nuts!
I had the misfortune to hire a new-shape Vectra not long ago, and it was simply mahoosive! A complete and utter waste of our planet's resources from the moment it was built. Anyone caught driving a car over 1.2 tons should be shot. Instantly. In the face. What the hell is the point in the advancement of engine technology if all the designers think, "Great, more power. We can use it to pull another 400kg of heated dual-zone satnavs!"
It's just spiraling out of control. 4x4s get all the stick from the hippies, but what does your average Golf weigh these days? More than my house, that's for sure! Then what about a 300C? Each one comes with its own postcode! It's getting crazy, and unless the world all hold hands and agrees to stop trying to out-luxury and out-safety each other by driving a bigger car than the one which might crash into them, we're all doomed to sit back and watch the forecourts collapse under the weight of the next supermini.
Head for Italy and observe with pleasure how many teeny-weeny cars are buzzing about the cities. They're everywhere. Some make the Smart ForTwo look big. It's brilliant, and it works because they don't have to worry about being smacked into by a Land Cruiser. Everyone has a small car, and it's not just acceptable, it's cool! It's only a city solution, but we don't even try in the UK, because the first man to try to set the trend will be laughed at and questioned in-depth about his sexual preferences. Well, personally I'd take style advice from Gucci over BHS any day. If Italy says the micro car can be cool, I shall continue live in hope for us Brits. Sure, I could just move to Italy, but I enjoy my job. If I moved, I'd have to resign, become lazy and sit around all day in about £900 worth of shoes, smoking bad cigarettes and slowly turning to leather.
So, small cars it is then. "But I have to drive on the motorway", they cry. Don't even begin to tell me weight in a car is necessary because safety equipment is heavy. And don't try to tell me it's progress. Take it out. All of it. Airbags, SIPS, the lot. Stop decreasing the standards of driving on our roads by adding a 2-ton safety cocoon of perceived invincibility around every moron who can demonstate his ability to reverse round a corner! Replace it all with a proper L-test followed by real driver training. Driver training works!
Yup, I have to agree with that. There's the occasional nugget of insight, but it's mostly just "when I were a lad...."offshorematt wrote:
I agree with your every word. Unfortunately Gordon attempts to write the same article EVERY month in his EVO column without the same humour. The man should stick to designing awesome cars and give up on dull journalism...save it for the Telegraph motoring supplement - the average EVO reader is already converted...
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Graemegraeme wrote:I like Gordon Murray. He has a passion for lightweight cars, and that is far too rare in designers these days. He loves tiny little cars too. Sure, the Veyron is just bloody magnificent, but its hardly light... It's a sledgehammer in a world of nuts!
I had the misfortune to hire a new-shape Vectra not long ago, and it was simply mahoosive! A complete and utter waste of our planet's resources from the moment it was built. Anyone caught driving a car over 1.2 tons should be shot. Instantly. In the face. What the hell is the point in the advancement of engine technology if all the designers think, "Great, more power. We can use it to pull another 400kg of heated dual-zone satnavs!"
It's just spiraling out of control. 4x4s get all the stick from the hippies, but what does your average Golf weigh these days? More than my house, that's for sure! Then what about a 300C? Each one comes with its own postcode! It's getting crazy, and unless the world all hold hands and agrees to stop trying to out-luxury and out-safety each other by driving a bigger car than the one which might crash into them, we're all doomed to sit back and watch the forecourts collapse under the weight of the next supermini.
Head for Italy and observe with pleasure how many teeny-weeny cars are buzzing about the cities. They're everywhere. Some make the Smart ForTwo look big. It's brilliant, and it works because they don't have to worry about being smacked into by a Land Cruiser. Everyone has a small car, and it's not just acceptable, it's cool! It's only a city solution, but we don't even try in the UK, because the first man to try to set the trend will be laughed at and questioned in-depth about his sexual preferences. Well, personally I'd take style advice from Gucci over BHS any day. If Italy says the micro car can be cool, I shall continue live in hope for us Brits. Sure, I could just move to Italy, but I enjoy my job. If I moved, I'd have to resign, become lazy and sit around all day in about £900 worth of shoes, smoking bad cigarettes and slowly turning to leather.
So, small cars it is then. "But I have to drive on the motorway", they cry. Don't even begin to tell me weight in a car is necessary because safety equipment is heavy. And don't try to tell me it's progress. Take it out. All of it. Airbags, SIPS, the lot. Stop decreasing the standards of driving on our roads by adding a 2-ton safety cocoon of perceived invincibility around every moron who can demonstate his ability to reverse round a corner! Replace it all with a proper L-test followed by real driver training. Driver training works!
Smart, with your clever cars and you fab little 3-pot engines, I salute you, and all those like you. As for Gordon Murray, he's a modern-day Colin Chapman, and if I was a blonde Swede called Elizabeth, I'd have his babies!
Apologies for the threadjack. Rant over.
Whilst I mostly agree with your sentiments, I can't help but think there may be one or two M3 CSL owners out there that may take exception to your 1.2 ton shooting limit... There are very few luxuries on a CSL that one should be shot for, but at a smidgeon under 1400kgs, it could embarass most metal/carbon fibre out there with 360+ bhp....
I'd like to think there could be a sensible balance which I am trying to live up to with a lightweight fun-machine S1 against my lardass 186mph M3
Just to add pain to misery, my lightweight project Mini is weighed nicely against my wife's new Freelander too
All is in balance in my world
Kisses,
Elizabeth
'00 S1 Elise (permanently SORN'ed it feels like)
'25 Tesla M3 daily
'94 Suzuki Cappuccino
'25 Tesla M3 daily
'94 Suzuki Cappuccino
I hate to say it but it won't happen without legislation.
AFAIK the Italians drive little cars because the taxes on big cars are very high.
I don't if it's still the case but a few years ago in Japan it was against the law to drive a big car in to some (all?) cities unless you had a registered parking space for it - that's why they all drove litte 660cc mincars.
AFAIK the Italians drive little cars because the taxes on big cars are very high.
I don't if it's still the case but a few years ago in Japan it was against the law to drive a big car in to some (all?) cities unless you had a registered parking space for it - that's why they all drove litte 660cc mincars.