Saturday, May 27, 2023

Steve McQueen's OTHER motor racing project by John Crawford

Those of us who flocked to see Steve McQueen’s paen to the Vingt Quatre Heures du Mans, were of the opinion that this was the best film about motor racing to date.

 

‘Le Mans’ was researched deeply by McQueen, and he ruthlessly pursued its completion and release, but sadly it bankrupted him.

 

However, before that there was another Steve McQueen motor racing film project. The working title was ‘Day of the Champion’ and it was inspired by Formula One. Despite his efforts, the John Frankenheimer film, ‘Grand Prix’ was released well before McQueen had been able to secure a 'release' from the movie, 'The Sand Pebbles', which ran seven months over-schedule. Subsequently Warner Bros dropped ‘Day of the Champion’.

 

One of those camera car drivers was my dear friend, the late Sir Stirling Moss.


Moss was not only the lead camera car driver for all the critical high-speed moments of the track footage, but also the chief consultant to Steve McQueen.


Many years ago Stirling and I discussed his contribution and his relationship with McQueen whom he rated as a great driver, and all-round 'good bloke'.


 

The bulk of the ancilliary footage are crisp images of the 1965 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, shot in full-frame 35mm. In addition, there are fabulous ‘over-the-shoulder’ scenes taken from Stirling’s car.



The film, which was shown on Sky Documentaries, is written, produced and directed by Alex Rodger, formerly of Sky F1. However, archivist Richard Wiseman is credited with bringing the movie to life after he was sent clips from an American stock movie library.

This documentary movie is called ‘The Lost Movie’, narrated by another petrol-head, David Letterman. It appears you can only stream it on STAN in Australia, as well as You Tube.



JOHN CRAWFORD

Thursday, May 25, 2023

NEW JAGUARS? MORE THAN A MAYBE by John Crawford

In September 2020, as the global COVID epidemic was rising to its crescendo of chaos, when carmakers faced supply chain impediments never seen before, and were struggling to deliver finished vehicles, an aristocratic, autocratic Frenchman crossed the English Channel and joined Jaguar Land Rover, after being ousted from Renault following the Carlos Ghosn scandal.

 

Thierry Bolloré has very good executive credentials. He is very much cast in the same mould as Ghosn, his former boss and colleague.


Watch him walk into a room, or striding across the floor of an international motor show and he exudes an air of total self-confidence, pushing away acolytes with the dismissive air of a king fed up with his court.

 

Initially, quite genial, often your dismissal can occur just after you begin conversation, say 30 seconds or so.

He gives the impression of a man whose brain isn’t big enough to retain his thoughts, so he can’t afford to give up time listening to yours.

 

Just over a year after moving to Gaydon to take the reins of a carmaker with more problems than you would ever want to know about – from falling revenues, dangerously slim cash flows, desperate need for investment and minus a leader – let alone a vision from the leadership.


Bolloré delivered a program for the marque most failing – Jaguar.

 

He called the forward-looking proposal ‘Reimagine’, telling the media and the global automotive world, that he would guide Jaguar through probably the most ambitious product developments in the brand’s recent history.


He asked us all to join him in reimagining Jaguar as an entirely different approach for the vehicles which proudly bore ‘The Leaper’.

 

Actually, I believe from insiders, that during the development of ‘Reimagine’ there was even talk of ditching the marque’s most revered icon.

Sacré bleu!

 A range of new Jaguars, which in design terms would owe nothing to their predecessors, would be built on an entirely new platform and would be fully-electric. Although there was no detail whether they may be sedans, coupes or SUVs, Bolloré made it clear they would not resemble anything that we may previously have perceived as a Jaguar.

 

Sir William Lyons always said: “Jaguars are a copy of nothing”. So, apparently these new Jaguars will not only be an original take for an old brand, but they will also be positioned at the pointy end of the price scale, closer to Bentley than the current range of cats.

 

This strongly suggests that the new Jaguars will succeed or fail because not only of how they will look, but also what they promise in terms of both the aesthetic, and their athleticism. Everyone who knows Jaguar’s glorious history has heard the phrase - “Jaguars must look fast, standing still.”



Given the mind-blowing performance of the new era of premium electric vehicles nobody doubts they will deliver smooth, speedy performance, so, again it really comes down to how they will look. The ‘look’ of a Jaguar has always been elemental to the brand’s success. 


Therefore, where do stand on the subject of Jaguar design? Well, after Ian Callum’s dignified retirement, there was Julian Thompson’s departure after a short time holding down the chief designer’s seat. Did they jump, or were they pushed? I suggest the answer was a bit of both. But, more on future design in a moment.

 

After a bold and impressive start and with sweeping French flourishes and confident gestures from the stage of the ‘Reimagine’ presentation, Bolloré was gone in just two years. What happened?

 

I believe it was timing, and perhaps (unsurprisingly) personality clashes. Revenues were suffering badly and Bolloré’s ‘Reimagine’ program was ambitious, came with a huge price-tag, and required the risk-averse Indian management to ‘take a punt’. The Tata 'money' team back in Mumbai also would have bristled at Bolloré’s autocratic, insistent and determined push to get his plan approved.

 

Who will now guide Jaguar through the choppy seas of launching new designs carrying an iconic reminder of the past? Why! It will be none other than Captain Gerry McGovern – the man who is now in complete charge of all things creative on the good ship JLR.



McGovern has proven his credentials too, following a string of incredibly successful SUVs carrying the oval green Land Rover badge – Evoque, Discovery, Defender and Range Rover. He’s a cocky character, totally self-absorbed and quite frankly, a little annoying to talk to or try to interview. His sense of self-belief has to be experienced.

 

His latest forays into the jungle of the British automotive media at CAR and Autocar have not revealed any details, or even a sly hint at what the new ‘cats’ will look like, but as the man who says he now commands the design ethic of a ‘House of Brands’, he uses phrases which he hopes will resonate with potential Jaguar buyers. McGovern says the new designs will be aspirational, exuberant and, most important, fearless!


Of course! But, I like the way he talks.

 

Before we go on with analysing whether a plan to ‘Reimagine’ the Jaguar brand will succeed, I’d like to present some design ideas which are a distillation of suggestions from terms McGovern uses; a few more defined words casually dropped by JLR’s new CEO Adrian Mardell; the tidy and symmetrical appearance of the latest models from Land Rover; a couple of tiny hints from some moles – and some good old crystal-balling.

 

I discussed the thankless task of designing some concepts using thin air as inspiration, with a designer mate I have known since my time as Editor of MODERN MOTOR magazine in the mid 70s. Steve Park* is highly experienced, very successful, has a great commercial eye, down-to-earth common sense, and also a sort of oblique connection to many of the brand names with threads running through this project.



We have to ask, will Jaguars that look like this attract a young, but successful and aspirational group of buyers? Only time will tell, but apparently the plan has been approved.

 

The continuing commercial success of Range Rover, Defender and Discovery is generating large swathes of cash thanks to an uptick in vehicle deliveries, and according to CEO Mardell, JLR has paid down  £1.5 billion of debt in the last six months, and Mardell has said “Thanks to an average transaction price of £71,000, I believe that confirms our focus on aspiration of our customers”.

 

In fact the headline finance numbers show that JLR quadrupled its profits in the last quarter of the 2023 financial year compared with a year earlier.

 

With revenues rolling in, then perhaps now IS the time to splash big cash in Jaguar’s direction. There’s a view shared by many in JLR management ranks that Jaguar was the victim of too little investment; too much caution in design, a lack of ambition to move Jaguar into its own segment – and take a bold gamble. Mind you, this is the same management which was at the tiller when these issues threatened Jaguar’s survival.

 

What Jaguar needs is a bold leader who shares a vision of exuberant modernism with Gerry McGovern. The current CEO is a bean-counter.

Jaguar doesn't have a leader with Lyons' vision, so McGovern is hope for the future.


McGovern is a man who some say is obsessed with the great luxury brands like Gucci, Hermes and Rolex.



This is not a bad thing if you want Jaguar to be once again considered an aspirational brand.


With so little information seeping out of Gaydon, everyone's had a go at suggesting what the new Jaguar EV may look like with both Drako and Autocar producing fancy concepts.


 

However, it sounds to me like Gerry McGovern may have tapped into the thinking of many Jaguar brand enthusiasts about the reasons for Jaguar’s success with cars like the XK120, E-Type and Jaguar XJ6. In all these instances Jaguar created its own market niche and under Sir William Lyons (who also obsessively chased aspirational buyers - for example stars like Clark Gable) Jaguar was a ‘brand alone’.

 

For comparison, in 1968 a Jaguar XJ6 was cheaper than a Bentley. But offered similar attributes of luxury, comfort and performance.



I’m also guilty of expressing this concept and I am trusting Gerry McGovern to give Jaguar the tools it needs to not only survive, but prosper, and allow its new buyers to feel a sense of pride, accomplishment and celebration.

 

For that, we have to put our hopes in Gerry McGovern’s ‘exuberant modernism’. I am more than happy to invest my emotional capital in ‘Reimagining’ Jaguar as a standout in JLR’s ‘House of Brands’ and regain its rightful place as one of Britain’s most respected marques.


After all, this could be Jaguar's last gasp!


JOHN CRAWFORD


*Steve Park - Designer



Steve’s been in the automotive design world for over 35 years and his background covers a wide range of experiences - from clay modeller to senior designer.

 

He started with Ford Australia in 1977, and during his time has had a significant influence and impact on the Falcon range of cars. He was lead designer for the AU Falcon (top).


The last Falcon he worked on was, the LAST the FG Falcon (Bottom).

 

Also, Steve has had senior design roles through the 80s and 90's at Ford of Europe; Dunton design in the UK; Ghia studios in Turin; a stint with The Ford Design studio alongside Mazda in Hiroshima; Exterior design in Köln, and a long-term posting with Ford North America.

 

Currently Steve is chief designer with HO [homologated option] based in Melbourne.

HONDA'S BOMBSHELL DECISION! by John Crawford

The big excitement in Formula One this week is the shock announcement that Honda will officially re-join the Formula One grid as an official engine supplier when the new rules are introduced in 2026.

The real surprise is that Honda engines will not be powering 2023's all-conquering Red Bull F1 team. In a huge development for the team, it will be Aston Martin F1 which will enjoy the benefits of all of Honda's vast F1 experience, plus all the stuff it has learned from the seasons it has partnered with Red Bull.

Honda has somewhat of a chequered history with Formula One. 

The company first entered F1 in 1964, just four years after it produced its first road car. The company further startled the established F1 cadre by producing not only the engine, but also the chassis. The car was called the RA271, and after just one year of competition the RA272 (below) carried American Ritchie Ginther to victory in the 1965 Mexican GP.

Since then, Honda has been in and out of both direct competition as a full factory team, and as an engine supplier. 

In 2019 Honda signed with Red Bull to provide engines, and the team scored an important first victory at the 2019 Austrian GP.

In 2021 Honda withdrew, but agreed to provide assistance to Red Bull which manufactured the Honda engines under licence - an arrangement which was to run until 2025.

This is a major coup for the revitalised Aston Martin team, which has scored four podiums in the first five races for 2023.

It also follows extensive 'poaching' of some highly-experienced engineering, design and logistical management from some of the top teams - many of whom defected from Red Bull.

Roll on 2026 - I'm certain there's more big changes to come!

JOHN CRAWFORD