“Nightmare looks” couldn’t detract from EB110’s talent
ON THIS92DAY IN 19
Bugatti back with a bang “If humiliating Maranello is your game, 12 cylinders, 60 valves, four turbos and four-wheel drive are what you’ll need,” said our man. As for the driving experience? “If you want 550bhp and 211mph, you can wave goodbye to turning in with a flick of the wrist rather than a stab at the throttle. Yes? Not so.
“The handling and refinement are everything I thought they wouldn’t be. But the performance is everything I thought it would be and more. After a day of throwing it round a track, I couldn’t escape the idea of a 550bhp Mini Cooper. “You could drive this car into the heavens if you have the courage.
The acceleration up to 8000rpm is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. “Balance in corners is never in doubt and the staggering rigidity means any bump is dealt with.” What a shame it coincided with a global recession, bankrupting Bugatti after it had made just 139. KRIS CULMER
MOTORSPORT
Iso revives the Grifo
What’s wrong with the new McLaren? “McLaren was licking its wounds last week after a disastrous performance at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Ayrton Senna, Gerhard Berger and Jonathan Palmer will all be testing new MP4/7As at Silverstone in an effort to catch up with Nigel Mansell’s flying Williams,” we reported after the Formula 1 car’s debut outing. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? And like with the MCL36 that looked off the pace at the start of the 2022 season, the Woking team could pin at least some of the blame on its engine supplier – now Mercedes-AMG but 30 years ago Honda. “The new RA122E/B is a low-line, 75deg V12. With all its ancillaries inside the vee and its exhaust manifolds hugging the side of the block, it has been designed with aerodynamics in mind. But despite variable-length inlet trumpets, pneumatic valve actuation and road car-derived quick-burn inlet ports, both Senna and Berger said the engine lacked top-end power.” Some estimated it was 70bhp down on Williams’ Renault V10. Progress was made, and the car won five races, but it was a hard fall from four years of domination. Honda quit F1 after 1992 to focus on Indycar in the US, and McLaren didn’t win another title until 1998.
Porsche 928 leaves in style “For 15 years, the 928 has teetered on the brink of greatness,” we said. “As a swansong, Porsche has come up with the GTS, the best 928 ever and a car fully capable of pushing the big GT over the brink.” It’s easy to see why: the V8 was bored out to 5.7 litres for 350bhp, while the steering, gearbox and NVH measures were upgraded to undoubtedly make it “the world’s most usable supercar”.
The Iso Grifo was a famous 1960s GT matching Italian engineering and beauty with American muscle, but like many others, it was killed by the 1973 oil crisis. Come 1990, Iso fancied a revival, making a Grifo with Dallara engineering, Gandini styling and the Chevrolet Corvette’s V8, and in 1992 it promised RHD cars. Sadly, though, economic downturn again stopped it.
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NEXT WEEK, YOU can read about our visit to Bugatti to drive the new Chiron Super Sport. How about the old EB110 to whet your appetite? The Ferrari F40 rival revived the hallowed horseshoe after 36 years, courtesy of Italian entrepreneur Romano Artioli (who would later buy Lotus and gift us the Elise).
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