Techzle celebrates its 30th anniversary, which is why we look back every week on this week’s edition in 1990. Techzle 43 will be in the shops from today, but what exactly was it thirty years ago in number 43?
News
Anyone who has their knowledge of history in order – or simply can still remember it – knows that this month it is 30 years ago that West and East Germany came together in one German federal republic. In that unification a special role was reserved for the Trabant; one of the most tangible heirlooms from the former GDR. To celebrate the reunification on October 3, a group of very enthusiastic former GDR residents set fire to a Trabant. The scene was photographed and the striking bonfire on wheels got attention on the news pages in Techzle 43 of 1990.
More concrete car news came in the form of a number of very interesting illustrations of the successor to the Citroën BX. Of course we all now know that it was the Xantia, but at the time it was still known under the code name ‘X-1’. Bertone drew the basic design and Citroën was then allowed to unleash its own vision on it. As you can see from the illustrations above, we were not that far off in terms of expected final design!
Tests
The Ford Focus was the first car to compete against the new Volkswagen Golf in a comparative test this year. In 1990 it was precisely the then somewhat older Golf that was allowed to compete against the then brand new Escort. At a glance it could be seen that they came from two different decades. That was also evident when we started driving it. The Escort felt clearly more modern, offered more space and above all better performance than the Golf. On one point, however, the Golf still stood out compared to the Escort: quality. The Escort did not feel completely flawless and a bit noisy here and there, while the Golf appeared more solid. For less money, however, you got clearly more car with the Escort.
Another, somewhat less extensive test was that of the Honda Concerto 1.5. This was the introductory version of the Civic’s bigger brother, created together with the Rover 214. The 1.5 felt adequate and smooth enough, although the 1.6 turned out to be a clear step more powerful. 0-100 km / h in 9 seconds and a more luxurious basic equipment were two of the most convincing arguments for going for the Concerto 1.6. Nevertheless, the wallet turned out to be decisive, because the substantial extra price (NLG 6,600) kept the 1.6 from great success in the Netherlands.
Report
We may not really be able to call it a reportage, because it was known as a driving test, but the story about the Ferrari Mythos feels more like a background story. After all, it was not a production model. The Mythos was a concept car from Pininfarina’s drawing board, with which Ferrari made quite some future music sound. The car shared its base with the then somewhat older Testarossa, but later turned out to have been a prelude to the extremely spectacular F50. One aspect of the Mythos was especially noticed by the editors; its active rear wing. “The rear wing is integral with the body. Above 100 km / h it lifts and tilts automatically and then takes on an important aerodynamic function.” We would see that much more often later!
For the second-hand market, the immensely popular Ford Taunus was thoroughly examined. They turned out not to be very charmed. The first Taunus was almost nowhere to be found, the editor noted, and moreover it was ‘by no means a beauty’. The second Taunus could be bought for next to nothing in 1990 and was possibly an interesting cheap spacious family car. However, its susceptibility to rust, poor straight-line stability and, above all, high fuel consumption were potential deal breakers. They should have known that they would eventually become fond of it.
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The Daihatsu Applause deserved what its name suggested. It was a smart thing; spacious, more than excellent performances and it was well put together. As a former Mika Red-painted (read: pink) Applause driver, colleague Lars Krijgsman cannot confirm this often enough. The fact that there was a 16-clapper in the nose was still worth advertising in 1990. The Applause, however, had ‘one more valve extra’, the tailgate. The sedan-like appearance of the Japanese turned out to be nothing more than optical, as the rear window came up with it. As a result, there was of course more cargo space and a better option for full loading.