Pininfarina x Ferrari

"There's probably no other more powerful collaboration in the world of car culture than that which has existed between Pininfarina and Ferrari. For 60 years the design company has been responsible for the majority of the Ferraris we know and love "

Twin-Pot Dictatorships

Bikes

Written by Michael Fordham

Although Germany is not synonymous with passionate success in biking or motorsport, the fact is that motorcycle knowledge, know-how and technology introduced by German companies has been exported to every corner of the planet. We gathered together fifteen of the most interesting German two wheelers ever produced.

: The new straight six concept from BMW is set to solve structural problems with the in-line six cylinder format

: Franz Langer built this 2000cc single cylinder NSU in 2007: a record-breaking size for a one-pot

: The MZ 125 was ridden to Victory by East German Ernst Degner, who famously defected to the west and introduced Suzuki to the secrets of two stroke technology

: In 1939 Georg Meier was the first non-English rider to win the Senior Tourist Trophy on his BMW compressor machine

: The R32 was the first motorbike to be produced under the BMW brand. It introduced the twin boxer and driveshaft format that survives to this day.

: In the 1950s MZ dominated motorcycle sport in East Germany

: Despite sharing a name with an STD, NSU were a successful manufacturer of motorbikes before and after WW2. This 350 dates from 1939

: Manufacturer DKW produced many military vehicles for the Wehrmacht. This half-tracked ‘kattenkrad’ was in use all over the European theatre

: This Yamaha 250 was, according a variety of sources, copied and manufactured under license from the DKW 350 – another example of Japanese successfully copying german bike tech.

: The twin boxer engine format married to shaft drive has proved a German perennial

: This is the prototype of the R80GS – one of the most successful German motorbikes ever produced

: The paralever rear suspension system is a BMW innovation that produced the characteristic smooth handling of the Motorad’s bikes

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VW’s SP Series

Cars

" There hasn't been much written or much interesting steel produced, it seems to us, about the Brazilian car industry. Apparently the Karmann Ghia was produced in significant numbers in Brazil - but apart from that a 1970s import ban simply "

VW Beetle: German High Culture?

"It's nice to see a great British institution giving a great German institution the credit it deserves. It may not be the most spectacular, efficient, cool, sexy or beautiful car that German industry has produced – but it's certainly the most "

Dealerships Past

"Just as cars evolve and morph and add to design history - so do the places where they are bought and sold. So, it was nice when recently we stumbled across a collection of images from car dealerships past - "

Enzo Prototipo M3

"[gallery link="file"] It's not very often that the opportunity becomes available to possess a genuine Ferrari one-off – a slice of Modena history that gave birth to a car that is near mythical in its importance. But in the shadows "

Porsche, Martini and the Mulsanne Straight

"We've waxed lyrical about the beauty of the Porsche-Martini collaboration before. But this morning on our usual webly wandering we came across this adrenalin-infused onboard sequence with a 1977 Le Mans pilot and his Porsche-Martini Spyder. Check out the 200mph plus "

Drifting: the unforgiving sport

"Ah, Paris. Home to art, love, wine, landmarks and many, many dented automobiles. They come in all shapes and sizes (the cars, not the bodywork blemishes) – and in those pretty streets lives something a little more exotic than your average 2"

Davida Helmets – Excellence in safety and design

"When we think of motorcycle helmets we generally name Arai, Shoei, AGV, Shark, Nolan et Al. Not many motorcyclists globally would name Davida helmets, a small family-run business in Birkenhead, Merseyside. But this will soon be changing as the company "

Living the sideways dream

"Ploughing through a stack of boxes to escape the bad guys, endless drifting through a car park, angering a fist-shaking market stall owner in pursuit of an escaping criminal; that’s the stunt driving dream. For a lot of people "

The Spirit of Abarth and the Targa Florio Live On

"The Targa Florio endurance race once witnessed classic racing cars ripping through Sicily’s meandering mountainous passes. It ran from 1906 until 1977 and has run ever since as a rally. 2018’s re-enactment of the iconic Targa Florio took place recently - "

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