Brilliant car facts you need to know
Few have as detailed a knowledge about car-related arcana as our motoring trivia expert, Andrew Frankel. Join us as he stages his annual clear-out of random facts and stats for your enjoyment.
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19 car makers beginning with C
Scandinavian World Rally champions by nation
Drivers classfied in multiple positions for the 1955 Argentina GP
The word for tyre in 14 languages
10 names of cars on film and TV
7 facts about Enzo Ferrari
- Finished second in the 1920 Targa Florio.
- Always wrote with a purple-tip pen.
- Described the F40 as "so fast you'll sh*t yourself".
- Pretended not to be able to speak English.
- Called his first car Auto Avio Costruzione (in 1940) because his contract with former employer Alfa Romeo forbade from putting his own name on a car.
- Regarded Tazio Nuvolari and Gilles Villeneuve as the greatest drivers he ever employed.
- Attended just one more race after his son Dino died in 1956. It was the 1957 Moden Grand Prix, where the V6 engine that Dino had worked on and which bore his name made its race debut.
3 handling conditions explained
Understeer - Car leaves the road head first.
Oversteer - Car leaves the road backwards.
Four-wheel drift - Front and rear of car leave the road at the same time.
19 car makers beginning with C
- Calthorpe
- Caparo
- Cartercar
- Champion
- Chenard et Walcker
- Chiribiri
- Cizeta-Moroder
- Clan
- Climber
- Colonial
- Comet
- Condor
- Corbin
- Cottin-Desgouttes
- Croesus
- Crow-Elkhart
- Croxton-Keeton
- Cunningham
- Cupra
Scandinavian World Rally champions by nation
Drivers classified in multiple positions in the 1955 Argentine GP
The race was held in such hot weather there were multiple retirements and drivers sharing cars, having taken breaks in the pits to recover.
1) Giuseppe Farina (2nd and 3rd)
2) Maurice Trintignant (2nd and 3rd)
3) Karl Kling (4th and retired)
4) Stirling Moss (6th and retired)
5) Harry Schell (6th, 7th and retired)
6) Jean Behra (6th, retired and retired)
7) Luigi Musso (7th and retired)
8) Sergio Mantovani (7th and retired)
9) Carlos Menditeguy (retired and retired)
The word tyre in 14 different languages
Tairi - Swahili
Opona - Polish
Rengas - Finnish
Teannadh - Scottish Gaelic
Yourulmak - Turkish
Pneuo - Esperanto
Dekk - Icelandic
Neumatio - Spanish
Teiar - Welsh
Reifen - German
Pneumatico - Italian
Pneu - French
Tire - Latin
Tire - American
10 names of cars in film and on tv
Herbie
VW Beetle, The Love Bug 1968
General Lee
Dodge Charger, The Dukes of Hazzard, 1978
Knight Industries Two Thousand (K.I.T.T.)
Knight Rider, 1982
Christine
Plymouth Fury, Christine, 1983
Genevieve
Darracq 12HP, Genevieve, 1953
Ecto-1
Cadillac Miller-Meteor Sentinel, Ghostbusters, 1984
Bluesmobile
Dodge Monaco, The Blues Brothers, 1980
Mirthmobile
AMC Pacer, Wayne's World, 1992
Greased Lightnin'
Ford De Luxe, Grease, 1978
Eleanor
Ford Mustang, Gone in 60 Seconds, 1974
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