In automotive history there is a few who... magic touch had that indefinable extra that enchants enthusiasts. This is how Enzo Ferrari started a car brand that scored thirty-one F1 world titles for drivers and constructors. As if that weren't enough, there are also seven Ferraris in the top 10 most expensive auctioned cars of all time. Much more legendary than Il Commendatore, as Enzo Ferrari was called by his own people, it will not be. Another example is Ayrton Senna da Silva. Even though Max Verstappen is probably the most complete driver of all time, he is without the mystery and superhuman excellence of Senna. People like Ferrari and Senna have always had a cloud of mystique surrounding them. Such Masters of Magic of automotive history are often also legends in motorsport. Car racing is indispensable for the car industry, because the sport is a test lab for car manufacturers. New ideas are developed, tested and perfected on the track. For example, hybrid technology owes its enormous leaps to the rapid development on the circuit. But things such as seat belts, rear-view mirrors, ABS, carbon fiber and disc brakes also come from car racing. Development happens fastest at racing speed.
Our first 'magician' has a legendary name in motorsport, but made his greatest contributions to everyday traffic. For Ferdinand Porsche, the surname is a nice hint as to which brand he founded, but his influence goes much further. In 1893, at the age of eighteen, he equipped his parental home with a complete electric lighting system. In 1898 he built his first car, the electric Egger-Lohner C.2 Phaeton. Porsche then invented the hub motor, which we still see in many electric bicycles and cars today. The Lohner-Porsche Electromobile was built on the basis of this hub motor, which had its premiere at the 1900 Paris World Exhibition. Indeed, on the same site where the Eiffel Tower had been unveiled at the previous Expo Universelle de Paris. The motive for the launch of this electric car will sound familiar. Porsche's partner Lohner described the reason as follows: “The air has been mercilessly spoiled by the large number of petrol engines in use.”
Later in 1900, Porsche became the inventor of the hybrid car. He built an electric car that, using a combustion engine, charges the batteries as economically as possible while driving. Only more than a hundred years later did we see this principle again, including in BMW's electric supercar, the i8. Porsche founded its own brand in 1931, and models such as the 356, Speedster and 911 are icons of automotive history. Yet the most famous contribution that Ferdinand Porsche has made to the automotive world is not a Porsche, but the 1938 VW Beetle. And here we immediately come to the dark side of his magic, because the Volkswagen was designed on behalf of Adolf Hitler. Porsche was a Nazi who designed weapons for Hitler and, as an SS member from Himmler, even received the SS Ehrenring. So despite his incredible contributions to global mobility and his many accolades, he was hardly a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Although Ayrton Senna never received a Nobel Prize, the Brazilian was virtually canonized after his death. Despite his ruthless driving style, Senna had a big heart. He always gave donations and helped people, but there was no real structure to it. It was only a few months before his death that the three-time world champion decided that he and his family wanted to start a foundation that would stand up for underprivileged children in Brazil. Unfortunately, Ayrton was not allowed to experience it himself, because the Instituto Ayrton Senna was only founded after his death. However, the foundation is a Senna-worthy success. It gives millions of Brazilian children the opportunity to receive an education and also improves the quality of education in Brazil as a whole. Senna's funeral was the largest ever and was attended by more than three million people. In addition, one hundred million people in Brazil watched the live broadcast. During his life, Senna built up an immense support base through his battles with Alain Prost, his incredible qualifying laps and his at times inhuman car control. And even now, almost thirty years after his death in armor, Senna is still loved and admired worldwide.
The team with which Senna scored his first victory at the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix was Lotus. The legendary Colin Chapman was the founder, team principal and designer of the Lotus racing team. For his racing cars he made inventions such as the monocoque: a chassis that is supported by the outer shell and does not need to be internally reinforced. It is another brilliant invention ground effect, where the underbody acts as an inverted airfoil and sucks the car to the ground for optimal road holding. Chapman is also the founder and designer of the Lotus sports car brand. Lotus built classics such as the Lotus Seven, Elan and Esprit. The beautiful Lotus Esprit played a leading role in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, in which it was converted into a submarine by Q. The Super Seven, from 1957, still forms the basis for the cars of Donkervoort, Caterham and Westfield. The Elan, from 1962, is also legendary. Gordon Murray, also a designer with the magic touch, said that when designing the McLaren F1 hypercar he set the goal of making the F1 handle as well as a Lotus Elan, but that he was not quite successful. . That's quite a compliment, because the McLaren F1, from 1992, is still the standard for today's hypercars. And most of these multi-million dollar hypercars are still taking a beating on the track from the thirty-year-old McLaren.
Everyone decides for themselves who their heroes, legends and myths are. Of course people like Enzo Ferrari were larger than life, but what about Michèle Mouton, for example? In the early 1986s, Mouton became the only woman to ever win a World Rally Championship. She did this in the days of the Group B cars, the most spectacular and fastest four-wheel drive prototypes ever used during World Cup rallies. In 4, after a number of fatal accidents, Group B was abolished because these 'real men's cars' were simply too dangerous. But in those years Michèle Mouton won no fewer than XNUMX World Championship rallies with her Audi quattro.
Niki Lauda is also such a legend. In 1976 he suffered severe burns to his face and lungs during a crash at the Nürburgring. A priest was even brought to the hospital to administer the last rites. Yet he survived. However, it seemed a fact that his career was over. Lauda himself saw it differently, because six weeks later he was back at the start of a grand prix. A year later he even became world champion for the second time, a feat that he repeated again in 1984. Lauda was, as they say in cycling, 'no ordinary'. Automotive history is full of unusual, brave, brilliant and mystical figures like this, and sometimes there is one with the magic touch.
The magical autumn edition of MASTERS Magazine is now available. Artificial intelligence has now become an indispensable part of our lives. But, is this development something to celebrate or fear? Will Terminators take over or will friendly robots make our earthly existence even more comfortable? In this edition, AI is examined. According to philosopher Rowan Williams, it is important to remember that whatever AI does, it always imitates. And that we as humans distinguish ourselves through ingenuity. A good example is real estate entrepreneur André Snippe, who is developing an ultra-modern city district in Hoofddorp. Or nautical designer Jurjen Eerkens, who has developed a groundbreaking boat with his Hytender that is leading the way in making the yacht industry more sustainable. These and more resourceful entrepreneurs grace the pages of this edition. Which also looks ahead to MASTERS EXPO | The MAGICAL Edition, our exclusive business fair also born from ingenuity.
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