2001

28 December 2001: 2002 Dakar Rally begins, finishing on January 13, 2002. The course will run over 9,436km through five countries, France, Spain, Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal.

15 December 2001: Honda put a petrol-electric hybrid version of the 5-seat Honda Civic sedan on sale in Japan, 3.41L/100km.

December 2001: The Red Cross (.au) is short of blood - please donate.

December 2001: Julio Florez (.br) tells me that BFGoodrich have released new All-Terrain KO and Mud-Terrain T/A 4×4 tyres.

30 November - 9 December 2001: Essen Motor Show (.de)

3 December 2001: Production of the new Range Rover III has begun - for sale on February 15 in European markets and June 2002 in the Australian market [-LR].

29 November - 2 December 2001:   4WD and Adventure Show, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, South Bank, Brisbane, Qld [www[.

24-25 November 2001: 20th Annual Historic Commercial Vehicle Display, corner of Blackburn and Wellington Rds, Melbourne, Vic.

24-25 November 2001: Rhino Trophy, Suzuki 4WD Club (Vic).

November 2001: Hyundai Terracan 4x4 to go on sale $37K-$43K ($au): 3.5-litre V6 4-valves/cyl, part-time 4WD (or Active Torque Transfer), 2-speed transfer case (low 2.48:1), ABS EBD brakes disc/disc, 255/65×16 tyres.

17 - 18 November 2001: Qld 4x4 Mudkhana Willowbank Motor Sport Precinct - 3200 0708 or 0409 627 166.

17 November 2001: Crude oil is at a low of US$17/barrel leading to predictions that petrol prices should be down to ~73c/L ($.au) in a week or so.

15 November 2001: Ford Australia announced that it will produce a four wheel drive based on the Ford Falcon platform. The project has the code-name `Raptor'. The last, and probably first, Ford .au 4x4 was based on the Falcon XY ute in the 1970s, about 430 being built.

9-11 November 2001: 4WD and Adventure Show, McCallum Park, Victoria Park, Perth, WA [www].

9-11 November 2001: Shepparton 4WD and Outdoor Living Spectacular, Kialla Harness Track, Melbourne Road, Kialla.

6 November 2001: Australian 4WD Monthly magazine's 4WD of the Year Awards: 4WD of the year is the LandCruiser 4500 GXL, best diesel is the turbo-diesel Prado 3000 GXL.

5 November 2001: Jack Lovick (4/3/1918-5/11/2001), the mountain cattleman, died in Mansfield. As recently as 2000 he led the autumn cattle muster near Merrijig.

November 2001: Australian motoring organizations Best Car Awards. 4WD: Mitsubishi Pajero GLS, Recreational Vehicle <$45K: Subaru Forester Ltd. 4x4, Recreational Vehicle >$45K: BMW X5 3.0 4x4.

29 October 2001: Most seasonally closed tracks in the Victorian high country open. Stirling summit track, Caledonia River track, remains closed -LROC. Check with DNRE.

25 - 28 October 2001: National 4x4 Show, Melbourne Exhibition Centre, (with Fishing and Great Outdoor Expo'), tel:03-9421-4490.

24 October - 7 November 2001: Tokyo Motor Show.

20-21 October 2001: Boho Bounce - Goulburn Valley 4WD Club.

12-14 October 2001: 4WD and Adventure Show, Ellis Park, on the corner of West Terrace and Sir Donald Bradman Drive, Adelaide.

12-21 October 2001: 90th Sydney Motor Show, Sydney Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour. (The new Ford Explorer 4x4 will go on sale in November.)
After the Event: The Show attracted 319,915 visitors.

October 2001: London Motor Show, Earls Court.

October 2001: Daewoo, maker of the Musso and Korando 4x4s (and also cars), and General Motors signed a `memorandum of understanding' for GM to buy Daewoo. The two 4x4s were made by Ssangyong until it got into financial trouble and was taken over by Daewoo, which itself . . .

14 - 16 September 2001: Goodwood Revival Meeting, historic racing cars, Goodwood, near Arundel, UK [www]

September 2001: Frankfurt Motor Show.

2 September 2001: Lindsay Fox Auto Collection in the Docklands, Melbourne, open open for Fathers' Day,

25-26 August 2001: European Truck Trials, Mohelnice (CZ). (was trucktrial.grade.de)

26 August 2001, Australian Safari winners: Autos B. Garland (NSW) and H. Suzuki (NSW) Holden Jackaroo 4x4; Motorbikes A. Caldecott (SA) KTM 660 Rallye. (was www.australiansafari.com.au)

19 August 2001: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) won the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix and thus the world championship with four races still remaining in the 2001 season.
Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) was second in Hungary, and David Coulthard (McLaren Mercedes) third.

17 August 2001: A cold front brought strong winds and low temperatures to Victoria, with snow down to ~ 900 metres, and similar weather to continue into the weekend. Some houses lost roofs and trees came down. Take a chain saw if travelling on forest tracks.

August 2001: "The Land Rover Discovery II has been named as 'Best 4x4 off-roader' in the Auto Express New Car Honours for 2001." [-LandRover].
The Discovery beat the Mercedes M-class and the Mitsubishi Shogun [Pajero].

6 August 2001: There has been ~20cm of snow recently at Falls Creek and at some other resorts, so there seems to be some cover at the higher resorts.

4 August 2001: Winter continues warm and dry in Australia with virtually no snow in the Alps, except for some very limited man-made snow at some down-hill ski resorts.

August 2001: The Daily Telegraph (28/7/'01) reports that The European Union Commission has accepted car makers voluntary proposals to improve pedestrain safety aspects of cars: Between 2005 and 2012 improvements to the design of the fronts of cars will be phased in. Rigid Bull Bars will not be sold or fitted from January 2002 [this is in Europe] Running lights (remember Volvo!) will be fitted from October 2003. ABS brakes will be standard from 7/2004.

28-29 July 2001: European Truck Trials, moved to Steinbourg near Saverne (F). This is the site of 4x4 Club 'vallee de la Zorn' and was already in 1990 and 1993 a venue for EuropaTruckTrial. (was trucktrial.grade.de)

27 - 29 July 2001: Ateco Warn Challenge, hosted by the Yarra Valley 4WD club (Vic', .au). This event is designed to test competitors and vehicles to their limits in extreme conditions over three gruelling days and nights. More information about the event can be found from the [Yarra Valley (was www.yvfwdc.org)

23 July 2001: Ford Australia is importing F250 and F350 4×2 and 4×4 light trucks into Australia again.

July 2001: Toyota announced on 19th June that production of the Brazilian Bandeirante 4x4 will end. This confirmed speculation in the auto' industry over recent months. Production of the Bandeirante will end in November 2001, the month in which the company will commemorate the vehicle's 40th anniversary. According to Toyota's previous announcements, the Bandeirante's diesel engine would not comply with legislation to come into effect in 2002. The Sao Bernardo do Compo factory will turn to making components for the Corolla (Indaiatuba, Sao Paulo) and Hilux (Argentina) factories - Julio Florez

6-8 July 2001: Goodwood Festival of Speed.

July 2001: New model Audi A4 on sale in Australia.

July 2001: VW Bora V6 sedan 4-motion (4x4) arrives in Australia.

30 June - 2 July 2001: 16th Annual New England 4x4 Jamboree.

30 June - 1 July 2001: Waddington International Air Show (UK). June 30th, July 1st. Waddington is 5km south of Lincoln, in Lincolnshire Includes Military Vehicles.

June 2001: THRUST SSC the British supersonic jet car (driver Andy Green, team leader Richard Noble) that broke the sound barrier by reaching 763+mph in 1997 has been bought for £680,000, by the Museum of British Road Transport, Coventry.

June 2001: The Rover 75 did well in European NCAP crash tests.

21 - 24 June 2001: National 4x4 Show, this weekend at Sydney Showground Homebush (with Fishing and Great Outdoor Expo').

21 June 2001: Not much snow in the Victorian Alps-  10+cm at Falls Creek and 20+cm at Mt. Hotham, less elsewhere.

15 June (USA), 21 June (Australia): The movie Tomb Raider opens.

10 June 2001: Larry Stanley writes that Fiat is experimenting with a prototype Fiat Punto four wheel drive - with an electric motor in each wheel, power being supplied by an internal combustion engine driving a generator, buffered by batteries. Of course there is nothing new under the sun: Ferdinand Porsche had similar transmissions c1900 and the US Army has more recently experimented with diesel- electric hybrid propulsion in Hummers and in RST-V

9 - 11 June 2001, Queen's Birthday Weekend (.au, Sat' - Mon'): The official start of the ski season but, as is often the case, it's warm and there is no snow yet (except for sight-seeing snow at Falls Creek).

6 - 12 June 2001: National 4x4 Show, RNA Exhibition Grounds, Brisbane Qld., with Fishing Show in conjunction with Queensland Caravan and Camping Show.

June 2001: A paper by Jurgen Louis of Shell Global Solutions' Fuels Business Group to the 2001 World Congress of the Society of Automotive Engineers in March gave figures for green-house gas emmissions using different kinds of engine and fuel systems. Extraction, manufacture and use in the car were all included. The petrol internal combustion (IC) engine is the second worst at about 220gm/km; a hydrogen IC engine (a BMW favourite) is estimated to be slightly worse! A diesel IC engine (available at a shop near you right now) comes in at about 150gm/km, with compressed natural gas (CNG) IC power. Petrol-electric hybrids and electric cars are only slightly better. A fuel-cell running on CNG releases marginally the least emissions at just under 100gm/km, but diesel-electric and CNG-electric hybrids are very nearly as good. Shell[6/'01].
Projections must be taken with a pinch of salt because technology and consumer behaviour can change, but for low technological risk, diesel & CNG (today), and diesel-electric & CNG-electric (later) are looking good with, maybe some time in the future, fuel cells. One of hydrogen's problems is the energy required to compress and/or liquefy it for transport and storage.

May 2001: Sales of new vehicles in Australia in April are 8.2% up on April 2000 (which was in the in the pre-GST slump) [-ABS]

25 May 2001, by email: to the continuing crisis of Foot & Mouth Disease, the Yorkshire Rover Owners Club have decided to cancel Langley Farm 2001.
It is not a decision that has been taken lightly. Indeed just over two weeks ago we were still hoping to hold the event. However since then FMD has taken a surge in Yorkshire. We have therefore had to take this action now, so that any people who would have made Langley Farm their first choice event for that weekend can seek alternative events. Hope to see you all next year. - Muck Moses, Membership Secretary, Yorkshire Rover Owners Club

May 2001: Land Rover Australia says that "The official .au launch for the new Range Rover will be the Melbourne Motor Show in [Feb/March] 2002."

19 May 2001: NRMA insurance will not increase premiums in the wake of the HIH collapse. (There have been suggestions that some premiums could rise by $150.)

18 - 25 May: ARB Warn Outback Challenge 2001.

18 - 21 May 2001: Friday 18th to Monday 21st, Blinman Land Rover Jamboree, Land Rover Register of South Australia.

May 2001: Automotive Technik Limited (UK), which recently took over manufacture of the Pinzgauer 4×4 and 6×6 from Steyr, has won a contract to export 6×6 Recovery Vehicles to the Oman Army, which already has over 1200 Pinzgauers!

14 May 2001: Corkwood Press announces its latest publication, a new edition of Charles Sturt's `Narrative of an Expedition into Central Australia', 1844-1846. In leather $90 (50 only), hardback $55, softback $39.95, p+p $5 ($au) — Corkwood Press, P.O. Box 237, North Adelaide, South Australia, 5006.

6 May 2001: Land-Rover Marque day at Gaydon (BMIHT) England.

May 2001: The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) is running a fund raising appeal. The service costs a lot of money to run, and the RFDS would like some of your cash to help:
      Royal Flying Doctor Service, P.O.Box 678, St.Kilda, Victoria 3182. tel:9521-2633
A particular item is the purchase of four Pilatus PC12 aircraft to replace older aircraft in Western Australia. One novel way of supporting the RFDS is to go on the `2001 Supporters Tour', 25 May to 9 June: RFDS bases and local communities, Alice Springs, Standley Chasm, Derby, Geike Gorge, Horizontal Waterfalls, One Arm Point, Cape Leveque, Broome, Port Hedland, Marble Bar, Meekathara, Kalgoorlie, Jandakot, Freemantle and Perth. 20 places only. Tour costs $7990 per person, single supplement +$990.

April 2001: The Kidney Kar Rally 2001, 16-22 April, results are:
Outright placings, 1. Kar 072 - The Pensioners, Grahame McKay, Henry Viana, 2. Kar 66 - Star Kar, Warren Quinn, Paul Regan, 3. Kar 39 - Heartbreaker, Peter and Rodney Hogno.
Wacko Placings, 1. Kar 5 - Wombat, Doug Woodcock, Paul Fenech, 2. Kar 57 - The Shaguar, Jason and Joanne Sharam, Stuart Jackson, 3. Kar 151 - Sly Fox, Graeme Diamond, Brian Cini, Jerry Vandenbosch.
Highest fundraisers, 1. Kar 151 - Sly Fox (Graeme Diamond, Brian Cini, Jerry Vandenbosch) 2. Kar 940 - Australia All Over (Bob Rowlands, Bill Gibbs, Peter Mills) 3. Kar 90 - Ain't Misbehavin (Les and Lea Leisfield).

25 April 2001, Anzac Day: The heavy rain of recent days stopped and the sun shone on a large crowd come to watch the Anzac Day parade in Melbourne.

21-22 April 2001: Yarraman Midnight Pursuit 2001 (Vic, .au)

April 2001: The `Australian Dictionary of Motoring' has been updated and released.

14-15 April 2001: Ramsay Winch Pursuit.

12 April 2001: Petrol prices jumped by 10c/litre as Easter (13-16/4) drew close, prompting allegations of profiteering from motoring organizations.

12-22 April 2001: Kidney 4WD Adventure, Tamworth to Broken Hill via the Simpson Desert Australian Kidney Foundation on (02)9299-4599.

24-25 March 2001: Ballarat 4WD Adventure Weekend (Show).

24 March 2001: ``Last Mail from Birdsville - the Story of Tom Kruse on Channel Seven's ``World Around Us'', Saturday, 24/3, 6.30pm.

23 March 2001: The foot and mouth crisis in the UK and Europe continues to worsen. Professor David King, the British government's scientific adviser, says that the number of cases currently standing at 500+ farms could rise to 4000 farms by mid year. With recent cases in France and the Netherlands the prospects for Europe are serious. Travellers to Europe and the UK can anticipate restrictions on movements in the countryside and perhaps the cancellation of some large events.
The British Government's web site (was www.countryside.gov.uk) has news on foot and mouth.

19 March 2001: The price of crude oil rose on the strength of Opec's decision to reduce oil production by 1 million barrels per day from 1st April.

March 2001 LandRover recalls: Range Rovers re faulty radiator hoses which could blow causing rapid loss of coolant VINS MA300000 - WA410481 June 94 to August 1998.
Discovery Series II V8 August 1998 to April 2000 XA200611 to YA277051 and XA900000 to XA907212, and Range Rover September 1998 to May 2000 XA410482 to XA443347, engine idler pulley might break.
Freelander December 1997 to July 2000 child restraint anchor fittings may have been incorrectly installed - Ron Beckett, see Choice magazine recalls.

17-18 March 2001: Pajero Challenge (Vic, au) this weekend.

16 March 2001: Opec is expected to announce a cut in oil production to keep prices, now around US$25/barrel, up.

16 March 2001: The southern dry continues - a day of total fire ban throughout Victoria. (17th: Rain.)

15 March 2001: The Australian dollar hit a record low of 49.23 US cents before recovering slightly. This is not good news for the price of oil and imported cars.

15 March 2001: The VACC reports that almost 236,000 visitors attended the 67th Melbourne International Motor Show hich finished on Monday 12 March. This was equal to the second highest attendance ever recorded for Australia's longest running Motor Show. At the Shannon's auction, 62% of all items sold for a total exceeding $1.6 million.

14 March 2001: Cane Toads have been found in Kakadu National Park. Professor Peter Whitehead of the Northern Territory University's key centre for tropical wildlife management, predicted that native wildlife could be hit for decades to come.

12 March 2001: Melbourne Motor Show closes with Shannon's auction of Classic Cars.

March 2001: Figures from National Statistics, UK, show UK car production for January 2001 was 129,000, down almost 12% from January 2000.

March 2001: The Victorian Association of Four Wheel Drive Clubs is planning a Track Access Rally for the 24 March 2001. A particular focus is on the Caledonia Track in the high country which is still closed three years after the bush-fires in the Alpine National Park. (-VAFWDC, P.O. Box 596, Nth. Balwyn, 3104.

1 March 2001: Melbourne Motor Show opens to the public at 5pm. (Concurrent with Geneva, 1-11/3.)

1 March 2001: Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, announced a reduction of 1.5c/L in petrol excise, effective from midnight. This should result in a fall in petrol prices of about 1.7c/L. The Prime Minister also announced that half yearly indexation would end. The dramatic policy reversal is seen as a move to placate voters in a general election year, with a Queensland by-election coming soon, and after bad state election results for conservative parties in W.A. and in Queensland.

28 February 2001: Britain's foot and mouth outbreak worsens by the day. Local authorities have been given emergency powers to restrict movements to try to contain the disease. Many horse racing events have been cancelled, and walking paths have been closed in national parks. It is possible that future large gatherings of people, such as at 4WD events may be cancelled. The disease, which infects cattle, sheep and pigs, can be spread by the movement of other livestock, vehicles and people.

28 February 2001: Hans Tholstrup set a new Australian fuel consumption record of 43.5km/litre by driving a Honda Insight more than 1700kms from Brisbane to Melbourne on 37.75 litres of fuel [-Honda].

25 February 2001: 4WD Swap Meet, Swinburne TAFE College, Wantirna, Vic'.

February 2001: Land Rover has had to reduce production of the Freelander 4x4 because BMW, which recently sold LandRover to Ford, cannot produce enough diesel engines.

20 February 2001: After two cyclones, there is now flooding in the Northern Territory in the Victoria River area, S.W. of Katherine. Flood waters are expected to reach Timber Creek about the 22nd.

18 February 2001, right: The Victorian 4WD Show, Wandin.

26 January - Australia Day.

24 January 2001: The Australian Federal Government has chosen a remote desert plateau north west of Woomera in South Australia as its preferred location for a low-level nuclear waste dump. Nick Minchin, the Industry Minister, said that site 52a, which is known as Evetts Field west, is inside the Woomera prohibited area and was chosen after rigorous scientific evaluation. There will be an environmental assessment of this site and of two other sites nearbye. Low grade solid waste in steel or concrete drums would be buried in trenches at the dump.

21 January 2001: Jutta Kleinschmidt and Andreas Schulz in a Mitsubishi Pajero won the "car" section of the Paris - Dakar offroad rally.

January 2001: Most drivers know that talking, or thinking about something other than the task at hand, reduces one's attention to driving and should be suspended in difficult situations such as overtaking or negotiating difficult intersections. Researchers M. Recarte and L. Nunes in the J. Experimental Psychology (3/'00) report that performing mental tasks while driving changes the eye movements of drivers. Test subjects drove along a number of set routes and were asked to perform "verbal" or "spatial" mental tasks - respectively reciting words beginning with a given letter, or answering questions about the shapes of a give letter. This caused significant changes to the eye movements of the drivers as they looked at the road ahead, and checked mirrors, and dashboard intruments: Drivers moved their gaze less often, over a smaller field, and looked less at intruments when busy o mental task. Visual tasks had the biggest effect, possibly because they use the same mental processes required for watching the road etc.. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 6(1) pp31-43, March 2000.

19 January 2001: A Friday, and boing, petrol is back up to the 90c's. Crude oil is back around US$30/barrel, and OPEC does plan to reduce production, but the rise at the pump has nothing directly to do with that.

January 2001: North American International Auto' Show Detroit.

4 January 2001: Petrol prices are dropping - down to 86.9c/L for unleaded in Melbourne.

2 January 2001: Melbourne (unleaded) petrol prices have been around 94.9c/L over the holiday break; they have started edging down now - to about 91.9c today, or 89.9c at some independent stations.

1 January 2001: The Paris - Dakar starts, from Paris this year, heading into Spain, then Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and Senegal.
Mitsubishi will be there in force with T2 production cars based on the current NM Pajero in short wheel-base form each fitted with a 200kW engine, 6-speed gearbox, and 470L fuel tank. Kenjiro Shinozuka (with Freddy Gallagher) Hiroshi Masuoka, and Jean Pierre Fontenay will drive for Mitsubishi in T2. Jutta Kleinschmidt and Carlos Sousa will drive Pajeros in the T3 (modified production) class.