Hungary, BMW, F1 Memories, F1 Alpha Tauri Team Experience, Toyota Reality and Long Lost Friend Found In This Months Letter From Europe

By Andrew Frankl
European Bureau Chief
The Auto Channel

After recently driving lots of new Ferraris, Astons and McLarens  it is time to have a reality check. The folks buying those super-cars are millionaires and in many cases billionaires. The rest of us are just happy to have a reliable car which will get us from A to B for many years.

Toyota’s Corolla Hybrid is the case in point, I cannot pretend that it is the most exciting car in the World but is happily owned by millions and millions and others that would love to own one. Is it pretentious? certainly not, is it perfect? No. But does of make perfect sense to own one? Absolutely. After all who cares if it takes 8 seconds from 0-60?. It was designed by people for people who needed transportation. It's range at a whopping 536 miles is nothing short of astonishing, it means LA to San Francisco without stopping. The sticker price of my tester is approximately 30 grand and there are less well-equipped models for around 25K. Good second hand ones change hands for about 15K. Weaknesses? Two.

One is the puny lost invisible yellow warning blob on the outside mirror, it is barely visible in the California sunshine. The other is the engine. Toyota make some wonderful engines, this is not one of them.

But now on to my European adventures and one of the best Summers I’ve ever had. I’ve actually met someone. No, not on Match.com or some other dating site. No, a lot more romantic!

40 or so years ago I was the lead motorsport commentator on Hungarian TV and radio, and as such I worked a great duel with Michael Schumacher, Hakkinen and other great drivers. These live shows took place in front of literally tens of thousands of enthusiasts. One of them a young motorsport fan named Kata waited for me outside my hotel the following morning and asked me for my autograph.

To cut a long story short Kata found me on Facebook 40 or so years later and suggested that maybe we could have a coffee. 20 days and several coffees later I can safely say that it was amazing. No, not like that. I had a chance to show someone places where she has never been, one being the beautiful and unique Casino de Monte-Carlo, where Kata won, yes won 25 cents. I am not making it up, most people leave there having lost small or large fortunes. This was it, a fun story.

But back to the Hungarian Grand Prix which this year was quite sensational for a number of reasons.

It was fun work for three solid days. I picked my accreditation for FORZA magazine and then, out of the blue I had a message waiting for me at the hotel. I had to read it twice.

It turned out that an executive of the Alpha Tauri team sponsor were unable to attend, so they asked my son Nicholas (an F1 editor for The Auto Channel) if he would like to represent the company, but he was too busy organizing the next MYYACHT function along with twin sister Annabelle (also an Auto Channel contributor), so he said no but asked how about Daddy? No way they could say no.

So, there was this beautiful box waiting for me at the hotel front desk full of gifts and, two team passes the sort of which I have never ever seen. They allowed two sponsors to wine, dine and most importantly watch the mechanics from close quarters. On top of that the team's two drivers would turn up to have their pictures taken with us and answer questions.

One driver was the adorable Japanese, Tsunoda, the other a recently signed and hugely popular Australian Dan Ricciardo. Unforgettable.

On top of this stroke of serendipity, in addition to my duties for Hungarian TV and radio I was asked to do 30 minutes for Saudi TV! They flew in a crew from Germany,..I am told the story will run in 33 countries. It was a difficult but very satisfying week.

And to balance things politically I asked the gypsy band in attendance to play Hava Nagila. To those who treated it like just another song it was just that, but for those who knew and felt it, Kleenex began to appear. Completely unforgettable.

Of course none of these events would have been possible without BMW’s excellent 330d. The company have been very kind over the years providing us with test cars in Europe and from their American colleagues in San Francisco.

Before you, “oh, diesel really?” This new model diesel is a very very far cry from those awful smelly products from the 60s and 70s, where the most appalling examples were the black cabs in London, notorious for poisoning the populace. It took tons of legislation to finally get rid of them.

My test car a BMW 330d was powerful, responsive and did everything I’ve asked from it. It so happens I did ask for others, lol.

Confession  time: I was a little bit naughty.  It went like this. VIPs, big bosses and “influencers” (yuk) arrange for police escorts from the circuit back to the hotels alongside the Danube. Not dissimilar to Hollywood or Las Vegas...police cycle up front and at the back of the cortege with flashing blue flights and sirens going.

The first race at the Hungering was back in 1986 when Hungary was still part of the Warsaw Pact, meaning under Russian occupation. Still, money talks and so Bernie Ecclestone did a deal, the track was built and the races were on!

Bernie always stayed at the Marriott and I have always stayed at the Intercontinental which was known as the Forum for a long time. Anyway, I always knew that Bernie with his motor cycle escort would leave for the track at 8 am sharp. I was waiting in the BMW with engine running a hundred yards away.

15 minutes later we were at the track, and while Ecclestone is now history the police motor cycles are still very much in vogue. We are talking real money, forget Amex, Visa and Apple Pay. Cash or join the queue. Well, I didn’t pay but still managed to get a lift from the convoy.

All I needed was a powerful car with excellent acceleration, road holding and first class brakes. Luckily the 330d had all of this in abundance. My passengers didn’t quite know what was going on, I was too busy keeping up with the police escort but I seem to recall lots of screams of delight.

Kata, my friend was just about able to compose a text message to the Club room of the Intercontinental to order a vert and well earned gin and tonic! It was, I must admit, quite a drive.

My second test car was not on active duty in the sense of joining convoys, the best of the Budapest trip was a leisurely jaunt to Lake Balaton, Hungary’s lake resort about an hour’s drive from Budapest. My second BMW tester was an  X1 Xdrive30E so instead of diesel I had extra oomph from the PHEV.

Luckily the hotel had a working charger in the garage and X1 was ready to roll first thing in the morning. The car is deceptive in a way. With the EV it goes like smoke, without it things are different. With the end of the EV charge you are suddenly left with a pretty modest engine which is a problem because you get used to rapid acceleration and suddenly it isn’t there.

What are there are the excellent seats, the visibility and the handling as well as the super fuel consumption. The build quality was superb, not a rattle anywhere. But, and you might be surprised to hear this, the thing I loved most of all was the lady’s soothing voice on the nav system. Without spelling it out in too many words the message was-don’t worry, I will get you home. And she did. Every single time.  

Well that's it for this month.
Stay Well
Andrew