Classic crossword

1 2 3

Clues across 7. Citroën’s Romanian car-building partnership with the Romanian goverment in 1976 — Citroën withdrew from the project in 1991 (6) 8. Older readers may remember this trade name — from 1933 it was a petrol brand distributed by the Todd organization: the petrol was sourced, apparently quite cheaply, from Russia (6) 10. Italian car stylist active from 1965 to 1980 within Bertone, and later as a freelancer (7) 11. Model name applied by GM to Opel (1986–2003) and Oldsmobile (1973–’84) models (5) 12. Finnish rally driver, in his prime a very fast and successful driver, winning 19 world championship rallies between 1973 and 1988 (4) NZ racing car designer, constructor and driver, very successful in Formula 5000 racing in the late ’60s and into the ’70s (5) 17. PRE-WWII, a successful racing driver and adept tuner of Riley sports and racing cars — and also a racing Tt-winner motorcyclist (5) 18. Commonly used NZ name for nitrocellulose automobile paint finish — so widely used that like Xerox, it became almost a synonym for the paint process rather than the actual product (4) 22. Honda’s hugely successful small car introduced in 1972 as one of Japan’s first FWD designs to match European driving standards (5) 23. ------- of operation is an important factor in small- and medium-size car design, strongly influencing a purchase decision (7) 24. US automobile entrepreneur, who from 1953 sold Bertone-bodied niche sports cars with MG, Aston Martin, Bentley (one only), or Bristol engines (6) 25. Lamborghini’s V12 GT built from 1970 to 1976, with its body design by 10across (6).

Clues down 1. UK builder (1907–’57) of interesting flat-twin motorcycles, and light cars from 1913 to 1922 — the bikes had considerable early competition success (7) 2. Important early steam car builder, 1902–1924, in 1906 a streamlined version reached 127.66mph/205.5kph over a measured mile on Daytona Beach (7) 3. Four-seat high-performance saloon built by Iso from 1967– ’75, one of Giugiaro’s less successful designs, it was powered by a Chev or later, Ford V8 engine (5) 4. Early vacuum-operated fuel supply system, used in some cars, trucks and buses, it dropped out of use by the 1930s (7) 5. Major UK steam and, later, diesel truck builder, active from the 19th century through to 1980 when it was taken over by Paccar — the brand name endured through to 2006 (5) 6. Important early figure in European automotive aerodynamic study, he worked for Zeppelin, then independently, producing many designs, notably for Tatra (5) 9. What is the common engine design factor in the following cars: Honda 1300, Fiat 500 Bambina, Franklin and Porsche 356? (3-6) 14. Top-quality US luxury marque, founded in 1917 and owned by Ford since 1922 (7) 15. This UK weekly motoring magazine has been on sale continuously since 1895 (7) 16. Colloquial name for the US performance coupé market segment first popularized by Ford’s Mustang in 1964–’5 (4,3 or 7) 19. Debasement of the English language? ‘Automotive recyclement facility’ was, in plain English 50 years ago, a ----- yard (5) 20. Does anyone else remember this 1971–’72 steam car in Australia, shown at the Sydney Motor Show, with a very futuristic body — an interesting might-have-been? (5) 21. French designed and built semi-auto transmission, used in some late ’30s and ’40s cars, with manual gear selection but electro-magnetic clutch actuation (5)

Answers to last month’s crossword, No. 297 Across 7. Ruxton 8. Shelby 10. Meadows 11. Paige 12. Esso 13. Pilot 17. wagon 18. BLMC 22. swing 23. Imperia 24. estate 25. Figoni Down 1. Premier 2. Exhaust 3. rotor 4. Chapron 5. Fluid 6. Hyper 9. Issigonis 14. Waggott 15. Bleriot 16. Octavia 19. Essex 20. Siata 21. Appia