SOME HARBOUR romantic notions of the classic English sports car. For them, merely owning an MGB will lead to a better world. Life will be like a 1960s film – carefree and fun. Then they get one and reality comes crashing down like a cartoon piano, writes NICK HALL
Because the reality of the classic English sports car is long, cold nights in the garage. It’s standing by the side of the road, waiting for a recovery truck to take you home. They just don’t work like in the movies – nothing does. That’s why Wiesmann has struck gold with its modern take; the new MF4-S Roadster might just be the best there is.
Powered by the 4-litre V8 from the latest BMW, complete with double-clutch system, this is as modern as sports cars get. Vintage styling and modern performance: the perfect mix.
Brothers Friedhelm and Martin Wiesmann started out making hoods for cabriolets. But between them they harboured a dream to make a classic car that worked, with German underpinnings and engineering.
Wiesmann, born in 1985, now builds more than 350 cars a year. Inspired by great British engineering of the 1960s, the Wiesmann brothers have taken a trip down nostalgia lane and created a perfectly proportioned roadster with hints of Jaguar XK120, Jensen CV8 and Austin Healeys of the time to create a cute car that brings a smile to the face of all who see it.
There are delicious details at every turn, perfect collisions between old and new.
The inside is a step back in time: drawstring stowage spaces, simple polished steel door catches and old-school dials built into a driver-facing centre console. There’s no indication this is a low-volume manufacturer, no interesting quirks, and the leather is laid perfectly. But look closely and the olde worlde charm doesn’t feel quite right. There are new plastic vents, Alcantara-quilted seats, a modern-day stereo, two pedals and an LCD screen behind the wheel.
When I turn the key and push the starter button, the modern world erupts around me and settles into the deep menacing thrum of a BMW V8 mated to a free-flowing, fuel dribbling exhaust that gives Bavaria’s finest the Messerschmitt resonance BMW’s engineers dream about.
A blip of the throttle and then it’s into drive and out the gates with a toodle pip. The Wiesmann adventure is about to begin. And when it does, it is without a single, horrific jerk.
There was no doubting the BMW M5 V10 on a hard charge – it’s a fantastic engine. But the SMG seven-speed that came with it seemed built solely for the race track. That cumbersome transmission lies in the range-topping Wiesmann MF5 supercar, until BMW can forget it entirely and, while it feels less jerky in the lighter sportscar, it still blights the experience.
No more, BMW’s brilliant new double clutch system might have taken longer to come to market than VWs, but it was worth the wait. This is now a sports car you can simply slot in drive and enjoy at a sedate pace with seamless, creamy gear changes. And Wiesmann knows a thing or two about ride quality.
From the side, it doesn’t make sense. The MF4 is low, taut and aggressive, and those Michelin Pilot Sports wrap round the 18” wheels like rubber bands. Yet the Wiesmann cruises with utter grace and poise and, despite the wind noise, it’s wondrous – in part due to stunning seats that cosset and support, but also a sublime chassis set-up built around a monocoque combining cruising with epic performance.
Because, when all’s said and done, this is M3 power in a much lighter package. The Wiesmann weighs in at 1,310kg full of fluids, compared to 1,655kg for the M3, so it goes like a rocket. Boot the throttle and the Pilot Sports chirrup like a real, hardcore sportscar as I click second gear, then third. Wiesmann claims it hits 60mph in 4.5 seconds, but it feels much faster. The interior is luxurious but there’s no BMW mass to drag around, just a lightweight frame and the two-seater body.
It handles like an M3 that weighs a third less, with all the benefits of BMW’s traction control system.
And it’s love at the first turn – a long line of thumbs-up, cheery waves and “after you, sir”s. This car marks a return to traditional manners – the same people who would have revved their engines to the limiter to chop a Ferrari off at the pass wave us through. That’s the power of Wiesmann.
- Expect to pay upwards of €120,000 excluding tax for the MF4-S. See wiesmann-auto-sport.de for details.