Dart

Dart (pronounced dahrt)

(1) A small, slender missile, sharply pointed at one end, typically feathered (or with the shape emulated in plastic) at the other and (1) propelled by hand, as in the game of darts (2) by a blowgun when used as a weapon or (3) by some form of mechanical device such as a dart-gun.

(2) Something similar in function to such a missile.

(3) In zoology, a slender pointed structure, as in snails for aiding copulation or in nematodes for penetrating the host's tissues; used generally to describe the stinging members of insects.

(4) Any of various tropical and semitropical fish, notably the dace (Leuciscus leuciscus).

(5) Any of various species of the hesperiid butterfly notably the dingy dart (of the species Suniana lascivia, endemic to Australia).

(6) In the plural (as darts (used with a singular verb), a game in which darts are thrown at a target usually marked with concentric circles divided into segments and with a bull's-eye in the center.

(7) In tailoring, a tapered seam of fabric for adjusting the fit of a garment (a tapered tuck).

(8) In military use, a dart-shaped target towed behind an aircraft to train shooters (a specific shape of what was once called a target drone).

(9) An act of darting; a sudden swift movement; swiftly to move; to thrust, spring or start suddenly and run swiftly.

(10) To shoot with a dart, especially a tranquilizer dart.

(11) To throw with a sudden effort or thrust; to hurl or launch.

(12) To send forth suddenly or rapidly; to emit; to shoot.

(13) In genetics, as the acronym DarT, Diversity arrays technology (a genetic marker technique).

(14) Figuratively, words which wound or hurt feelings.

(15) In slang, a cigarette (Canada & Australia; dated).  The idea was a “lung dart”.

(16) In slang, a plan, plot or scheme (Australia, obsolete).

(17) In disaster management, as the acronym DART, variously: Disaster Assistance Response Team, Disaster Animal Response Team, Disaster Area Response Team, Disaster Assistance & Rescue Team and Disaster Response Team

1275–1325: From the Middle English dart & darce, from the Anglo-French & Old French dart & dard (dart), from the Late Latin dardus (dart, javelin), from the Old Low Franconian darōþu (dart, spear), from the Proto-Germanic darōþuz (dart, spear), from the primitive Indo-European dherh- (to leap, spring);.  It was related to the Old English daroth (spear), daroþ & dearod (javelin, spear, dart), the Swedish dart (dart, dagger), the Icelandic darraður, darr & dör (dart, spear), the Old High German tart (dart) and the Old Norse darrathr (spear, lance).  The Italian and Spanish dardo are believed to be of Germanic origin via Old Provençal.  The word dart can be quite specific but depending on context the synonyms can include arrow or barb (noun), dash, bolt or shoot (verb) or cigarette (slang).  Dart & darting are nouns & verbs, darted & dartle are verbs, darter is a noun, verb & adjective, dartingness is a noun, darty is a verb & adjective, dartingly is an adverb; the noun plural is darts.

Between the eyeballs: Crooked Hillary Clinton dart board.

The late fourteenth century darten (to pierce with a dart) was from the noun and is long obsolete while the sense of “throw with a sudden thrust" dates from the 1570s.  The intransitive meaning “to move swiftly” emerged in the 1610s, as did that of “spring or start suddenly and run or move quickly” (ie “as a dart does”).  The name was first applied to the small European freshwater fish in the mid-fifteenth century, based on the creature’s rapid, sudden (darting) movements (other names included dars, dase & dare, from the Old French darz (a dace), the nominative or plural of dart, all uses based on the fish’s swiftness.  The alternative etymology in this context was a link with the Medieval Latin darsus (a dart), said to be of Gaulish origin.  The name dart is now also used of various (similar or related) various tropical and semitropical fish.  It was in Middle English Cupid's love-arrows were first referred to as Cupid's dart (Catananche caerulea).  The modern dart-board was unknown until 1901 although similar games (the idea of archery with hand-thrown arrows) long predated this.  In zoology, the marvelously named “dart sac” describes a sac connected with the reproductive organs of certain land snails; it contains the “love dart” the synonyms of which are bursa telae & stylophore.  In archaeology, the term “fairy dart” describes a prehistoric stone arrowhead (an elf arrow).  A “poison dart” may be fired either from a dart gun or a blow-pipe (the term “dart-pipe” seems never to have been current) while a tranquilizer dart (often used in the management of large or dangerous animals) is always loaded into a dart gun.  The terms “javelin dart”, “lawn jart”, “jart” & “yard dart” are terms which refer to the large darts used in certain lawn games.  In the hobby of model aircraft, a “lawn dart” is an airframe with a noted propensity to crash (although it’s noted “pilot error” is sometimes a factor in this).  In military history, the “rope dart” was a weapon from ancient China which consisted of a long rope with a metal dart at the end, used to attack targets from long-range.

Making smoking sexy: Lindsay Lohan enjoying the odd dart.

The Dodge Dart

The original Dodge Dart was one of Chrysler's show cars which debuted in 1956, an era in which Detroit's designers were encouraged to let their imaginations wander among supersonic aircraft, rockets and the vehicles which SF (science fiction) authors speculated would be used for the interplanetary travel some tried to convince their readers was not far off.  The Dart was first shown with a retractable hardtop but when the 1956 show season was over, it was shipped back to Carrozzeria Ghia in Turin to be fitted with a more conventional convertible soft top.  After another trans-Atlantic crossing after the end of the 1957 show circuit (where it'd been displayed as the Dart II), it was again updated by Ghia and re-named Diablo (from the Spanish diablo (devil)).

1957 Dodge Diablo, the third and final version of the 1956 Dodge Dart show car.

Although a length of 218 inches (5.5 m) now sounds extravagant, by the standards of US designs in the 1950s it fitted in and among the weird and wonderful designs of the time (the regular production models as well as the show cars) the lines and detailing were actually quite restrained and compared with many, the Darts have aged well, some of the styling motifs re-surfacing in subsequent decades, notably the wedge-look.  Underneath, the Diablo’s mechanicals were familiar, a 392 cubic inch Chrysler Hemi V8 with dual four-barrel carburetors delivering power to the rear wheels through a push-button TorqueFlite automatic transmission.  Rated at 375 horsepower, the Hemi ensured the performance matched the looks, something aided by the exceptional aerodynamic efficiency, the CD (coefficient of drag) of 0.17 state of the art even in 2023.  Some engineers doubt it would return such a low number under modern testing but it doubtlessly was slippery and (with less hyperbole than usual), Chrysler promoted the Diablo as the “Hydroplane on Wheels”,  During Chrysler’s ownership of Lamborghini (1987-1994), the name was revived for the Lamborghini Diablo 1990-2001 which replaced the Countach (1974-1990).  Visually, both the Italian cars own something of a debt to the Darts of the 1950s although neither represented quite the advance in aerodynamics Chrysler had achieved all those years ago although the Lamborghini Diablo was good enough finally to achieve 200 mph (320 km/h), something which in the 1970s & 1980s, the Countach and the contemporary Ferrari 365 GT4 BB (Berlinetta Boxer) never quite managed, disappointing some.

The memorable 1957 Chrysler 300C (left) showed the influence of the Diablo but a more rococo sensibility had afflicted the corporation which the 1960 Dart Phoenix D500 Convertible (right) illustrates.  Things would get worse. 

Dodge began production of the Dart in late 1959 as a lower-priced full-sized car, something necessitated by a corporate decision to withdraw the availability of Plymouths from Dodge dealerships.  Dodge benefited from this more than Plymouth but the model ranges of both were adjusted, along with those sold as Chryslers, resulting in the companion DeSoto brand (notionally positioned between Dodge & Chrysler) being squeezed to death; the last DeSotos left the factory in 1960 and the operation was closed the next year.  Unlike its namesake from the show circuit, the 1959 Dodge Dart was hardly exceptional and it would barely have been noticed by the press had it not been for an unexpected corporate squabble between Chrysler and Daimler, a low volume English manufacturer of luxury vehicles which was branching out into the sports car market.  Their sports car was called the Dart.

Using one of his trademark outdoor settings, Norman Parkinson (1913-1990) photographed model Suzanne Kinnear (b 1935) adorning a Daimler Dart (SP250), wearing a Kashmoor coat and Otto Lucas beret with jewels by Cartier.  The image was published on the cover of Vogue's UK edition in November 1959.

With great expectations, Daimler put the Dart on show at the 1959 New York Motor Show and there the problems began.  Aware the little sports car was quite a departure from the luxurious but rather staid lineup Daimler had for years offered, the company had chosen the pleasingly alliterative “Dart” as its name, hoping it would convey the sense of something agile and fast.  Unfortunately for them, Chrysler’s lawyers were faster still, objecting that they had already registered Dart as the name for a full-sized Dodge so Daimler needed a new name and quickly; the big Dodge would never be confused with the little Daimler but the lawyers insisted.  Imagination apparently exhausted, Daimler’s management reverted to the engineering project name and thus the car became the SP250 which was innocuous enough even for Chrysler's attorneys and it could have been worse.  Dodge had submitted their Dart proposal to Chrysler for approval and while the car found favor, the name did not and the marketing department was told to conduct research and come up with something the public would like.  From this the marketing types gleaned that “Dodge Zipp” would be popular and to be fair, dart and zip(p) do imply much the same thing but ultimately the original was preferred.

Things get worse: The 1962 Dodge Dart looked truly bizarre; things would sometimes be stranger than this but not often.

Dodge got it right with the 1967-1976 Darts which could be criticized for blandness but the design was simple, balanced and enjoyed international appeal.  Two Australian versions are pictured, a 1971 VG VIP sedan (left) and a 1970 VG Regal 770 Hardtop (right).  

If Daimler had their problems with the Dart, so did Dodge.  For the 1961 model year, Dodge actually down-sized the “big” range, a consequence of some industrial espionage which misinterpreted Chevrolet’s plans.  Sales suffered because the new Darts were perceived as a class smaller than the competition, thus offering “less metal for the money”.  This compelled Chrysler to create some quick and dirty solutions to plug the gap but the damage was done and it was another model cycle before the ranges successfully were re-aligned.  However, one long-lasting benefit was the decision to take advantage of the public perception “Dart” now meant something smaller and Dodge in 1963 shifted the name to its compact line, enjoying much success.  It was the generation built for a decade between 1967-1976 which was most lucrative for the corporation, the cheap-to-produce platform providing the basis for vehicles as diverse as taxi-cabs, pick-ups, convertibles, remarkably effective muscle cars and even some crazy machines almost ready for the drag strip.  Being a compact-sized car in the US, the Dart also proved a handy export to markets where it could be sold as a “big” car and the Dart (sometimes locally assembled or wholly or partially manufactured) was sold in Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Europe, East Asia, South Africa and South America.  In a form little different the Dart lasted until 1980 in South America and in Australia until 1981 although there the body-shape had in 1971 switched to the “fuselage” style although the platform remained the same.

How a Dodge Hemi Dart would have appeared in 1968 (left) and Hemi Darts ready for collection or dispatch in the yard of the Detroit production facility.

The most highly regarded of the 1967-1976 US Darts were those fitted with the 340 cubic inch (5.6 litre) small-block (LA) V8 which created a much better all-round package than those using the 383 (6.3) and 7.2 (7.2) big-block V8s which tended to be inferior in just about every way unless travelling in a straight line on a very smooth surface (preferably over a distance of about a ¼ mile (400 m) and even there the 340 over-delivered.  The wildest of all the Darts were the 80 (built in 1968) equipped with a version of the 426 cubic inch (7.0 litre) Hemi V8 tuned to a specification closer to race-ready than that used in the “Street Hemi” which was the corporation’s highest-performance option.  Except for the drive-train, the Hemi Darts were an extreme example of what the industry called a “strippers”: cars “stripped” of all but the essentials.  There was thus no radio and no carpeting, common enough in strippers but the Hemi Darts lacked even armrests, external rear-view mirrors, window winding mechanisms or even a back seat.  Nor was the appearance of these shockingly single-purpose machines anything like what was usually seen in a showroom, most of the body painted only in primer while the hood (bonnet) and front fenders, rendered in lightweight black fibreglass, were left unpainted.  Seeking to avoid any legal difficulties, Dodge had purchasers sign an addendum to the sales contract acknowledging Hemi Darts were not intended not as road cars but for use in “supervised acceleration trials” (ie drag racing).  Despite that, these were the last days that in the US one could find a jurisdiction prepared to register such things for street use and some owners did that, apparently taking Dodge’s disclaimer about as seriously as those in the prohibition era (1920-1933) observed the warning on packets of “concentrated grape blocks” not add certain things to the mix, “otherwise fermentation sets in”.

The warning: What not to do, lest one's grape block should turn to wine.

Cimarron

Cimarron (pronounced sim-uh-ron, sim-uh-rohn or sim-er-uhn)

(1) A Maroon (an African or one of African descent who escaped slavery in the Americas, (or a descendant thereof, especially a member of the Cimarron people of Panama).

(2) In Latin America (1) feral animals or those which have returned to the wild, (2) rural areas (campestral) and the inhabitants there dwelling & (3) wild plants.

(3) A name used in the US for both rivers & as both a localities.

(4) A not fondly remembered small "Cadillac", built between 1981-1988.

1840–1850: From the Colonial Spanish cimarrón (a maroon (used also casually of feral animals, wild rams etc), from the Spanish and thought likely equivalent to the Old Spanish cimarra (brushwood, thicket), the construct being & cim(a) (peak, summit (from the Latin cȳma (spring shoots of a vegetable), from the Ancient Greek  + -arrón (the adjectival suffix).  Most etymologists appear to accept the Spanish cimarrón was a native Spanish formation from cima (summit, peak), referring to slaves who escaped to seek refuge in the mountains but the alternative theory is that it was a borrowing from Taíno símaran (wild (like a stray arrow)), from símara (arrow).  The feminine was cimarrona, the masculine plural cimarrones & the feminine plural cimarronas.  The verb maroon (put ashore on a desolate island or some isolate and remote coast by way of punishment) dates from 1724 and was from maroon (fugitive black slave living in the wilder parts of Dutch Guyana or Jamaica and other West Indies islands) which has always been assumed to be a corruption of the Spanish cimmaron & cimarrón.  Cimarron is a noun & proper noun (the adjective cimarific (based on Cimar(ron) + (horr)ific) was sardonic; a slur relating to the Cadillac); the noun plural is Cimarrons.

The Cadillac Cimarron, 1982-1988

For those who can remember the way things used to done: 1968 Cadillac Coupe DeVille convertible.

The path of the reputation of the unfortunate Cadillac Cimarron was unusual in the more it was upgraded and improved, the further it seemed to fall in the estimation of the motoring press.  Despite the impression which seems over the decades to have become embedded, the early critical reaction to the Cimarron was generally polite and even positive, while acknowledging the inadequacies of the original engine-transmission combinations.  The journalists may however have been in a mood to be unusually forgiving because in 1981, when the first examples were provided for press evaluation, that a Cadillac was for the first time since 1914 fitted with a four-cylinder engine and one with a displacement smaller than 2.0 litres (122 cubic inch) for the first time since 1908 was a sign how much the universe had shifted; not even ten years earlier every Cadillac on sale used an 8.2 litre (500 cubic inch) V8.  The ripples of the first oil shock would see the big-block V8 twice downsized but so much had rising cost (and the threatened scarcity) of gas scarred the consumer that even Cadillac owners wanted more efficient vehicles.  They still wanted to drive Cadillacs and while demand for the full-sized cars remained, it was obvious to General Motors (GM) that the segment was in decline and the alternatives proving popular were not the traditional Lincoln and Imperial but the premium brand Europeans, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and (as a niche player), Jaguar.

The cleverly engineered 1976 Cadillac Seville which hid its origins well.

The Europeans produced very different machines to the Cadillacs and it would have taken much time and money to match them in sophistication but what could be done quickly and at relatively low cost was to make a Cadillac out of a Chevrolet and that was the path chosen, the long-serving Chevrolet Nova re-styled, re-trimmed, re-engined (with the 5.7 litre (350 cubic inch) Oldsmobile V8) and re-badged as the Cadillac Seville.  On paper, it didn’t sound promising but on the road it actually worked rather well, essentially because Chevrolet had done a creditable job in making the Nova drive something like a Cadillac with some Mercedes-like characteristics.  So, the task for Cadillac’s engineers wasn’t that onerous but they did it well and the Seville was a great success, something especially pleasing to GM because the thing retailed at some four times what Chevrolet charged for Novas.  That made the Seville one of the most famously profitable lines ever to emerge from Detroit which was good but what was not was that most people who bought one weren’t conquests from Mercedes-Benz or BMW (and definitely not from Jaguar) but those who would otherwise have bought a Cadillac.  Still, the Seville did its bit and contributed to brief era of record sales and high profits for GM.

Cadillac’s new enemy: 1982 BMW 320i (E21).

By the early 1980s however, Cadillac decided it need to do the same thing again, this time on a smaller scale.  A second oil shock had struck in 1979 and this time the US economy wasn’t bouncing back as it had in the mid-1970s and the recession of the early 1980s was nasty indeed.  One market segment which was a bright spot however was what was called the “small executive sedan” dominated then by the BMW 3-Series, soon to be joined by what would become known as the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, compact, high-quality and high-priced cars being bought by what to Cadillac would be a most attractive demographic: the then newly defined YUPIEs (young upwardly-mobile professionals).  Cadillac had nothing which appealed to this market and their plans for an entry were years sway even from the initial design phases.  The economic situation of the time however had made the matter urgent and so, at a very late stage, Cadillac was appended to GM’s ambitious programme to use the one “world car” platform to be used in the divisions which produced cars in the planet’s major markets (the US, UK, Europe, Japan & Australasia).  This one front-wheel drive platform would provide a family sized car in Japan, the UK and Europe, a medium-sized entrant in Australasia and a small car in the US with the highest possible degree of component interchangeability and a consequent reduction in the time and cost to bring the lines to production.

1982 Holden Camira SL/E (1982-1989), the Australian version of the “World Car”.

The longevity of the GM “World Car" (the J-Car (J-Body the US nomenclature)), the last produced in 2005, attests to the quality of GM’s fundamental engineering and over the decades, over 10 million would be sold as Vauxhalls (UK), Opels (Europe), Holdens (Australia & New Zealand), Isuzus and even Toyotas (Japan) and Chevrolets, Buicks, Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs & Cadillacs (US).  By the standards of the time they were good cars (although they did prove less suited to Australian driving conditions) but they could not, and certainly not in the eleven months available, be made into what would be thought of as “a Cadillac”.  To do that, given the technology available at the time, ideally the platform would have been widened, a small version of one of the corporate V8s (perhaps as small as 3.5 litres (215 cubic inch) fitted and the configuration changed to accommodate rear-wheel drive (RWD) and independent rear suspension (IRS).  The J-Body could have accommodated all this and, thus configured, coupled with the lashings of leather expected in the interior, GM would have had an appropriately sized small executive sedan, executed in an uniquely American way.  Like the Seville, it may not have made much of a dent in the business Mercedes-Benz and BMW were doing but it would have had real appeal and it’s doubtful it would have cannibalized the sales of the bigger Cadillacs.  Additionally, it would have been ideally place to take advantage of the rapid fall in gas prices which came with the 1980s “oil glut”.  Alas, such a thing would have taken too long to develop and it would have been such an expensive programme Cadillac would have convinced the GM board they may as well accelerate the development of their own small car.  So, needing something small to put in the showrooms because that’s what Cadillac dealers were clamouring for, the decision was taken to tart up the J-Body.

1982 Cadillac Cimarron (1982-1988), the origins of which were obvious.

That, for the 1982 model year, was exactly what was done.  The Cadillac Cimarron was nothing more than a Chevrolet Cavalier with a lot of extra stuff bolted or glued on.  Apparently, the name “Cimarron” was chosen because it had in the US been used to refer to the wild and untamed horses which once roamed freely in the American West, the company hoping to add the idea of an “untamed spirit” to the (even if by then slightly tarnished) reputation for luxury and elegance once associated with Cadillac.  Whether much thought was given to the name’s association with slavery isn’t known.  That aside, the spirit wasn’t exactly untamed because the already anaemic performance of the Chevrolet was hampered further by all the extra weight of the luxury fittings which adorned the Cimarron, something which was tolerated (indeed probably expected) in what Chevrolet was selling as an “economy car” but luxury buyers had higher expectations.

Cadillac found that bigger was better: Yuppie Lindsay Lohan entering Cadillac Escalade, May 2012.

Most would conclude it made things worse.  Had it been sold as the Chevrolet Caprice II (a la Ford’s approach with the LTD II), the Cimarron would probably have been a hit and while there would have been the same criticisms, in a car costing so much less, they would have been less pointed.  However, that would have meant the Cadillac dealers not having product to put in their showrooms which was of course the point of the whole Cimarron venture.  As it was, sales never came close to Cadillac’s optimistic projections, numbers influenced presumably by the Seville’s stellar performance a few years earlier and this time the mark-up was less, a Cimarron only twice the cost of a Cavalier.  That wasn’t enough however and nor were the constant upgrades, the most notable of which was the introduction of the Chevrolet’s 2.8 litre (173 cubic inch) V6 in 1985 and that did induce a surge in sales (though still to nothing like the once hoped for levels) but it was short lived and after production ended in 1988, Cadillac offered no replacement and they’ve not since attempted to build anything on this scale.

Tiger

Tiger (pronounced tahy-ger)

(1) A large, carnivorous, tawny-colored and black-striped feline, Panthera tigris, of Asia, ranging in several subspecies from India and the Malay Peninsula to Siberia.

(2) In non-technical use, the cougar, jaguar, thylacine, or other animal resembling the tiger (in wide use in southern Africa of leopards).

(3) A person of some fierceness, noted for courage or a ferocious, bloodthirsty and audacious person.

(4) In heraldry, a representation of a large mythological cat, used on a coat of arms, often with the spelling tyger or tygre (to distinguish the mythological beast from the natural tiger (also blazoned Bengal tiger), also used in heraldry).

(5) A pneumatic box or pan used in refining sugar.

(6) Any of several strong, voracious fishes, as a sand shark.

(7) Any of numerous animals with stripes similar to a tiger's.

(8) A servant in livery who rides with his master or mistress, especially a page or groom (archaic).

(9) In entomology & historic aviation, a clipping of tiger moth (in the family Arctiidae), tiger beetle or tiger butterfly (in tribe Danaini, especially subtribe Danaina).

(10) Any of the three Australian species of black-and-yellow striped dragonflies of the genus Ictinogomphus.

(11) In US, slang, someone noted for their athleticism or endurance during sexual intercourse.

(12) In southern African slang, a ten-rand note.

(13) As TIGR (pronounced as for “tiger”), the abbreviation for Treasury Investment Growth Receipts: a bond denominated in dollars and linked to US treasury bonds, the yield on which is taxed in the UK as income when it is cashed or redeemed.

Pre 1000: From the Middle English tygre & tigre, from the Old English tīgras (plural) and the Anglo-Norman tigre (plural), from the Latin tīgris, from the Ancient Greek τίγρις (tígris), from an Iranian source akin to the Old Persian tigra- (sharp, pointed) and related to the Avestan tighri & tigri (arrow) and tiγra (pointed), the reference being to the big cats “springing” on to their prey but the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) notes no application of either word (or any derivative) to the tiger is known in Zend.  It was used of “tiger-like” people since the early sixteenth century and that could be complementary or pejorative although the female form (tigress) seems only to have been used in zoology since the 1610s and was never applied to women.  The tiger's-eye (yellowish-brown quartz) was first documented in 1886.  The word “liger”, like the creature it described, was a forced mating of lion and tiger.  As a modifier, tiger is widely used including the forms: American tiger, Amur tiger, Asian Tiger, Mexican tiger, Siberian tiger, tiger barb, tiger beetle, tiger bench, tiger-lily, tiger lily, tiger's eye, tiger shark & tiger's milk.  The alternative spellings tigre & tyger are both obsolete.  Tiger & tigerishness are nouns, tigerly, tigerish & tigerlike are adjectives and tigerishly is an adverb; the noun plural is tigers (feminine tigress).

Lindsay Lohan with tiger in Kult Magazine (Italy), January 2012, photograph by Vijat Mohindra, makeup by Joyce Bonelli.

In idiomatic use, a country said to have a “tiger economy” (rapid and sustained economic growth), especially if disproportionate to population or other conventional measures.  “Tiger parent” (and especially “tiger mother”) refers to a strict parenting style demanding academic excellence and obedience from children; it’s associated especially with East Asian societies.  The “tiger cheer” dates from 1845 and originated in Princeton University, based on the institution’s mascot and involved the cheerleaders calling out "Tiger" at the end of a cheer accompanied by a jump or outstretched arms.  Beyond Princeton, a “tiger cheer” is any “shriek or howl at the end of a cheer”.  The phrase "paper tiger" was apparently first used by comrade Chairman Mao Zedong (1893–1976; chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 1949-1976) when discussing his thoughts about the imperialist powers.  A calque of the Chinese 紙老虎／纸老虎 (zhǐlǎohǔ), it referred to an ostensibly fierce or powerful person, country or organisation without the ability to back up their words; imposing but ineffectual.  Phrases in the same vein include "sheep in wolf's clothing" and "a bark worse than their bite".  To be said to “have a tiger by the tail” suggests one has found one’s self in a situation (1) that has turned out to be much more difficult to control than one had expected and (2) difficult to extricate one’s self from, the idea being that while holding the tiger’s tail, things are not good but if one lets go, things will likely become much worse.

The Sunbeam Tigers

Sunbeam Tiger, LSR run, Southport Beach, March 1926.

There have been three Sunbeam Tigers, the first illustrious, the second fondly remembered and the last so anti-climatic it’s all but forgotten.  The first was a dedicated racing car, built between 1923-1925 and, those being times when there was less specialization, it was used both in circuit racing and, most famously, in setting the world Land Speed Record (LSR).  Although aerodynamic by the standards of the time (the techniques of streamlining learned in World War I (1914-1918) military aviation applied), there was little innovation in the platform except for the engine, the nature of which ensured the Tiger’s place in history.  For Grand Prix events conducted for cars with a maximum displacement of 2.0 litres (122 cubic inches), Sunbeam had earlier built a two litre straight-six, the limitations imposed by the relatively small size being offset by the use of the then still novel double overhead camshafts (DOHC) which allowed both more efficient combustion chambers and much higher engine speeds, thereby increasing power.  It was a robust, reliable power-plant and when contemplating an attempt on the LSR, instead of developing anything new or using the then popular expedient of installing a big & powerful but heavy and low-revving aero engine, the engineers paired two of the blocks and heads on a single crankcase, creating a 75° 3,976 cm³ (243 cubic inch) V12.  When supercharged, power outputs as high as 312 hp (233 kW) were registered.

Deteriorating weather conditions meant there wasn’t time even to paint the bodywork before the Tiger was rushed to the banked circuit at Brooklands for testing in September 1925 where performance exceeded expectations.  Over the winter, further refinements were made including a coat of most un-British bright red paint and it was in this color (and thus nick-named “Ladybird”) it was in March 1926 taken to the flat, hard sands of Southport Beach where duly it raised the LSR mark to 152.33 mph (245.15 km/h).  That was broken within a year but the Tiger still holds the record as the smallest displacement internal combustion-engine ever to hold the LSR and a hundred-odd years on, it’s a distinction likely to be retained forever.  After the run on the beach, it returned to the circuits.  A sister car was built and named Tigress; fitted with one of the big Napier Lion W12 aero engines, it still competes in historic competition but the Tiger is now a museum piece although, 65 years on, it did have a final fling when in 1990 it made one last run and this time set a mark of 159 mph (256 km/h).

1960 Sunbeam Alpine with the original tail fins.

Although successful in competition and the manufacturer of some much admired road cars, financial stability for Sunbeam was marginal for most of the 1920s and the Great Depression of the early 1930s proved its nemesis, the bankrupt company in 1934 purchased by the Rootes Group which was attracted by Sunbeam’s production facilities and their well-regarded line of commercial chassis for bus & truck operators.  Rootes over the years used the Sunbeam name in a desultory way, the vehicles little more than “badge engineered” versions of their Hillman, Singer, Humber & Talbot lines but one aberration was the Sunbeam Alpine, a small sports car (1959-1968).  Rootes had used the Alpine name before, adopted to take advantage of the success enjoyed in the 1953 Alpine Rally but the new roadster was very different.  Although the platform was taken, unpromisingly, from a small van and the rest of the structure was a mash up of components from the Rootes parts bin, as a package it worked very well and the body was modern and attractive, owing more to small Italian sports cars than the often rather agricultural British competition from MG and Triumph.  The rakish fins drew the eye (not always uncritically) but they were very much of their time (and soon pruned), taller even than those on the Daimler SP250 released the same year.  The Alpine was also pleasingly civilized with a heater which actually worked, a soft-top which didn’t leak (at least as much as others), external door handles and wind-up windows, none of which were guaranteed to exist on most of the local competition.  It was also commendably quiet, conversations possible and the radio able to be listened to even at cruising speed, then something novel in little roadsters.

1965 Sunbeam Tiger Mark 1.

With an engine capacity initially of 1.5 litres (91 cubic inch), the Alpine was never fast although that was hardly the point and Rootes advertising aimed at what was then known as the “ladies market”.  Slightly larger engines would improve things but the performance deficit was better addressed when in 1964, a version of the Alpine called the Tiger was released, this time with Ford’s then new 260 cubic inch (4.2 litre) “thinwall” Windsor V8, about to become well known from its use in both the Ford Mustang and Shelby’s Cobra, the latter based on a much-modified AC Ace.  The Windsor V8 was called a “thinwall” because genuinely it was small and light (by V8 standards) but even so it only just fitted in the Alpine’s engine bay and so tight was the fit that a small hatch was installed in the firewall (under the dashboard) so a mechanic could reach in to change one otherwise inaccessible spark plug.  Nevertheless, the package worked and all those who wrote test reports seemed to enjoy the Tiger, noting the effortless performance, fine brakes and predictable handling, all in something conveniently sized.  Even then though, more than one journalist observed that although the Ford V8 used was in the mildest state of tune Ford offered (the ones Shelby put in the Cobra producing almost 100 hp (75 kW) more), it was clear the classis was probably close to the limit of what would be sensible.

Despite that, in the mid 1960s there was in the US quite an appetite for cars not wholly sensible for street use and for the North American market, a revised version was released, this time with a 289 cubic inch (4.7 litre) Windsor V8 and although there had been some attention to the underpinnings, it was now obvious that while still in the low-power state Ford used in station wagons, the 289's increased output exceeded the capability of the chassis.  For the journalists of course, that was highly entertaining and so they were prepared to forgive, one cautioning only that the Tiger:

“…doesn’t take kindly to being flung around.  It’s a car with dignity as asks to be driven that way.  That doesn’t mean slowly, necessarily, but that there’s sufficient power on tap to embarrass the incautious.  But if you treat it right, respecting it for what it is, the Tiger can offer driving pleasure of a very high order.”

In the era, there were other over-powered machines which could behave worse and those able to read between the lines would know what they were getting but there may have been some who were surprised and tellingly, the Tigers were never advertised to the “ladies market” although one pink 289 Tiger was in 1965 given as the traditional pink prize to Playboy’s Playmate of the Year.  Presumably she enjoyed it.

Jo Collins (b 1945), 1965 Playboy Playmate of the Year with Sunbeam Tiger Mark II.  The tail fins had by now been pruned.

The US was a receptive market for the little hot rod and one featured in the Get Smart TV series, although it’s said that for technical reasons, a re-badged Alpine was actually used, the same swap effected for the 2008 film adaptation, a V8 exhaust burble dubbed where appropriate, a trick not uncommon in film-making.  In 1967, after taking control of Rootes Group, Chrysler had intended to continue production of the Tiger, by then powered by the 289 but with Chrysler’s 273 cubic inch (4.4 litre) LA V8 substituted.  Unfortunately, while 4.7 Ford litres filled it to the brim, 4.4 Chrysler litres overflowed; the Windsor truly was compact.  Allowing it to remain in production until the stock of already purchased Ford engines had been exhausted, Chrysler instead changed the advertising from emphasizing the “…mighty Ford V8 power plant” to the vaguely ambiguous “…an American V-8 power train”.  Still a popular car in the collector community, so easily modified are the V8s that few survive in their original form and many have been fitted with larger Windsors, the 302 (4.9 litre) the most popular and some have persuaded even the tall-deck 351 (5.8) to fit.  The fate of Ms Collins' pink Tiger is not known.

1972 Hillman Avenger Tiger.  The Avenger is now remembered mostly for the distinctive  "hockey stick" tail-lamps.

While not quite the sublime to the ridiculous, the third and final Tiger certaining lacked the lustre of its predecessors and was actually marketed under the Hillman and not the Sunbeam badge, the old Rootes group now owned by Chrysler.  Based on the Hillman Avenger (1970-1981), a competent if unexciting family car, the Avenger Tiger was initially a show car but such was the reaction a production run was arranged and, based on the Avenger GT, it was a genuine improvement, fitted with twin Weber carburettors on a high-compression cylinder head with larger valves and improved porting.  The power increase was welcome but wasn’t so dramatic as to demand any modification of the GT’s suspension beyond a slight stiffening of the springs.  On the road, the well-sorted rear wheel drive (RWD) dynamics meant it was good to drive and the performance was a notch above the competition although Chrysler never devoted the resources to develop it into a machine which could have been competitive with Ford’s Escort in racing and rallying.  The first run of 200-odd early in 1972 were all in “sundance yellow” with a black stripe (and in case that was too subtle, a “Tiger” graphic adorned the rear panels) but red was added as an option when another 400 made to meet demand.

Tigerish: Lindsay Lohan imagined in cara gata (cat face) by Shijing Peng. 

Apollo

Apollo (pronounced uh-pol-oh)

(1) The ancient Greek and Roman god of light, healing, music, poetry, prophecy, manly beauty and quite some more.

(2) Popular term to describe strikingly handsome youth.

(3) In aerospace, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) programme of spacecraft (1961-1972) which between 1969-1972 carried 12 US astronauts to the moon and back.

(4) A Eurasian mountain butterfly, Parnassius apollo.

From classical Greek mythology, the name is a Latin form of the Greek Apollon, often cited as related to an obsolete Greek verb apollymi (to destroy) but there’s nothing conclusive.  More compelling is the notion it’s a cognate to the Doric month Apellaios and the offerings apellaia at the initiation of young men during the family-festival apellai.  Essentially, theories about Greek origins and a number of non-Greek etymologies are all speculative.

Apollo and the Muses, oil on canvas pentyptych (circa 1985) by Charles Meynier (1763 or 1768-1832).  Although in his notes the artist referred to the five panels as a pentyptych, that reference was conceptual and they've always been hung as five separate, framed canvases. 

From left to right: (1) Polymnia was one of the nine muses in Greek mythology and a patron of dancing or geometry.  Here she is depicted  standing in front of a bust of the Athenian orator Demosthenes. (2)  Erato, the muse of lyric and erotic poetry, is often shown with the golden arrow received from Eros (or Cupid), a sign of the emotion that inspires her.  (3) Urania leans on a starry orb, an allusion to her role as the muse of astronomy.  As all good muses must, she is staring dreamily at a god or man.  (4) The eldest of the nine Greek muses, Calliope was the goddess of music, song, and dance.  She was also known as the goddess of epic poetry and conferred the gift of eloquence on kings and princes. She stands here before a bust of Homer, the ancient Greek poet who history credits with having written the epic poems the Odyssey and the Iliad.  (5) Clio, the Greek muse of history, was the daughter of Zeus and Titaness Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory and is here depicted writing while surrounded by objects associated with preserving the memory of historical figures and events: busts, reliefs, and sculptures.  Clio's name was from the Greek root κλέω or κλείω (to recount; to make famous; to celebrate) and Clio is the traditional Latinisation but there has among classicists for centuries been a faction which uses K to represent the original Greek kappa, and ei to represent the diphthong ει (epsilon iota), thus the appearance in some texts of Kleio.

The paintings were commissioned by a textile merchant who planned to hang them in a grand gallery in his Toulouse townhouse but he went bankrupt prior to delivery and the paintings were purchased by a Swiss general who took them to his castle in Wallenried.  A wing had been added to the castle just to display the general's collection and there Apollo and the Muses remained for almost 180 years.  Although in good condition, when re-discovered, there were signs of neglect typical of works not carefully curated under controlled conditions.  The fluctuations in temperature and humidity at the castle had caused cracking in the surfaces and, over time, the sheer weight of the canvases caused the tacking edges to deteriorate and pull away from their stretchers, creating large drape-like buckles.  Most also exhibited varying degrees of the dreaded “traction crackle”, the degenerative process in which a paint layer on the surface shrinks faster than an underlying layer underneath, resulting in wide cracks revealing the color below.  The original hand-carved frames were intact and needed only the time-consuming conservation work to address the deterioration of their gesso and gold.

All of the paintings needed reduction of their varnish layers which had grown dull and dis-colored, descending to a brownish-orange tinge and when first viewed, all the works were dark, dull and murky, as if the muses were stepping out of a dense fog.  Worse, at some point, a prudish white veil had been painted over the body of Cupid many years after Meynier had died, a contemporary watercolor by the artist and an etching documenting the Salon of 1801 both showing the radical intervention was not part of the original.  Restoration was challenging because the original paint had aged for least 75 years before Cupid’s drapery and working under high magnification, conservators spent much time removing the 180 square inches of overpainting, re-shaping and re-sharpening scalpels so the unwanted could be chipped away without harming the original paint.  When complete, the restoration enhanced Meynier’s reputation because for the first time it became apparent he was one of the era's great colorists, his use of juxtaposed, muted complementary colors in draperies and skin tones creating soft vibrancies that undulate throughout the entire suite.

Planet Earth photographed from Apollo 8 as it rounded the dark side of the moon, 1968.  Our lovely blue home is like the most precious jewel in a desert of cold rocks, swirling gas and fiery relics.  We should look after it. 

Apollo has variously been recognized as a god of music, truth and prophecy, healing, the sun and light, plague, poetry, and more.  Apollo was the son of Zeus and Leto, and had a twin sister, the chaste huntress Artemis.  An oracular god, the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle, medicine and healing were associated with Apollo although, in one of the paradoxes which are part of the charm of the myths of Antiquity, he was also seen as a god who could bring ill-health and plague.  As the leader of the Muses and their choir, Apollo functioned as the patron god of music and poetry and, using the lyre created for him by Hermes became the most common attribute in the works of art created in his honor.  The hymns sung to Apollo were called paeans and his most important daily task was to harness and ride his four-horse chariot with which he moved the Sun across the sky.

Map of the Greek Islands.

In most of the tales in Greek mythology, Apollo was born on the island of Delos and it's said Leto was unable to find a safe place to give birth because the jealous goddess Hera had placed a curse on her.  However, the island of Delos which until that moment had been floating around the Aegean suddenly became stable and anchored to the seabed, providing a safe birthplace for Apollo and his twin sister Artemis.  After that, not much happened in the region for a few millennia, the next significant event in 2019 when the MTV series Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club was filmed on the neighboring island of Mykonos