Third Annual Sub5Zero Christmas Motoring Triviaganza

In the world of Yuletide car website content, there are lots of short “Thanks for reading, happy holidays, blah blah blah…” posts, and very little in the way of heavy mental lifting. However, we are one of the few, proud exceptions to that rule. Our hope for you this Christmas Day (aside from good times with loved ones and receiving some or all of the stuff on your list) is that you dig deep within your gearhead gray matter and give your able and *ahem* search-engine-free best toward conquering our now-traditional petrol-centric party platter of brain teasers…our Gordian-Keeble Knot…our Bertone BAT SAT… our Kamui Kobayashi Maru…

This is the Third Annual Sub5Zero Christmas Motoring Triviaganza! Good luck, enjoy your day, and be ready to check your answers tomorrow.

Round One: The Bunny Slope

1. BMW is an abbreviation for what?
2. How many laps is the Indianapolis 500?
3. The name of the Jaguar XK120 was based on what?
4. What is Valentino Rossi’s nickname?
5. What does Icon call its line of scruffy-looking-but-mechanically-immaculate resto mods?

Round Two: The Big Kids Table

1. In which U.S. state is the YouTube show/channel Regular Car Reviews based?
2. Which two children of American racing legends are also racers and married to each other?
3. Where was this year’s Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe held?
4. The Batmobile from the 1960s Batman TV show was based on a ‘50s concept car from what brand?
5. For what was the name of the Subaru BRAT an acronym?

Round Three: Long Division

1. Which of the following vehicles was not, at one time or another, based on Ford’s Fox platform: Mustang; Continental; Cougar; LTD; Mark VI; Thunderbird; Capri?
2. What Russian company is best known for its two-wheel-drive motorcycle-and-sidecar setups?
3. Name one of the two names Mitsubishi (and corresponding Plymouth and Dodge badged captive imports) marketed its dual-range 4-speed manual transmission.
4. The Indy Racing League version of the 4.0L Oldsmobile Aurora found a second life in what series?
5. Why was every single C22-chassis Nissan Van sold in the U.S. recalled?

Round Four: Bomb Disposal

1. To which car is the first-generation Mazda MPV related?
2. With what engine was the factory-entered, race-spec Lotus Elise GT1 fitted?
3. In what years did Moto Guzzi run its bonkers 500cc, water-cooled four-stroke V8 in grand prix motorcycle racing?
4. What was the only car to use GM’s front-wheel-drive V-body?
5. Which of the following manufacturers did not build or attempt to build a Class 1 touring car for DTM in the early- to mid-‘90s: Opel, Alfa Romeo, Peugeot, BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz?

Round Five: Lucifer’s Sweat-Soaked Taint

1. Which of the following has not been the location of an announced-and-subsequently-canceled Indy car (CART, IRL, ChampCar or IndyCar sanction) race: Lower Manhattan; Ansan, South Korea; Honolulu; Brasilia, Brazil; Cape Town, South Africa; Boston; Quingdao, China?
2. What was unusual about the 1964 Oldsmobile 4-4-2?
3. For what company did DeTomaso build a mid-engine, rear-drive, three-cylinder hot hatch for Group B rallying that ultimately never competed?
4. For what mid-engine sports car of the 1970s was a “U8” engine (two inline-fours with separate cranks joined by a chain) proposed?
5. Three countries have one grand prix motorcycling world championship in one of the top three classes. Name those countries and, for extra credit, the year, name of the rider, and class.