RationalizationThe 100 Miles of Amsterdam, rationalization
Sustainable
We are increasingly living in an economy which has become dependent on the consumer consuming ever more. Shopping has become fun and a goal by itself. The life cycle of products is being decreased so that we can have fun shopping for new products in the latest fashionable colours. Did the word fashion originally only apply to clothing, nowadays the interior of your house and even your ca obliges to the latest whims of fashion. At least that is what marketers want us to believe. Like they want to make us believe that sustainability is something new. It's not.
In this context The 100 Miles of Amsterdam will celebrate the “old” values of sustainability. Not the newest gadget is subject to envy but products, which have come down to us through many generations.
Evolution
Since the invention of the first self-propelling vehicles mankind has been racing them. In a time that roads were nothing more than carriageways with either dust or mud the first pilots were real heroes of the people. Driving was a hardship, often dangerous, always dramatic and the pilots were shifting boundaries.
Challenges are part of man’s nature. These challenges have made man to what he is and these early car races have made the cars what they are today.
These races have brought us safety features and better performing engines, that is: more economical engines.
Did you know ?
Did you know that in a recent emission test carried out in the UK some Edwardian cars (pre 1914) did compare favourably to some modern cars without catalyst ? Especially the CO emission was much better than anticipated. Also the power output, considering the petrol of the days, was comparable to that of more modern cars from before the “electronic age”.
In the early years cars were the exception, automobiles were part of the family much like a house is nowadays. They were not a fashion statement to be thrown away. Cars would carry out their duty for tens of years and thus having a much smaller impact on the environment than nowadays were a car is written of in three or four years.
We have come to realise that with an ever increasing number of cars the impact on the earth is making itself felt. As some 100 years ago the industry is reinventing itself and investing heavily in innovation.
Longest night
The 100 Miles of Amsterdam wants to celebrate these innovative times by bringing to the public a challenging event worth of the heroes of the old days. On the longest night of the year (Sunday December 20th to 21st) some 50 pre-war cars will cover 100 miles in and around Amsterdam.
This time it is up to you – the participant to be the hero, driving your pre-war machine.
