4WD News 1-3/2000

The [front page] carries current 4WD articles. The 4wdnews index and archive is [here (click)].

29 March 2000: Foers builds a unique Ibex 100" station wagon. Yellow terra Impreza from Subaru. Prices on the Suzuki Vitara SWB soft-top.

24 March 2000: General Motors may try to outbid Ford to buy Land Rover [-Financial Times]. The Brits are not happy about the break up of Rover (which makes the 4x2 cars and is separate from Land Rover); it will not be a comfortable job to try to sell BMW-made new Minis in the UK next year!

23 March 2000: Daimler-Chrysler plans to acquire 1/3 of Mitsubishi! Mitsubishi is expected to continue with considerable autonomy. D.C. will have a veto on the Mitsubishi board. --> This will make D-C-M the number three car maker in the world.
#1 G.M., subsidiaries and associates   - Buick, Cadillac, Chev, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saturn, Holden, Opel, Saab, Vauxhall, Isuzu, and shares of: --> Subaru, Suzuki, Fiat;
#2 Ford and friends   - Lincoln, Mercury, Aston-Martin, Jaguar, Land-Rover, Volvo, Mazda;
#3 Daimler-Chrysler and chums   - Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Mitsubishi.
Who is left by these musical chairs, VW - Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, Seat, Skoda & Rolls Royce (to 2002); Renault - Nissan (& Samsung 4/'00); Toyota - Daihatsu; BMW (for how long?) - Rolls Royce (after 2002); Honda; Porsche, . . . ? The British (independent) motor industry has more or less been reduced to TVR and Morgan!

18 March 1998, US email:

Sport Trac

4WD vehicle sales continue to rise, and so does the number of 4WD on the market. The most recent additions are the all-new 2001 Ford Explorer 3dr (Sport) and Ford Explorer 4dr (Sport Trac, features pick-up bed), which have gone on sale in most major markets, including Miami and LA. The 5dr Explorer arrives in the fall. Pontiac is introducing it's newest MPV, the Aztek, which is for the active lifestyle with the optional VersaTrak AWD system. Despite the fact it is an MPV, many might confuse it for an SUV. Buick will also sell a version, Rendevouz, which will be more upscale. Nissan has an all-new Frontier coming out this fall. Also coming this fall is the new Toyota Tacoma Double Cab and the new GMC Sonoma, Ford Ranger, and Chevy S-10 Crew Cabs. The VW Passat 4MOTION sedan has arrived, following the 4MOTION wagon. A new MB S-Class 4Matic arrives around next spring. Chrysler also has a new MPV family, Chrysler Town & Country, Chrysler Voyager, Dodge Caravan, and Dodge Grand Caravan coming in the fall, with available AWD. Mercedes-Benz is introducing the Sprinter to the US market. US models will be built in Spain at first, until Chrysler starts production at their Canadian truck plant, which means 4WD might be a possible factory option in the near future. - CarorVan

17 March 2000: In a truly spectacular financial failure, Iridium, the global satellite phone system, has filed for bankruptcy. It is even possible that its satellites will be destroyed if the company is not rescued. What must have seemed like such a good idea when the enterprise began turned out to be not what consumers wanted after all.

17 March 2000: The Australian head of state, Queen Elizabeth II of England, began a visit to Australia. Back in 1954 there was a lot of "reviewing" from the back of a series-1 Queen-mobile but this year the Rolls Royce seems to be more favoured.

17 March 2000: BMW is to break up Rover, "the English Patient", and sell it off. There will be no new Rover cars, and that division will be sold to a venture capital company `Alchemy' who will phase out the Rover saloon cars to make MG's. BMW will make the new Mini. Does this make the Rover 75 an orphan? Profitable Land Rover will probably be sold off too [-ABC radio].

14 March 2000: GM is to acquire 20% of Fiat Auto! In exchange Fiat gets 5.1% of GM. (Both are in the bidding for Daewoo.)

and from k_benz (?):

OK, here is how it works Fiat gives GM 20% of its stock holding and in return GM gives 5.1% of its stock to FIAT. [...] This will in fact make FIAT, GM's largest single shareholder. Ferrari and Maserati are NOT part of the deal they are in another division of FIAT. Also in the future if FIAT wants to get out of the Car bussiness altogether, GM has first option. [...]
Please be more dilligent in the future thank you! k_benz

We'll try.

14 March 2000, Rod Hackett sends information on the Mars Society and its cross-country plans for the red planet:

Mars Society Bulletin - Mars Society Launches Pressurized Rover Project
The Mars Society is initiating a project to develop one or more analog pressurized rovers to use in field research in Mars analog environments around the world. Pressurized rovers, which could allow week-long field trips by Mars explorers in a shirt-sleeve environment, have been the subject of considerable discussion, but little real engineering, architectural, or operational research, for some time. The Mars Society's analog pressurized rovers will allow one or more concepts for such vehicles to be put to the test of supporting actual field work. In the process the Mars Society intends to help produce the knowledge base necessary to develop strategies that maximize the effectiveness of pressurized rovers in combined operations with other mission assets, including robots, pedestrian astronauts, astronauts using unpressurized light vehicles, Mars base habitat personnel, mission control, and the terrestrial scientific community... [more...]

12 March 2000: Michael Schumacher drove his Ferrari to victory in the Australian F1 Grand Prix at Albert Park Lake, Melbourne, with team mate R.Barrichello 2nd. McLaren driver Mika Hakkinen stopped with a failed pneumatic system for the valves of his Mercedes-Benz engine on lap 18 while holding the lead. David Coulthard's McLaren stopped with a similar problem earlier in the race while holding second place. The two Jaguars went out early, Herbert's with a clutch problem and Eddie Irvine's after spinning (and stalling) to avoid an accident. 20 year old Jenson Button in a Williams-BMW reached as high as 4th place while other cars were pitting, and was holding a comfortable 6th place until a mechanical problem halted him on lap 47. Ralf Schumacher in the other Williams-BMW finished third so Michael Schumacher had his team mate on one side of him on the podium and his younger brother on the other side. Victorian Premier, Steve Bracks, presented the winner with his trophy and was well "champagned" for his efforts. Finishers, in order:

1	M. Schumacher	Ferrari	10 pts	4wd.sofcom.com/2000/News-0001.html Jaguars dropped out early on.
2	R. Barrichello	Ferrari	6 pts
3	R. Schumacher	Williams	4 pts
4	J. Villeneuve	BAR	3 pts
5	G. Fisichella	Benneton	2 pts
disq	M. Salo	Sauber	-
6	R. Zonta	BAR	1 pt
7	A. Wurz	Benetton	-
8	M. Gene	Minardi	-
9	N. Heidfeld	Prost	-

M. Salo's Sauber was disqualified over front-wing dimensions. The highly fancied Jordans of H-H.Frentzen and J.Trulli ran well in the top six until suffering gearbox and engine problems respectively 2/3 through the race.

7 March 2000: Cyclone Steve has a third life, this one in the Indian ocean - now bearing down on Exmouth and the Pilbara. (Became a rain bearing depression, moving inland, 9/3.)

3 March 2000: Melbourne International Motor Show (right) begins, running until 13 March.

March 2000: Audi has a P.R. problem on its hands, with the handling of the TT coupe under question following some high speed crashes in Europe. The company commissioned TUV Suddeutschland to "carry out a technical investigationof the TT's handling". The report is that "The Audi TT (including its original versions) is, compared to the competition, a good sports car - better than the average in this category - and is in keeping with the state of the art". Perhaps in further response, Audi (au) is launching the TT Experience EvenTT in the 2nd quarter of 2000 - a defensive driving course for owners. Also, owners of 1999-built coupes will be offered a retro-fit of modified rear suspension and a rear spoiler. Early y2k-built cars already have the mod's plus the ESP stability program - to arrive in au from late March.

3 March 2000: Which Car Magazine announced its ``best three'' awards in nine categories:

Category	1st	2nd	3rd
H.D. 4WD	Toyota Landcruiser GXL	Land Rover Discovery ES Td5	Nissan Patrol Ti
Recreational 4WD	Honda CR-V	Subaru Outback Ltd	Subaru Forester
Sports and Performance	Subaru Impreza WRX	Honda S2000	Holden Commodore SS
People Mover	Honda Odyssey	Chrysler GrandVoyager SE	Mitsubishi Nimbus
Luxury	Holden Statesman V8	BMW 528i	Jaguar S-type V6SE
Family	Holden Commodore Acclaim	Mitsubishi Magna Advance	Ford Falcon Futura
Medium	Subaru Liberty GX	Holden Vectra GL	Daewoo Leganza
Small	Holden Astra City	Ford Laser GLXi / Mazda 323 Astina 1.6	Nissan Pulsar Plus
Budget	Mitsubishi Mirage	Toyota Echo 3-door	Daihatsu Sirion

Didn't Subaru do well?!

1 March 2000: Tropical Cyclone Steve expected to monster the Gulf of Carpentaria coastline of Queensland.

29 February 2000: Mazda show a 4x4 twin-turbo' concept car based on the Mazda 626.

28 February 2000: Tropical Cyclone Steve crossed the Queensland coast near Cairns bringing yet more rain to the already water-logged state. 29/2/00: Steve reformed as it passed into the Gulf of Carpentaria. Lake Eyre in South Australia is said to be half full, and filling, as flood waters from South Australia, NSW and Queensland flow down stream.

February 2000: Corkwood Press is working on a facsimile edition of the Journal of the Elder Scientific Expedition, 1891-2. The expedition of 13 men and 44 camels went from the arid zone of South Australia into Western Australia. Price is to be au$145 for the leather bound edition (50 copies), $95 for the buckram edition (350 copies). - corkwood press.

24 February 2000: The RACV reports that crash tests on old and new cars reveal great improvements in car safety over the last 20 years. "The driver of a 1977 Kingswood [sedan] is more than five times [more] likely to suffer serious injury than the driver of a comparable current model Holden Commodore in a frontal crash".

24 February 2000: Heavy rain in N.E. Australia has brought flooding to Queensland, N.T. and NSW. For example, Longreach is expecting record flood levels.

February 2000: Toyota (Australia) will gradually take over Daihatsu (Australia) operations from 1 July 2000.

21 February 2000: The Melbourne Motor Show approaches (3/3 - 13/3/2000) and will bring new car and 4WD models:

[...] many of our exhibitors have their new releases under embargo and won't even tell [the organisers ...]. The Mazda Tribute will definitely be there as will the new Jeep Cherokee diesel, Honda HRV 5-door, KIA Sportage Wagon and Mitsubishi will be showing their HSR VI Concept. [...]

20 February 2000: The Victorian 4WD Show (the event formerly known as the 4WD Field Day), Wandin, Victoria.

18 February 2000: The first Firefly type 66 vehicle has passed its first major milestone having left the assembly jig in January and is now on its way to being skinned and commencing mechanical installations at the end of this month. Still on target for May completion and then a short demonstration tour before going to Intershutz in Germany leaving 15th June. - Mike Eastman, Firefly Special Vehicles Limited.

February 2000: There is speculation that petrol prices could rise above au$1/litre by mid year if OPEC is able to keep the lid on production volumes - when demand exceeds supply prices go up. Of course Europe has long had even higher fuel prices, but that is due to taxation. Anyone for a (economical) diesel?

February 2000: From 1980s Brazil, the Javali 4WD - another "lost cause".

11-13 February Trucks in Action show (right), Lardner Park, Vic' (au).

13 February 2000: Heavy rain in the Northern Territory and the north of South Australia has cut roads and marooned travellers.

February 2000: The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), WA, radio network will discontinue its afternoon sked from Monday 6 March 2000; this has been averaging less than 2 calls per day. The service will continue to operate a 24-hour emergency HF radio net', and will maintain the broadcasting of cyclone warnings. The country hour (12.00-13.00) and ABS news (13.00) will still be broadcast.

10 February 2000, by email from Jeepinutah:

[...] Chevrolet [seems likely] to put the North Face name on its truck line the same way Ford did with Eddie Bower. [...]

quoting from North Face:

[...] I can tell you that on January 10th Chevrolet unveiled their Avalanche vehicle in Detroit. On the vehicle were several North Face touches. The question at the show was, will there be a North Face edition? Answer: Chevrolet has formed a partnership with The North Face to develop future marketing and product opportunities. At this time, Chevy and The North Face are still working on the specifics. The Avalanche show truck is an early attempt to gauge public reaction. [...]

February 2000: Some pictures from Quad Drive 4WD Club in Western Australia.

4 February 2000, email: Just been to the Brisbane Motor Show. The most interesting bit of information I picked up is that Toyota dealers now have pricing information on the Turbo Diesel Prado's: They will be about $5,000.00 more expensive than the equivalent V6 model. For example, the Turbo Diesel RV will be just under $48,000.00, on the road. I think with this sort of premium price, Toyota will have a bit of trouble selling them. $5,000.00 buy's an awful lot of petrol, and the V6 is a very nice motor. Obviously the same [-----]s who killed the Turbo Diesel 80-series by pricing it so much more than the petrol ones are still working for Toyota! The Turbo Diesel Prado's are due at dealers by the end of this month.
At the Mitsubishi stand, they had the new model Pajero on display. It is a totally new vehicle from the old. It has 4-wheel independent suspension, and no chassis! It has a wider and lower stance than the old model. The information with it stated that it has more ground clearance than the old [live rear axle] model, but looking under it, [the new Pajero] looks lower - Rob Logie

4 February 2000: A day of total fire ban in Victoria with temperatures forecast to reach 40°C+/-.

4 February 2000: Honda Australia will preview a new five-door model of the HR-V four-wheel-drive at the Brisbane International Motor Show on 4/2/00. The 4-door has a 100mm longer wheel-base.

3 February 2000: [Press Release] from Opposite Lock extolling the virtues of the TrueTrac limited slip diff' (LSD) for constant four wheel drive vehicles.

3 February 2000: Petrol prices reached a record 82c/L+/- in Melbourne and went over 89c/L in some parts of country Victoria thanks to production restrictions by OPEC which have gradually driven prices up this year and to an increase in the tax on petrol which is indexed to inflation.

2 February 2000: 4wdonline welcomes sponsorship from the ninemsn CarPoint web site:

A comprehensive site, CarPoint helps you buy a new or used car, saving you time, money and hassle. This easy to use, but powerful decision making tool also helps you with finance and insurance information and even gives you a 3D look inside your car of choice.

1 February 2000: Western Star (au) is to buy MAN Automotive (Australia) which will continue, as Man Automotive Imports, to be the exclusive agency for Man trucks and buses in au/nz. Man (de) will buy 100% of the UK firm ERF from Western Star Truck Holdings (Canada) - if shareholders approve. Is this the start of something big or just a casual fling?

28 January 2000: The RACV reminds car owners to get their vehicle(s) tuned regularly which both improves fuel consumption and reduces pollution. If you don't, you may be hearing more smog warnings from the EPA, now that the height of summer is upon us (au).

28 January 2000, email about European Truck Trials 2000: The British venue is out now. The Scandinavian heat is canceled. Instead there will be an event in Hungary. Der Veranstaltungsort in England steht fest. Kein Lauf in Scandinavien, dafuer aber einer in Ungarn.

08.+ 09.07.00 Warninglid (between Crawley und Brighton).

Current venues 2000: Momentaner Stand der Ding:

27.+ 28.05.00 CZ Mohlenice

03.+ 04.06.00 Oesterreich /Austria or Ungarn/ Hungary

08.+ 09.07.00 GB Warninglid

22.+ 23.07.00 Ungarn/ Hungary or Oesterreich /Austria

05. + 06.08.00 D Osnabrueck

26. + 27.08 00 E Alcarras

02. + 03 09.00 F Montalieu

Ansonsten hat das GamaGoat Team einen neuen Beifahrer: Peter Ehrhardt (43) kann im Bild auf der Teamseite 301 im Bild bewundert werden.
- dirk, www

25 January 2000: Some more Engesa 4x4 pictures.

23 January 2000: The Dakar - Cairo offroad rally ended near the pyramids. Richard Sainct (BMW) won the bike section, Jean-Louis Schlesser / Henri Magne (Schlesser - Renault buggy) won the car section for the second year in succession, and Vladimir Tchaguine / Semion Yakoubov / Serguei Savostine (Kamaz 49252) won the truck section.

20 January 2000, Thursday: In the Dakar - Cairo rally, Jean-Louis Schlesser / Henri Magane (Schlesser - Renault buggy) hold a 14 minute lead over Stephane Peterhansel / Jean-Paul Cottret (Mega) with Jean-Pierre Fontenay / Gilles Picard (Mitsubishi Pajero) third in the "cars". Tchaguine / Yakoubov / Savostine (Kamaz 49252) lead Deazevedo / Tomecek / Vodak (Tatra 815) by 20 minutes in the trucks. Richard Sainct (BMW) leads Oscar Gallardo (BMW) by 45 minutes in the bikes.

17 January 2000: The Mobil Avgas contamination problem in Australia drags on with a large fraction of all light aircraft grounded. The problem is said to have been caused by too much ethyl diamine (a corrosion inhibitor) having been added to a batch of fuel before Christmas. The excess causes fuel filters and fuel lines etc. to become blocked. Mobil plans to reprocess the fuel, removing the contaminant, and blending the avgas with (leaded) automotive fuel in the ratio 1:10. In principle the high-octane (105) avgas makes an excellent car fuel, but the RACV voices all motorists' concerns that Mobil doesn't stuff up again and bring (older) cars to a halt too.

January 2000: Revolution Racegear, Australia's number one motorsport accessories store has signed as the primary sponsor of the new series of In Pit Lane which returns to Melbourne's Channel 31 [TV] Tuesday January 25th at the new time of 9.30pm. [more....]

January 2000: News of 4x4 Winter Trials in Estonia.

January 2000: Dutton Marine, maker of the amphibious, 4x2 Dutton Mariner S2 (based on the Ford Fiesta Mk3) and the 4x2 Dutton Commander (based on the Ford Fiesta Mk4), is to start selling the amphibious, four wheel drive Commander 4x4 based on the Suzuki Samurai 4x4.

January 2000: Subaru Australia have rereleased a leather trimmed special edition of the Impreza WRX at $2.5K above the 1999 price of the standard WRX.

January 2000: The Y2K Toyota Landcruiser 100-series GXV (top model) gets electronic braking and traction aids to match Merc's M-class and Landrover's Range Rover.

12 January 2000: Kia Motors Australia will stop distributing Kia vehicles from 29/2/2000, when Ateco Automotive Pty Ltd will take over this task [-Kia].

January 2000: Organisers of the Victorian Variety Club's 4WD Excellent Adventure (see 17 March 2000 in events) report the following "themes" for the event: start - Hawaiian, Mt Ben Lomond - Ski Bunnies, Rutherglen - Maverick, Cradle Mountain - Blues Brothers, Dover - Grease. (Mad as hatters.)

11 January 2000: The organisers of the 2000 Dakar-Cairo offroad rally decided to airlift the rally from Niamey, Niger to Sabbah and Waw el Kebir, Libya, between Wednesday 12 January and Sunday 16 January because of the risk of armed attack in Niger. The rally should resume on Monday 17 January. Overall after stage 6, Tuesday 11 January, Juan Roma (KTM) leads Richard Sainct (BMW) by 22 minutes in the bike section. Kenjiro Shinozuka and Dominique Serieys (Mitsubishi Pajero, T2) lead Jean-Louis Schlesser and Henri Magne (Schlesser - Renault Megane buggy, T3) by six minutes in the cars. Vladimir Tchaguine/ Yakoubov/ Savistine (Kamaz, T4) lead Andre Deazevedo/ Tomecek/ Vodak (Tatra 815, T4) by 40 minutes in the trucks.

10 January 2000: Detroit Motor Show begins. Ford / Mazda continue to experiment with light duty 4WDs to compete with the likes of Honda, while Honda has a new 4WD, larger than its CR-V. Suzuki flags a move up-market. Toyota tops its 100-series LandCruiser with the new Sequoia full-size (US) 4WD wagon. VW shows its Advanced Activity Concept Vehicle (AAC), i.e. 4x4 SUV, the show ute fitted with a 5-litre V10 diesel as VW continues to explore the cylinder options. This one is nothing like the Transporter Syncro, rather a result of a collaboration with Porsche, and very much intended to take on Mercedes' M-class (was All Activity Vehicle, AAC too).

January 2000: Photos (below) of the new 2001 Dodge Ram Charger currently being manufactured in Mexico. This particular one was spotted and shot (by Frederick Ammons) in Aspen, Colorado (USA) with Mex. licence plates - Henry Ammons

4wd.sofcom.com/2000/News-0001.html

7 January 2000: [news] of the Y2K Europa Truck Trials and also of televising the Dakar-Cairo Rally on Eurosport TV.

6-23 January 2000: This year the legendary 4WD rally runs from Dakar to Cairo.

4 January 2000: The RACV reports that 75% of Victorians think the Citylink project will be good for Victoria and 76% believe it will reduce travel times. 72% say they will use it even means paying a toll, which it does. Meanwhile there are still engineering problems with water lifting the road surface in the (unopened) tunnels.

4 January 2000, via email:

Opposite Lock has introduced two new emergency first-aid kits specially developed for use by four wheel drivers. Packaged in water-repellent Cordura with a clear see-through UV-retardant front, and designed to be stowed practically anywhere, the Australian-made kits contain emergency first-aid supplies that no self-respecting [...] driver should head bush without. Two kits are available. The small 'personal' kit contains crepe bandages, conforming bandages, triangular bandage, bandaids, dressings, eye wash, sterile eye pads, sterile gauze squares, scissors, splinter forceps, latex gloves, antiseptic cream, alcho wipes, a foil rescue blanket, medicine cup, and a basic guide to first aid. The larger 'pro' kits offers a broader range of bandages, dressings and elastoplast strips, and adds to the list of supplies with wound-wash ampoules, paracetemol, disposable probes and burnaid gel.
"Whether you're planning a big trip, or just headed off-road for the weekend, carrying some sort of first-aid kit in your 4x4 is simply common sense," says Opposite Lock managing director, Adrian Stafford. [...] - email

Look O'L' up in 4wd links

January 2000: Zeke Steggall is an Australian snowboard competitor and a [4x4 enthusiast].

3 January 2000, received via email:

Rover V8 parts for sale: Prices in US dollars, shipping extra (* needs rebuilding)
Exhaust manifolds (2) ERC0814 120.00, Sump pan 120.00, Oil strainer 10.00, Con rods (8)* 602082R 80.00, (includes usable pistons), Rocker covers (2) 50.00, 1982 block* 75.00, 1982 heads (2)* 60.00, Cooling fan & viscous coupler 25.00, LandRover engine mounts (set of 4) 100.00, Two Stromberg 175CD-2 complete with 450.00, ERC5484 intake manifold, linkages, etc, Alternator with bracket (LandRover) 50.00, 16 push rods 25.00, Rockershaft assembly (2)* 100.00, Timing cover 300.00,
Barrie Robinson, tel:705-721-9060, fax:705-726-7994

(Don't forget that there are various compression-ratios in V8's, also different front covers and water pumps for cars / 4WDs.

1 January 2000: The road toll for Victoria remained at about 400 deaths p.a. through the mid and late 1990s, the low being 396 in 1992 (down from 847 in 1979). The RACV calls for renewed efforts to make the toll decline. It gives the interesting statistic that while 95% of car occupants wear seat-belts 25% of fatalities are unbelted - a pretty persuasive reason to belt-up.

2000 model year Toyota Hilux gets the option of an 85kW 3-litre turbo-diesel on the SR-5 trim-level crew-cab, single cab and chassis-cab models.

January 2000: VFACTS figures for 1999 show total vehicle sales of 786,845. December 1999 sales (71,562) were up 1.4% on December 1998, although sales for the full year are 2.6% lower than 1998, and passenger vehicle sales (547,575) 6.3% down on 1998. Most attribute the latter to a mini "buyers' strike" as buyers wait for the GST to reduce new car prices. GM Holden sold most vehicles (155,307) in 1999, with Toyota very close behind, then Ford.
In the All Terrain Wagon segment, Toyota Landcruiser (13038) finished ahead of Nissan Patrol wagon (10150) for the year, not forgetting Prado (8266) and RAV4 (6988). Honda must be rubbing their hands with glee at the CR-V (9735) and HR-V (2857). Subaru is doing something right with the Forester (7390) and Outback (4219). Mitsubishi must have hoped for better from the Pajero (5724) and must have fingers-crossed waiting for the new model. Land Rover should be quite pleased with the Discovery (4403), e.g. beating the Holden Jackaroo (4275). Overall, all terrain wagon sales of just over 100K 104,058 --> were 8% up on 1998.

1 January 2000: You made it through the nineties, congratulations and welcome to the noughties, 00.

Go to the 4/2000...,   7-12/1999, 1-6/1999 and 4wdnews archive pages