Category: Classic Cars

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RENAULT 4CV

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Through many trials and tribulation, Louis Renault became the leading French car manufacturer, triumphing over Andre Citroen during the 1920s. As early as 1900, Renaults had adopted a sloping coal scuttle bonnet which became a distinguishing mark of the company’s products. The engines ranged from a 1.1-litre two-cylinder through a quartet of fours of 2.1 to 7.4 litres, followed in 1908 by a 9.5-litre six. Except for the taxi-orientated twins, the emphasis was on prestige until World War I. Following that war, Renault offered three updated fours, accounting for most… Read more

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VOLKSWAGEN-PORSCHE 914

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When introduced in 1969 the mid-engined Volkswagen-Porsche 914 showed that the traditional British roadsters from MG and Triumph had rested on their laurels for too long and were now hopelessly outmoded. Breaking into the American market had long been the key to success for any sportscar with sales success in the USA virtually guaranteeing a profitable production run. By the end of the 1960s Porsche and Jensen both planned to add cars to that list and both would do so in conjunction with another well-known name. Volkswagen and Porsche have… Read more

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LANCIA FULVIA HF COUP

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At the top end of the Fulvia range, Lancia offered a 1298cc version of its narrow-angled V4 overhead camshaft engine, supplementing the 1216cc and 1091cc versions. The 1.3-litre came in two forms for two variants of the Fulvia couple. The Rallye 1.3 used a 9 to 1 compression engine producing 65kW at 6000rpm and the Rallye 1.3HF produced 75kW at the same rpm, with the aid of a 10.5 to 1 compression ratio, high-lift cams, larger valves with stronger springs, different pistons and lightened flywheel. The 65kW engine was installed… Read more

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CISITALIA

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To aid post-World War II recovery of the motor car industry in general and the motor racing business in particular Piero Dusio, an Italian businessman, established a small firm in Turin to concentrate on car racing and body design. As production of the Fiat 1100 had been restarted and stock was becoming readily-available he chose the Fiat 1100 engine, modified to yield 37kW or 45kW as the basis of his design, fitting them to a single seater sports car using a tubular space frame and suspension of advanced design. For… Read more

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AMERICAN MOTORS JAVELIN

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The AMC Javelin was released in the American autumn of 1967 and was intended to finally give AMC a car to counter the Mustang. It was born from the marriage of Nash, Rambler and Hudson and followed a series of cars released after the Mustang first appeared in 1965, none of which were any match for it either in looks or performance. In its SST form the Javelin had a 5.62-litre 209kW V8 motor which placed it in between Mustang’s highest and lowest output and closely aligned it with its… Read more

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ROVER P4

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Rover’s Managing Director in the 1930s, Spencer Wilks, was determined to produce cars of high quality and refinement with a measure of dignity. He had no interest in building high performance vehicles. For some years prior to the arrival of Wilks, Rover’s approach to building cars had been along these same lines and Wilks ensured that they continued in this manner. The P4 was part of a design philosophy commenced by Wilks’ predecessors but it had a more modern look and also incorporated mechanical improvements developed by Rover engineers. The… Read more

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NSU Ro80

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In many ways the Ro80 was to the sixties what the Citroen Goddess was to the fifties. The Ro80 was recognised as a futuristic design when it greeted the public light of day at the end of 1967. The NSU was regarded as revolutionary more for its use of the Wankel twin rotor engine than for any other single attribute. Soon, argued the critics, maybe all cars will have rotary engines. There are just these few little teething troubles to fix … NSU had been proud of its decision to… Read more

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PACKARD 120

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By 1939, the Americans had finally caught up with the European car design approach where unitary construction had become an acceptable form of construction and diversity in coachwork soon began to appear. Packard’s 120 Convertible was one such example. They started off by using a conservative approach to styling, including the side mounted spare wheel, and so the car’s overall appearance was more appealing than that of its competitors such as Buick and Cadillac. By using the same body parts for both their Super-Eight with a nine-bearing motor and the… Read more

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PONTIAC FIREBIRD

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1972 Pontiac Firebird Formula In 1967 General Motors, caught napping, finally produced its answer to the Ford Mustang. It was the F-body Camaro/Firebird. Although the Pontiac division wanted a car which aped the Chevrolet Corvette they were forced to accept a Comaro clone with a few cosmetic changes designed to give the car a somewhat distinctive appearance. It must have upset a number of Pontiac executives who felt that they, as creators of the Tempest and GTO, ought not to be following but leading in the performance car stakes. To… Read more

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BMW 700

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In 1957 BMW introduced the model 600 which was a four-seat alternative to the Isetta, a mini-car designed around a 247 cc BMW motorcycle engine. The 600 was a move in the direction of `real cars’ after Europe began to slowly return to normal following World War II when it became apparent that the market for semi-autos like the Isetta and Goggomobile was beginning to dry up. The 600 had a two-cylinder motorcycle engine and the first form of rear suspension with semi-trailing arms that became a normal engineering feature… Read more