A Century of People Cars
Internal Links
Origins of the Lightweight Car
Early Days 1910 to 1916
Post War Progress 1918 to 1929
Consolidation 1930 to 1939
Rebuilding 1945 to 1955
Diversity 1955 to 1969
Maturity 1970 to 1979
Conformity 1980 to 1989
The Revolution in Personal Transport in Europe
A narrative with links to a relevant Wikipedia page to expand on an item of text.
What is the definition of personal transport? I think it is a means of
transport that an individual has at their command at any time to travel
were ever they wish. Many forms of transport have been used for that
purpose throughout the ages. The horse with or without a carriage or
other wheeled vehicle was the most commonly used of various animals to
provide a means of transport. The boat in one form or another has been
used for the same purpose on water. With the advent of railways, there
have been private trains, but usually such a conveyance was for
heads of state and the fabulously rich.
From the beginning of the development of powered flight most forms of
aircraft have been used for personal transport by a very small
percentage of the population. The entire above has limitations in one
form or another, from range of operation, area of use or predominately
high cost of ownership and running costs.
When introduced the bicycle was a relatively low cost innovation that
provided personal transport to a great number of people and still does
for millions through out the world. But it still requires the use of
our legs that had been used for walking, the universal form on personal
travel for the majority of mankind up to that time. Although it enabled
the legs to be used in more efficient manner it only had a limited
range unless the rider was very fit.
The horseless carriage, electric, steam or internal combustion engine
powered, added a new dimension to personal transport when introduced at
the end of the nineteenth century. Initially as expensive to own and
use as the horse drawn carriage, the horseless carriage was again the
preserve of the rich.
The bicycle fitted with an internal combustion engine was relatively
inexpensive compared to the motorcar of the period. Those early
motorcycles were mechanically primitive with no gearbox and a belt
drive between the engine and the rear wheel. The engines fitted to the
early motorcycles were of low power.
This was usually sufficient as the poor roads and crude chassis design
limited performance. The motorcycle provided transport at a cost that
many could afford and was the first form of powered personal transport
that a great number of young men and some times young women aspired to.
The motorcycle has grown in sophistication during a century of
development and the lower powered machines, the mopeds and motor
scooters still provide personal transport to tens of millions of people
around the world.
After the motorcycle had demonstrated its potential to provide low cost
transport, enterprising designers produced machines that were almost as
light but more stable, these were the motor tricycle and the motor quadricycle, in
essence three and four wheeled motorcycles and along with the
motorcycle of the period technically unrefined.
These were developed to provide a more comfortable form of transport
and the results were the trycar's and quadricar's, These machines were
devoid of bodywork but were more substantial than the tricycle and the
quadricycle and reflected the advances made in motorcycle design. The
solo motorcycle can accommodate the rider and often a passenger as
well. This was satisfactory until the passenger wanted a more
comfortable means of transport or there was more than one passenger to
carry. In the first half of the twentieth century the motorcyclist
could choose to fit a sidecar to his motorcycle to accommodate his
passengers. In Britain this was known as a motorcycle combination and
it was less expensive to purchase and use than the small cars of the
day and were popular with the family man of modest means up to the
1950's. The tricycle's,quadricycle's trycar's and quadricar's were
produced for about a decade straddling the turn of the nineteenth
century.
The trycar and the quadricar cost about half that of the contemporary
light car the voiturette’s. They proved too crude to provide an
acceptable means of personal transport and soon disappeared from the
motoring scene to be replaced by machines with a similar mechanical
basis this time fitted with a body the cyclecar.
The voiturette’s were the first light cars and were contemporary with
cycle derived machines mentioned above. At first fitted with single and
twin cylinder engines marginally larger than those fitted to
motorcycles and with various chassis and transmission layout but fitted
with a body. Engine size and complexity grew in time as did the almost
standardisation of the "System Panhard" chassis format (Front engine
and rear wheel drive). By the end of the first decade of the twentieth
century the voiturette had become a reliable relatively low cost
practical form of personal transport for two to four persons. The
cyclecars whether with three or four wheels was an ultra light car that
usually owed more to motorcycle practice than the design of larger
cars. Cyclecar's were produced in a progressive level of refinement for
thirty years from 1910 until the beginning of the Second World War.
Such famous names such as Morgan, AC the makers of renowned Cobra
started out making cars classified as cyclecar's. When first defined in
1912 the classification cyclecar referred to all cars with an engine
capacity of 1100 cc or under and a maximum weight of 327 Kg. but is
usually associated with the less sophisticated designs in that class.
Due to the low power output of the engines fitted to the vehicle types
mentioned previously, a maximum of two persons was the normal capacity.
Low initial cost plus low running costs were the big attraction for all
of them. The cyclecar's available in 1914 ranged in price from
£60 to £200 and running costs were around a penny a mile.
The more conventional of the ultra light cars, those that were
miniature's of the large cars of the day and the designs that had
evolved from the earlier voiturettes proved more enduring than the
cyclecars providing reliable low cost transport to an increasing number
of motorists for their personal use.
In the last century between nineteen fifty and the early sixties there
was a revival of the cyclecar theme in form of the microcar. Again
relying on motorcycle sourced engines and transmissions and some input
from the aircraft industry. The microcar provided a stepping
stone from the motor cycle to the car and with advent of the minicar
the latest manifestation of the ultra light car; the microcar faded
away.
As the cost of owning a car fell, the various forms the ultra light
car, minicars like the BMC Mini and Fiat 600, utility cars such as the
Citroen 2 CV and the Renault 4, light cars such as the VW Beetle and
the Kadett from Opel and many others were produced in increasing number
becoming a predominant form of personal transport in Europe reducing
the use of the motorcycle to young and the recreational rider by the
later half of the twentieth century. At the beginning of the twenty
first century the motor car as personal transport has become a world
wide phenomena with the light car continuing to fulfil that role for an
increasing number of people.
As the engine sizes and weight of the small car seems to increase with
each new model, I have selected a cars length as its limiting factor
for inclusion, and have taken four metres as that limit it being the
maximum length of the supermini’s produced now in 2008. This fits in
well with my perceived view of the small car without excluding any
important of importance.
Origins of the Lightweight Car
The lightweight car was a result of social and engineering advances, It
was a popular development that was to give mobility to all levels of
society and helped to change our world for good or ill in a way that
the large expensive car could never have done. Across Europe, Japan and
increasingly in Asia tens of millions of people have improved their way
of life with the help of the light car. The light car has never been
successful in Africa, or the Australian outback with their
undeveloped roads. Also rural North America in the first half of the
twentieth century for the same reason. Rugged heavy vehicles proved
superior, but were there are properly paved roads it is equal to the
task of providing transport at a reasonable cost. The earliest cars
were expensive and unreliable, in time reliability was improved but
costs remained high. The potential of the car as a replacement for the
horse and trap was becoming clear, but cost was an obstacle. A simple
cost effective form of car the Voiturette was evolved to fill this
roll. Usually fitted with a single cylinder engine of between 400 cc
and 1000 cc.
This was at the turn of the century and by 1910 the Voiturette had
matured into the light car, with multi cylinder engines, shaft drive
and a chassis layout similar to the large cars of the day. These were
supplemented by the cyclecars that were devised to provide inexpensive
personal transport utilising motorcycle components.
The Voiturette and later the light car was at first used by the
professional classes and those that needed personal transport to earn a
living. But as the cost of running a light car fell, and the cyclecar
matured into the ultra light car, an increasing number of people
enjoyed the benefits of personal transport when previously only public
transport had been available to them. It was still only a limited
proportion of society that could take advantage of this freedom as
running even an ultra- light car was beyond most people's means.
The types of car that we are familiar with today, the mini car the
super mini and the small family cars are modern names for classes of
car that have with us for almost a hundred years. The first ultra light
cars with engines from 800 to 1000 cc and horsepower ratings from bhp
to 7 hp, the equivalent of the mini car have been around since 1910.
Cars with engines from 1000 to 1250 cc rated at 8 hp to 10 hp are
comparable to the super mini and the cars with engines up to 1500 cc
rated at 10 hp to 12 hp were the small family car of their day. The
smaller cars usually only had two seats at first and the performance
and load carrying capacity was limited on all classes of light cars.
Early Days 1910 to 1916
Almost
from the beginning of motoring history engineers have striven to
produce a durable and economic to run motor car. As engines became
lighter and more efficient, relatively simple versions of the current
thinking on car design have been produced. First the mostly single
cylinder “Voiturettes”, made from about 1898 until 1910. Using many
different layouts and drive systems, from the sophisticated to the
simple, manufacturers in Europe and the USA strove to evolve a
practical vehicle for everyday use. From this variety the layout and
drive system used by Louis Renault gained acceptance as the most
practical and became the basis of most car designs for the next forty
years. A front mounted engine with the gearbox in unit, a propeller
shaft and a live rear axle.
Around 1910 the “Cyclecar”, came on to scene, this was the next attempt
to produce an even less expensive form of motor car. The cyclecars
produced during the next thirty years, were in general a mixture of
engineering methods, basically a car chassis fitted with motorcycle
derived components and as the Voiturettes before them, using various
layouts and means of transmitting the engine power to the wheels. The
term cyclecar was devised by the European motoring organisations to
define all cars under 1100 cc.
By 1912 there were cyclecars on the road with the same layout as the
more conventional cars of the day but with twin cylinder engines and
usually two-seater bodies, these were more durable than the average run
of cyclecars and were usually more expensive. Also introduced at that
time were the first of the very small cars (under 1100 cc) that
mimicked the form of the larger cars of the time, down to the four
cylinder engine, then as now the most common. These and the superior
cyclecars mentioned above, were the beginning of the line of cars that
provided reliable transport at a minimum cost to millions of people
since that time.
History shows that there is a minimum practical size of car and a
minimum level of engineering refinement and the cyclecar and microcar
were generally below that. The majority of cyclecars, those with belts
and chain drives and other forms of eccentric engineering, had faded
away by 1920, as did the microcar of the 1950’s go by the end of the
decade. Therefore the cars in this study, I believe have provided basic
motoring to the world since about 1912 and will continue for the
foreseeable future.
Since 1906 William and Benjamin Jowett of Bradford Yorkshire, has
been developing a refined cyclecar and by 1910 it was ready for
production. It was worth the wait as it remained in production as a
car, until 1939 and as a van until 1953, undergoing continuous
development. I remember seeing van’s, named the “Bradford”, on the road
in the 1950’s. The car, had a flat twin water cooled 826 cc
engine with excellent low speed torque, unit construction a 3-speed
gearbox shaft drive to a worm-geared back axle with a differential,
weighing only 6 1/2 cwt. At first with tiller steering, wheel steering
and a bevel rear axle came in 1914. This was not an isolated
development, for from 1912 to 1914 there was wide range of new ultra
light cars available, much later to be called “minicars” and
“Supermini’s”. As well as the Jowett just mentioned, were the Swift 7,
The Humberette and the Douglas in 1912. In 1913 Peugeot, Morris and AC
had introduced small cars. By 1914 and coming of war, there were also
new cars from Charron, Bayard and Rontiex & Cummiker in France,
also Enfield, Alldays & Onions, Horstmann, Perry and Standard in
Britain, and Adler in Germany. These are the first true minicars, not
the Austin Seven of 1922, which was the car that revolutionised the
public perception of the type in Britain. Usually fitted with a two or
three seat coach built tourer body, a windscreen, acetylene lighting
and a folding cape-cart hood.
A maximum speed of around 40 mph and capable of averaging 25 mph and 40
to 50 mpg, priced between £100 and £150, These cars were
both practical and popular in their time. The Swift 7, made in Coventry
was one example; it had a vertical twin water cooled, side valve,
splash-lubricated engine of 972 cc fitted with a Eisemann magneto and a
Claudel carburettor, a leather cone clutch, a three speed and reverse
gate change gear box located in the centre of the chassis and a bevel
rear axle. With rack and pinion steering, a tubular chassis with a
separate sub frame for the engine and gearbox. The improved 1914
chassis was of channel steel with worm and sector steering,
semi-elliptic springs all round, wire wheels with beaded-edge tyres, a
transmission brake operated by a pedal and external contracting brakes
on the back wheels using a lever. The petrol tank was mounted behind
the dashboard, feeding the carburettor by gravity.
The Humberette made by the Humber Company also of Coventry was similar
to the Swift in general but with a “V” twin air-cooled engine the
gearbox was in unit with the engine. Some of the detail differences
were drip feed lubrication for the engine using a sight glass; a
transverse semi-elliptic leaf spring for the front axle and spring
loaded torque rods locating the rear axle. Hand controlling levers
mounted on the steering column were used for the throttle and ignition
settings. The Humberette of 1914 was fitted with a water-cooled version
of the “V” twin engine along with other detail improvements. Production
ceased in 1915, not to be revived after the war. Another of the cars
listed earlier was the Alldays “Midget” again similar to the Swift and
Humberette, this time with a 1069 cc water-cooled vertical twin engine,
but with a larger body. The Perry, also had a water-cooled vertical
twin engine of 879 cc, It was fitted with Sankey detachable pressed
steel wheels with beaded edge tyres. Another example of the cars fitted
with a vertical twin engine was the Enfield Autolette, this time of
1069 cc. The vertical twin engine would not see such general use again
until its use in the DKW in the 1930’s, the German minicars of the
1950’s and the Fiat Nuova 500.
The Morris Oxford, made from 1913 until 1917, had a 1013 cc, White
& Poppe water-cooled “T” head four, giving it a maximum speed of 50
mph, priced at £173 for 2-seat weighting 12 1/2 cwt. It was
William Morris’s first car. Made at the rate of forty a week it was of
conventional layout, differing from those mentioned before only in
having a four cylinder engine and a greater weight. The Douglas Company
used the engine layout they had become famous for, the horizontally
opposed twin, of 1070 cc, but not air-cooled as used in their
motorcycles, but water-cooled. This type of engine, usually air-cooled
was to become very popular with ultra light carmakers in the future,
being made in the millions. The Douglas car was again of the
conventional layout of front engine and rear wheel drive, costing
£175, it was fitted with C.A.V. electric lighting and Riley
detachable wheels. The AC light car of 1913 was fitted with a
water-cooled four-cylinder engine of 1094 cc, supplied by Fivet, it
weighed 10 cwt. It differed from others of the type in having a three
speed gearbox integral with the rear axle, a disc transmission brake.
Designed by J.Weller it had a top speed of 45 mph. From the
descriptions given above an idea of the level of development of the
ultra light car can be seen. Other details not mentioned was starting
the engine, this was carried out using a starting handle usually
permanently mounted on the front of the engine. One car not started
this way was the Horstmann; it used a foot starter mechanism,
consisting of a large Quick thread formed on the shaft connecting the
clutch to the gearbox and a nut actuated by a pedal, this could be used
from the drivers seat.
The Peugeot “Bebe” of 1913, Made in France and designed by Ettore
Bugatti. Fitted with a 856 cc water cooled inline four engine,
producing 10 bhp at 2,000 rpm, it had high tension magneto ignition, a
2-speed gearbox, weighing 6 3/4 cwt and a maximum speed of 35 mph. A
Bugatti design feature was the reversed quarter elliptic rear springs.
The cylinder block, head and crankcase was cast in one piece, and the
engine had two camshafts one each side of the engine due to the “T”
cylinder head configuration. Another unusual feature was the
transmission that consisted of two concentric propeller shafts each
driving a bevel gear in the back axle and used to provide to two gear
ratios. Costing £160, reducing to £125 in 1915, the “Babe”
was made until 1916, by which time 3,095 examples had been produced. By
the beginning of the First World War the ultra light car was an
established part of every day motoring, steadily improving in design
and durability. But by 1916, due to governments orders to direct all
industrial resources to the war effort, all production of small cars
stopped and that is how it remained for the next three years. When
production restarted again after the war, the design of the ultra light
car would move on again with unimagined levels of production to meet an
expanding market.
Post War Progress 1918 to 1929
After
the war there were again ultra light cars both with flat twin and Vee
twin engines on the market, these were more advanced than the pre-war
offerings. But by the mid 1920’s they were eclipsed by the four
cylinder ultra light cars that were to revolutionise the small car
scene. The Rover 8, with a 998 cc air-cooled horizontal-opposed twin
cylinder engine, was one of the former, and as fitted with light
roadster body, was a handy car. Another was the Wolseley 7 hp, one of
the best of the type, fitted with a water-cooled flat twin engine of
938 cc. The Jowett was again on offer, continuing to evolve, at first
fitted with the 815 cc engine but later to be enlarged to 907 cc. The
Stoneleigh 9 hp of 1922, made by Armstrong-Siddeley the aero engine
makers and normally builders of quality cars of distinction, was a very
basic car with an odd three seat body, with driver sat centrally and
the two passengers sat behind, fitted with an air-cooled V twin 998 cc
ohv designed by Hotchkiss of Coventry for BSA which also fitted it in
1075 cc form in the Ten. The Stoneleigh had coil ignition, a three
speed and reverse gearbox, a spiral bevel differential-less final
drive, quarter elliptic springs all round, disc wheels and narrow
section tyres. The starter was only an optional extra before 1924. With
an aluminium body on a wood frame, Only 200 were made as by 1922
standards it was very crude. The BSA Ten mentioned above was made from
1921 to 1925 only in 2-seater form, In grey or blue, costing
£230. Between four and five thousand were made in that time. The
Ariel Nine was another twin cylinder car made between 1922 and 1925.
Hans Ledwinka is justly famous for his "V8" rear-engined cars, the
Tatra T77, T87, and the T97 with a flat four engine. His contribution
to automobile progress began in 1905, when he restored the fortunes of
the "Nesseldorf" company. He did this by introducing advanced designs.
He left Nesseldorf in 1916, working for Steyr in Austria. Returning to
"Nesseldorf" in 1921. While working at "Steyr", he had been creating
the design of a small car in his own time. His design had been rejected
by the "Steyr" management, but he was able to develop and produce this
design on his return to the by then renamed Nesseldorf. Designated the
Tatra T11 it made the name of Tatra well known throughout Europe.
In Czechoslovakia in 1922 Hans Ledwinka designed the Tatra 11. It had a
horizontally opposed air cooled twin cylinder engine similar to the
British cars, but there the similarity ended as the gearbox in unit was
bolted to the front of a backbone chassis and the final drive to the
rear and the drive taken to the back wheels by swing axles, this in
conjunction with beam axle front suspension produced a revolutionary
concept for it’s time and was contrary to design trends in the rest of
the industry.
Hans Ledwinka 1878-1967 was born in Austria when it was part of the
Austro-Hungarian empire. By 1906 he was working for Nesseldorfer a car
manufacturer in Moravia, after the break up of the empire Moravia
became part of the new state of the Czechoslovak republic, the company
changed its name to Tatra 1923. He left Tatra to join Steyr in Austria
in 1916 then left in 1923 to work for Tatra were he designed many
ground breaking cars as diverse as the type 11 of 1923 to the
rear-engined type 77 of 1937, until imprisonment by the communists in
1945. He pioneered the backbone chassis frame, swing axles and the air
cooled flat four engine configuration.
The T11 was the first of his designs using a backbone chassis, a fan
cooled horizontally opposed engine and a joint less independent
rear axle. The engine in this design was a overhead valve 1056 cc twin,
mounted in unit with the gearbox on the front of the chassis, the front
beam axle being attached to the engine.
This was the first of a line of design to a similar pattern that were
produced until 1948. The T11 was produced from 1923 to 1927, and
replaced by the T12 with a similar specification. The T12 was produced
from 1926 to 1936. In 1931 the T54, with a 1465 cc air-cooled flat four
engine was introduced. It was made until 1936. Also in 1931 the T57 a
1155 cc air-cooled flat four was introduced, and through the T57A, T57B
and T57K versions remained in production until 1948. The later models
having a 1256 cc engine. A total of thirty eight and half thousand of
these small Tatra's were made between 1923 and 1948.
The design of the light cars of the post-war period, with a few
exceptions, soon conformed to a general specification that became the
standard for the next twenty years, or in the case of Ford, the next
thirty years. This consisted of a front mounted, water-cooled side
valve, inline four cylinder engine, a plate clutch and a three speed
and reverse gearbox in unit with the engine, with a propeller shaft to
a live axle at the rear. With a braced channel section steel frame and
semi or quarter-elliptic springing, a beam axle at the front and four
wheel drum brakes. This was the format that the designers of the new
ultra light cars used, and it proved so successful that by the middle
of the 20’s the simpler twins had mostly disappeared.
The concept of engine position in the earliest cars is irrelevant as
the passengers usually sat on top of the machinery and layout of the
latter was dependent on the means of transmitting the engine power to
the rear wheels. This led to compact but high cars, but due to the very
limited performance was not unduly unstable. Because it made the best
use of the technology of the time, the front engine rear wheel drive
layout was to become standard about the turn of the century. This
allowed a small reduction in height as speed increased and stability
became important. For the next thirty years the front engined, rear
wheel drive layout was refined resulting in a decrease in height but
increasing intrusion of the machinery into the passenger space and the
rear seat passengers located over the rear axle. The idea of locating
the engine at the rear of the car to overcome this problem was
conceived in the nineteen twenties and developed in the thirties. The
layout reached a peak of popularity in the nineteen sixties, then fell
out of use except for sporting cars after the rise in the popularity of
the front wheel drive car. The vast majority were light cars . There
were a few rear-engined cars between those first cars and the beginning
of the rear engine period proper. The cyclecar era produced a notable
example in the G.W.K. made in Britain between 1911 and 1930, initially
by Grice, Wood and Keiller, at Maidenhead in Berkshire. The
transversely mounted rear engine, in this case mounted within the
wheelbase, was not the only unusual feature of the car. Throughout
their years of production G.W.K cars were always fitted with a friction
drive transmission, utilising a friction disk that moved across the
face of the flywheel to produce different reduction ratios from 4 to 1
in top to 14 to 1 as the lowest gear. The rest of the car was
conventional for it's day. The engine fitted was a 1069 cc water-cooled
Coventry Climax unit; it weighed 9.5-cwt and cost £150.
Production between 1918 and 1930 was not great with nearly 200 examples
of various types made.
While G.W.K were struggling on in Britain, Hanomag in Germany produced
the "2/10ps Kommissbrot", The latter being a popular name given to the
car and referring to a loaf of bread. Made from 1924 to 1928 in which
time 15,800 examples were produced. It's single cylinder water cooled
engine of 500 cc was mounted at the rear with three speed gearbox and a
chain final drive in an oil bath to the solid rear axle. A two seat car
with a 40 mph maximum speed, in most respects it was late example of
the cyclecar.
Peugeot in France had produced the Babe before the war with its unusual
transmission. Now named the Quadrilette, and fitted with a 694 cc,
later 855 cc engine it was again available in 1921.
The following year other French manufacturers entered the field, Andre
Citroen with his Type C 5 c.v. and the Renault 6 c.v. This was soon followed
by Austin in England with the Seven also in 1922 and the Humber 8-18 hp
of 1923. As the decade progressed others produced new cars, some to
become famous, others to be in time forgotten. The Citroen 5 c.v. had a
maximum speed of 38 mph, and 80,00 were sold by 1926. Fitted with a
water-cooled by thermal-siphon, side valve four in line engine, of 856
cc, with coil ignition, a three speed and reverse gearbox, a spiral
bevel final drive and with quarter-elliptic springs all round attached
to a channel section chassis frame. Michelin disc wheels were standard,
with low pressure tyres in 1924. The weight of the car was 952 pounds
and it was priced in England in 1922 at £195.
The Renault 6 CV. of 1922 had a four-cylinder inline 951 cc side-valve
engine that produced 15 bhp. water-cooled by thermal-siphon with a
detachable head, HT magneto and starting by Dynomotor, also a three
speed and reverse gear box, spiral bevel final drive, Springing
was by two half- elliptic springs at the front, one transverse at rear.
weighting 1512 pounds, and a maximum speed of 45 mph. Front wheels
brakes by cable after 1925. It was conventional car of the period, with
a feature of all Renaults at that time; the radiator was behind the
engine. It was made until 1929.
The Austin Seven was a major milestone in the history of low cost
motoring and set the standard for other small cars to meet for the next
ten years, remaining in production in Great Britain for seventeen
years. It was also made in Germany under licence by Dixi, the company
later taken over by BMW. Licence production also took place in France
by Roengart and By Austin America in the USA, although this venture by
Herbert Austin the founder and chief engineer of the company was not a
success.
After a disappointing period commercially after the First World War,
due the cars on offer, Herbert Austin against the advice of colleagues
designed the Seven at home, to be offered as a substitute for the Motor
cycle combinations and cycle cars then available to the public. It was
as compact as a combination and as light at 7 cwt as a cyclecar but
with all the technical features of a full size car including four wheel
braking, electric lighting and starting. Initially there were concerns
weather the four cylinder high speed engine would be reliable and it’s
small size usable, but the public soon took to the car which over the
years evolved with minor improvements to keeps it competitive finally
going out of production in 1939. When production started in 1923 an
Austin Seven cost £225 but by 1930 was down to £125, inline
with other small cars. Capable of 50 mph and 50 miles to the gallon,
and able to carry four people in some models, it proved to be a very
economic, reliable, durable car that also lent itself to tuning and
introducing a new section of the population to sporting motoring, but
that’s another story. Introduced in the same year as the Austin Seven,
the Humber 8-18 h.p. with a 982 cc side-valve engine were well made,
but twice the price of the Austin, being more a light car than an ultra
light car.
Other light cars of the period with a four cylinder side valve engine
were the Ariel Ten of 1924, which had the gearbox in unit with the rear
axle and only two wheel brakes, as did the Nine from the same stable.
The Clyno Nine of 1927, with a 950 cc engine and a simpler
specification and the 832 cc Triumph Super Seven, which was unusual for
an ultra light car in 1927, in having hydraulic, brakes and balloon
tyres. As well as these side valve cars there were more advanced and
more expensive cars on the market, The Talbot-Darracq Of 1922, designed
by L. Coatalen, with a high-efficiency overhead valve four-cylinder
engine of 970 cc, In a elaborately equipped chassis. The Riley 9 of
1926 also had an advanced overhead valve 1087 cc engine, using two high
camshafts and was built to a high standard, the Nine forming the basis
for Riley touring and sports cars for the next ten years. The Fiat 509
had an overhead camshaft engine of 998 cc, more of which were to be
introduced in this size of car in the next few years. The Rhode 9.5 hp
made in Britain from 1921 to 1924, used a single overhead camshaft
engine made by them, driving through Wrigley gearboxes, with at first
differential-less back axles. Another British car with the same engine
configuration was the 848 cc Singer “Junior” of 1926. Singer used a
single overhead camshaft layout in its engine until taken over by the
Rootes Group.
The first version of the Morris Minor of 1928, also had an overhead
camshaft engine, four cylinder version of the unit used in the Wolesley
Hornet, Wolseley by then part of the Morris empire. Although the
engines of these cars were advanced, the remainder of their
specifications reflected the current conventions of the day. It was
William Morris’s answer to the Austin Seven and although thirty nine
thousand were made during the life of this model, it didn’t prove as
popular as the simpler Seven. Initially fitted with cable brake
operation, by 1932 a hydraulic system was fitted.
The 1920’s were years of experiment, with finally the production of a
small number of specialist front wheel drive cars, sports and luxury,
all relatively costly. The 1930’s saw these joined by front wheel drive
cars at the other end of the price range.
In Britain BSA made 10,000 of a varied range of three and four wheeled
car from 1929 to 1940. The first inexpensive front wheel drive vehicle
to reach the British market, the BSA “Three Wheeler Twin”, although not
mass produced, was made in large numbers compared with it’s
predecessors and could not have been more different. A three wheeled
cyclecar, as ultra light cars were then described. The specification in
many respects was normal, being similar in layout to the “Morgan” three
wheeler. With two wheels at the front and one wheel at the rear and a
1021 c.c. Vee twin-cylinder air-cooled engine was mounted in front. A
simple channel-section chassis that was formed in the rear with a
large-diameter central tube; the single rear wheel was mounted on a
hinged arm having as an extension a leaf spring that was enclosed
within the central chassis tube. The major difference was the
transmission that was similar in layout to the Alvis 12/75 including
the inboard drum brakes, with the engine behind the gearbox which was
behind the final drive unit. Four quarter elliptic springs each side
were used for the independent front suspension. In 1933 a
four-cylinder engine version of the three and four-wheeled car was
added to the range. With a 1075 cc. side-valve water-cooled engine in
place of the twin being the only major change.
In Germany DKW started making their series of cars prefixed “F”, making
over 200,000 by 1939., With a water cooled two cylinder two stroke
engine, in unit with the three speed gearbox and final drive all
transversely mounted, driving the front wheels through universally
jointed half shafts, the DKW F1-500 owed nothing to convention and was
years ahead of it’s time. The 584 cc engine produced 161⁄2 bhp at 3500
rpm, enough to attain a speed of 50 mph and fuel consumption of 50 mpg.
Not everything about the DKW was advanced, the wood and fabric full
four-seat body was quite large and heavy and the car weighed 141⁄2 cwt
over double the weight of the Austin Seven.
The company, DKW was founded by Jorgen Skafte Rasmussen, a Danish
engineer. The initials DKW came from an unsuccessful venture, a steam
powered vehicle, in German Dampt Kraft Wagon. Fortunately the company
became successful as motorcycle manufacturers, with a factory at
Zschopen in the German region of Saxony. Between 1919 and 1930 the
company made an assortment of rear wheel drive cyclecars and lightcars.
The first front wheel drive car from DKW, the FA, later to be called
the F-1, was introduced in 1931. It was an ultra lightweight car,
weighing only 450 kg. It had a water-cooled 2 cylinder 2 stroke engine,
mounted transversely in the chassis, with the 3- speed gearbox in front
and the final drive assembly in front of that between the front wheels.
Twin transverse 1⁄2 elliptic springs were used at the front and the
rear of the steel ladder chassis for the all independent suspension.
With 15 bhp from the engine a maximum speed of 75 kph was
attained. It was made in roadster, cabriolet and saloon form.
Despite the introduction of more advanced engines, the side valve
engine was still widely used and would continued to be in general use
until the late forties. The Humber 9-28 of 1929 used a side valve
engine and the rest of the car also followed the conventions of the
day, as did the La Licorne 5 CV from France. During the 1920’s the
ultra-light car had become established, providing both reliable and
durable transport at a reasonable cost, bringing motoring to an
ever-increasing section of the community. As production increased using
mass production methods the cost of car ownership continued to fall,
this reached an all time low in the next decade.
From 1928 onwards, the idea of a people's car with a rear mounted
air-cooled engine, all independent springing and a backbone frame was
promoted in Germany by a journalist Josef Ganz. He had an experimental
car with a forked backbone frame made by Ardie and Adler in 1930.
Limited experiments in front wheel drive and rear engine layouts had
been carried out, but the need for a more complex means of transmitting
the power to the driven wheels than the almost universally used live
axle was the stumbling block.
The simplest alternative to the live axle was the swing axle. The swing
axle had been used by Hans Ludwinka at Tatra since the early nineteen
twenties and Ludwinka was to become one of the pioneers of rear engine
cars. The Tatra swing axle didn't use flexible joints but a system of
bevel gears that allowed each drive shaft to move independently. The
flexible coupling commonly in use at the time was the fabric coupling
it had a limited degree of deflection and working life and was not
suitable for use with swing axles. The availability of better flexible
couplings of the Hardy Spicer type made it possible to develop a
reliable swing axle transmission. The combination of the rear mounted
engine with swing axle transmission proved to be the simplest way to
remove the engine and the transmission from the passenger space and
lower the overall height of the car
Consolidation 1930 to 1939
The 1930’s are not remembered for advances in small car design, more
for the spread of mass production techniques and continuing reductions
in new car prices, reaching an all time low of £100 for a while
in 1932. Evolution rather than revolution being the watchword of the
decade, with a steady improvement in the details of design and methods
of manufacture, leading to improved engine efficiency, higher
performance and durability.
The water-cooled side-valve inline four cylinder engine was dominant,
along with the simple pressed steel channel chassis frame, mounted on a
beam axle at the front and a live axle at the rear, sprung with leaf
springs. Predominately mechanically operated drum brakes on all four
wheels, with wood and fabric or coach-built bodies, later in the decade
pressed steel became the standard. There were a few exceptions to this
formula, a small number of manufacturers fitted overhead valve or
overhead camshaft engines. Of all the makers using two cylinder engines
in the 1920’s, only those from Jowett, DKW and Tatra were now
available, the Tatra going out of production by 1936, the others in
continually developed form remaining in production until the second
world war. The Jowett of the early 1930’s , was the 7 HP. An
evolved version of the original 1910 car. Tatra began production of a
1155 cc O.H.V. air-cooled flat four engined car in 1931, the Tatra 57.
The 57 was otherwise similar in layout to to the Tatra 12 twin cylinder
cars. The various versions of the 57 were produced until 1948.
The Austin Seven was so successful in Europe in its various forms, that
Herbert Austin decided to introduce it to the USA. So in 1930 the
American Austin was born, basically an Austin Seven adapted to
American tastes and made in Butler Pennsylvania. Unfortunately
very small cars were not to American taste and that combined with the
onset of the depression, the American Austin didn't flourish, less than
20,000 being made in total before the company went under in 1935.
Also in 1931, the original overhead camshaft engined Morris Minor was
supplemented by a side-valve version also of 847 cc, originally
available as an open two-seater priced at £100. By 1932 all the
Minor body types were available, but not at that price and by the
following year the overhead camshaft engine was dropped, all but the
basic model being fitted with a synchromesh gearbox, hydraulic brakes
and dampers. Far from Europe, the fledgling Japanese motor industry was
beginning to make practical motorcars and one of these was the Datsun
Type 10 of 1932. A conventional car with a 747 cc, 4-cylinder side
valve engine, often mistaken as a copy of the Austin Seven, evolving
through successive model and in production until the second world war.
Another of the cars introduced in 1932 was the Fiat 508 Balilla,
again fitted with a side-valve engine, this time of 995 cc, with
hydraulic brakes and a cruciform chassis the only distinguishing
features, it remained in production until 1937 and was made under
licence by Simca in France and NSU in Germany. In Britain, the Singer
Nine 9 HP replaced the Junior 8 HP and the Triumph Super Nine replaced
the Super Seven. BSA introduced a four wheeled version of their three
wheeled car the FW32, using the Hotchkiss “V" twin as used in the Ten
of 1921. They only sold a hundred, and it was only worth mentioning
because it was an early British front wheel drive ultra-light car, with
independent front suspension by four transverse 1/2 elliptic springs,
inboard front brakes, a three gearbox in front of the engine, finally
the worm and spur gear final drive at the front and a dead rear axle
suspended on four 1/4 elliptic springs. It only lasted a year. The big
motoring event of 1932, was the introduction of the Ford Model Y.
Ford’s answer to the Austin Seven and the Morris Minor, a new direction
for the company that had up until then only sold first American then
British built cars originally designed for the American market.
The Model Y design was an evolved version of the model T chassis, with
the same layout of transverse 1/2 elliptic springs front and rear, but
with less than half the engine capacity of, previous models and the
rest of the American designed car reduced in proportion.
Being a simple well developed car, made using all the latest mass
production methods, at a good price it was an immediate success. With a
simple and reliable water-cooled, side-valve 933 cc inline four
cylinder engine, cable operated four wheel brakes, a simple channel
steel chassis and a stylish all steel body, it represented current
design philosophy. By the time the ultimate version of the Model Y
concept went out of production, the Popular of 1959, it was an
anachronism. Another car in that mould, was the Standard Little
Nine to be followed by the Nine in 1934. In 1933 BSA replaced the FW32
with the T9. Another development on the front wheel drive theme, the
twin cylinder engine was replaced by a water-cooled, side-valve, inline
four mounted in the same place, nearest the cabin. The other change was
to fit 1/2 elliptic springs on the rear axle. The three wheeled cars
were dropped after 1936, the “Scout” series of cars being available
from 1935 to 1940, being the last BSA cars. Three hundred were made in
it's year of production.
Continuing on the front wheel drive story, Adler of Frankfurt on
Main, Germany, started by making bicycles in 1880, later typewriters
and commenced car production in 1900. The first of their front wheel
drive cars, the Trumpf, was designed by the company technical director
of the time, Rohr. This was in 1932. As well as front wheel drive, the
car had other advanced features, The body was electrically welded to
the box section chassis, making it a near monocoque. All independent
suspension using torsion bars and rack and pinion steering. The layout
of the power train was similar to the Tracta and the Alvis, with the
final drive at the front, with the four-speed gearbox next and then the
engine. This resulted in a long bonnet, which fortunately was still
fashionable at the time. Tracta joints were used in the outboard end of
the transmission.
The car was light for its time, being just over a thousand kilos in
4-seat saloon form. The engine and the brakes were as most other cars
of that date, the engine being a side-valve, four, of 1500 cc to 1700
cc producing 38 bhp to 40 bhp, and the brakes were mechanically
operated. The Trumpf-Junior, a smaller version of the Trumpf, also
designed by Rohr, with a 995 cc engine,and was produced from
1934. with the same engine, gearbox, final-drive layout as the
Trumpf, in a chassis independently sprung on all wheels, using torsion
bars at the rear, with rack and pinion steering. The rest of the
specification was normal for the time, a water-cooled inline four,
side-valve engine and cable operated Bendix drum brakes. Although
fairly unconventional for it's time, the car was a success
Both cars were available in five body styles. By 1941 when all Adler
car production ceased not only for the duration of the war but for ever
as It was not to resume after the war, just over twenty five thousand
Trumpf's and almost one hundred and three thousand Trumpt-Juniors had
been made.
Ferdinand Porsche was born in Maffersdorf in Northern Bohemia now part
of Czech Republic, the son of a tinsmith. His first automobile designs
were for Lohner of Vienna in 1899. He went on to design for
Austro-Daimler 1906-23, Then Daimler-MotorenAG, later Daimler-Benz,
1923- 29. Followed by Steyr, in Austria in 1929. Later in 1929 he set
up his own design office in Stuttgart, He and his team designed many
outstanding cars there before moving to Gmund in Austria in 1944 to
escape Allied bombing. After a troubled period at the end of the war,
he again returned to Stuttgart, the home of Porsche cars. Although he
was actively involved in motorcar design for over fifty years, only one
of his light car designs reached series production. He was fortunate to
see many of his heavy luxury, sports and racing cars designs reached
production. But getting a light car produced, sporting or economy was a
struggle.
While at Austro-Daimler in the early nineteen twenties, he designed an
1100 cc sports car. Hoping that it would form the basis of a wider
range of cars, but he was not supported by board of directors of
Austro-Daimler. A handful of cars were produced and given the name
"Sascha", in honour of Count Shascha Kolowrat who underwrote the
venture. The "Sascha's", proved very successful in motor sports events
throughout Europe.
I have found a reference to a one-litre small car that Porsche designed
while he was at Daimler-Benz, in a book by Richard von Frankenberg.
This was in 1928, and thirty test samples were constructed but the
project wasn't taken any further and none have survived.
By 1931 Ferdinand Porsche had set up his own design bureau in
Stuttgart, Germany and began to create designs for the German motor
industry. The Porsche design bureau was staffed by engineers that
Porsche had gathered together over a period of thirty years. They
were Karl Rabe his chief engineer, Erwin Komenda in charge of body
designer, Kales in charge of engine design, Mickl, he was responsible
for aerodynamics and Hruska. His son Ferry Porsche was also part of the
team and would take over from his father after the Second World War.
One project that Porsche and his team started to work on was for a
small economy car, but unlike the other work they had it had not been
commissioned but was something Porsche wanted to do. It was numbered
type 12. This was in September 1931. The design that unfolded had
features that would become familiar in later years, a backbone frame, a
rear engine, all independent suspension and a beetle shaped body.
During the period when rear engines cars were produced in millions and
one case tens of millions, the engine was usually located outside the
wheelbase. The engine design was unconventional for a car, a three
cylinder air-cooled radial. This arrangement was often used in light
aircraft. In 1932 the German motorcycle manufacturer Zundapp made
enquires about a small car design that they wished to put in
production. The type 12 was revised to meet Zundapp's requirements. A
five cylinder water-cooled engine replaced the three cylinder unit.
Prototypes of the car that was to be called the "Zundapp Volksauto",
were produced and road tested, but the car didn't go into series
production due to Zundapp's inability to finance the venture.
In 1933 Porsche was approached by NSU another German motorcycle
manufacturer, for a small car design. This time is was for a slightly
larger car. The design, Porsche type number 32, that was finalised
utilised a flat four cylinder air-cooled engine of 1400 cc. Torsion bar
springs were used for the trailing arm front and swing axle rear
suspension. Three prototypes were made, and had been tested, before NSU
had to abandon the idea due to contract agreements made previously with
Fiat, not to re-enter car manufacturer.
The idea of creating a small car of advanced design for the people of
Germany seem to be doomed, until Porsche submitted a proposal on the
development of such a car to the Transport department of the German
government. This was in January 1934. He managed to get the chancellor
a certain Herr Hitler, interested in the idea. He added the proviso
that it be produced for one thousand Marks (£45). This led to a
lot of hard work by the Porsche bureau, before the car then called the
"KdF Wagen", and known to us as the Volkswagen was a reality. The car
was similar to the "NSU Volksauto", but slightly smaller and with
a 985 cc engine. Thirty prototype Volkswagen cars were completed in
1937, the series 30, and used for extensive road testing. In 1938
another sixty prototype Volkswagens, the series 60, were completed for
more testing.
J.A.Gregoire is one of the great pioneers of the front wheel drive car.
He contributed to the development of front wheel drive vehicles. By
designing,developing and promoting a constant velocity joint in each
front wheel hub, by using an enclosed double universal joint. This idea
was developed to become the “Tracta Joint”. The promotion and licensed
use of the “Tracta Joint” became the primary purpose of the Societe
Anonymedes Automobiles Tracta after 1932.
The “Tracta joint”, was until manufacturing techniques had
progressed sufficiently to allow the the successful manufacture of the
constant velocity joints commonly in use today was the preferred
choice of most manufactures of vehicles that had driven front
wheels. Tracta joints were used by many of the pioneers of front wheel
drive, including DKW between 1929 and 1936 and Adler from 1932 to
1939 as well as the cars designed by J A Gregoire that will be
mentioned later. The Tracta joint was fitted to most of the military
vehicles that had driven front wheels used by most of the combatants in
the Second World War. They included Laffly and Panhard in France, Alvis
and Daimler in the UK and Willy in the USA that used the joint in a
quarter of a million Jeeps and many others. This was to continue after
the war, The first Land Rover being so fitted. It would be almost
thirty years before versions of the "Rzappa joint" were used
successfully in mass-produced cars.
Meanwhile advanced chassis design was not considered necessary in
Britain. This was the case with the Wolseley Nine, except
that it had hydraulic brakes. A single overhead camshaft engine was
fitted, similar in design to those fitted in other Wolseley cars of the
time, this in conjunction with a four speed synchromesh gearbox, all
for the price of £179. The Nine was replaced by the similar Wasp
in 1935. 1935 saw only one completely new model, the Morris 8, a
totally conventional car that appeared to take its inspiration from the
Ford 8. It was a hit with the car buying public and over 200,00 were
sold before being replaced in 1938. The 918 cc engine first used in the
8 was to remain in production until 1953 and used in the post war
Morris Minor, long after it should have been retired.
The first prototype of the Tatra Type V570 designed by Erich Ledwinka,
the son of Tatra's chief engineer Hans Ledwinka was produced in 1931,a
member of his fathers design team at Tatra, he designed their first
rear engined car. Although this prototype had a body of
conventional form, the inspiration for the rear engined Tatra came from
the idea of taking full advantage of the streamlined forms proposed by
the aerodynamicist Paul Jarey. By locating the engine in the long tail,
a low hood or bonnet line could be achieved. It had a platform chassis
and the air-cooled flat twin engine of 845 cc; gearbox and final drive
was located at its rear. Swing axles were again used to take the drive
to the rear wheels. The first prototype made had a fairly crude body
fitted, but the second prototype, shown at the 1933 Prague Motor Show
had a streamlined body designed to conform to the ideas of Paul Jaray.
Unfortunately it didn't reach production. This had more to do with the
priorities of the Tatra management that any outside influences. Tatra
chose not to produce economy cars with the rear engine layout, but to
reserve that layout for limited production luxury and family size cars.
The Hansa was one of the range of car produced by the Borgward group.
The 1100 was typical of German thinking in 1934, with all round
independent suspension, using transverse half elliptic leaf springs at
the front and swing axles at the rear with torsion bars. Also a tubular
backbone frame and a water-cooled inline four cylinder engine with
overhead valve-gear. This advanced specification was completed by
hydraulic brakes. It did not have a high performance, but was said to
handle well. Engineers in Czechoslovakia also used advanced chassis
designs, this is not surprising since a Czech, Hans Ludwinka developed
most of the ideas then in vogue in central Europe. He never worked for
Skoda but they incorporated many of those ideas in the 420 of 1934.
With a forked backbone chassis and all independent suspension using
transverse leaf springs at the front and swing axles at the rear. It
had a 995 cc side-valve, water-cooled inline four and a three speed
gearbox.
The DKW F5 was an updated version of the F2 of 1933-34, that had
evolved from F1 of 1928. After the first revolutionary step of
producing the FA, the F series of cars that followed evolved, with
changes introduced as the model numbers progressed. The F-2 a 584 cc
engined version of the F-1 was introduced in 1933, with a little more
power and a little more speed. An engine capacity of 584 cc was
available until 1938. The F-4 of 1934 saw the spur gear drive between
the engine and gearbox replaced with a chain. The F-5 also of 1934 had
major engine changes using the Schnuerle deflectorless-piston loop
scavenge system, which made an important contribution to efficient
two-stroke engine operation. The rear suspension was changed to a dead
axle and a transverse leaf spring. The F-5 was also available with 684
cc engine. The F-7 had the front suspension changed to one leaf spring
and wishbones. The F-8 Introduced in 1938 was an updated version of the
existing DKW model the F7. That had a revised chassis frame
incorporating rack and pinion steering and an engine of 589 cc. In 1939
a 692 cc engine was fitted in some models and was made until
1942. The specification was the same throughout, but the design
refined with each new model, this continued until 1939. The last model
before the Second World War was the F-9. It was completely new model
with a 900 cc two stroke engine mounted fore and aft in front of the
final drive unit. It had streamlined all steel body, and a top speed of
68 MPH. The advent of the Second World War deferred its
introduction.
The Austin 7 Ruby, an updated version to replace the original
Seven, was on sale from 1935 to the end of the Seven production in
1939. As the Seven was a major advance when introduced,the Fiat 500,
was also a major advance, making the Seven seem obsolete. Designed by
Dante Giacosa and Franco Fessia, It was a two-seater and had a 569 cc
side valve engine, but the chassis with independent front suspension
using a transverse leaf spring and wishbones and neat packaging was a
big advance, with the engine located over the front wheels and radiator
behind it over the four speed synchromesh gearbox, also excellent
hydraulic brakes.
With fuel consumption around 50 mpg and a maximum speed of 55 mph, but
with handling good enough to allow average speeds of 40 mph. Between
1936 when first introduced until the end of production in 1948,
122,000 were made of this original version. It was also made in
France by Simca and in Germany by NSU. Other cars that made an
appearance in 1936, were The Opel P4, the Singer Bantam, and the
American Bantam, the last two were not related.
The Opel P4 was the product of the German branch of General Motors, and
as such reflected American body styling. The mechanics of the car
were conventional, unlike the German cars mentioned previously with a
water-cooled, inline four, side-valve engine in a cart sprung chassis,
( beam axles and half elliptic springs) driving the rear wheels. The
Singer Bantam was an update of the earlier Nine, first with the 972 cc
Nine engine, then with a 1074 cc version, still with a single overhead
camshaft. The small Singers were a bit of mixture, with the Junior
Special and the 9 HP IFS with independent suspension with coil springs,
but by 1936 only beam axles and cart springs were on offer and by 1939,
hydraulic brakes had given way to mechanical operation. It was price
before refinement. The American Bantam was the reborn American Austin
after that company had failed in 1935, it was again a re-bodied Austin
Seven with minor engineering modifications, but it only lasted until
1941. The companies great claim to fame was that it designed and
produced the first Jeep, before production was taken over by others. By
1937 the small Jowett was the BHP, still with the flat twin side-valve
engine, but chassis and body had kept up with its British
contemporaries with hydraulic dampers and in the last year of
production, 1940 synchromesh. The last remaining British link
with the cyclecar era was with the three wheeled Morgan.
The Fiat 508C was not an update of the Balilla but with a overhead
valve engine, independent front suspension, a X braced chassis, a four
speed gearbox and a flowing body capable of 70 mph plus, a modern car
that remained in production after the second world war. Also introduced
in 1937 was the Opel Kadett, basically a P4 with a new body and detail
improvements. In Austria the Steyr concern was not averse to technical
innovation and their offering in the one litre class the 50 was no
exception, with independent suspension all round and a sleek but not
pretty all steel unitary body-chassis unit. With a 978 cc, side-valve
flat-four engine, despite the low drag body , it was only capable of 60
mph. By contrast, in Britain Austin offered the Big 7, an updated Seven
Ruby, with a 900 cc version of the Seven engine. This was in production
in 1938 and 1939, when it was replaced by the Austin 8, this also had a
900 cc side-valve engine but it was completely new design as was the
rest of the car. The chassis was conventional 1930’s British, with beam
axles, 1/2 elliptic springs, a ladder frame and mechanical brakes. The
tourer version of this car has a place in my motoring memory, although
I cannot remember seeing one on the road. Between 1939 and 1944, the
tourer was produced for the British army, and was I suppose Britain's
“Jeep”, until the real thing came along. I saw the tourer on munitions
trains, mixed in with tanks and guns, steaming past the park I
used to play in. Although in drab khaki, with its low form, cut-out
doors and modern styling, being one of the last cars introduced before
the war stopped most car production, it was a revelation compared with
almost all black saloons to be seen on the roads then. The four door
saloon model only was again was produced after the war, with a total of
over fifty six thousand being made by time it was replaced in 1947.
All the following new models reviewed here were to re-emerge
after the war and remain in production until 1948 and in the case of
the Skoda Popular 1100, to soldier on until 1964, in form
of the 440, and Octavia. The Popular 1100 was an updated 420 with a
1089 cc engine. The Morris Eight series E was as the name
indicates the latest version on the Eight. The major change was the new
body with flowing lines and the introduction of a four speed gearbox.
Renault’s entry into the small car class the Juvaquatre, was a mixture
of ancient and modern, with a side-valve engine, mechanical brakes, a
three speed gearbox and a cart sprung rear axle, the modern part was
the unitary body-chassis and independent front suspension.
The Ford Anglia, was an evolved Model Y (8) with a new body. In
contrast to the Ford, the Standard Flying Eight, was completely new,
but the transverse leaf independent suspension and a synchromesh
gearbox were the only concessions to modernity. With a long
stroke side-valve, water-cooled inline four cylinder engine, only three
speed in that gearbox and Bendix brakes.
As the Volkswagen was being developed, a factory for its production was
being built. First
produced with a 985 cc air cooled flat four engine, the car was
developed and ready for production by 1938. Production started at the
purpose built factory at Wolfsburg in 1939. But only two hundred and
ten examples were made before the factor went over to war
production.
At the beginning of the war in 1939, the production of cars in
Europe for the general public was suspended, and only those that could
obtain a petrol ration could run their cars for the duration of the war
and for some time afterwards. Many cars were destroyed in the war,
others were worn out and others were laid up until private motoring was
again possible.
During the war many engineers used what spare time they had to devise
new concepts and designs, Post war all that pent up creative energy
would be let loose.
Rebuilding 1945 to 1955
At the end of the Second
World War the European motor industry was in disarray, with factories
destroyed, or severely rundown or machine tools stolen. By 1945 where
the pre-war tooling was available, production was restarted using it,
therefore producing virtually pre-war designs. That didn't matter at
the time, as there was an insatiable demand for cars not only in Europe
but also throughout the world. In Britain, Ford made the pre-war 7Y 8
hp with some body changes until 1953, and renamed it the “Anglia EO4A”
then the “E494A” with 1172 cc versions being available until 1959..
Morris made the Eight series “E” and Wolseley the "Eight", a series "E"
with an ohv engine and some panel changes, until 1948. Austin the
“Eight” until 1947 and Standard the “Eight” until 1948. The perennial
Jowett twin the 7 HP was produced in estate car and van form as the
“Bradford” until 1953. In France, Renault began production with the
Juvaquatre until 1948, Fiat in Italy recommenced with the “500”
changing to the “500B” in 1948, replacing the side valve engine for one
with overhead valves and an extra 3 bhp, and the “508C” being revived
as the “1100”., and Lancia also in Italy recommenced production of the
Ardea. The Ardea had been introduced immediately before the start of
the war, and very few had been made before production was suspended,
not that very many were made by the time production finally stopped in
1949. It was a relatively high cost small car, constructed to the then
usual high standard expected of a Lancia. With many design features
similar to the better known Aprilia, such as a pillarless unitary
body-chassis unit, sliding pillar IFS, and a overhead camshaft, narrow
angle Vee four engine, in the case of the Ardea of 903 cc, that
produced 29 bhp. The Ardea was not advanced in all aspects, it had a
gravity feed fuel tank and it's four speed, gearbox was without
synchromesh, and unlike the other Lancia’s of the time, it had a live
rear axle and cart springs.
Pre-war designs available in Czechoslovakia were the Skoda 1101 that
was produced until 1954, and the Aero A30 until 1946. The Germany motor
industry has suffered more than any of the others, with division and
destruction, but at Volkswagen at Wolsfsburg, 713 cars were assembled
from existing components for use by the British forces by the end of
1945, The Volkswagen plant was under the control of the British
Occupation authorities until September 1949 and by then almost twenty
one thousand cars had been produced, now with a 1131 cc engine. Also
the exporting of Volkswagens had begun. Other German factories took a
little longer to get going.
All the cars mentioned above except the Volkswagen were of up till then
of conventional layout, with the engine in the front and rear wheel
drive with the exception of the Skoda a live rear axle. All the British
cars except the Standard also had a beam front axle, with leaf springs
and cast iron side valve engines being universal.
The next decade would see a divergence in design philosophy with
Germany consolidating on it's advanced designs, France producing a
variety of new designs and the rest grudgingly making concessions to
forward thinking. During the war years a team at Renault had been
working on a totally new car design as had engineers at Morris in
Britain. But unlike their British counterparts, the Renault engineers
were then able to put their new design in to production without
concessions to existing tooling, the whole car being radically
different to any previous Renault. Louis Renault, the founder of the
company had ordered it's development, but after the liberation of
France, he was expelled from company that was nationalised. Louis
Renault was pioneer of motoring who constructed his first car in a
garden shed in 1898,at his parent’s home at Billancourt, near Paris.
His company that he ruled in an autocratic manner prospered becoming
one of the great car makers in France. During the Second World War when
France was occupied by German forces, his factories were under German
direction and he produced trucks for the German forces. His main
preoccupation at that time was not freedom or France, but the
preservation of his factories ready to resume producing cars when the
war was over. To that end in 1941 he had his staff with Edmond Serre as
head of project design, design a new car and produce a prototype.
Fernand Picard, Serre's deputy, played the leading roll in design of
the car. The car that emerged was unlike any previous Renault model but
externally bore a passing resemblance to the Volkswagen prototype that
had been revealed to the world before the war. But the car had a
specification completely different to the Volkswagen with the exception
of rear engine location. The 4 cv differed in many ways from the
Volkswagen, first it had a unitary chassis, and it had a water-cooled
inline four-cylinder overhead valve engine of 760 cc mounted at
the rear behind a three- speed gearbox with final drive by swing axles.
Wishbones were used for the independent front suspension with coil
springs used all round and rack and pinion steering. With
Lockheed hydraulic brakes,it was a state of the art design. Although
the engine only produced 19 BHP, it was almost unburstable. The
performance was modest with a maximum speed of 57 mph (92 kph). Later
prototypes also had their own distinctive body that would become well
known in time.
Louis Renault had made many enemies during his years of autocratic rule
and having been seen to co-operate with the German invaders only
compounded his crimes to his enemies. At the end of the war he did not
live to see his new car go into production, because his countrymen
imprisoned him. Dying in mysterious circumstances, his assets and his
factories were seized by the state. Regie Renault was founded in 1946
using the Renaults factories. It operated as a private company but
owned by the state, similar to Volkswagen after 1948. The state
appointed Pierre Lefaucheux as president of the new company and he soon
prepared the 4 cv for production, showing the car first at the Paris
Salon in October 1946 and production started the following year. The
new head of the company Lefaucheux decreed a one- model policy and that
was the 4 CV. By 1950 production was up to four hundred a day.
The 4 CV were what France needed at that time, a compact economic
up to date design and it was in production by 1946. Because it was of
rear- engined layout and Professor Porsche had been had been asked to
pass comment on the design, at times the design has been attributed to
him, but that is not true. Over a million examples were made before it
was phased out in 1961.
The Renault engineers were not the only ones in France
creating new designs. At Citroen engineers led by Andre Lefebvre had
been working since 1938 on their replacement for the pony and trap of
the French countryside, the car that became the 2 CV. Apart from the
aim of providing inexpensive motoring, the 2 CV and could not be more
different in concept and layout from the 4 CV, with a twin cylinder air
cooled engine of only 375 cc, mounted in the very front of a platform
chassis, driving the front wheels. The all-independent inter-linked
suspension was conceived to cope with terrible French country roads of
the time and to be driven across country if required. The body was
larger than that of the 4 CV and had what would be termed today a
flexible layout with a fold back roof, and removable doors and hammock
type seat. The 2 CV was durable and formed the basis for several other
Citroen models and almost four million made, was itself developed in
detail over the forty two years it was in production, with the engine
size finally enlarged to 602 cc.
Yet another French designer had been at work during the war, namely
J.A.Gregoire who designed the Aluminium Franchise Gregoire as a
freelance design to promote his ideas and the use of aluminium in car
construction. During the Second World War he secretly worked with his
design team at his works at Asnieres . Being a pioneer of front wheel
drive, Gregoire again used it, with a 594 cc, twin cylinder air cooled
engine extensively using aluminium, and the overdrive gearbox ahead of
the front wheels. The chassis was constructed around alpax castings.
All independent suspension completed a light and spacious package
It had a chassis-body frame of light alloy, front wheel drive, an
air-cooled flat twin engine and independent suspension on all wheels. A
four-seat car weighting only 880 pounds, it could make 60 mph and 70
mpg. This design was to form the basis of the 1950 "Dyna" Panhard.
The design never went into production in the form that Gregoire
had conceived it, despite selling the design to Henry J. Kaiser the
American industrialist, but was produced in much altered form by
Panhard as the “Dyna-Panhard” in France. The unitary chassis was
originally also in aluminium, but no castings were used. Later versions
used a steel shell. A torsion beam rear suspension replaced the IRS of
the Gregoire design, an early example of a design feature that has
become popular during recent years.
The only cars of less than one litre, produced in Czechoslovakia after
1946, was the Aero Minor, made from 1946 until 1951. The Aero Minor was
a modernised version of the pre-war, DKW based Jawa Minor, with a
water-cooled two-stroke twin of 615 cc, driving the front wheels, a
backbone chassis, hydraulic brakes, and all independent suspension.
The first new small car from the British motor industry was the Morris
Minor, it was designed towards the end of the end of the Second World
War, in the Cowley works of Morris Motors and was the work of Alex
Issigonis. He had been developing his ideas on independent suspension
and unitary chassis-body construction, which was not then in general
use, and when he was allowed to design a completely new car he
incorporated his idea's in to it. The Minor front suspension was of the
wishbone type, using a lever type shock absorber operating arm as the
top link, a pair of steel pressings as a lower link with a torsion bar
attached to their inner end.
Torsion bars had been chosen as the layout used gave lots of room for a
proposed flat four engine that didn't make it to the final design. A
forged upright connected these links and had the steering arm and the
stub axle attached. An unusual method was used for steering pivots in
the form of screw trunnions top and bottom, similar to a nut and bolt
arrangement. The final component a steel tie rod that linked the bottom
of the upright forward to the chassis, versions of the latter component
were used in various Issigonis designs, and was used on the Mini until
production ceased in 2000. The Minor was in production by 1948 and due
to it's front suspension, rack and pinion steering which was another
departure from current practice, and a forward weight distribution it's
handling was a great step forward. The engine, gearbox, transmission
and rear axle fitted in the final design were those used in the Morris
Eight series E, and were of pre war design, this turned a potentially
great car into merely a good car. It was not until after the Morris and
Austin merger that a engine of modern design was fitted to the Minor in
1953.
Front wheel drive car production had stopped by 1941 when the last
Adler Trumpf-Juniors was produced. It took time after peace came to
restart production in the factories that were in a condition to do so,
but Citroen had the Traction Avant back in production in 1945. BSA
Group in Britain and Hotchkiss in France had decided not to restore
production of their front wheel drive models and Adler in Germany chose
not to make any cars at all. Auto Union, the group that had made Audi
and DKW cars had lost their factories with the division of Germany and
were unable to produce anything for the time being.
At the end of the war, the Audi and DKW plant at Zwickau in eastern
Germany, was in the Russian zone of occupied Germany, later to be the
DDR. All the tooling and drawings of the pre-war DKW production cars
and prototypes were at the plant. The East German authorities therefore
found themselves in a good position to produce cars to DKW design again
once they had rebuilt the factory destroyed in the war. A car named the
IFA F-8 was produced there from 1948 until 1955 after only 26,254
examples had been made. The new model that DKW had ready for production
in 1939, the F9 was shown at the Leipzig Show in 1948, as the IFA, F9.
Produced from 1950 until 1956, almost forty one thousand were produced,
after 1953 in the former BMW factory at Eisenach. After 1956 and
new body, the F9 reappeared as the Wartburg 311. With various body
changes but the same mechanical layout and two-stroke engine, The
Wartburg was manufactured until 1988.
Panhard were the first to offer a new front wheel drive model after the
war, in 1946. In the new DDR (East Germany) a new company I.F.A. was
set up to produce cars in the factory in Zwickau that had produced DKW
cars before the war and restarted production by 1948. The next year saw
the first SAAB the 92 and the first Citroen 2 CV on the road.
The Auto Union management had re-established itself in Dusseldorf in
the West German republic and DKW cars were in production by 1950. Also
in that year Hotchkiss produced another front wheel drive Gregoire
design. The only new front wheel drive cars in Britain were 11 CV
Citroen's assembled at Slough.
The
"Dyna" was the Panhard version of the Gregoire designed "Aluminium
Francais-Gregoire" mentioned previously. J.A. Gregoire sold drawings of
the A.F.G. to Henry J. Kaiser in the United States, and to Hartnett in
Australia, but neither took it any further and submitted prototypes to
Simca and Panhard in France. The Dyna Panhard, was based on the A.F.C,
but Panhard made many changes to the design while retaining the
principle features of the Gregoire design. First produced in 1946, with
a 610 cc engine that produced 25 bhp, weighed 1052 lb. and could reach
60 mph.
In 1950 the engine size was increased to 750 cc producing 33 bhp and a
top speed has risen to 71 mph despite a weight increase of 220 lb.. By
1954 an 850 cc engine was standardised on all models.
Also that year the original Gregoire devised chassis that had been made
for Panhard by Faecal Methanol was replaced in a new model, the Dyna
54, but it was still constructed of aluminium, as was the body. The
Dyna 54 was a six-seat car and could reach 80 mph, on 42 bhp. In 1957
the aluminium construction was replaced by steel with an increase in
weight of 440 lb.. The Dyna 54 was replaced by the PL17 in 1959, the
most prolific model, with one hundred and thirty thousand examples
produced by 1964.
The last of the breed the 24CT, which was the last Panhard car produced
was a 2+2 coupe made from 1963 until 1967. Citroen had taken over the
company in 1957 and from 1967 Panhard only produced armoured cars.
Despite it's advanced layout the Dyna had not been properly developed
and was expensive to produce never reaching mass popularity.
Citroen had started work on the 2 CV in 1938 and had 300
prototypes running in France before the country was occupied by the
Germans during the Second World War. It took until 1948 before the car
was first shown to the public at the Paris Show. Citroens aim was to
provide rural France with a car that would replace the horse and trap,
as Henry Ford had done for America with his model T thirty years
before. To carry up to four people at speeds up to 40 MPH along French
country roads in a car that needed a minimum of maintenance at minimum
cost, required an exceptional design and the 2 CV was that. Every part
of it was new from the power train to the basic almost crude body.
Initially the air-cooled flat twin engine was of only 375 cc producing
9 bhp. It was at the front of a platform chassis, with the drive going
to the front wheels with at first, simple universal joints at both ends
of the drive shafts. This didn't matter at first due to the low
performance and the need to keep the cost down. The pictures also show
the unique suspension devised to deal with those country roads. Long
travel leading arms at the front, were linked to long travel trailing
arm at the rear by rods that operated on coil springs located at the
side of the chassis. Suspension movement at the front was transmitted
to the spring and then to the rear by the linkage, leading to a smother
ride. To make the car as usable for it's designed purpose, the body was
very simple with most components removable to provide access and space
as required. The 2 CV at first glance could be taken
for a crude car but looks are deceiving and where it mattered
everything was produced to a high standard, with hydraulic brakes,
inboard at the front and rack and pinion steering. The engine was
increased to 424 cc in 1954 and later 602 cc, but performance wasn't
what the 2 CV had been designed for, it was as a work horse. Total
production was 3,872,583 of 2 CV's alone by 1990, not counting the
models derived from it.
By 1944 sixty five percent of the plant at Wolfsburg, specially built
to produce the Volkswagen had been destroyed by allied bombing. The
tooling used to manufacture the Volkswagen saloon had been removed from
the site and the remains of the factory was being used to produce
Volkswagen based military vehicles and other war materials. The first
allied troops to reach Wolfsburg at the end of the war were Americans.
They were soon replaced by British troops as Wolfsburg was in the
region designated as the British zone of occupation. The Volkswagen
factory was listed for disposal for war reparations but none of the
motor manufacturers of the allied countries wanted it or the
Volkswagen, having little regard for the car. The British army
engineers thought otherwise having grown to respect the military
Volkswagen’s they had encountered during the war years. As the
Volkswagen plant was the only car plant in the British zone of
occupation and vehicles were urgently needed, the tools to manufacture
the Volkswagen saloon were returned to the plant, repairs to the
building were stepped up.
The factory was at a standstill and chaos rained in the area. With the
active support of Volkswagen workers the British army soon put the
remains of the factory and its workers to work repairing and servicing
its vehicles. As all kinds of vehicles were in short supply, the
British forces and the Volkswagen workers gathered together any
Volkswagen components that had remained when production had stopped
civilian or military types. They began the assembly of whatever
vehicles that could be made from them, for use by the occupying forces
and civilian authorities. They were so successful that in 1945 the six
thousand plus then employed at the plant produced seven hundred and
thirteen vehicles.
The production of the car was resumed, this time with the 1131 cc
engine that had been developed for the military models in 1941. During
1946 almost ten thousand cars were produced and the following year
almost nine thousand. Some of the latter were exported to nearby
European countries. In January 1948 the occupation authorities
appointed Dr Heinz Nordhoff as director of the plant. With production
and exports rising, at last cars were supplies to the people the car
was originally designed for, the German motorists at large.
All the principle engineers involved in the development of the rear
engined cars were imprisoned at some time at the end of the Second
World War. Ferdinand Porsche was detained by the French authorities for
a couple of years, without any charges against him. This effectively
removing him from working on future projects, but his son Ferry filled
his place at the head of the Porsche design team. Hans Ludwinka was
also imprisoned, in his case by the Czechoslovakian authorities for his
involvement with war production for the Germans. He lost all his assets
and the rights to all his patents.
The pre-war management of Auto Union set up in business in Ingolstadt,
West Germany after the war, at first making spare parts for the
remaining DKW cars produced before the war. But by 1950, began
producing new a DKW car in the form of the F-89 New Meisterklasse. It
was made in Dusseldorf also in West German. Based on the pre-war F-8
the car they produced was the DKW F-89, a combination of the body and
rear suspension of the pre-war F9, and a modified version of pre-war F8
chassis. but with the 684 cc engine moved ahead of the front wheels in
a new chassis and clothed by the body designed for the F9. Between 1931
and 1955 around 300,000 transverse engined DKW or IFA cars from the FA
to the F-89 had been made, and many others were made under license. By
1954 when production of the F89 ceased 59,475 had been made.
It took another three years before DKW could get their version of the
F9 in to production as the F-91 Sonderklasse. The F-91 evolved into the
F-93 then the Auto Union 1000, with a larger engine. Four hundred
thousand examples of this design were produced from 1953 to 1963. By
then the F-9 layout was established as the standard at AUTO UNION and
later, when owned by Volkswagen the name was changed to AUDI.
In 1949 Fiat replaced the 500B after 21,000 examples had been produced,
with the 500C. The difference was a new body of up to date design,
still a two-seater. With the improved engine that had come with 500B,
maximum speed was now at 60 mph, and 55 mpg could be obtained at a
steady 50 mph . 376,000 were made before production ceased in January
1955. There was also an estate car version, the Belvadere, made from
1954.
SAAB was and is a Swedish aircraft manufacturer. In the early nineteen
forties they felt that with only one customer, the Swedish government
they were very vulnerable. Their solution was to diversify, to
manufacture cars. Before the Second World War Sweden only had one motor
manufacturer Volvo and most cars were imported. Until the flow of
imports stopped due to the war, DKW cars were becoming increasingly
popular in Sweden, so SAAB decided to design and produce a car similar
in principle to the DKW but incorporating the latest design thinking,
aerodynamics of the aircraft industry with mechanical simplicity of the
pre-war DkW cars. The first car the "92", designed by two Swedish
engineers Gunnar Ljungstrom designed the car while Sixten Sason
designed the body. They produced the stunning form of the
prototype in 1947. Having limited manufacturing capabilities Ljungstrom
opted for a twin-cylinder two-stroke engine, located in front of the
front wheels, transversely with the gearbox in line and the final drive
behind, using the minimum space inside the wheelbase, which could then
be utilised for passenger space. (This was the layout used in the
Trabant, produced by IFA in the DDR for thirty plus years). The car had
a low drag unitary chassis/body, rack and pinion steering and all
independent suspension with torsion bar springs. The mechanical
components being similar to the DKW F8, with some differences,
the engine being of 746 cc, the three speed gearbox having synchromesh
with column change and a mechanical fuel pump was fitted, 9-inch
hydraulic drum brakes and a freewheel completed the changes. A maximum
speed of 65 mph was attained with the slippery body, but unfortunately
it was too extreme for everyday use, and after suitable modifications
the Saab 92 went into production in 1949 after extensive testing.
Just over twenty thousand SAAB 92’s were produced in six years when
discontinued in 1956 after the introduction of the SAAB 93 in 1955.
This had a similar layout to the DKW F9, also with a three cylinder
two-stroke engine.
When Austin designed the new 803 cc engine for their A30 model of 1951,
no one could foresee that one of it's many version would still be in
production in 1999 and around twelve million examples made before it
was finally discontinued. Designated the "A", the smallest in a series
of new engines introduced by the company after the war, . the A30
was a miniature and cramped version of the family saloons of the time,
complete with four doors and a boot, although only 17 inches longer
than a Mini, a two door and an estate version came later. The
specification of the car was also similar to it's larger
contemporaries, with coil spring i.f.s. and a live rear axle with half
elliptic springs. A first for Austin, it had a unitary chassis. The A30
was replaced by the A35 an updated version with a 948 cc engine in 1956.
In 1953 Ford of Britain introduced the new 100E Anglia and Prefect
models. They had been producing their first car of post 1930's design
the Consul since 1950. The 100E models followed the Consul's lead, with
a unitary chassis and MacPherson strut independent front suspension, a
live axle with half-elliptic springs and hydraulic brakes. But when it
came to the engine and gearbox a revised version of the old 1172 cc.
side valve unit with the three speed gearbox was used, not a new O.H.V.
unit as was fitted to the Consul. Just to show their lack of interest
in modern design, Ford also had on offer the Popular 103E. This was
just a revised 1948 Anglia with an 1172 cc engine, and therefore a
direct descendent of the Model Y of 1932. Even so, Ford managed to sell
over one hundred and fifty five thousand of these cars by 1959 when the
old Ford beam axle and transverse leaf spring concept was finally laid
to rest. The Anglia and Prefect 100E,s lasted until 1959, to be
replaced by a new Anglia model, and the Popular 100E. This was produced
until 1962 and over half a million 100E,s of all types had been made.
The Standard Motor Company in England reintroduced a small car into
their range with the Eight, in 1953. The Eight, was an all new car of
conventional design. The chassis/body unit was of unitary construction
with four doors, and at first a none-opening boot. With coil spring
I.F.S. and a live axle with half-elliptic springs, an 803 cc. O.H.V.
water-cooled four-cylinder engine that gave it a top speed barely past
60 M.P.H. In 1954 the Eight was joined by the Ten, the same basic car
fitted with a 948 cc engined version and an opening boot lid. An up
graded version of the Ten, the Pennant, joined them in 1957. But by
1961 all the small Standard models had been discontinued, after three
hundred and fifty thousand examples of all types had been made. As
would the larger model in a couple of years as the company was to use
the other name it owned Triumph, exclusively.
1953 was the beginning of a period with a glut of new models, and
amongst them was the Lancia Appia. Of classic Lancia design with a
unitary chassis/body, sliding pillar I.F.S. and a narrow angle V four
engine of 1089 cc. Like all Lancia cars of the period, it was a high
quality, refined car at a relatively high price. Although in production
in series I . II and III form until 1963, only ninety nine thousand
examples where produced. Another new model from an Italian manufacturer
in the same year was the Fiat 1100-103. This model perpetuated the name
Millecento first given to the 508C. This Millicento was a compact
unitary construction saloon fitted with wishbones and coil springs at
the front and a live axle and half-elliptic springs at the rear. Its
excellent handling and good performance was in the tradition of its
predecessor. of conventional design for its period, with a water-cooled
O.H.V. inline four-cylinder engine of 1089 cc, that at first produced
33 B.H.P. rising to 44 B.H.P. but much more when tuned. Features that
would unfamiliar to us today were the steering column change for the
four-speed gearbox, and the transmission hand brake. Through a series
of models culminating with the 1100R, (The 1100D had a 1221 cc engine.)
the Millicento was in production until 1970 and one and three quarter
million examples had been produced.
The Fiat 600 was Dante Giacosa's replacement for the Topolino. The last
version of the 500C had been discontinued the previous year 1954. The
600 was a totally new car, and for Fiat a new layout with the engine at
the rear as well as unitary construction. When the 600 were introduced
in 1955, rear engine cars had been produced for well over a decade and
their advantages and disadvantage