A Century of People Cars Linlk to Lightauto.com main page
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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
Sophistication 1990 to 1999
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 disadvantages were by then well known. Giacosa
used the advantages to produce a four-seat car, although with limited
luggage space, that had a reasonable performance from an engine of only
633 cc, due to its low weight of eleven and one half hundredweight and
also compact dimensions. Capable of almost 60 MPH and returning a fuel
consumption of 45 to 55 miles per gallon and the ability to cruise at
50 MPH. He overcame the stability problems associated with other rear
engined design's by identifying that the problem was not the weight
distribution of the cars, but the simple swing axle rear suspension
used in those designs. His answer was to use a semi- trailing arm type
of rear suspension, that eliminated the large change in the camber of
the rear wheels that inherent with the simple swing axle suspension
system.
The mini people carrier may seem to be a concept of the twenty-first
century, that is not so. Within a year of the launch of the 600 a
six-seat version was in production, the Multipla. By replacing the
transverse leaf spring used in the front suspension by upper links and
coil springs, the mechanic components of the 600 were utilised in a
forward control unitary body with zero crumple zone and only a small
increase in wheelbase to accommodate three rows of seats. Over seventy
six thousand of this first version of the Multipla were produced by
1963.
The 600 was replaced by the 600D in 1960. The engine size was increased
to 767 cc, with a maximum speed up to 70 MPH. Production ceased in
Turin in 1970, but carried on in the Seat factory in Barcelona. Before
then the 600 had been produced by NSU/Fiat in Germany, Zastava in
Yugoslavia and Concord in Argentina. Over two and a half million were
eventually produced.
Diversity 1955 to 1969
The Renault Dauphine of 1956 was mechanically similar to the 4 CV but
with a 845 cc engine. The elegant body/chassis unit was all new and
larger than the 4 CV. The model was in production for twelve years and
over two million examples were produced.
Giacosa's next rear engine car for Fiat was the Nuova 500 of 1957, with
a similar layout to the 600, but with a two-cylinder air-cooled engine
instead of the water-cooled inline four-cylinder unit. Being a
two/plus/two-seat car, it was the true replacement for the "Topolino",
at the bottom of the Fiat range. With a wheelbase fractionally over six
feet and a length under nine feet, it was also a lightweight weighing
less than five hundred kilos. The 479 cc engines in the early
production cars were so under powered with only 13 BHP that they were
recalled and an up rated engine that produced 16.5 BHP was fitted.
The Vespa 400 was the Italian Piaggio companies only mini car. It was a
two seat car with 393 cc two-stroke air-cooled twin cylinder engine
giving it a maximum speed of 55 MPH. Thirty four thousand were made in
the Piaggio factory in France from 1957 until 1961, BMW had been making
the Isetta micro car since 1955. In 1957 they introduced a compact
four-seat, four wheeled mini car based on the Isetta. A 582 cc version
of their well known air-cooled flat twin engine that was located at the
rear of the car. The BMW 600 shared with the Isetta the distinction of
having a door at the very front of the car. Almost thirty five
thousand BMW 600's were produced by the time it was superseded by the
BMW 700 in 1959. The 700 was a development of the design of the 600.
The engine size was increased to 697 cc, but the biggest change was the
fitting of a new body designed by Michelotti. Production continued
until 1965 and a total of 188,121 examples of all type were produced.
An unusual feature of these cars, was the Dubonnet independent front
suspension system used on the cars, probably the last time it was used
in any design.
The first NSU designed car to go into production since 1928 the Prinz
was a rear engined mini car with a 583 cc transverse inline air-cooled
twin cylinder engine producing 20 BHP. An unusual feature of the engine
was the Ultramax eccentric strap drive for the overhead camshaft. The
unitary construction chassis was independently sprung with wishbones at
the front and swing axles at the rear all with coil springs. The Prinz
was produced from 1958 until 1962 and almost ninety five thousand were
made. A pretty little coupe version the Sports Prinz was produced from
1959 to 1967. The engine was tuned to produce 30 BHP and it had a top
speed of 76 MPH.
At the end of the nineteen fifties, front wheel drive had become almost
conventional. Citroen and Panhard in France DKW/AUTO UNION in Germany,
Wartburg in the DDR and SAAB in Sweden were producing cars exclusively
of this type. The preferred layout being with the engine inline,
ahead of the front wheels, with the exception of the Citroen DS19 that
had the engine behind. The transverse engine layout had almost gone out
of favour, with only the Trabant made for a captive market in the DDR
and a small number of ultra light cars, latter day cyclecars, made by
Berkeley in the UK. DKW produced a prototype Junior in 1957. A
700 cc twin cylinder engine was specified, but when the Junior reached
production in 1959 it had a 741 cc three cylinder engine in an inline
layout. It was a small version of the F91. The F91 had evolved through
the F93 with a slightly larger engine, to become the Auto Union 1000,
now with a 980 cc engine. The Junior which increased in overall size
and engine capacity to 890 cc as the F102, was made from 1963 until
1965.
The configuration that had been almost the standard for sixty year,
that is a front engine and gearbox driving a live axle at the rear was
not yet dead in small cars. Austin in Britain began producing the A40
in 1958 the year before introducing the Mini that accelerated the
acceptance of front wheel drive. The only advance in the A40 was the
use of a two box body form. A modest 342,000 were produced in nine
years.
A front wheel drive version of the Morris Minor was built but not
developed in 1951/2. With a transverse engine with the gearbox inline
and equal length drive shafts with an intermediate jack shaft to extend
one of the shafts. It wasn't developed for production. The British
Motor Corporation decided to produce a new small car and the design
work started in March 1957 Alex Issigonis who had designed the Minor,
returned to the front wheel drive layout for this new design. The aim
was to produce a very compact car with maximum space utilisation. To
achieve this Issigonis decided to fit the engine transversely in the
car, with the gearbox located in the engine sump. With the final drive
unit gear driven from the gearbox it could be located centrally. This
allowed equal length drive shafts to be used, without the need for an
added jack shaft. The component that made the design acceptable to Alex
Issigonis was the Birfield-Rzeppa constant velocity joints made by
Hardy Spicer, fitted at the outer end of the drive shafts. Early Mini's
had flexible rubber drive couplings at the inboard end of the drive
shafts. Later manual gearbox models had offset sphere type joints.
While Auto-box and Cooper S models had universal joints and sliding
joint shafts. Other features of the Mini design were rubber
springs and ten-inch wheels. Prototypes were running on the road in
October 1957 and production started in 1959. It was first marketed as
the Austin Seven and the Morris Mini-Minor and it wasn't until 1962
that the name was changed to Mini, after popular usage.
Alex Issigonis was born of Greek parents in Smyrna, now Izmar in
Turkey. His father had become a naturalised British subject when living
in Britain before Alex was born. He returned to Smyrna to run the
family engineering business on the death of his father in 1900. Smyrna
had a large Greek population at that time. They left Turkey with the
population exchanges in 1922. Alex came to England with his mother in
1923 shortly before his father's death. He studied engineering at
Battersea polytechnic.
His first job with a motor manufacturer was in the Humber drawing
office in 1933. He worked for Humber in Coventry until 1936 when he
moved to Morris Motors at Cowley near Oxford. He left Morris for Alvis
after Morris merged with Austin to form the British Motor Corporation
in 1952. The work he did at Alvis didn't see production and he returned
to work BMC at Longbridge in 1956. He retired from the then British
Leyland Motor Corporation in 1971. The first complete car that
Issigonis designed, rather than components for someone else's project
was the Lightweight Special. He and a friend constructed it in his home
garage using only hand tools. As John Bolster wrote in his book,
"Specials", "The Lightweight Special", is one of the most amazing
specials ever constructed". The chassis was a monocoque made using
aluminium/plywood sandwich panels. It was strong but lightweight. The
wishbone front suspension and swing axle rear suspension were unique to
the car and had rubber springs. Ultra lightweight Electron wheels and
hubs were another unique feature.
A supercharged 750 cc Austin Seven Ulster engine, was fitted at first
and used in competitions with great success. This was replaced after
the war with an experimental O.H.C engine made by one of the Nuffield
companies (the owners of Morris). This engine is in the car today and
the car is still used for hill-climb competitions. Issigonis
specialised in suspension design at Morris Motors, in the 1930's after
developing his idea's at Humber. He designed the independent front
suspension and rack and pinion steering for a new 1250 cc saloon that
was ready for production in 1939. But it wasn't produced until 1947,
due to the war. Then made at Abingdon as the MG Y type. That suspension
design was used again on the MG TD and all MG's up to and including the
MGB. His next design for a complete car was for his employers
Morris Motors. This was the Morris Minor. Work started on the design in
1944 and production of the car started in 1948. With the constraints of
having to utilise an existing design of engine, gearbox and rear axle,
he produced a car that was popular and enduring. With a modern design
of engine fitted, but not of Issigonis design the Minor remained in
production until 1972 and almost one and a half million examples were
produced.
He left the recently formed British Motor Corporation for Alvis 1n
1952, working on the design for a large car that wasn't produced. He
returned the BMC and at the beginning of 1957 commenced work on the
design of the Mini. The BMC Mini needs no introduction. In production
for forty years from 1959 to 1999 with over five million examples made.
It set the trend for packaging that has transformed the small that is
still going on. That is the Issigonis legacy. The novel features of the
Mini have not survived the test of time. Small wheels have not found
favour and later Mini's had larger wheels. The idea of the gearbox in
the sump and rubber springs disappeared with the last Mini produced.
The BMC 1100/1300 range of cars designed by Issigonis, came with many
different badges. Austin, Morris, MG, Riley, Wolesley and Vanden Plas,
all part of the British Motor Corporation. It was a larger example of
Mini packaging. With a body designed by Pinin Farina. This time
Issigonis linked the rubber springs front and rear with hydraulic lines
to form an advanced suspension system. Otherwise the running gear was
the same. It proved a popular car, with a wide range of appointments or
performance. One and a quarter million examples were produced between
1962 and 1974. The last light car to bear the Issigonis stamp, was the
Austin Maxi, made from 1969 to 1981. Originally fitted with a 1485 cc
version of the BMC "E4", Single overhead camshaft engine, the Maxi was
an even larger version of the Mini theme and just as efficient. With a
five-door body, I'm sure designed by an engineer like the Mini and not
a stylist. It had a cable operated five-speed gearbox at first, which
was unpopular and "Hydrolastic" spring as used in the 1100/1300 cars.
The car was never developed to it's full potential and less than half a
million examples were produced. The year before the launch of the Maxi,
BMC had merges with Leyland to form BLMC. Alex Issigonis didn't fit in
with the new organisation and at the age of 65 he retired. He was
willing to try new ideas, sometimes they were a success and at others
not. Ether way he contributed a great deal to light car design. All
great men have to have support and Issigonis had amongst others, Jack
Daniels at his right hand throughout his creative years.
I have mentioned the most significant front wheel drive and rear
engined small cars of the nineteen fifties in the previous pages, but
there were also important cars produced using the front engine rear
wheel drive layout during that time.
In Czechoslovakia the Skoda 440 had evolved into the Octavia, with
improved front suspension using coil springs but retaining the backbone
chassis and swing axle final drive. Almost a quarter of a million were
produced between 1959 and 1964.
A new car was produced in Britain in 1959 with a backbone chassis and a
swing axle rear wheel drive. The Triumph Herald was in one way a step
back for Standard-Triumph. They had previously produced cars with
unitary chassis/bodies, but due to being unable to find a supplier of
these had to resort to a chassis and a body bolted together from
seven separate pressings. This allowed the Michelotti designed body to
have a one piece lift up front. As well as allowing the Herald to be
produced in more than the then usual range of body forms, it also
enabled it to be the basis for a range of models including the Spitfire
sports car. These were the final examples of the backbone chassis in
mass produced cars but it would be used in sports cars in Britain by
TVR and Lotus.
In the late nineteen fifties across the world giants of the future were
stirring. The Japanese motor industry was just beginning transform
itself from a local affair to eventual world status. Mazda, Mitsubishi
and Subaru were still producing micro cars and Honda had yet to produce
a car. In the small car sector Toyota introduced the first of the
Corona models the ST10 in 1957. It had a 995 cc at the engine front and
rear wheel drive. This was followed by the Corona PT in 1960. The
Corona went on to be a great success for Toyota with 5.6 million made
by 1984. Nissan produced the first of what would become the Bluebird
models, the Datsun 310 in 1959. The 310 was fitted with a four cylinder
engine of 1189 cc at the front driving the rear wheels, a three speed
gearbox, wishbone and coil spring front suspension and a live rear axle
with leaf springs. The 310 was replaced by the 410 model in 1963.
Also of conventional layout was the Daihatsu Compagno, fitted with a
inline four cylinder of 797 cc and introduced in 1963. One
Japanese manufacturer that has since given up car production to
concentrate on trucks was following the newer trends. Hino had
been manufacturing the Renault 4 CV under licence since 1953 and
in 1961 began producing the Contessa with a 893 cc engine located
at the rear driving the rear wheels. The company was taken over by
Toyota in 1966.
The first car bearing the name Subaru the 360, was introduced in 1958.
It had a twin cylinder two-stroke engine 0f 360 cc located at the rear.
Only six hundred and four were produced that year, but the rate of
production had reached over twenty two thousand in 1961. This model
later with a larger engine was in production for fourteen years.
The Italian stylist Frua created for Renault the body design for
Floride coupe and cabriolet that was introduced in 1959. Based on the
mechanical components of the Dauphine, its impact was more visual than
technical. Even so it was produced for almost ten years and one hundred
and seventeen thousand examples were produced. By the end of the
nineteen fifties the rear engined small cars were beginning to dominate
the European market. The innovative front wheel drive BMC Mini had
arrived, but it would be another decade before the rear engined car
would go into decline. In 1960 Fiat introduced the "Gardinera", a 499
cc station wagon with a similar inline twin cylinder engine as the
"500", but with cylinders horizontal. The engine was located under the
floor at the rear of the car. With a slight increase in wheelbase and
the weight increased to five hundred and seventy kilos, it was never a
four seat car, with a luggage area over the engine. In parallel with
the Fiat models, the "500", platforms were clothed in prettier bodies
by Autobianchi at their Desio factory. Named the Bianchina, a
convertible, later a convertible, a four seat saloon, an estate car and
a van version on the Gardinera platform were produced. A version of the
Nuova 500 was made by Steyr-Puch in Austria in 1957, with their own
flat-twin air-cooled engine and swing axle drive and suspension. The
Steyr 650TR of 1965 to 1969, was the hottest 500 model made and a
competent rally car.
By 1960 a rear-engined car was in production in the Ukraine. The
Zaporozhets ZAZ965 was a two-door saloon with a 748 cc, later a 887 cc
air-cooled Vee four engine in a unitary chassis and independent
suspension with torsion bars at the front and coil springs at the
rear. It was replaced by the ZAZ966 with a new body form and a
1196 cc engine in 1967. A later version the ZAZ968 was produced until
1990.
Simca produced their first rear engined car the 1000 in 1961. The
chassis design of the 1000 was similar to the rear engined Fiat
of the period and was fitted with heavy engine already in use in the
Simca Aronde. It was in production until 1978 with a couple of
increases in engine size. One point six million saloons and estate cars
were produced. The NSU Prinz 4 was revised with a new body and many
other improvements including a four cylinder engine. Five hundred and
seventy thousand were produced between 1961 and 1973.
In 1961 Citroen introduced the Ami 6. The 2 CV platform was fitted with
a 602 cc 22 bhp engine and a odd four door body. It was produced until
1971 and over a million examples were produced.
Renault abandoned their rear engined small car policy when they
introduced the R3 and R4 in 1961. The engine/transmission layout of the
4 CV, with the gearbox ahead of the inline engine, was located in the
front of a practical hatchback unitary chassis, with the necessary
changes to the drive shafts and transmission joints. The long forgotten
R3 had a 603 cc engine and the R4 a 747 cc or 845 cc engine. Over eight
million R4's were made by 1992 when production ceased. Renault didn't
convert fully to the front wheel drive concept until the 1970's.
The next Issigonis design the 1100, was introduced in 1962. At first
badged as a Morris but Austin and other brands were later available.
Using a 1098 cc version of BMC's "A" series engine in an installation
the same as the mini. Rubber springs were again used but this time
interconnected hydraulically. A system that was fitted to Mini's for a
while. The chassis/body unit, styled by Pinin Farina was much roomier
than the Mini.
In 1962, Ford of Germany introduced their first front wheel drive car
the 12M . It had a 1.2 litre V4 engine ahead of the front wheels. This
engine was later used in the Saab 96. Lancia's next new car also had
front wheel drive. The Fulvia was first produced in 1963. The 1100 cc
narrow angle "V" double overhead camshaft four engine was mounted
inline ahead of the final drive and four speed gearbox. The suspension
was similar to the Flavia. The last of the two-stroke DKW/Auto union
cars the F102 was first produced in 1964. With a 1175 cc three cylinder
engine mounted in usual DKW manner. Diversity of drive train
configuration was still a feature of front wheel drive cars of this
period, this was to change in the years to come.
There was an interesting newcomer to the to the light car world from
Holland in the form of the DAF 750. Its air cooled flat twin engine
mounted at the front was not unusual for the time, but the drive to the
rear wheels was. It consisted of a variable ratio belt drive controlled
by the depression in the engines inlet manifold, this ensured an
optimum engine performance. Starting in 1961 the DAF went through
various models with the twin cylinder engine, rising from an initial
600 cc to 750 cc in the 33 to 844 cc in the 44. From 1967 until
1972 a version with a Renault four cylinder engine of 1108 cc the 55
was also produced . Well over half a million of these unique cars were
produced by 1973 when the type was discontinued.
Ford of Britain was another maker that was to cling on to that
configuration in the Anglia 105E. The significant feature of the 105E
was its new engine that finally replaced the side valve unit used by
Ford since the introduction of the Model Y in 1932. This model was only
produced for eight years and just over a million produced, but the 105E
engine went on to a long and distinguished career.
Dante Giacosa's first front wheel drive car was the Autobianchi
Primula. Autobianchi was a subsidiary of Fiat. Ready for production in
1964, it had a four cylinder water-cooled engine of 1221 cc that was
already fitted in the Fiat 1100D. The rest of the car was of all new
design. The engine was transversely mounted with the four-speed gearbox
located inline with the crankshaft. With a gear train to the offset
differential and final drive and unequal length drive shafts. This is
the arrangement which was to become the dominant layout for most front
wheel drive cars in the future. Other features of the design are not so
familiar, such as the gear change on the steering column, also the
wishbone and transverse leaf spring front suspension and the dead rear
axle with half-elliptic springs. The steering was by rack and pinion, a
first for Giacosa, but almost twenty years after it's first use by
Issigonis. The Primula was eventually dropped in 1970, with 74,858 cars
built. In 1965, the DKW 102 became the Audi Heron. The two-stroke
engine being replaced by a four-stroke four from Daimler-Benz the new
owners.
Standard Triumph's first front wheel drive car the 1300 of 1965,
had a unique power train layout. The four cylinder inline engine was
mounted fore and aft over the front wheels with the gearbox and final
drive located underneath, but not in the engine sump as in the mini but
in a separate enclosure. The 1300 was produced until 1970 and the
1500 that replaced it was in production until 1973, but only just over
two hundred thousand examples were produced in that time when Triumph
abandoned front wheel drive. The only other front wheel drive Triumph
was a Honda designed car the "Acclaim", made by the British Layland
Motor Corporation from 1981 to 1984.
Peugeot joined the ranks of front wheel drive car makers with the 204.
This was in 1965. The 204 had a 1130 cc four cylinder inline engine
mounted transversely in front of the gearbox and final drive. It had
equal length drive shafts, With McPherson strut front suspension. It
was in production from 1965 to 1977, with 1.6 million examples produced.
The Japanese company Mikasa produced a series of small front wheel
drive cars fitted with an air cooled twin cylinder engine, from 1957 to
1961, but the first significant Japanese front wheel drive car was the
Subaru FF-1. Introduced in 1966 the FF-1 was the first in a long line
of Subaru models that continues to this day, with a water cooled flat
four engine mounted ahead of the front wheels. Originally fitted with a
977 cc engine, this was increased to 1088 cc and then 1267 cc by 1970.
The FF-1 was superseded by the Leone in 1971.
Toyota made the first of the Publica /1000/Starlet models in 1961, with
twin and four cylinder engines from 697 cc to 1000 cc in a front
engine/rear wheel drive chassis. 1962 saw the introduction of the Mazda
Carol, Mitsubishi Minica and Colt, . all micro cars with twin
cylinder engine, otherwise of conventional layout. also the Suzuki
Sunlight, a of front wheel drive cars with two stroke engines. it
was replaced in 1967 with the Front 360, that was produced in various
forms until the late 1970’s.
The first of the Sunny series from Nissan was the B10 was introduced in
1965 . A 988 cc water cooled inline four cylinder engine was mounted in
the front of the chassis driving a live rear axle.
Honda also introduced their first front wheel drive car in 1966 the
N360. It was fitted with a transversely mounted air cooled O.H.C four
stroke parallel twin cylinder engine. Honda had extensive experience of
this type of engine in their motorcycles. Other versions were the N400,
N500, and N600. that had engine sizes to match the name. Over 1.1
million examples had been produced by 1971 when the "N" series cars
were replaced.
Although the front wheel drive had made great progress in the 1960’s, the rear engined car was still alive and kicking.
Renault had produced their first front wheel drive car the R4 in 1961,
went on the the produce the R8 in 1962, with a 956 cc rear mounted
engine with swing axle final drive in a very box like body. This was
followed by the R10 in 1967 a development of the R8 with 1108 cc
engine. These were the last mainstream Renault rear engined design’s
and were produced until 1971 when a combined total of almost two
million examples were made.
The Hillman Imp was the only rear engined car produced in Britain, by
the Rootes Group. Introduced in 1963, 440,032 examples of all versions
where made before production ceased in 1976. It had a 875 cc single
overhead camshaft aluminium engine, and was manufactured in Scotland.
Poor industrial relations and quality control limited its popularity.
The Imp was almost unique in having a swing axle front suspension. The
rear suspension was similar to the Fiat rear engined cars, having
semi-trailing swing axles.
NSU began production of the “1000”, in 1964, a larger version of Prinz
4 format and shape with a 996 cc engine. The following year the “110”,
and “1200”, were introduced with 1085 cc and 1177 cc engines
respectively. half a million examples of all these larger cars were
produced by 1973 when all NSU rear engined car production stopped.
Fiat’s next rear engined car the “850”, was introduced in 1964 to
compliment the existing “500”, and “600”, models. With a similar
specification to the “600”,, a 843 cc engine and new body form. One and
three quarter examples were produced by Fiat and Seat in Spain by 1974.
The 1000MB was the first rear engined Skoda design to reach
production. Produced from 1964 until 1977 with one and a half million
examples made. With a four cylinder water-cooled engine of 998 cc
mounted inline behind the swing axle final drive, by then the most
common layout. The Volkswagen Beetle was beginning its third decade of
production in Germany in its original form with slight increases in
engine size becoming available.
This was the high point of the rear engined car, with only a few more models to appear in the future.
All
thought front wheel drive and rear engined cars dominated the small
popular car scene, some manufacturers stuck to the front
engine/rear wheel drive layout. These were principally US
companies manufacturing in Europe, General Motors and Ford ; but also
Fiat.
Opel in Germany part of the GM empire, had introduced a new kadett in
1962 with the front engine rear drive format, making 2.3 million
example by 1973, and 1.7 million of a later model of the same name,
before abandoning the configuration in the small car in 1979. This was
introduced in Britain by Vauxhall another part of the empire as the
Viva with the HA model in 1963 to 1966 and HB model from 1966 to 1970
producing about a million examples.
The Escort Mk 1 was the first product of Ford Europe, produced in 1967
in Britain replacing the Anglia and 1970 in Germany when Ford Germany
discontinued the 12M their first front wheel drive car. The
Escort was a state of the art design, except for the live rear axle
with half elliptic springs at the rear, making the Escort less space
and weight efficient than it could of been. The Mk 1 Escort, was
replaced by the Mk2 in 1975 the last with rear wheel drive, that was
replaced in 1980, with around three million of both Mark’s made world
wide.
The end of the 1960’s saw another rash of front wheel drive cars from
major manufacturers. Simca produced their first model of this type in
1967 the 1100. The layout followed the lead of Dante Giacosa with his
design for the Autobianchi Primula, the first of many to do so.
2,139,400 were produced between 1967 and 1985, from 1979 badged as
Talbot.
By then Giacosa was convinced he was on the right track and in 1969
Fiat introduced the Fiat 128 and the Autobianchi A112. The 128 design
incorporated all the features of the modern small car, except the
hatchback body style, the 128 being a saloon. These features were a
overhead camshaft 1116 cc four cylinder water-cooled engine, set
transversely in the front of the car with the gearbox in line, a three
shaft final drive using pot joints at the inboard ends. McPherson strut
front suspension rack and pinion steering. The A112 was a hatchback,
smaller then the 128 but with a similar specification except the 903 cc
overhead valve engine. Over three million 128’s of all styles were made
by the end in 1984. It was also produced in Yugoslavia by Zastava and
Seat in Spain and was still in production in 2008 as the Zustava 101
Skala.
Citroen produced a more civilised, stylish version of the 2 CV in the
Dyane. 1.44 million examples were produced between 1967 and 1984.
At first with a 435 cc engine , later with of 602 cc engine first used
in the Ami 6. In 1969 yet another 2 CV based car the Ami 8 which was a
revised Ami 6 was added to the range on offer.
The Renault 6 was a similar exercise to the Dyane and Ami, and was a
rebodied Renault 4 with a hatchback body. Starting with the 845 cc
engine then used in that model, eventually rising to 1108 cc. Made from
1968 to 1979, over 1.7 million examples were produced.
IFA in East Germany were still producing cars evolved from DKW designs.
In 1966 they introduced the latest Wartburg model the 353, still with
three cylinder two stroke engine. This was made until 1988. The decade
finished with plenty of diversity in design in cars available to the
purchaser.
Maturity 1970 to 1979
The 1970’s was the decade when the front wheel drive
layout began its domination of the small car sector, but still in many
diverse formats.
Citroen introduced the GS model in 1970. It was an advanced design that
followed the Citroen idea’s in front wheel drive. The air-cooled,
horizontally-opposed, four cylinder overhead camshaft engine 0f 1015
cc, was mounted on the cars centre line ahead of the final drive and
gear box. The suspension was all independent with hydro-pnumatic
springs utilising technology from larger models and disc brakes on all
four wheels. This was topped by an aerodynamic body. Almost two and a
half million GS and its successor the GSA were produced by 1987.
In Japan in the same year, Datsun (Nissan) introduced the Cherry 100A.
With a 988 cc engine, mounted transversely and driving the front
wheels. Over two million were made by 1982.
Having gained confidence in front wheel drive Fiat introduced the 127
in 1971, which was affectively a rebodied Autobianchi A112. By 1983
almost three and three quarter million had been produced by Fiat and
SEAT produced 1.238.166 examples between 1972 and 1984.
Alfa Romeo decided to expand production with a new model manufactured
in the south of Italy, the Alfasud. It was similar in layout to the
Citroen GS, with a 1186 cc water cooled horizontally-opposed
engine.
When Renault had first produced a front wheel drive car the 4, they had
moved the power train from the rear of the car to the front,
effectively adopting the classic fwd layout of gearbox in front, then
the final drive followed by the engine all inline. The Renault 5
introduced in 1972 was the last to use this layout. Almost five and a
half million examples were produced by 1984 when it was replaced by the
5 Supercinque that had a transverse engine layout.
In the 1970’s some very familiar models names where used for the
first time, but were mostly much smaller than they are in the
twenty first century. The Volkswagen Golf was first produced in
1974. This the first of many Golf models would be considered today to
be a supermini and was of similar size to the 2006 Toyota Yaris,
although like most mini and supermini cars of sixties and seventies it
was only about eighty percent of the weight of the equivalent
models at the end of the century. The contrast in weight between
comparable models in the 1940’s and 1950’s and 2000 was even greater.
The Golf was the first Volkswagen design to have a transverse engine
and a transmission arrangement similar to the Fiat 128 and was an
instant success, with engines from 1093 cc to 1781 cc used. Over six
million examples were produced by 1983.
A little known model the Audi 50 was introduced in 1974. It was a
modern transverse engined Mini in every way, in size comparable to the
Citroen C2. In 1975 Volkswagen badged it as the Polo soon
dropping the Audi version.
The origin Civic from Honda was a supermini with a 1169 cc engine in
what is now the universal layout. Two million were produced between
1972 and 1979.
Another model that started out in the 1970’s and has lasted in many
forms to the twenty first century is the Ford Fiesta which was a
minicar the size of the Fiat 500 of 2008 when introduced in 1976. It
was Ford’s first transverse engined car and was manufactured in Spain
and Germany. With engines from 957 cc to 1298 cc, it was a success with
one and three quarter million produced in six years in its original
form.
Peugeot
with the 104 and BLMC with the Austin Allegro continued to use the
gearbox in the sump style of transverse engine layout. The 104
began with a 954 cc engine with up to 1360 cc being available during
its production run from 1972 to 1988.
The Austin Allegro was intended to be a replacement for the 1100/1300,
Maxi and 1800 models, with engines from 998 cc to 1748 cc on offer.
None of which it did satisfactorily. Only 643,350 examples were
produced from 1973 to 1982.
Chrysler Europe developed the Horizon supermini from the Alpine small
family car by shortening the wheelbase, and as a replacement for the
Simca 1100 who’s layout it followed. In different market’s and at
different time it was badged Chrysler, Simca or Talbot, during its nine
year production run starting in 1977.
In 1975 after its merger with Peugeot, Citroen added another model to
their small car line up, the LN, which was a Peugeot 104 with 602
cc engine and transmission of the 2CV and Dyane fitted. In 1978 they
introduced another model with connections to the 104, the Visa.
Available with a 654 cc version of the air-cooled twin engine, or with
954 cc transverse four as fitted to the 104. One and a quarter million
Visa’s of both types were produced by 1988.
Charade is another familiar name used by Daihatsu for successive
models, the first being 1977. This was a minicar with 993 cc three
cylinder transverse engine driving the front wheels as have all
subsequent Charade’s. The previous year the first of the Cuore/Mira
model’s was produced, with 547 cc water-cooled four stroke twin
cylinder engine driving the front wheels.
In
1979 Lancia produced the first generation Delta, a compact five door
hatchback. Only 193,473 examples were produced by 1994 when it was
replaced by a new larger second generation model.
The Fiat Ritmo/Strada by the standard’s its day it was classes as a
small family car, although it was only the size of a supermini of the
order of the Skoda Fabia at the end of the century.
The Ritmo was hatchback partner to the 128, only with radically
different body style. Produced between 1978 and 1988 with over one and
three quarter million made. Although embracing front wheel drive, Fiat
also produced a new rear engined car in the 1970’s the 126. It was an
updated 500, with the engine size increased to 594 cc. It was produced
by Fiat until the late 1980’s. From 1973 to 2000 it was manufactured by
FSM in Poland and Zastava in Yugoslavia. Another Fiat rear
engined car design was updated in 1974, in this case by Seat in Spain.
They updated the 850 which they had been producing since 1966 to create
the 133, which they produced until 1980.
Skoda had evolved the 1000MB into the 100 and 110 models in 1969, the
difference being the fitting of 1 litre or 1.1 litre engine. These
models were replaced by the 105 for the former in 1976 and the 120 for
the latter in 1978, again evolved versions. The 105 was produced until
1988 and the 120 until 1990 when Skoda stopped producing rear engined
cars.
The front engined rear wheel drive small car was not totally dead
in the 1970’s. Ford in Europe produced the Escort Mk2 with engines from
1097 cc to 1598 cc, from 1975 to 1980 making almost a million examples
in the United Kingdom alone. in 1975 Vauxhall produced a shorter
hatchback version of the Opel Kadett C, the Chevette. It differed from
the Kadett by have a 1256 cc OHV engine fitted. Over 400,000 were
produced by 1984. Mazda introduced the first of the 323 models in
1976, with engines from 985 cc to 1490 cc, making 904.573 examples by
1986.
Chrysler in Britain introduced the Sunbeam, a shortened, rebodied
Hillman Avenger with in one model the 928 cc engine from the Hillman
Imp. Made in Scotland at Linwood, only 117,534 examples where made
including Lotus versions in two years.
Even more rare was the Reliant Kitten long time makers of three wheeled
minicars in Britain. Made in the UK from 1975 to 1982, it was unique
for a minicar of the period in have a separate steel chassis, a glass
fibre body with Reliant's own 848 cc four cylinder engine in the front
driving a live rear axle. Only 4,074 were produced.
The Hyundai Pony produced from 1976 to 85 was their first design. It
looked back to previous design conventions for a simple and reliable
foundation, with a front engine/rear wheel drive layout. A live axle
with half elliptic springs.
General Motors in Europe finally caught up with modern trends in 1979
by producing a transverse engined front wheel drive car, in the form of
the Opel Kadett D. Engines from 1196 cc to 1796 cc were on offer,
the smaller engine being a overhead valve unit. The other engine sizes
were version’s of a new design with a single overhead camshaft,
aluminium alloy cylinder head, hydraulic valve lifters. A right hand
drive model was introduced as the Vauxhall Astra Mk 1, in 1980.
MItsubishi produced the first of the Mirage/Colt line of cars in 1978.
It had a transverse mounted, overhead camshaft, four cylinder engine
driving the front wheels.
Conformity 1980 to 1989
The new designs that appeared
in the nineteen eighties showed that designers around the world
had reached a consensus on the layout and main features of the small
car. Front wheel drive was universal except for a couple of updated
rear engine designs such as the Skoda 130 of 1984 and the Fiat 126bis
and Skoda 136 of 1987 finally the Skoda 125 of 1988. Transverse water
cooled four cylinder inline engine’s were universal, with a couple of
exception, the Daihatsu Cuore/Mira/Domino of 1980 with two cylinders
and the Suzuki Alta of 1981 with three cylinders was another. Overhead
camshaft’s (OHC) were beginning to displace overhead valves (OHV) in
these engines, the Austin Metro of 1980 used the venerable “A”
series engine with (OHV) as was the Fiat Panda’s engine when introduced
in the same year, later version’s of the Panda had overhead camshaft
engines. The SEAT Marbella which was a Panda derived design produced in
Spain from 1986 to 1998 only using the (OHV) engine. Renault continued
to use (OHV) engines in the “9” saloon, produced from 1982 to 1989, the
“11” a hatchback version and the 5 Supercinque, produced from 1984 to
1996. Ford’s front wheel drive cars, the Escort 3 of 1981 and the
Ford Fiesta 2 of 1989 had (OHV) engines, as did the new GM Corsa/Nova
of 1983 and the Toyota Starlet of 1984. The Coure’s engine was only of
547 cc, but the 1 litre and 1.1 litre engine was the norm.
The Zastava Yugo 45/Koral of 1980/1, with a 1.1 litre OHV engine from
the Fiat 127 belonged to this group. Its design incorporated other
parts of the 127, also 128. It was still in production in Serbia in
2008.
The unitary chassis was universal with coil spring front suspension,
most using McPherson strut’s. the exception being the Austin Metro,
that had Hydrolastic springs and wishbone IFS as used previously in the
“1100”’ and Allegro. Rear suspension design was still fairly diverse,
mostly being independent either with coils or torsion bars, a few had
beam axles.
Disc brakes at the front and drum’s at the rear was universal for this size of car by then.
There were other significant new models not mentioned previously that
embraced all the new design conventions. They where in date order, the
latest Mazda 323, made from 1980 to 1985. The Volkswagen Polo Mk 2 came
along in 1981, inevitably being larger than the previous model. Around
four and a half million examples were produced by 1992. The first of
the Nissan Micra/March models was also produced in 1981 and over two
million where produced in the same eleven years. Honda introduced the
City, in 1981, named the Jazz in Europe. It was replaced in 1986 with a
revised model that was replaced in 1994.
The Talbot Samba which was made in what was previously a Simca
factory and was based on the Peugeot 104. The Talbot name was revived
to replace the Chrysler name and the Samba was the last to carry the
name. produced from 1982 to 1986, less than 200,000 were
produced.
The Alfa Romeo Arna of 1983 was a joint effort by Nissan and Alfa Romeo
produced in Italy. It used a Nissan Cherry chassis with the Alfasud
engine and transmission installed. It was not a success and less than
sixty two thousand examples were produced in its three year production
run.
Suzuki first produced the Cultis, also known as the SA-310 in 1983. A
front wheel drive car in the latest standard configuration, with either
a 993 cc three cylinder or a 1324 cc four cylinder engine.
In 1983 two important new models arrived, the Fiat Uno and the
Peugeot 205. The Uno was produced in Italy until 1995, and was produced
in South Africa as the Nissan Uno, Poland, Brazil, Argentina, Pakistan
and Morocco, in some countries into the twenty first century. The 205
was also very successful and 5.3 million where produced in a fifteen
year life. In the same year Mitsubishi produced a new version of the
Mirage/Colt, with engines from 1198 cc to a 1796 cc Diesel available.
It was replaced in 1987 by a third generation model that was produced
until 1991. In 1984 GM produced the first of the Opel Astra’s, and Mk2
Vauxhall Astra. This remained in production until
1991.
The Ibiza was one of a new breed of SEAT cars, in that it wasn’t
a rebadged FIAT. With the design help of Porsche and Volkswagen for the
engine and chassis and Giorgetto Giugiaro for the body they
produced an original supermini model. Half a million were made between
1985 and 1993. In the same year Hyundai produced their first front
wheel drive car the Excel/Pony the X1, which was in production
until 1989.
The Citroen AX of 1986 was soon to replace all their other small cars ,
except 2 CV that lasted until 1990. The AX remained in production until
1998.
Badged as an Autobianchi in Italy and as a Lancia elsewhere, the Y10
was an upmarket minicar replacing the A112, utilising various FIAT
components, it was produced from 1985 to 1996.
The number 309 was out of sequence with those used by Peugeot in 1986
when the first British built model carry a Peugeot badge was
introduced. The 309 was the last of the Simca design’s originally to be
badged a Talbot, and not a true Peugeot . Produced at Ryton in the UK
only, between 1986 and 1993, 837,520 examples were made.
Volkswagen introduced the Mk2 Golf in 1983. It was slightly larger than
its predecessor but still only four metres long. It proved a great
success and approximately seven million were produced by 1991.
Known as the Ford Festiva in North America and Australasia from 1986 to
1993, Mazda 121 in Britain from 1988 to 1991 and Kia Pride in South
Korea from 1986 to 2000 and Britain from 1991 to 2000, it was a Mazda
design produced by Kia in Korea.
The Ford Fiesta had been updated in 1983 and in 1989 the Mk3 was
introduced, being longer and heavier it was a full sized supermini. It
was produced in England,Germany and Spain with engines option’s from
999 cc to 1796 cc until 1997.
In Russia AvtoVAZ began producing cars in the popular FWD format, one
was a very basic city car the Vaz 1111 Oka in 1988. The Oka was
designed to be cheap and 750 cc twin cylinder engine was used. Both are
still in production in 2008.
The Justy was produced by Subaru from from 1987 to 1994. Originally in
front wheel drive form from 1988 in four wheel drive form, a rare
feature for a small hatchback. The only other small car in that form
was a version of the Fiat Panda made from 1983. All later Justy
models were rebadged Suzuki or Daihatsu models.
The ZAZ-1102/Tavia is a front wheel drive hatchback from the Ukrainian
company ZAZ, it has been in production since 1987. A saloon version the
Slavuta was introduced in 1995. Both are still in production by
Avtozaz.
Skoda produced their first front wheel drive car in 1987 the
Favorit. It used the OHV engine from the 130, but the rest was all new.
It was produced until 1994.
Sophistication 1990 to 1999
The hatchback body type was now almost universal in three and five door
form, with some also produced in saloon and estate car version’s. The
exception being the rear engines cars where the hatch could not be
accommodated.
During the nineteen eighties the use of the Mini and Supermini car had
become world wide, being available on all continents and manufactured
in most of them. increasingly by subsidiaries of the origin producer.
During the sixty years since the Second World War the definition by
size of mini, supermini and small family cars has grown,
effectively moving them all up a class making room for the city car at
the bottom.
The mass produced car was the domain of the world’s established
industrialised countries for the major part of the twentieth century.
Those countries being the United States, many European states and
latterly Japan. The rest of the world had to import cars from these
countries or assemble cars from parts supplied by them. The Japanese
motor industry was very successful in exporting to most of the world,
including those countries with there own motor industry. As
industrialisation spread throughout Asia the Japanese have proved adept
at providing design’s and technical support to those emerging
industrialised countries. Daihatsu design’s are produced by Perodua and
Mitsubishi design’s by Proton in Malaysia. Mazda design’s have been
produced by Kia in South Korea, two of them the Festiva and Aspire,
being sold by Ford in North America. Suzuki design’s are produced by
Maruti in India, the car sold as the Suzuki Alta being one of these.
Technical innovation at this time centred round the engine and
consisted of electronic fuel injection and ignition, multiple overhead
camshafts and valves, with more ratio’s in the gearbox.
The 1990 crop of small cars from Europe consisted of the the first
Renault Clio which replaced the 5 in the Renault line-up, an updated
Volkswagen Polo the 11F, and a revised Austin Metro produced by
Austin-Rover in the UK, that became the Rover Metro with a new wishbone
front suspension and a new engine, a Rover K series unit either of 1.1
or 1.4 litres. The Rover Metro becoming the Rover 100 in 1994, was
discontinued in 1998.
The Autozam Carol Mk11 was produced by Suzuki for Mazda in the same
year, Autozam was a name some Mazda cars were sold under. It used the
Alta platform and had a 657 cc engine. It was updated in 1996.
The Peugeot 106 a development of the Citroen AX was introduced in 1991
becoming the smallest car in their model range. Also that year Fiat
introduced the first of their front wheel drive city cars the Cinquecento.
Manufactured at the FSM plant in Tychy, Poland, along side the Polski
Fiat 126p which it was intended to replace. The 126p remained in
production until 1993. One engine option only available in Poland was
the 704 cc water cooled OHV twin fitted to the 126p, mounted
longitudinally similar to a Saab or an Audi. The other engine
options a 903 cc OHV water cooled four and a1.1 litre OHV four
where mounted transversely.
The Tico was Daewoo’s first city car, it was based on the third
generation Suzuki Alta and was in production in South Korea until 2001.
Nissan March/Micra K11, replaced the K10 in 1992 and was manufactured
in the United Kingdom as well as Japan. with a new all-aluminium
electronic fuel injected engine of 1 or 1.3 litres.
The Subaru Vivio was Keicar/city car, with a supercharged 658 cc engine
and front or four wheel drive, in production from 1992 to 1998.
1993 was a good year for new design’s, six completely new models. The
largest was the Peugeot 306 at 3.99 metres long. Built on the floorpan
and sharing machinery with the larger Citroen ZX. The Fiat Punto was a
smaller supermini and replaced the Uno in Fiat’s model range. Engine
sizes available ranged from a 1.1 litre to a 1.7 litre diesel.
The Renault Twingo (Generation 1) was a new new concept in mini cars
designed by Patrick Le Quément. Flexible seating in a mono
box body with movable back seats that allowed boot space to be
exchanged for rear seat leg room or the reverse provided a very
adaptable car. Initially fitted with a 1.2 litre engine later changed
to a 1.1 litre unit. At first only in production in France, from 1999
to 2002 then also produced in Columbia and Uruguay . Two and a half million
examples were produced by 2007 when it was replaced. Another new
concept for the mini car from Japan, was the Suzuki Wagon R, which was
a Mini MPV designed to give the largest volume possible under the
japanese Kiacar regulations.
The Opel Corsa B was first produced in 1993 at Zaragoza, in Spain,
replacing the previous Corsa model. It was sold by General Motors
through out the world using names familiar to the target market. Petrol
engines from 1.2 to 1.6 litres and a1.5 litre Diesel where available.
In production until 2000.
The Polo Mk3 hatchback was introduced in 1994 and it shared components
with the the second generation SEAT Ibiza hatchback introduced in 1993.
SEAT was by then part on the Volkswagen Group. Both were completely new
models on a new platform sharing components with the larger Mk3 Golf.
Engines from 1.1 to 2 litres were on offer. This version of the Polo
was produced until 2000, an updated version from then until 2002 in
Slovakia and Spain and the Ibiza and was produced until 2002 in Spain.
The fourth generation Suzuki Alto the HA11 model was introduced in 1994
and was produced until 1998. The Maruti Zen that is related to the Alta
produced from 1993 to 2006 was sold in Europe at that time as the
Suzuki Alta.
South Korean manufacturer Kia made the Avella from 1994 to 1998. A
conventional hatchback, it was sold in North America as the Ford Aspire
and in Japan as the Ford Festiva. Engines of 1323 cc and 1498 cc were
available.
Skoda joined the Volkswagen group in 1991 and in 1994 a replacement for
the Favorit was introduced the Felicia. It was transitional vehicle
utilising a rebodied Favorit platform with the option of the 1.3 litre
engine or the 1.6 litre petrol or 1.9 litre diesel Volkswagen engines.
It was produced until 2001.
Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua the Malayan auto manufacturer known by the
name Perodua was established in 1993. Its first model was based on the
Daihatsu Mira. It was named Kancil for Malaya. Between 2000 and 2006
sold as the Nippy in the United Kingdom and Daihatsu Ceria in Indonesia
. Fitted either with a 660 cc or a 847 cc three cylinder engine from
Daihatsu. It was still being produced for the Malaysian market in 2008.
A fourth generation Charade was produced by Daihatsu between 1994 and
2000 which was sold in Japan and Europe. The Daihatsu Sirion was sold
as the Charade in the UK and Australia in
2003.
The Mk4 version of the Ford Fiesta was introduced in 1995. With a
new body skin, revised suspension and the addition of the option of
1.25L and 1.4L Ford Zetec engines. Built in Spain, Germany, UK and
Brazil, for some market’s as the Mazda 121 until 1999.
In the same year a Mk3 version of the Autozam (Mazda) Carol was introduced, an updated version of the previous model.
The 1995 Geo Metro/ produced at Ingersoll in Canada was based on the
Suzuki Swift. For 1998 it became the Chevrolet Metro and was produced
in that form until 2000. It was also produced as the Pontiac Firefly
from 1995 to 2000.
The new Rover 200 of 1995 produced by Rover Group in the UK, now
owned by BMW, was smaller than the model’s that previously used the
name. It was available with a range of Rover’s “K” series engines from
1.1L , 1.4L, 1.8L petrol engines and a 2.0L diesel. Only produced as a
3 door or 5 door hatchback form. A revised version was produced in 1995
and named the Rover 25, which remained in production until the company
folded, by then not part of BMW. An MG version of the 25 was sold the
MG ZR from 2001 to 2005. This had the 1.4 L or the 1.8 L “K”, series
engine and a 2 L turbo diesel option.
Daihatsu introduced the Move a tall 5 door hatchback kei car in 1995.
Built on the Daihatsu Cuore platform and fitted with a 660 cc engine
for Japan and engines of 847 cc or 989 cc for export. It was regularly
updated and was still in production in 2008.
The Lancia “Y”, produced by Lancia a Fiat subsidiary between 1996 and
2003, was a rebodied, upmarket version of the Fiat Punto. A three door
hatchback supermini, with engine option’s from 1.1 L to 1.4 L
available.
Mazda introduced the Demio a tall 5 door hatchback minivan of supermini
size,in 1996. One of the first of its type, 1.3 L and 1.5 L engine
option’s were available. It was also named the Metro and 121 outside
Japan and the Ford Festiva MiniWagon in Japan. Produced until 2001 in
Japan and was still in production in Mazda’s Bogota Columbia plant.
Ford introduced the “Ka”, in Europe in 1996 after a concept car based
on the Fiesta Mark 4 platform was well received. It was a low cost
model at the bottom of the Ford Europe range. Due to its extreme
styling and perhaps to reduce cost, it was fitted with a 1300 cc
version of the overhead valve engine first fitted to the British Ford
105E Anglia in 1959. This when overhead camshaft engine, single and
double had become the industry standard. It wasn’t until 20002 that the
overhead cam Duratec engine was fitted. The “Ka”, was introduced in
South America in 1997, being produced in Brazil. Apart from the engine
change in 2002 it was basically the same car that was produced with
styling changed until it was replaced in 2008 by a new model based on
the current Fiat Panda and produced in Poland.
The Citroen Saxo replaced the AX which was phased out by 1998 and
was developed from that model, as had the Peugeot 106. they shared
engines from 1.1 L to 1.6 l and the platform. The 106 was a Phase 2
version in this form. they were both replaced in 2003.
The Proton Tiara was five door hatchback based on the Citroen AX and
was fitted with a Citroen 1.1 L engine. It was in production in
Malaysia from 1996 to 2000.
The Toyota Starlet 90 series was produced in 3 door and 5 door form and
either front wheel or four wheel drive. A range of engines where
available, mostly of 1.3 L in various specification’s. It was in
production from 1996 to 1999.
