1.
24 Hours of Le Mans
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The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the worlds oldest active sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since 1923 near the town of Le Mans, France. It is one of the most prestigious races in the world and is often called the Grand Prix of Endurance. The event represents one leg of the Triple Crown of Motorsport, other events being the Indianapolis 500, since 2012, the 24 Hours of Le Mans has been a part of the FIA World Endurance Championship. In 2017, it will be the round of the season. The race has over the years inspired imitating races all over the globe, popularizing the 24-hour format at places like Daytona, Nürburgring, Spa-Francorchamps, and Bathurst. The American Le Mans Series and Europes Le Mans Series of multi-event sports car championships were spun off from 24 Hours of Le Mans regulations. At a time when Grand Prix motor racing was the dominant form of motorsport throughout Europe, Le Mans was designed to present a different test. Instead of focusing on the ability of a car company to build the fastest machines and this encouraged innovation in producing reliable and fuel-efficient vehicles, because endurance racing requires cars that last and spend as little time in the pits as possible. At the same time, the layout of the track necessitated cars with better aerodynamics, while this was shared with Grand Prix racing, few tracks in Europe had straights of a length comparable to the Mulsanne. Additionally, because the road is public and thus not as meticulously maintained as permanent racing circuits, racing puts more strain on the parts, increasing the importance of reliability. The oil crisis in the early 1970s led organizers to adopt a fuel economy formula known as Group C that limited the amount of each car was allowed. Although it was abandoned, fuel economy remains important as new fuel sources reduced time spent during pit stops. Such technological innovations have had an effect and can be incorporated into consumer cars. This has also led to faster and more exotic supercars as manufacturers seek to develop road cars in order to develop them into even faster GT cars. Additionally, in recent years hybrid systems have been championed in the LMP category as rules have changed to their benefit. The race is held in June, leading at times to very hot conditions for drivers, particularly in closed vehicles with poor ventilation, the race begins in mid-afternoon and finishes the following day at the same hour the race started the previous day. Over the 24 hours, modern competitors often cover distances well over 5,000 km, the record is 2010s 5,410 km, six times the length of the Indianapolis 500, or approximately 18 times longer than a Formula One Grand Prix. Drivers and racing teams strive for speed and avoiding damage, as well as managing the cars consumables, primarily fuel, tires
2.
1923 24 Hours of Le Mans
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The 192324 Hours of Le Mans was the very first Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 26 and 27 May 1923. The original intention of the race was for a winner to be declared following three years of competition. The Rudge-Whitworth Cup would be given to the combination to complete the farthest distance total over three years. Unfortunately, the idea would be abandoned after the end of the first three year segment, in 1925, fastest lap – #8 Bentley –9,39 Distance –2209.536 km Average speed –92.064 km/h
3.
1925 24 Hours of Le Mans
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The 192524 Hours of Le Mans was the 3rd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 20 and 21 June 1925. For this race, the start was held on the Mulsanne Straight and this was also the first year of the Le Mans-style start in which, at the drop of the French Tricolor, the drivers had to run to their cars and have to start them. This race also saw the death of French driver Marius Mestivier when his Amilcar was involved in a fatal accident,3 Omega Six cars take part, car n°25, car n°26, car n°27. During the tests Marguerittes car #25 would have had problems resulting in all 3 cars pulling out of the race
4.
French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
5.
Rudge-Whitworth
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Rudge motorcycles were produced from 1911 to 1946. The firm was known for its innovations in engine and transmission design and their sales motto was Rudge it, do not trudge it. The company also produced the first detachable wire wheel in 1907, in competition with Victor Riley of the Riley Cycle Company they both designed a detachable wheel locked in place by a single large nut. Pugh was granted a patent for his wheel in 1908, there were detailed differences in the design resulting in legal disputes between the two companies over the intellectual rights to the detachable wheel. Pugh eventually lost the following appeal to the House of Lords. The design of the hub has three main elements - a splined hub to locate the wheel and two mating cones, one at the end which centres the wheel and the other at the nut end. These cones transmit the majority of the torque to the wheel freeing the splines of much of the load, one of the key features of the Pugh design is that it is self tightening. The wheels on the side of the car have a left hand thread on the nut. If the wheel becomes loose the tendency is for the nut to tighten. The system was taken up enthusiastically by the fraternity where the advantage of a quick change wheel was obvious. At the 1908 Isle of Man TT race,21 of the 35 entrants used Rudge-Whitworth wheels, by 1913, the use of detachable wire wheels was universal in grands prix. After World War II the rights to the Rudge-Whitworth wheel was acquired by Jaguar Cars, in 1938, Rudge-Whitworth sponsored Billie Fleming to attempt the distance record for the most miles covered in a year. They provided a bicycle with three-speed derailleur gears and a cyclometer and her record of 29,603.7 miles still stood at her death, aged 100 in 2014. Selling re-badged Werners in 1909, the company went on to produce their first motorcycle in 1911, a single-cylinder F-head,500 cc bike. In 1912 the belt drive 499 cc Rudge Multigear was released, using variable groove-depth pulleys to gain 21 forward gear ratios, in 1913 a 750 cc Multigear was released. In 1914 Cyril Pullin won the Isle of Man TT on a Rudge Multigear, together with the Zenith-Gradua this was one of the first continuously variable transmissions. In 1915 a 1000 cc using a Jardine four-speed gearbox was released, followed by a 1000 cc Multigear, in 1923, they introduced an in-house manufactured 4-speed gear box to replace the Jardine gearbox, and Multigear production ended. It was called a Rudge Four, because of the four speeds and four valves and this single-cylinder 350 cc machine showed markedly superior performance to the competition on release, having more power than its 500 cc predecessor
6.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
7.
Bentley
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Bentley Motors Limited is a British manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs—and a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG since 1998. The joining and eventual separation of Bentley and Rolls-Royce follows a series of mergers and acquisitions, beginning with the 1931 purchase by Rolls-Royce of Bentley, Rolls-Royce Motors was subsequently sold to engineering conglomerate, Vickers and in 1998, Vickers sold Rolls-Royce to Volkswagen AG. The aerospace company, Rolls-Royce Plc, ultimately sold both to BMW AG, at the DFP factory, in 1913, he noticed an aluminum paperweight and thought that aluminum might be a suitable replacement for cast iron to fabricate lighter pistons. The first Bentley aluminum pistons were fitted to Sopwith Camel aero engines during World War I, in August 1919, W. O. registered Bentley Motors Ltd. and in October he exhibited a car chassis, with dummy engine, at the London Motor Show. Ex–Royal Flying Corps officer Clive Gallop designed an innovative 4 valves per cylinder engine for the chassis, by December the engine was built and running. Delivery of the first cars was scheduled for June 1920, the durability of the first Bentley cars earned widespread acclaim and they competed in hill climbs and raced at Brooklands. Bentleys first major event was the 1922 Indianapolis 500, a race dominated by specialized cars with Duesenberg racing chassis and they entered a modified road car driven by works driver, Douglas Hawkes, accompanied by riding mechanic, H. S. Bertie Browning. Hawkes completed the full 500 miles and finished 13th with an speed of 74.95 mph after starting in 19th position. The team was rushed back to England to compete in the 1922 RAC Tourist Trophy. In ironic reference to his heavyweight boxers stature, Captain Woolf Barnato was nicknamed Babe, in 1925, he acquired his first Bentley, a 3-litre. With this car he won numerous Brooklands races, just a year later he acquired the Bentley business itself. The Bentley enterprise was always underfunded, but inspired by the 1924 Le Mans win by John Duff and Frank Clement, Barnato had incorporated Baromans Ltd in 1922, which existed as his finance and investment vehicle. Via Baromans, Barnato initially invested in excess of £100,000, saving the business, a financial reorganisation of the original Bentley company was carried out and all existing creditors paid off for £75,000. Existing shares were devalued from £1 each to just 1 shilling, Barnato held 149,500 of the new shares giving him control of the company and he became chairman. Barnato injected further cash into the business, £35,000 secured by debenture in July 1927, £40,000 in 1928, with renewed financial input, W. O. Bentley was able to design another generation of cars. The Bentley Boys were a group of British motoring enthusiasts that included Woolf Barnato, Sir Henry Tim Birkin, steeple chaser George Duller, aviator Glen Kidston, sammy Davis, and Dr Dudley Benjafield. The Bentley Boys, favored Bentley cars, many were independently wealthy and often had a military background. They kept the reputation for high performance alive, Bentley was noted for its four consecutive victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1927 to 1930
8.
Canada
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Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
9.
Frank Clement (racing driver)
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Frank Charles Clement was a British racing driver who, along with Canadian John Duff, won the 192424 Hours of Le Mans. Part of the Bentley Boys, Clement was recruited by W. O, Bentley as a test driver for Bentley Motors. He was chosen by the company to drive in the inaugural 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1923 with John Duff in Duffs privately entered car. The only British team in the event, the finished the race in fourth after fighting for the lead for much of the race. The following year Duff returned with his private Bentley and the two won the race outright over several Lorraine-Dietrichs and Chenard-Walckers. In a bid to win the Rudge-Whitworth Triennial Cup, the two remained paired in 1925, and Bentley offered more support by adding a second car to the team. However, their car would fail halfway through the event and would not be able to finish, Bentley improved to a three car team for 1926, and Clement was assigned to co-drive with George Duller, although once again the car was not able to finish. Over the next two years, although Bentley won Le Mans two more times, Clements car still was unable to finish the endurance event, in 1929 Clement once again was able to last the entire event as Bentley dominated, earning the top four finishing positions. Clement ran his final Le Mans in 1930, finishing in second place, before Bentley chose not to continue at Le Mans the following year
10.
Bentley 3 Litre
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The Bentley 3 Litre was a car chassis manufactured by Bentley. The companys first it was developed from 1919 and made available to customers coachbuilders from 1921 to 1929, the Bentley was very much larger than the 1368 cc Bugattis that dominated racing at the time, but double the size of engine and strength compensated for the extra weight. Its weight, size, and speed prompted Ettore Bugatti to call it the fastest lorry in the world, the 3 Litre was delivered as a running chassis to the coachbuilder of the buyers choice. Bentley referred many customers to their near neighbour Vanden Plas for bodies, dealers might order a short cost-saving run of identical bodies to their own distinctive design. Most bodies took the simplest and cheapest form, tourers, customers included Prince George, Duke of Kent, Gertrude Lawrence, and Beatrice Lillie. The 3.0 L straight-4 engine was designed by ex-Royal Flying Corps engineer Clive Gallop and was very advanced for its time. It was one of the first production car engines with 4 valves per cylinder, dry-sump lubrication, the four valve SOHC Hemi design, with a bevel-geared shaft drive for the camshaft, was based on the pre-war 1914 Mercedes Daimler M93654 racing engine. Just before the outbreak of the war Mercedes had placed one of the winning Grand Prix cars in their London showroom in Long Acre. Bentley, then being commissioned in the Royal Naval Air Service, a notable difference to both the Mercedes and the aero engines was the cast-iron monobloc design, and the fully Aluminium enclosed camshaft, which greatly contributed to its durability. But having the valve-head and block in one-piece made for a complicated and this was a feature shared during that time by the Bugattis which the car was later to compete with. The engine was also among the first with two spark plugs per cylinder, pent-roof combustion chambers, and twin carburetters. It was extremely undersquare, optimized for low-end torque, with a bore of 80 mm, the Speed Model could reach 90 mph, the Super Sports could exceed 100 mph. The chassis from a Humber was designed by Frederick Tasker Burgess previously chief designer at Humber who had worked with W. O. during the war producing the aero engines BR1 and BR2. It should be noted that Bentley did not deliver complete vehicles, only the rear wheels had brakes until 1924, when four-wheel brakes were introduced. There were three variants of the 3 litre and they became known by the colours commonly used on the radiator badge. There was a definite rule controlling badge colours but astonishingly it has since established that given special circumstances the factory would indeed supply a wrong colour. This was the model with 117.5 in wheelbase from 1921 to 1929 or long 130.0 in wheelbase from 1923 to 1929. This used a 5.3,1 high compression engine in the 117.5 in wheelbase chassis and was made from 1924 to 1929
11.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
12.
Lorraine-Dietrich
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The Franco-Prussian War divided the companys manufacturing capacity, one plant in Niederbronn-les-Bains, Alsace, the other in Lunéville, Lorraine. In 1896, managing director of the Lunéville plant, Adrien, Baron de Turckheim and this used a front-mounted horizontal twin engine with sliding clutches and belt drive. It had a top, three acetylene headlights, and, very unusual for the period, plate glass windshield. While the company started out using engines from Bollée, de Dietrich eventually produced the entire vehicle themselves, the response was substantial, exceeding one million gold francs. He also created their 30/35 of 1903, before quitting to join Mathis in 1904, the same year, management at Niederbronn quit car production, leaving it entirely to Lunéville, with the Alsace market being sold a Turcat-Méry badge-engineered as a de Dietrich. Even at the time, this was seen with some disdain, nevertheless, under the skin they were little different, nor would they be until 1911. De Dietrich bought out Isotta-Fraschini in 1907, producing two OHC cars to Isotta-Fraschini designs, including a 10 hp allegedly created by Bugatti. For 1908, de Dietrich offered a line of chain-driven touring fours, the 18/28 hp, 28/38 hp, 40/45 hp, the British version differed, having shaft drive. That year, the names of the automotive and aero-engine divisions were changed to Lorraine-Dietrich, by 1914, all de Dietrichs were shaft-driven, and numbered a 12/16, an 18/20, a new 20/30 tourers, and a sporting four-cylinder 40/75, all built at Argenteuil, Seine-et-Oise. After World War I, with Lorraine restored to France, the company restarted manufacture of automobiles and aero-engines and their 12-cylinder aero-engines were used by Breguet, IAR, and Aero, among others. In 1919, new technical director Marius Barbarou introduced a new model in two wheelbases, the A1-6 and B2-6, joined three years later by the B3-6, with short or long wheelbase. All fell in the 15 CV fiscal horsepower category, sharing the 3,445 cc six cylinder engine, which had overhead valves, hemispherical head, aluminium pistons, and four-bearing crankshaft. The 15 CV Sport did better in 1925, winning Le Mans, followed home by a sister in third, while in 1926, Bloch and Rossignol won at an average 106 km/h, leading a 1-2-3 sweep by Lorraines. Lorraine-Dietrich thus became the first marque to win Le Mans twice and this publicity contributed to touring 15s being bodied by Gaston Grummer, also Argenteuils director, who produced coachwork for the likes of Aurora, Olympia, Gloriosa, and Chiquita. The de Dietrich family sold its share in the company, which became known as Lorraine from 1928 on. The 15 CV was supplanted by the 20 CV, which had a 4,086 cc engine, automobile production eventually became unprofitable and, after the failure of their 20 CV model, the concern ceased production of automobiles in 1935. In 1930, de Dietrich was absorbed by Société Générale Aéronautique, by 1935, Lorraine-Dietrich had disappeared from the automobile industry. Until World War II, Lorraine concentrated on the military market, the Lunéville plant returned to rail locomotives
13.
Michelin
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Michelin is a French tire manufacturer based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne région of France. It is one of the four largest tire manufacturers in the world along with Goodyear, Continental, in addition to the Michelin brand, it also owns the BFGoodrich, Kleber, Tigar, Riken, Kormoran and Uniroyal tire brands. Michelins numerous inventions include the removable tire, the pneurail and the radial tire, Michelin manufactures tires for space shuttles, aircraft, automobiles, heavy equipment, motorcycles, and bicycles. In 2012, the Group produced 166 million tires at 69 facilities located in 18 countries, in 1889 two brothers, Édouard Michelin and André Michelin, ran a rubber factory in Clermont-Ferrand, France. One day, a cyclist whose pneumatic tire needed repair turned up at the factory, the tire was glued to the rim, and it took over three hours to remove and repair the tire, which then needed to be left overnight to dry. The next day, Édouard Michelin took the repaired bicycle into the yard to test. After only a few hundred metres, the tire failed, despite the setback, Édouard was enthusiastic about the pneumatic tire, and he and his brother worked on creating their own version, one that did not need to be glued to the rim. Michelin was incorporated on 28 May 1889, in 1891 Michelin took out its first patent for a removable pneumatic tire which was used by Charles Terront to win the worlds first long distance cycle race, the 1891 Paris–Brest–Paris. In the 1920s and 1930s, Michelin operated large rubber plantations in Vietnam, conditions at these plantations led to the famous labour movement Phu Rieng Do. In 1934, Michelin introduced a tire which, if punctured, would run on a special foam lining, the radial was initially marketed as the X tire. It was developed with the front-wheel-drive Citroën Traction Avant and Citroën 2CV in mind, Michelin had bought the then-bankrupt Citroën in the 1930s. Because of its superiority in handling and fuel economy, use of this quickly spread throughout Europe. In the U. S. the outdated bias-ply tire persisted, also in 1968, Consumer Reports, an influential American magazine, acknowledged the superiority of the radial construction, setting off a rapid decline in Michelins competitor technology. In the U. S. the radial tire now has a share of 100%. In 1989, Michelin acquired the recently merged tire and rubber manufacturing divisions of the American firms B. F. Goodrich Company and Uniroyal, Uniroyal Australia had already been bought by Bridgestone in 1980. This purchase included the Norwood, North Carolina manufacturing plant which supplied tires to the U. S, Michelin also controls 90% of Taurus Tire in Hungary, as well as Kormoran, a Polish brand. As of 1 September 2008, Michelin is again the worlds largest tire manufacturer after spending two years as number two behind Bridgestone. Michelin produces tires in France, Spain, Germany, the USA, on 15 January 2010, Michelin announced the closing of its Ota, Japan plant, which employs 380 workers and makes the Michelin X-Ice tire
14.
Chenard-Walcker
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Chenard-Walcker, also known as Chenard & Walcker, was a French automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturer from 1898 to 1946. Chenard-Walcker then designed and manufactured trucks marketed via Peugeot sales channels until the 1970s, the factory was at first in Asnières-sur-Seine moving to Gennevilliers in 1906. The make is remembered as the winner of the very first Le Mans 24 Hours Race in 1923, Ernest Chenard was a railway engineer and maker of bicycles with a factory in the rue de Normandie at Asnières-sur-Seine, then just outside Paris on its north side. He joined with mining engineer Henri Walcker in 1898 to make motor tricycles, together they founded their automobile business on 19 January 1899, with Chenard in charge of design and Walcker sales and finance. The business was registered as Chenard, Walcker et Compagnie in 1900. This had a two-cylinder,1,160 cc engine of their own design which drove the wheels through a four-speed gearbox. From the gearbox there were two shafts, one to each rear hub, with the hubs driven by gear teeth cut on the inside. The car was shown at the 1901 Paris Salon, the Chenard et Walcker Type B followed in 1901 and a fuller range was very soon on offer. In March 1906 the company went public, in the process being renamed as the Société Anonyme des Anciens Étabissements Chenard et Walcker, the new name has caused confusion over the years as to whether the cars should be called Chenard-Walcker or Chenard et Walcker. Both names seem to have been used, annual production steadily increased with a major market being the supply of taxis especially in Paris. In 1910 they made over 1500 cars making them the ninth largest car maker in France. A six-cylinder car of 4. 5-litre joined the line up in 1913 and at the outbreak of war in 1914 the model range consisted of the six-cylinder, during World War I Hispano-Suiza aircraft engines were made as well as military versions of the Type U car. With peace, only production of the six-cylinder, now called the Model UU, was resumed but in 1920 a brand new 2,648 cc four, FAR commercial vehicles were also made. Following the death of Ernest Chenard in 1922, his son Lucien Chenard took over, a 2-litre version, the 10/12 was subsequently sold to the public. In 1925 Chenard et Walcker was the fourth largest car maker in France, in 1927 the company entered into a tripartite consortium with Delahaye and Rosengart, sharing designs and components. Unic were also offered a place in the consortium but declined the offer, the entente was advertised in 1929 with the slogan LUnion fait la force The arrangement lasted almost four years, until 1931, when it would be Chenard et Walcker that broke with the other partners. In the same year the Aigle 8 with V-8 engine was launched, the company had never had sufficient capital to modernise and the cars remained largely hand built leaving them unable to compete on price. As a result they went bankrupt in 1936 and were taken over by body maker Chausson, the 1938 models shared bodies with Matford, distinguishable only by the radiator grilles and were powered by Citroën or Ford V-8 engines
15.
Belgium
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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
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Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
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Rolland-Pilain
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Rolland-Pilain was a French car maker formally established on 4 November 1905 at 95, rue Victor-Hugo in Tours by François Rolland and Émile Pilain. Rolland was already a successful businessman locally who had made a fortune in the wine business, Émile Pilain had a more technical background, having been trained by his uncle, François Pilain, who had relocated to Lyon and himself established an automobile manufacturing business called SAP. Emile, the nephew, had remained in the Tours area, the partners started by repairing and selling motor vehicle, before they started producing their own cars, which appeared only in 1907. In 1911 the business relocated to 44, place Rabelais, still in Tours, the company would retain this status until the money ran out, in 1925. The Rolland-Pilain cars pioneered many innovative solutions despite very limited financial resources, one such feature was hydraulic brakes. The models ranged from cars to sports and luxury cars. During World War I Rolland-Pilain produced shells and parts for aircraft using a female work force. The war also saw the successful Gnome et Rhône aero-engine manufacturer relocating production outside Paris, at the end of the war, in 1918, Gnome et Rhône invested in the Rolland-Pilain business, taking a majority share in it, but they disposed of their holding in 1920. At the Motor Show in October 1919 the manufacturer exhibited three cars, prices were listed at the Motor Show for the cars in bare chassis form and included lighting, but they did not include the tyres. Five years later there was no sign of a six-cylinder model, launched more recently, in 1923, this model was the manufacturers most high profile model during the 1920s. Participation in motor racing included several Grand Prix races and Le Mans 24 hours, the greatest success came in 1923, when Albert Guyot drove a Rolland-Pilain A22 to victory in the San Sebastián Grand Prix. Rolland-Pilain returned to Le Mans in 1924 and again in 1925, entering 3 Torpedo bodied cars, their engine sizes restricted to 1, only one of the three finished, driven by Jean de Marguenat and Louis Sire, and achieving seventh place. The exploit lasted from 3 December 1924 to 20 February 1925 and this was the first time a wheeled car had traversed the African continent from west to east. A lack of funds led to Rolland and Pilain losing control of the company in 1926, automobile production ended in 1927 and the company was declared in default of its debts in 1928. After a period of struggle, the closed in 1932. When production ceased, more than 5000 cars had been built
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Brasier
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Brasier was a French automobile manufacturer, based in the Paris conurbation, and active between 1905 and 1930. Charles-Henri Brasier worked briefly with Panhard and then for some years with Émile Mors before, at the age of 35 and he did this in partnership with Georges Richard, the two of them establishing the Richard-Brasier business in 1902. The newly renamed Brasier was therefore born into an atmosphere of recrimination and litigation, before World War I, several twin, four and six-cylinder models were offered. During this period the company was selling around 1,000 cars annually, following the outbreak of peace, production was resumed in 1919 with a 3404 cc model. The larger car was fitted with a 6-cylinder 5,325 cc, the cars were priced by the manufacturer respectively at 22,500 francs and 40,000 francs in bare chassis form, with tires included. The currency had continued to lose value following the end of the war, by this time, however, the companys market-place presence was being progressively eaten into by other, more focused and forward thinking auto-makers. The cars made after 1926 are known under the name of Chaigneau-Brasier, in view of the savage economic downturn crystallised by the Wall Street Crash of October 1929, the timing of this venture could hardly have been more excruciating. The new large Chaigneau-Brasiers attracted plenty of interest at the annual Paris Motor Shows, the company fell into acute financial difficulties. Chaigneau-Brasier were therefore able to survive, but only till 1930 or 1931, léon Théry entered a Brasier in the 1908 French Grand Prix, but surrendered after 9 laps of the 10 lap race
19.
Dunlop Tyres
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Dunlop is a brand of tyres owned by various companies around the world. It is owned and operated by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in North America, Europe, Australia, in India the brand is owned by Dunlop India Ltd. whose parent company is the Ruia Group. In Asia, Africa and Latin America by Sumitomo Rubber Industries, in 1985, Dunlop Rubber Company was acquired by BTR plc, and Sumitomo acquired the rights to manufacture and market Dunlop branded road tyres. Sumitomo did not acquire any Dunlop company, in 1997 Sumitomo gained agreement to use the Dunlop name in its corporate name, and changed the name of its UK subsidiary to Dunlop Tyres Ltd. The company has manufacturing operations throughout the world. With the closure of the Washington plant in 2006, Goodyear Dunlop ceased mainstream car, until May 2014 Goodyear Dunlop occupied a compact part of the site with their British main office. In the UK, the company operates as an organisation, importing tyres from manufacturing plants around the world, including China, Slovenia. The Goodyear Dunlop joint venture is managed from sites in Luxembourg and Brussels, fort Dunlop was a motorsport manufacturing operation located in a corner of the original Dunlop factory in Erdington, Birmingham, established in 1891 until May 2014. This factory produced specialised vintage, motorcycle and touring car tyres, on 30 May 2014, the Birmingham factory ceased tyre production, ending Dunlop tyre production in the UK. The main Birmingham building has been redeveloped extensively as a residential, office and hotel complex, with a modern shopping facility, car dealerships. It can be observed between junction 5 and 6 of the M6, on the side of the motorway. Dunlop Tyres is the tyre supplier to the British Touring Car Championship, V8 Supercars Championship. It was also the sole supplier for the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters from 2000-2010. Dunlop also supplies tyres to the Japanese Super GTs Nakajima Racing, classes in the FIA World Endurance Championship, the Dunlop GP Racer D209 tyre has been chosen repeatedly as a control tyre for the R&G Racing GSX-R Trophy motorcycle race. It has also chosen for the Henderson Harley-Davidson XR1200 Trophy. The History of the Pneumatic Tyre
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Bignan (automobile)
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The Bignan was a French automobile manufactured between 1918 and 1931 on the north-side of central Paris, in Courbevoie. The business was created, and till the mid 1920s headed up, the first Bignan was powered by a 2,940 cc 4-cylinder engine and sat on a 2,860 mm wheelbase. At the end of 1919 the manufacturer was quoting a list price for the car of 30,000 francs in bare chassis form, tires were not included in the price, which was at this time not unusual. The manufacturer was also listing a price of 38,500 francs for a Torpedo bodied car, the majority of the vehicles produced had tourer bodies. Several of these cars were used as vehicles for the 1920 Tour de France. Two new models were launched in 1922 - the 11CV, with a 2-litre engine, and a version of the Salmson AL3. The 11CV had a gearbox and servo-assisted brakes. The production model developed 50 bhp, but the version developed 70 bhp. Only two of these models were built, but they were considered fast and reliable. The best competition result was a victory at Spa-Francorchamps. The 11CV was redesigned in 1926, with an 8-valve engine featuring twin oil pumps, the company collapsed in 1926, and were taken over by the Société La Cigogne, after which Jacques Bignan had to leave the company. Several owners in succession now acquired and tried to preserve the company which by 1928 was in the hands of Mécanique-Outillage-Pièces détachés, two cars, now listed with the name MOP-Bignan, were still being promoted at the Paris Motor Show in October 1928. These were the 2-litre 11CV model and a 14CV overhead valve S. C. A. P, the 11CV and 14CV continued in production until the company finally went out of business in 1931. Three Type B cars were entered in the 1920 GP de Voiturettes at Le Mans, with the cars of Nogue and Delauney finishing 2nd and 3rd behind a Bugatti Type 13. Although they never did so again, Bignan returned to Le Mans in 1924 and in 1925. One of these engines also powered a Bignan to victory in the 1924 Monte Carlo Rally, a feature of the engine with which other auto-makers only caught up many decades later was the incorporation, on the competition version, of four valves per cylinder. Appropriately, the slogan at the motor show in October 1924 was Toujours en avant du progres. A 11CV saloon driven by Jacques Edouard Ledure won the 1924 Monte Carlo Rally
Bentley Motors Limited
John Duff
Societe Lorraine de Dietrich et Cie
André Pisart
Manso de Zuñiga
