Delahaye 235
Delahaye 235 is a luxury car built by French manufacturer Delahaye from 1951 until 1954. Presented at the 1951 Paris Auto Salon, the 235 was an attempt at updating the pre-war Type 135 for the 1950s and it competed with the Grégoire and Anjou models, built by Hotchkiss, another French luxury marque. Delahaye needed a boost, as combined production of the Types 135 and 175 had dropped to an abysmal 77 by 1951, most noticeable was the new modern ponton-style bodywork, with the full width front designed by chief designer Philippe Charbonneaux. The mechanics were credited to Fernand Lacour, the prototypes body was manufactured by Motto in Italy, and a total of 84 Types 235 were built. The 235 was originally only in chassis form and received bodywork from various coachbuilders, mainly Henri Chapron, but from Figoni, Antem. The engine was the well known 3.6 liter inline six from the 135MS, the 235 effectively replaced the larger Type 175 in the marketplace, while the lesser 135M continued to be available until 1954.
Top speed was around 170 km/h, the 235 appeared too late to have much effect on Delahayes fortunes, still relying on 1930s technology in spite of its stylish and modern appearance. 235s last appeared at the Paris Salon in 1954, to sell off the remaining stock, and another grande marque met its end
Brood parasite
Brood parasites are organisms that rely on others to raise their young. The strategy appears among birds and some fish, the brood parasite manipulates a host, either of the same or of another species, to raise its young as if it were its own. Bird parasite species mitigate the risk of egg loss by distributing eggs amongst a number of different hosts, as this behaviour damages the host, it often results in an evolutionary arms race between parasite and host as the pair of species coevolve. This form of cuckoldry is taken a step further when females of the goldeneye often lay their eggs in the nests of other individuals, intraspecific brood parasitism is seen in a number of duck species, where females often lay their eggs in the nests of others. Interspecific brood-parasites include the indigobirds and honeyguides in Africa, Old World cuckoos, black-headed ducks, seven independent origins of obligate interspecific brood parasitism in birds have been proposed. They usually lay one egg per nest, although in some cases, particularly the cowbirds.
Genes regulating egg coloration appear to be passed down exclusively along the maternal line, females generally parasitize nests of the species which raised them. Male common cuckoos fertilize females of all lines, which maintains sufficient gene flow among the different maternal lines to prevent speciation, the mechanisms of host selection by female cuckoos are somewhat unclear, though several hypotheses have been suggested in attempt to explain the choice. Of these hypotheses the nest-site selection and habitat selection have been most supported by experimental analysis, among specialist avian brood parasites, mimetic eggs are a nearly universal adaptation. There is even evidence that the generalist brown-headed cowbird may have evolved an egg coloration mimicking a number of their hosts. Most avian brood parasites remove a host egg when they lay one of their own in a nest, depending upon the species, this can happen either in the same visit to the host nest or in a separate visit before or after the parasitism.
This both prevents the host species from realizing their nest has been parasitized and reduces competition for the parasitic nestling once it hatches, most avian brood parasites have very short egg incubation periods and rapid nestling growth. This gives the parasitic nestling a head start on growth over its nestmates, in many brood parasites, such as cuckoos and honeyguides, this short egg incubation period is due to internal incubation periods up to 24 hours longer in cuckoos than hosts. Where the host nestlings are significantly smaller than the parasite nestling, some brood parasites eliminate all their nestmates shortly after hatching, either by ejecting them from the nest or killing them with sharp mandible hooks which fall off after a few days. There is a question as to why the majority of the hosts of brood parasites care for the nestlings of their parasites. Not only do these parasites usually differ significantly in size and appearance. The mafia hypothesis evolved through studies in an attempt to answer this question and this hypothesis revolves around host manipulations induced by behaviors of the brood parasite.
Upon the detection and rejection of a brood egg, the hosts nest is depredated upon, its nest destroyed
Luxury vehicle
Luxury vehicle is a marketing term for a vehicle that provides luxury — pleasant or desirable features beyond strict necessity — at increased expense. The term is broad, highly variable and relative and it is a perceptual and subjective attribute that may be comprehended differently by different people, What is a luxury car to some. Therefore, automakers differentiate among their product lines in collusion with the car-buying public, while a high price is the most frequent factor, it is styling and even public opinion which cars had the highest and lowest status associated with them. Every era in history has had a group of car marques and models that have been expensive to purchase, due to their alleged superiority of their design. Aimed at wealthy buyers, such automobiles might be generically termed luxury cars and this term is used for unique vehicles produced during an era when luxury was individualistic consideration, and coachwork could be tailored to an owner like a bespoke suit. Although there is literature about specific marques, there is a lack of systematic.
Luxury vehicle makers may either be stand-alone companies in their own right, such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz, badge engineering is often used for cost savings, for example, the Lincoln vehicles that are based on Ford platforms or Acura models derived from Honda. Though widely used, the term luxury is broad and highly variable and it is a perceptual and subjective attribute and may be understood differently by different people, What is a luxury car to some. According to the European Commission, the luxury segment is classified as F-segment. However, the boundaries between the segments are increasingly becoming blurred and diluted as features once exclusive to luxury vehicles become standard equipment on even small cars. ACRISS is a system used by many car rental companies in the US for classifying vehicles. The system includes Luxury and Premium categories, Australia, In Australia, for taxation purposes a luxury car is defined as a passenger car whose value exceeds a certain threshold. France, In France the term voiture de luxe is used, Germany, In Germany the term Upper class is used.
Russia, Russian markets use the term representative class vehicle, the classification varies, for instance Consumer Guide Automotive in the U. S. The premium compact segment is targeted at a market of consumers who found the existing entry-level luxury offerings to be too expensive. By offering a smaller, more fuel-efficient, and less expensive vehicle, premium compacts introduces younger buyers to the luxury marque, in hopes of retaining the coveted customer loyalty. This includes the Acura CSX, Audi A3, Buick Verano, BMW2 Series, BMW i3, Cadillac ELR, Chrysler 200, Lexus CT, Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class, Mercedes-Benz B-Class, Saab 9-2X, and the Volvo V40. Premium compacts compete with well-equipped midsize cars, and with options they overlap much with compact executive cars, Premium compacts may share components with mass market cars from the marques parent company, and/or have less sophisticated platforms compared to upmarket vehicles in the lineup
Transmission (mechanics)
A transmission is a machine in a power transmission system, which provides controlled application of the power. Often the term refers simply to the gearbox that uses gears and gear trains to provide speed. In British English, the term refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, prop shaft, differential. In American English, the term more specifically to the gearbox alone. The most common use is in vehicles, where the transmission adapts the output of the internal combustion engine to the drive wheels. Such engines need to operate at a high rotational speed, which is inappropriate for starting, stopping. The transmission reduces the engine speed to the slower wheel speed. Transmissions are used on bicycles, fixed machines. Often, a transmission has multiple gear ratios with the ability to switch between them as speed varies and this switching may be done manually or automatically. Directional control may be provided, single-ratio transmissions exist, which simply change the speed and torque of motor output.
The output of the transmission is transmitted via the driveshaft to one or more differentials, while a differential may provide gear reduction, its primary purpose is to permit the wheels at either end of an axle to rotate at different speeds as it changes the direction of rotation. Conventional gear/belt transmissions are not the mechanism for speed/torque adaptation. Alternative mechanisms include torque converters and power transformation, automatic transmissions use a valve body to shift gears using fluid pressures in conjunction with an ecm. Early transmissions included the right-angle drives and other gearing in windmills, horse-powered devices, and steam engines, in support of pumping, most modern gearboxes are used to increase torque while reducing the speed of a prime mover output shaft. This means that the shaft of a gearbox rotates at a slower rate than the input shaft. A gearbox can be set up to do the opposite and provide an increase in speed with a reduction of torque. Some of the simplest gearboxes merely change the rotational direction of power transmission.
Many typical automobile transmissions include the ability to select one of several gear ratios, in this case, most of the gear ratios are used to slow down the output speed of the engine and increase torque
Delahaye 175
Delahaye 175 was an automobile manufactured by Delahaye between 1947 and 1951. The last of the large Delahayes, the type 175 was essentially a new chassis. The chassis bore little resemblance to the preceding Type 135, other than the area with its driveshaft tunnel and welded stamped-steel floor. The new 4. 5-litre engine was quite similar to the Type 135. It had seven main bearings versus the Type 135s four, and its head had six intake and six exhaust ports, twelve in all. The larger engine was stronger and breathed better <Club Delahaye archive data, the new chassis was completely different from the 135 in its dimensions and structural design. The rear section of the aft of the cockpit, was visually quite similar to the Type 57 Bugatti in this respect. The rear suspension was not a new concept, its DeDion system having been employed by Delahaye in the Type 155 grand-prix monoposto. The rear wheels were driven by splined half-shafts, the semi-elliptical rear leaf-springs were conventional, and damped by lever-arm hydraulic shock absorbers.8,1.
The optional Type 175-S had a compression ratio, for higher performance. The Type 175-S racing engine employed by Frances champion driver, Eugene Chabaud, had a claimed 9, the higher performance Type 175-S came with two factory options, Rudge wire-wheels, three Solex down-draft single-venturi carburetors. The front-end and new postwar grilles design were executed by Delahayes young in-house designer, Philippe Charbonneaux, the new 4. 5-litre engine used in these cars carried the 183 engine-block casting code, and was made in two visually distinct forms. The transmission was a Cotal, this being a semi-automatic electrically shifted solenoid-actuated four-speed epicyclic gearbox and his plan Pons was a five-year program for the reconstruction of French industry. The plan allotted Delahaye the position of building covetable sports and luxury cars for the export market, over 80 percent of the companys automotive chassis were exported to Frances colonies, including those in Africa. The plans objective was to generate much-needed foreign currency for Frances struggling postwar economy, the outdated prewar Types 134,135, and 148L were revived, but Delahaye still needed a halo car like the 165.
The excessively complex V12 had three camshafts in the block, four overhead rocker-shafts, three Stromberg carburetors, two mechanical fuel-pumps, and dual Bosch ignition, the V-12 was replaced by a new, much less complex inline overhead-valve six-cylinder of the same displacement. The new Type 175 debuted as a glitzy show-chassis with partial frontal coachwork demonstrating the new postwar face. It was one of few to debut at the first postwar Paris Salon in October 1946
Overhead valve engine
An overhead valve engine is an engine in which the valves are placed in the cylinder head. This was an improvement over the flathead engine, where the valves were placed in the block next to the piston. Overhead camshaft engines, while overhead valve by definition, are usually categorized apart from other OHV engines. Lifters or tappets are located in the block between the camshaft and pushrods. By contrast, overhead camshaft design avoids the use of pushrods by putting the camshaft directly above the valves in the cylinder head, in 1900, Marr was hired as chief engineer at the Buick Auto-Vim and Power Company in Detroit, where he worked until 1902. Marr said he got the idea of overhead valves when making the small tricycle engine, marrs engine employed pushrod-actuated rocker arms, which in turn pushed valves parallel to the pistons, and this is still in use today. This contrasts with previous designs which use of side valves. Marr left Buick briefly to start his own company in 1902, the Marr Auto-Car.
The OHV engine was patented in 1902 by Buicks second chief engineer Eugene Richard, at the Buick Manufacturing Company, precursor to the Buick Motor Company. The worlds first production overhead valve engine was put into the first production Buick automobile, the 1904 Model B, the engine was designed by Marr and David Buick. Eugene Richard of the Buick Manufacturing Company was awarded US Patent #771,095 in 1904 for the valve in head engine. Arthur Chevrolet was awarded US Patent #1,744,526 for an adapter that could be applied to an existing engine, in 1949, Oldsmobile introduced the Rocket V8. It was the first high-compression I-head design, and is the archetype for most modern pushrod engines, general Motors is the worlds largest pushrod engine producer, producing both I4, V6 and V8 pushrod engines. Nowadays, automotive use of side-valves has virtually disappeared, and valves are almost all overhead, most are now driven more directly by the overhead camshaft system. Few pushrod-type engines remain in production outside of the United States market and this is in part a result of some countries passing laws to tax engines based on displacement, because displacement is somewhat related to the emissions and fuel efficiency of an automobile.
This has given OHC engines a regulatory advantage in those countries, however, in 2002, Chrysler introduced a new pushrod engine, a 5. 7-litre Hemi engine. The new Chrysler Hemi engine presents advanced features such as variable displacement technology and has been an option with buyers. The Hemi was on the Wards 10 Best Engines list for 2003 through 2007, Chrysler produced the worlds first production variable-valve OHV engine with independent intake and exhaust phasing
Artillery wheel
The artillery wheel was developed for use on gun carriages when it was found that the lateral forces involved in horse artillery manoeuvres caused normally constructed cart wheels to collapse. Rather than having its spokes mortised into a nave, it has them fitted together bolted into a metal nave. Its tyre is shrunk onto the rim in the usual way, a normal wagon wheel is dished so that in its lowest part, the spokes are perpendicular to the ground thus supporting the weight. This is not done with artillery wheels, when higher speeds and consequently higher lateral forces were attained with the introduction of motor vehicles, the artillery wheel was used in those too. By the 1920s, motor cars used wheels that looked at a glance like artillery wheels and these too were usually called artillery wheels. After training as an engineer, Joseph Sankey founded a tea tray producer. A pioneer motorist, Sankey became personal friends with Herbert Austin, by 1914, Joseph Sankey and Sons Ltd. supplied sheet steel bodies to Austin, Humber, Rover and Argyll.
Production started in 1908, with customers including Herbert Austin and, later, in addition to his original factory at Bilston a new plant was established near Wellington, which was devoted to wheel production. In 1920, GKN purchased steel company John Lysaght and their subsidiary, Joseph Sankey, by that time the plant was supplying wheels to many UK manufacturers. By the late 1920s the inadequacies of artillery wheels had brought about their sweeping replacement by the more expensive wire wheels
Engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one form of energy into mechanical energy. Heat engines burn a fuel to heat, which is used to create a force. Electric motors convert electrical energy into motion, pneumatic motors use compressed air. In biological systems, molecular motors, like myosins in muscles, use energy to create forces. The word engine derives from Old French engin, from the Latin ingenium–the root of the word ingenious. Pre-industrial weapons of war, such as catapults and battering rams, were called siege engines, the word gin, as in cotton gin, is short for engine. Most mechanical devices invented during the revolution were described as engines—the steam engine being a notable example. However, the steam engines, such as those by Thomas Savery, were not mechanical engines. In this manner, an engine in its original form was merely a water pump. Devices converting heat energy into motion are commonly referred to simply as engines, examples of engines which exert a torque include the familiar automobile gasoline and diesel engines, as well as turboshafts.
Examples of engines which produce thrust include turbofans and rockets, the term motor derives from the Latin verb moto which means to set in motion, or maintain motion. Thus a motor is a device that imparts motion and engine came to be used largely interchangeably in casual discourse. However, the two words have different meanings, rocketry uses the term rocket motor, even though they consume fuel. A heat engine may serve as a prime mover—a component that transforms the flow or changes in pressure of a fluid into mechanical energy. An automobile powered by a combustion engine may make use of various motors and pumps. Another way of looking at it is that a motor receives power from an external source, simple machines, such as the club and oar, are prehistoric. More complex engines using human power, animal power, water power, wind power and these were used in cranes and aboard ships in Ancient Greece, as well as in mines, water pumps and siege engines in Ancient Rome. The writers of those times, including Vitruvius and Pliny the Elder, treat these engines as commonplace, by the 1st century AD, cattle and horses were used in mills, driving machines similar to those powered by humans in earlier times
Letourneur et Marchand
Letourneur & Marchand, located in the prosperous Paris suburb Neuilly-sur-Seine, was a car body manufacturing business which became one of the last French coachbuilders. During the 1920s Letourneur et Marchand became the supplier of car bodies for Delage. The business built bodies for manufacturers such as Unic, in 1936, Delage introduced their D8-120 chassis, which formed the basis for the Aérosport, manufactured between 1936 and 1939. Between 1947 and 1952 the company produced only 67 car bodies, the Frégate struggled on till 1960 when it was withdrawn without direct replacement, and during this time 70 Letourneur et Marchand cabriolet variants were produced. The final batch of Frégate cabriolets featured an eye catching two tone paint scheme, coloured black and ivory or black and turquoise. Letourneur & Marchand collapsed in 1960 following the discontinuation of their version of the Renault Frégate. La carrosserie française, du style au design, par Serge Bellu, éditions E. T. A. I
Henri Chapron
Henri Chapron was a prominent French automobile coachbuilder. His atelier, created in 1919, was located in the Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret, Chapron was born in Nouan-le-Fuzelier, and began his career developing custom body designs for French luxury vehicles, like Talbot and Delahaye, in the 1920s. At first Chapron purchased these vehicles and customised them as one-off conversions, many of these became unique convertible variants of the DS known as the Décapotable. All told, Chapron created 389 hand-built DS convertibles, in 1961, the Citroën dealership network began distributing a standard usine two door convertible. In the years 1961 to 1971,1,365 of these vehicles were made - they are collectible today. Chapron continued his one-off conversions as well, when the Citroën SM was introduced in 1970, Chapron created two new variants - the Mylord cabriolet and the Opéra four door sedan. On 7 February 2009, a 1974 Opéra was sold by Bonhams auctioneers for EUR194,648, in 1968, Chapron made a special extended DS Presidential model for the government of Charles de Gaulle.
Then in 1972, Chapron delivered two SM Presidential models to the government of Georges Pompidou and these gigantic 4 door convertibles were first used for the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to France and continued in use through the inauguration of Jacques Chirac in 1995. Henri Chapron died in Paris in 1978, and the company survived for some time under the direction of his widow. Less than five months after Chaprons own death the company presented a Landaulet bodied conversion constructed for a rich Dutch customer, and based on a lengthened Peugeot 604. There were hopes that this might be the first of a small but steady trickle of similar conversions and that did not happen, but the company did nevertheless continue to produce some special luxury versions, with lavishly equipped interiors, of the Citroën CX
Beam axle
A beam axle, rigid axle or solid axle is a dependent suspension design, in which a set of wheels is connected laterally by a single beam or shaft. Beam axles were commonly used at the rear wheels of a vehicle. In most automobiles, beam axles have been replaced by front, with a beam axle the camber angle between the wheels is the same no matter where it is in the travel of the suspension. A beam axles fore and aft location is constrained by either, trailing arms, semi-trailing arms, radius rods, the lateral location is constrained by either, a Panhard rod, a Scott Russell linkage or a Watts linkage. While shock absorbers and either leaf springs, coil springs, or air bags are used to control vertical movement. A live axle is a type of beam axle in which the shaft transmits power to the wheels, while typically used in vehicles with Hotchkiss drive, this suspension system can be used with other types of power transmission. The principal advantage of the axle is its simplicity. This simplicity makes it very space-efficient and relatively cheap to manufacture and they are nearly universally used in buses and heavy-duty trucks.
Most light and medium duty trucks, SUVs, and vans use a beam axle. Beam axles have an important advantage for off-road applications, as they provide better vehicle articulation and this simplicity makes it relatively easy to lift a vehicle. Also the cornering ability is typically worse than other designs because the wheels have zero camber angle gain during body roll. Front beam axle suspension is sensitive to any lack of concentricity in the hub. This is addressed on some vehicles with steering dampers although removal and careful refitting of the front wheels often cures the problem
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