1.
Open-wheel car
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An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the cars main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, open-wheel cars are usually built specifically for racing, frequently with a higher degree of technological sophistication than in other forms of motor sport. Open-wheel street cars, such as the Ariel Atom, are scarce as they are often impractical for everyday use. American racecar driver and constructor Ray Harroun was a pioneer of the concept of a lightweight single-seater. After working as a mechanic in the industry, Harroun began competitive professional racing in 1906. He was then hired by the Marmon Motor Car Company as chief engineer, charged with building a racecar intended to race at the very first Indianapolis 500 and he developed a revolutionary concept which would become the originator and forefather of the single-seater racecar design. A typical open-wheeler has a minimal cockpit sufficient only to enclose the drivers body, in the Whelen Modified Tour and other short track modified series, the drivers head is contained in the car. Some major races, such as the Singapore Grand Prix, Monaco Grand Prix, however, most open-wheel races are on dedicated road courses, such as Watkins Glen International in the US, Nürburgring in Germany, Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and Silverstone in Great Britain. The Whelen Modified Tour is the only opened wheeled race car series endorsed by NASCAR and this series races on most of NASCARs most famous tracks in the United States. Other asphalt modified series race on tracks in the United States and Canada. Open-wheeled racing is among the fastest in the world, Formula 1 cars can reach speeds in excess of 360 kilometres per hour. At Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Antônio Pizzonia of BMW Williams F1 team recorded a top speed of 369.9 kilometres per hour in the 2004 Italian Grand Prix. Since the end of the V10 era in 2006 speeds like this have not been reached, with contemporary machinery reaching around 360 kilometres per hour. It is difficult to give precise figures for the top speeds of Formula 1 cars, as the cars do not have speedometers as such. The speed traps on fast circuits such as Monza give a good indication, speeds on ovals can range in constant excess of 210–220 miles per hour, and at Indianapolis in excess of 230 miles per hour. Some sources claim that in 1996, Paul Tracy recorded a speed of 256.948 miles per hour at Michigan International Speedway. In 2000, Gil de Ferran set the qualifying record of 241.428 miles per hour at California Speedway. Even on tight non-oval street circuits such as the Grand Prix of Toronto, driving an open-wheel car is substantially different from driving a car with fenders
2.
McLaren
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McLaren Racing Limited, competing as McLaren Honda, is a British Formula One team based at the McLaren Technology Centre, Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has competed in and won the Indianapolis 500. The team is the second oldest active team after Ferrari and they are one of the most successful teams in Formula One history, having won 182 races,12 drivers championships and eight constructors championships. The team is an owned subsidiary of McLaren Technology Group. Further American triumph followed, with Indianapolis 500 wins in McLaren cars for Mark Donohue in 1972, the combination of Prost and Senna was particularly dominant—together they won all but one race in 1988—but later their rivalry soured and Prost left for Ferrari. Fellow English team Williams offered the most consistent challenge during this period, however, by the mid-1990s, Honda had withdrawn from Formula One, Senna had moved to Williams, and the team went three seasons without a win. Ron Dennis retired as McLaren team principal in 2009, handing the role to longtime McLaren employee Martin Whitmarsh. At the end of 2013, after the teams worst season since 2004, McLaren announced in 2013 that they would be using Honda engines from 2015 onwards, replacing Mercedes-Benz. The team raced as McLaren-Honda for the first time since 1992 at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix, Bruce McLaren Motor Racing was founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren. Bruce was a driver for the British Formula One team Cooper with whom he had won three Grands Prix and come second in the 1960 world championship. In 1964 and 1965, McLaren were based in New Malden, then Feltham, during this period, Bruce drove for his team in sports car races in the United Kingdom and North America and also entered the 1965 Tasman Series with Phil Hill, but did not win it. He continued to drive in Grands Prix for Cooper, but judging that teams form to be waning, Bruce made the teams Grand Prix debut at the 1966 Monaco race. His race ended after nine laps due to an oil leak. Neither car brought great success, the best result being a fourth at Monaco, for 1968, after driving McLarens sole entry for the previous two years, Bruce was joined by 1967 champion and fellow New Zealander Denny Hulme, who was already racing for McLaren in Can-Am. That years new M7A car, Herds final design for the team, was powered by Cosworths new and soon to be ubiquitous DFV engine, Hulme also won the Italian and Canadian Grands Prix later in the year, helping the team to second in the constructors championship. The year 1970 started with a place each for Hulme. After his death, Teddy Mayer took over control of the team, Hulme continued with Dan Gurney. Gurney won the first two Can-Am events at Mosport and St. Jovite and placed ninth in the third, but left the team mid-season, and Gethin took over from there
3.
March Engineering
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March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. March Engineering began operations in 1969 and its four founders were Max Mosley, Alan Rees, Graham Coaker and Robin Herd. Herds original F1 plan was to build a team around Jochen Rindt. Marchs launch was unprecedented in its breadth and impact, the Formula One effort initially looked most promising, with March supplying its 701 chassis to Tyrrell for Jackie Stewart. In addition, the factory ran two cars for Jo Siffert and Chris Amon sponsored by STP. A third STP car, entered by Andy Granatelli for Mario Andretti, Ronnie Peterson appeared in a semi-works car for Colin Crabbe when his works Formula Two commitments allowed, various other 701s went to privateers. The team constructed ten Formula One chassis that year, in addition to Formula Two, Formula Three, Formula Ford and Can-Am chassis. Stewart gave the March its first Formula One victory at the 1970 Spanish Grand Prix, the 701s tanks though lacked endplates and skirts to help generate any meaningful ground effect. For the 1971 Formula One season March Engineering came up with the remarkable 711 chassis, which had aerodynamics by Frank Costin, the car took no wins, but Ronnie Peterson finished second on four occasions, ending as runner-up in the World Championship. Alfa Romeo V8 powered cars were entered, to little avail. The 1972 Formula One season completely failed to capitalise on the promise shown in 1970-71, Three distinct models of car were used, beginning with the 721, which was a development of the 711. Peterson and Niki Lauda then drove the disappointing experimental 721X factory cars, Frank Williams ran regular 711 and 721 customer cars for Henri Pescarolo and Carlos Pace. The 721G was light and quick, and the team soon built their own chassis. Had they started the year with these, wins may well have been possible, the 721G set the trend for future March F1 cars, which for the rest of the 1970s were essentially scaled-up F2 chassis. Meanwhile, March was going from strength to strength in Formula Two, also, the German team Eifelland entered under its own name a 721 much-modified with distinctive and eccentric bodywork by designer Luigi Colani for its driver Rolf Stommelen. This car was unsuccessful, and later reverted mostly to conventional 721 form and was used by John Watson to make his F1 debut for John Goldies Goldie Hexagon Racing team. Marchs only notable result was Petersons third place in Germany,1973 was the low-point for March in Formula One. Without significant STP money, the March factory team was struggling, running an almost unsponsored car for Jean-Pierre Jarier, Jarier was replaced by Tom Wheatcrofts driver Roger Williamson, who suffered a fatal accident in Zandvoort
4.
Lola Cars
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Lola Cars International Ltd. was a racing car engineering company founded in 1958 by Eric Broadley and based in Huntingdon, England. Enduring more than fifty years, it was one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of racing cars in the world, Lola Cars started by building small front-engined sports cars, and branched out into Formula Junior cars before diversifying into a wider range of sporting vehicles. Lola was acquired by Martin Birrane in 1998 after the unsuccessful MasterCard Lola attempt at Formula One, Lola Cars was a brand of the Lola Group, which combined former rowing boat manufacturer Lola Aylings and Lola Composites, that specialized in carbon fibre production. After a period in administration, Lola Cars International ceased trading on 5 October 2012. Many of Lolas assets were purchased by a partnership composed of Multimatic Engineering. Lola was one of the top chassis suppliers in the 1960s, after its small front-engined sports cars came various single-seaters including Formula Junior, Formula 3, Formula 2 and Formula 1 cars. Broadley designed Lola Mk.6 coupe fitted with the Ford V8 engine, Ford took a keen interest in this and paid Broadley to put the company on hold for two years and merge his ideas with Roy Lunns work, giving rise to the Ford GT40. In 2005, Lola announced that a new batch of T70 coupés, to the original specifications and these will be homologated for historic racing and there is talk of a one-make series for the cars. Various Group 5 and Group 6 sports cars including the T212 and T28x/29x/38x/39x series were built, competing with Chevron, March. Alain de Cadenets Le Mans specials tended to be based on Lola technology, derivatives of this car were successful for some time in IMSA and Group C racing. Later Lola Group C and GTP cars tended to be specifically for manufacturer programmes, specifically the later Nissan Group C entries. Lola also built a car for the 3.5 L Group C formula, the T92/10, more recently, Lola has produced a range of sports cars for Le Mans-style racing starting with the B98/10, which was successful in the European market but less so in the USA. The B2K/10, with its additional central headlight reminiscent of a cyclops or a locomotive was more notable for its looks than its performance, a dedicated LMP675 car was built for MG in 2001, powered by a two-litre four-cylinder AER turbocharged engine. This was entered at Le Mans by the team as the MG-Lola EX257. Later developments of this car have been fitted with assorted small V8s, an updated version of the Lola LMP2 came in 2005 with the introduction of the Lola B05/40. It quickly became a contender in LMP2 by taking class honours in 2005 and 2006 at Le Mans with Ray Mallock Limited. It also earned several wins in the American Le Mans Series in 2005 and 2006 with Intersport Racing, including a second-place overall finish in the 200612 Hours of Sebring. In 2007, extensive updates were made to the chassis, to accommodate the all-new Acura powerplant run by Fernandez Racing, in addition, an essentially brand new LMP2 prototype, the B07/40, was built to house the new AER-based Mazda engine
5.
Team Lotus
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Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in motorsport series, including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar. The Lotus name returned to Formula One in 2010, as the name of Tony Fernandess Lotus Racing team. In 2011, Team Lotuss iconic black-and-gold livery returned to F1 as the livery of the Lotus Renault GP team, sponsored by Lotus Cars, colin Chapman established Lotus Engineering Ltd in 1952 at Hornsey, UK. Lotus achieved rapid success with the 1953 Mk 6 and the 1954 Mk 8 sports cars, Team Lotus was split off from Lotus Engineering in 1954. A new Formula Two regulation was announced for 1957, and in Britain, the following year, the Lotus 12 appeared. Driving one in 1958, Allison won the F2 class in the International Trophy at Silverstone, beating Stuart Lewis-Evanss Cooper. As the Coventry Climax engines were enlarged in 1952 to 2. 2-litres, Chapman decided to enter Grand Prix racing, running a pair of Lotus 12s at Monaco in 1958 for Graham Hill and these were replaced later that year by Lotus 16s. By then, the success had caused it to expand to such an extent that it had to move to new premises at Cheshunt. The first Formula One victory for Team Lotus came when Innes Ireland won the 1961 United States Grand Prix, a year earlier, Stirling Moss had recorded the first victory for a Lotus car at Monaco in his Lotus 18 entered by the independent Rob Walker Racing Team. There were successes in Formula Two and Formula Junior, the road car business was doing well with the Lotus Seven and the Lotus Elite and this was followed by the Lotus Elan in 1962. In 1963 Clark drove the Lotus 25 to a remarkable seven wins in a season and won the World Championship. The 1964 title was still for the taking by the time of the last race in Mexico but problems with Clarks Lotus, however, in 1965, Clark dominated again, six wins in his Lotus 33 gave him the championship. While very innovative, Chapman also came under criticism for the fragility of his designs. In Dave Friedmans book Indianapolis Memories 1961–1969, Dan Gurney is quoted as saying and we had several structural failures in those cars. But at the time, I felt it was the price you paid for getting something significantly better, a switch to the new Ford Cosworth DFV, designed by former Lotus employee Keith Duckworth, in 1967 returned the team to winning form. Although they failed to win the title in 1967, by the end of the season, the Lotus 49, however, for 1968 Lotus had lost its exclusive right to use the DFV. The season-opening 1968 South African Grand Prix confirmed Lotuss superiority, with Jim Clark and it would be Clarks last win
6.
Matich
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The Matich SR3 was a Group A Sports Car built for Matich by Bob Britton in 1967. It was powered by an Oldsmobile V8 engine and was driven to victory by Matich in the 1967 Australian Tourist Trophy, later in the year, Matich raced in both the US Can-Am series and in Australia, with two SR3s fitted with 4. 4-litre Repco V8 engines. Matich won the 1968 Australian Tourist Trophy with a Repco powered SR3, a completely new design, the Matich SR4, was produced with designer-frabricator Henry Nehrybecki for 1969 utilising a quad cam Repco 740 V8. Matich dominated the inaugural Australian Sports Car Championship in that year, the SR4B was a sports racing car of circa 1969 which was powered by a Ford Twin Cam engine. In 1970 it was revised, renamed as the Matich SR5, following the adoption of Formula 5000 regulations into Australian Formula 1 in 1971, Matich and Nehrybecki produced the Matich A50, the first single seater to wear the Matich name. The A50 was designed as a replacement for Frank Matichs successful McLaren M10B, designed on a modular basis with separate front suspension, cockpit and rear end, the car was powered by a 5.0 L Repco Holden V8 engine. Matich drove an A50 to victory in the cars first race, just three months after his 1971 AGP success, Matich qualified the A50 on pole for the 1972 Australian Grand Prix at Sandown and led early before retiring with scavenge pump failure on lap 5. Frank Matich then went on to win the 1972 Australian Drivers Championship at the wheel of his A50, a total of four A50s were built during this period. Chassis 005 was used by Lella Lombardi in 2 races in 1974 and was sold to John Goss who rebuilt it as an A53. Chassis 006 was modified and became the A52, Matich built a revised car, the Matich A52, using A51-006 monocoque for the 1973 Australian Drivers Championship. The A52 had side radiators, a shorter wheelbase, shorter nose, after just a single race, Matich withdrew from the championship and put his cars up for sale. It was later wrecked in a testing accident, the Matich A53 was raced by Matich in the 1974 Tasman Series after which he retired from racing. The car then sold to John Goss who finished 9th in the 1974 Australian Drivers Championship and it failed to start the 1974 Australian Grand Prix at Oran Park due to engine failure. However, the Ford engine provided power and ultimately proved uncompetitive compared to the Repco and, after Goss sold the car to Mel McEwin. During its competition life the Matich A50-53s Repco-Holden power output was rated around 500 bhp, the Official 50 Race History of the Australian Grand Prix
7.
Chevron Cars Ltd
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This article is about the manufacturer of racing cars, for the Chevron promotional cartoon see Chevron Cars. Chevron Cars Ltd. is an English manufacturer of racing cars, following Bennetts death in 1978, the firm has remained active in various guises. The original companys designs and name continue to be used to build replacement parts, in 2000, Chevron Racing Cars Ltd. Derek Bennett was born in 1933 in Manchester, he was brought up in Prestwich and he was a largely self-taught, intuitive engineer and a talented amateur racing driver. In his early years Bennett took a keen interest in model aircraft, aided by a small staff of like-minded enthusiasts, for a decade and a half Chevron produced successful, beautiful racing cars. Bennett never proceeded beyond Formula Three in his own driving but remained quick enough to test and develop many of his cars, especially at the nearby Oulton Park and he was working on a Formula One Chevron when he was killed in a hang-gliding accident in 1978. Chevron was particularly noted for its small-capacity sports cars and its Formula Two, Formula Three, Bennett was notable in his design genius for the first car with a Diffuser - Chevron GT, first car with a Crash Box Chevron B16. The B16 Spyder was introduced, with an inspired by Porsche 908 Spyder. Chevron was active and very successful in single seater formulae during this period, concentrating mostly upon Formula 3 Formula Two, nearly every Formula 1 driver of the 1970s drove a Chevron in their earlier careers including Niki Lauda. Many of Chevrons notable customers were also from the North of England including John Bridges, Digby Martland, and John Lepp. Several key Chevron employees, including designer Paul Brown and co founder and Director Owens, also worked on the short-lived Maurer Formula Two cars, and later a Director at Reynard Racing Cars. This company produced spare parts for the range of Chevron cars as well as designing and building a few new Sports 2000 and Formula Atlantic models up until 1983 when this company also liquidated. Produced over 50 cars for Formula Ford, Formula Ford 2000, Sports 2000 and they continued their existing business as Chevron restorers and Race preparers. In 2006 Chris Smith purchased a majority holding in the newly started company called Chevron Cars Ltd. from the owners Roger Andreason. Both Roger and Tim remained minority shareholders, with Tim remaining as a Director, the following five years saw Chris Smith invest substantially in Chevron. During this time he oversaw the construction of around 10 Continuation B8 and B16 models, helen and Vin will remain as consultants. Chevrons are popular cars in racing and various businesses still refettle. Continuation models of the 1970s Chevron B16 are built by both Chevron Cars and Chevron Racing, and are eligible for racing with FIA approval
8.
Sports car racing
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Sports car racing is a form of circuit auto racing with sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built or related to road-going models, a type of hybrid between the purism of open-wheelers and the familiarity of touring car racing, this style is often associated with the annual Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race. First run in 1923, Le Mans is one of the oldest motor races still in existence, other classic but now defunct sports car races include the Italian classics, the Targa Florio and Mille Miglia, and the Mexican Carrera Panamericana. Most top class sports car races emphasize endurance, reliability, and strategy, longer races usually involve complex pit strategy and regular driver changes. These makers top road cars have often very similar both in engineering and styling to those raced. This close association with the nature of the cars serves as a useful distinction between sports car racing and touring cars. The 12 Hours of Sebring,24 Hours of Daytona, and 24 Hours of Le Mans were once considered the trifecta of sports car racing. In the 1920s, the used in endurance racing and Grand Prix were still basically identical, with fenders. Cars such as the Bugatti Type 35 were almost equally at home in Grands Prix and endurance events, but specialisation gradually started to differentiate the sports-racer from the Grand Prix car. As mainly Italian cars and races defined the genre, the category was called Gran Turismo, as long distances had to be travelled, reliability and some basic comfort were necessary in order to endure the task. After the Second World War, sports car racing emerged as a form of racing with its own classic races. Top Grand Prix drivers also competed regularly in sports car racing, from 1962 sports cars temporarily took a back seat to GT cars with the FIA replacing the World Championship for Sports Cars with the International Championship for GT Manufacturers. The US scene tended to feature small MG and Porsche cars in the smaller classes, the combination of mostly British chassis and American V8 engines gave rise to the popular and spectacular Can-Am series in the 1960s and 1970s. Clubmans provided much entertainment at club-racing level from the 1960s into the 1990s, after a relative period of decline in the 1980s a British GT Championship emerged in the mid-90s. Road races such as the Mille Miglia included everything from stock touring cars to World Championship contenders, the Mille Miglia was the largest sporting event in Italy until a fatal accident caused its demise in 1957. The Targa Florio, another road race, remained part of the world championship until the 1970s. Between the late 1960s and late 1970s, Matra and Renault made significant, the competition at Le Mans even made it to the movie screens, with Steve McQueens film Le Mans. This era was seen by many as the highpoint of sports car racing, with the technology, a peculiarly American form of sports car racing was the Can-Am series, in which virtually unlimited sports prototypes competed in relatively short races
9.
Chevrolet
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Chevrolet, colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors. Louis Chevrolet and ousted General Motors founder William C. Durant started the company on November 3,1911 as the Chevrolet Motor Car Company. Durant used the Chevrolet Motor Car Company to acquire a stake in General Motors with a reverse merger occurring on May 2,1918. Chevrolet-branded vehicles are sold in most automotive markets worldwide, with the exception of Oceania. However, GM reversed this move in late 2013, announcing that the brand would be withdrawn from Europe, with the exception of the Camaro, Chevrolet vehicles will continue to be marketed in the CIS states, including Russia. After General Motors fully acquired GM Daewoo in 2011 to create GM Korea, in North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Durant was cast out from the management of General Motors in 1910 for five years and he took over the Flint Wagon Works, incorporating the Mason and Little companies. As head of Buick Motor Company prior to founding GM, Durant had hired Louis Chevrolet to drive Buicks in promotional races, Durant planned to use Chevrolets reputation as a racer as the foundation for his new automobile company. Actual design work for the first Chevy, the costly Series C Classic Six, was drawn up by Etienne Planche, the first C prototype was ready months before Chevrolet was actually incorporated. However the first actual production wasnt until the 1913 model, so in essence there were no 1911 or 1912 production models, only the 1 pre-production model was made and fine tuned throughout the early part of 1912. Then in the fall of that year the new 1913 model was introduced at the New York auto show, Chevrolet first used the bowtie emblem logo in 1914 on the H series models and The L Series Model. It may have been designed from wallpaper Durant once saw in a French hotel room, more recent research by historian Ken Kaufmann presents a case that the logo is based on a logo of the Coalettes coal company. An example of this logo as it appeared in an advertisement for Coalettes appeared in the Atlanta Constitution on November 12,1911, others claim that the design was a stylized Swiss cross, in tribute to the homeland of Chevrolets parents. Chevrolet eventually unified all vehicle models with the gold bowtie in 2004, Louis Chevrolet had differences with Durant over design and in 1914 sold Durant his share in the company. By 1916, Chevrolet was profitable enough with successful sales of the cheaper Series 490 to allow Durant to repurchase a controlling interest in General Motors. After the deal was completed in 1917, Durant became president of General Motors, in 1919, Chevrolets factories were located at Flint, Michigan, branch assembly locations were located in Tarrytown, N. Y. Norwood, Ohio, St. Louis, Missouri, Oakland, California, Ft. Worth, Texas, mcLaughlins were given GM Corporation stock for the proprietorship of their Company article Sept.23,1933 Financial Post page 9. In the 1918 model year, Chevrolet introduced the Series D, Sales were poor and it was dropped in 1919
10.
V8 engine
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A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder V configuration engine with the cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two sets of four, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft. Most banks are set at an angle to each other, some at a narrower angle, with 45°, 60°. In its simplest form, the V8 is basically two parallel inline-four engines sharing a common crankshaft, since the 1920s, most V8s have used the somewhat more complex crossplane crankshaft with heavy counterweights to eliminate the vibrations. This results in an engine that is smoother than a V6, most racing V8s continue to use the single plane crankshaft because it allows faster acceleration and more efficient exhaust system designs. In 1902, Léon Levavasseur took out a patent on a light and he called it the Antoinette after the young daughter of his financial backer. From 1904 he installed this engine in a number of competition speedboats, the aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont saw one of these boats in Côte dAzur and decided to try it on his 14-bis aircraft. Its early 24 hp at 1400 rpm version with only 55 kg of weight was interesting, Santos-Dumont ordered a larger and more powerful version from Levavasseur. He changed its dimensions from the original 80 mm stroke and 80 mm bore to 105 mm stroke and 110 mm bore, obtaining 50 hp with 86 kg of weight and its power-to-weight ratio was not surpassed for 25 years. Levavasseur eventually produced its own line of V8 equipped aircraft, named Antoinette I to VIII, hubert Latham piloted the V8 powered Antoinette IV and Antoinette VII in July 1909 on two failed attempts to cross the English Channel. However, in 1910, Latham used the VII with the engine to become the first in the world to reach an altitude of 3600 feet. Voisin constructed pusher biplanes with Antoinette engines, also, notably the one first flown successfully by Henry Farman in 1908, the V8 engine configuration became popular in France from 1904 onward, and was used in a number of aircraft engines introduced by Renault, and Buchet among others. Some of these found their way into automobiles in small quantities. In 1905, Darracq built a car to beat the world speed record. They came up with two racing car built on a common crankcase and camshaft. The result was monstrous engine with a displacement of 1,551 cu in, victor Hemery fixed that record on 30 December 1905 with a speed of 109.65 mph. Rolls-Royce built a 3,535 cc V8 car from 1905 to 1906, in 1907 The Hewitt Motor Company built a large 5 passenger Touring Car. It was equipped with a hefty V8 engine that developed 50/60 horsepower and had a bore of 4 inches, the Hewitt was the first American Automobile to be equipped with a V8 engine. De Dion-Bouton introduced a 7,773 cc automobile V8 in 1910 and it was produced only in small quantities, but inspired a number of manufacturers to follow suit
