Ralston Lynx MkII-C Coupe (1961)
Like many luxury marques entering the Great Depression, a bifurcated range of 'Senior' models - large cars with large engines, tailor-made to their customer's whims, and a 'Junior' model, exhibiting much of the flash, but with certain production and planning efficiencies befitting a less specialised product. So it was with Ralston. The 'Tigre' adopted specialist coachbuilt bodies, and potent Straight-eight engines, and the lower series line was named 'Lynx', and was sportier and lighter of build.
The MkI Lynx production ran from 1927 until the advent of WWII, surviving the Great Depression as much through a lack of competition, as from cost minimisation. Volumes were always low, but sustainable.
For the second series of Lynx, launched in 1956, the recipe was much the same. This time though, the line was focused on a low-slung sportscar (Coupe and Roadster), built in the Superleggera fashion. Bodies were hand-made in Italy by various coach builders, transported to Finland (to the modest vehicle works that the company had its origins in), and fitted with engines shipped from the US. The process was expensive, particularly shipping whole bodies over such a distance. The European market was buoyant, though most makers only had modest four-cylinder power available to them, either through taxation measures, material rationing, or a lack of available engines. In the US, apart from the Corvette, which had also launched initially with six-cylinder power, there was little sportscar competition.
For the Type-II Lynx the engine was again a six-cylinder inline engine from Continental (the US specialist engine builders), deploying an early development, high-compression OHC head atop a 232 CID (3.8 L) later to power various AMC models.
For 1956, the engine developed 180 hp, rising to 210 hp in 1959 and 225 hp ins the MkII-C of 1961. Each improvement driven as much by fuel octane ratings, aspiration technology, and the need to keep pace with the competition. For the Lynx application, the engine was also inclined over 30 degrees, and fitted with a dry sump in an effort to reduce the engine height, and improve the cars already low centre of gravity. This did add expense to the unit, making it impractical for a shared installation in other models.
This in an era of increasingly inexpensive US V8 horsepower would have been a major problem, but for the cars relatively light weight. This was less of an issue in Europe, but the Ralston still had to content with Ferraris and Jaguars. A V8 engine was too wide, however, and so planning for a V12 model to replace the last MkII-C was scheduled for 1963, based on the unit in the large MkIII Tigre. This necessitated a larger car (a move already seen in the market), and a shift in focus toward being a GT car.
The version shown here is a 1961 MkII-C with fast C-Pillars bodied by Bertone (the II and II-B had a wrap around rear window and modest rear fins). The car also exhibits two-tone bodywork (a trend on the wane during this period), based on the racing colours often deployed on the race-going lightweight Roadster models.
This lego miniland-scale Ralston Lynx MkII-C Coupe has been created for Flickr LUGNuts' 120th Build Challenge, - 'Happy 10th Anniversary, LUGNuts', - where all the previous challenge themes are open for use in creating builds for the Challenge.
The Challenge theme chosen is number 95 - 'Designing the Ralston Legacy' - for any vehicle from the fiction 'Ralston' Marque introduced by Lino back in Challenge 63
Ralston Lynx MkII-C Coupe (1961)
Like many luxury marques entering the Great Depression, a bifurcated range of 'Senior' models - large cars with large engines, tailor-made to their customer's whims, and a 'Junior' model, exhibiting much of the flash, but with certain production and planning efficiencies befitting a less specialised product. So it was with Ralston. The 'Tigre' adopted specialist coachbuilt bodies, and potent Straight-eight engines, and the lower series line was named 'Lynx', and was sportier and lighter of build.
The MkI Lynx production ran from 1927 until the advent of WWII, surviving the Great Depression as much through a lack of competition, as from cost minimisation. Volumes were always low, but sustainable.
For the second series of Lynx, launched in 1956, the recipe was much the same. This time though, the line was focused on a low-slung sportscar (Coupe and Roadster), built in the Superleggera fashion. Bodies were hand-made in Italy by various coach builders, transported to Finland (to the modest vehicle works that the company had its origins in), and fitted with engines shipped from the US. The process was expensive, particularly shipping whole bodies over such a distance. The European market was buoyant, though most makers only had modest four-cylinder power available to them, either through taxation measures, material rationing, or a lack of available engines. In the US, apart from the Corvette, which had also launched initially with six-cylinder power, there was little sportscar competition.
For the Type-II Lynx the engine was again a six-cylinder inline engine from Continental (the US specialist engine builders), deploying an early development, high-compression OHC head atop a 232 CID (3.8 L) later to power various AMC models.
For 1956, the engine developed 180 hp, rising to 210 hp in 1959 and 225 hp ins the MkII-C of 1961. Each improvement driven as much by fuel octane ratings, aspiration technology, and the need to keep pace with the competition. For the Lynx application, the engine was also inclined over 30 degrees, and fitted with a dry sump in an effort to reduce the engine height, and improve the cars already low centre of gravity. This did add expense to the unit, making it impractical for a shared installation in other models.
This in an era of increasingly inexpensive US V8 horsepower would have been a major problem, but for the cars relatively light weight. This was less of an issue in Europe, but the Ralston still had to content with Ferraris and Jaguars. A V8 engine was too wide, however, and so planning for a V12 model to replace the last MkII-C was scheduled for 1963, based on the unit in the large MkIII Tigre. This necessitated a larger car (a move already seen in the market), and a shift in focus toward being a GT car.
The version shown here is a 1961 MkII-C with fast C-Pillars bodied by Bertone (the II and II-B had a wrap around rear window and modest rear fins). The car also exhibits two-tone bodywork (a trend on the wane during this period), based on the racing colours often deployed on the race-going lightweight Roadster models.
This lego miniland-scale Ralston Lynx MkII-C Coupe has been created for Flickr LUGNuts' 120th Build Challenge, - 'Happy 10th Anniversary, LUGNuts', - where all the previous challenge themes are open for use in creating builds for the Challenge.
The Challenge theme chosen is number 95 - 'Designing the Ralston Legacy' - for any vehicle from the fiction 'Ralston' Marque introduced by Lino back in Challenge 63