It was the first mass-produced and purpose-designed electric vehicle of the modern era from a major automaker, and the first GM car designed to be an electric vehicle from the outset. Petersen Automotive Museum, Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, USA

 

For my video; youtu.be/WHhWjIkpdBQ

The Lamborghini Miura is a sports car produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 1966 and 1973. The car pioneered the mid-engined two-seat layout, the standard for high-performance sports and supercars since. When released, it was the fastest production road car made.

 

The Miura was originally conceived by Lamborghini's engineering team, which designed the car in its spare time against the wishes of company founder Ferruccio Lamborghini, who preferred powerful yet sedate grand touring cars over the race car-derived machines produced by local rival Ferrari.

 

The Miura's rolling chassis was presented at the 1965 Turin auto show, and the prototype P400 debuted at the 1966 Geneva show. It received stellar receptions from showgoers and the motoring press alike, each impressed by Marcello Gandini's sleek styling and the car's revolutionary mid-engine design.

 

Lamborghini's flagship, the Miura received periodic updates and remained in production until 1973. A year later the extreme Countach entered the automaker's lineup, amid tumultuous financial times for the company.

 

DEVELOPMENT

During 1965, Lamborghini's three top engineers, Gian Paolo Dallara, Paolo Stanzani, and Bob Wallace put their own time into developing a prototype car known as the P400. The engineers envisioned a road car with racing pedigree – one which could win on the track and be driven on the road by enthusiasts. The three men worked on its design at night, hoping to convince company founder Ferruccio Lamborghini such a vehicle would neither be too expensive nor distract from the company's focus. When finally brought aboard, Lamborghini gave his engineers a free hand in the belief the P400 was a potentially valuable marketing tool, if nothing more.

 

The car featured a transversely-mounted mid-engine layout, a departure from previous Lamborghini cars. The V12 was also unusual in that it was effectively merged with the transmission and differential, reflecting a lack of space in the tightly-wrapped design. The rolling chassis was displayed at the Turin Salon in 1965. Impressed showgoers placed orders for the car despite the lack of a body to go over the chassis.

 

Bertone was placed in charge of styling the prototype, which was finished just days before its debut at the 1966 Geneva motor show. Curiously, none of the engineers had found time to check if the engine fit inside its compartment. Committed to showing the car, they decided to fill the engine bay with ballast and keep the hood locked throughout the show, as they had three years earlier for the début of the 350GTV. Sales head Sgarzi was forced to turn away members of the motoring press who wanted to see the P400's power plant. Despite this setback, the car was the highlight of the show, immediately boosting stylist Marcello Gandini's reputation.

 

The favourable reaction at Geneva meant the P400 was to go into production by the following year. The name "Miura", a famous type of fighting bull, was chosen, and featured in the company's newly created badge. The car gained the worldwide attention of automotive enthusiasts when it was chosen for the opening sequence of the original 1969 version of The Italian Job. In press interviews of the time Ferruccio Lamborghini was reticent about his precise birth date, but stressed that he was born under the star sign Taurus the bull.

 

PRODUCTION HISTORY

P400

The earliest model of the Miura was known as the P400 (for Posteriore 4 litri). It was powered by a version of the 3.9 L Lamborghini V12 engine used in the 400GT at the time. The engine was mounted transversely and produced 350 PS (257 kW; 345 hp). Exactly 275 P400 were produced between 1966 and 1969 - a success for Lamborghini despite its then-steep price of US$20,000 (equivalent to $146,113 in 2015).

 

Taking a cue from the Morris Mini, Lamborghini formed the engine and gearbox in one casting. Its shared lubrication continued until the last 96 SVs, when the case was split to allow the correct oils to be used for each element.

 

An unconfirmed claim holds the first 125 Miuras were built of 0.9 mm steel and are therefore lighter than later cars. All cars had steel frames and doors, with aluminum front and rear skinned body sections. When leaving the factory they were originally fitted with Pirelli Cinturato 205VR15 tyres (CN72).

 

AWARDS

The Miura won the prestigious Gran Turismo Trophy at the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, and has been re-created for use in the Gran Turismo 5 video game.

 

P400S

The P400S Miura, also known as the Miura S, made its introduction at the Turin Motorshow in November 1968, where the original chassis had been introduced three years earlier. It was slightly revised from the P400, with the addition of power windows, bright chrome trim around external windows and headlights, new overhead inline console with new rocker switches, engine intake manifolds made 2 mm larger, different camshaft profiles, and notched trunk end panels (allowing for slightly more luggage space). Engine changes were reportedly good for an additional 20 PS (15 kW; 20 hp).

 

Other revisions were limited to creature comforts, such as a locking glovebox lid, a reversed position of the cigarette lighter and windshield wiper switch, and single release handles for front and rear body sections. Other interior improvements included the addition of power windows and optional air conditioning, available for US$800. About 338 P400S Miura were produced between December 1968 and March 1971. One S #4407 was owned by Frank Sinatra. Miles Davis also owned one, which he crashed in October 1972 under the influence of cocaine, breaking both ankles. Eddie Van Halen owns one and can be heard revving it up during the bridge in the song Panama

 

P400SV

The last and most famous Miura, the P400SV or Miura SV featured different cam timing and altered carburetors. These gave the engine an additional 15 PS (11 kW; 15 hp), to 385 PS (283 kW; 380 hp). The last 96 SV engines had a split sump. The gearbox now had its lubrication system separate from the engine, which allowed the use of the appropriate types of oil for the gearbox and the engine. This also alleviated concerns that metal shavings from the gearbox could travel into the engine with disastrous and expensive results and made the application of an optional limited-slip differential far easier.

 

The SV can be distinguished from its predecessors from its lack of "eyelashes" around the headlamps, wider rear fenders to accommodate the new 230 mm rear wheels and Pirelli Cinturato tires, and different taillights. 150 SVs were produced.

 

There was a misprint in the SV owners manual indicating bigger intake valves in English size (but correct size in metric). The intake and exhaust valves in all 4 liter V12 Lamborghini remained the same throughout all models. This intake size misprint carried forward into Espada 400GT and Countach LP 400/LP 400S owners manuals as well.

 

P400 JOTA

In 1970, Lamborghini development driver Bob Wallace created a test mule that would conform to the FIA's Appendix J racing regulations. The car was appropriately named the Miura Jota (the pronunciation of the letter 'J' in Spanish). Wallace made extensive modifications to the standard Miura chassis and engine. Weight reductions included replacing steel chassis components and body panels with the lightweight aluminium alloy Avional and replacing side windows with plastic, with the resulting car weighing approximately 800 pounds less than a production Miura. A front spoiler was added and the headlights were replaced with fixed, faired-in units. Wallace substituted two smaller, sill-mounted fuel tanks for the single larger original unit. The suspension was reworked and wider (9" in the front, 12" in the rear), lightweight wheels were fitted. The engine was modified to produce 418-440 bhp at 8800 rpm, with an increased compression ratio, altered cams, electronic ignition, dry-sump lubrication, and less restrictive exhaust system. This single example was eventually sold to a private buyer after extensive testing. In April 1971, the car crashed on the yet-unopened ring road around the city of Brescia, and burned to the ground.

 

It was once widely believed that the Jota had the chassis number of #5084 (a number well out of sequence for the date in question), it has been clarified by Miura expert Joe Sackey in his book The Lamborghini Miura Bible that this is not the case, and that #5084 is in fact a factory modified SV to SVJ spec. This fact has also been confirmed in the massive and long running Miura thread on the lamborghini section of www.ferrarichat.com

 

A recreation of the Jota was later undertaken by Chris Lawrence of Wymondham Engineering for Lamborghini owner Piet Pulford from the United Kingdom on chassis #3033.

 

P400 SV/J

There are six examples of the Miura SV/J known to be built by the factory while the Miura was still in production, one was built new (chassis #5090) and five were converted from existing SVs (chassis #4934, #4860, #4892, #4990 & #5084)

 

One of these cars, chassis #4934, was built for the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The Shah stored this car under armed guard with another SV in Royal Palace in Tehran. After he fled the country during the Iranian Revolution, his cars were seized by the Iranian government. The SV/J was sold into Dubai in 1995. In 1997 this car was sold in a Brooks auction to Nicolas Cage, at US$490,000, becoming the model's highest ever price at auction. Cage sold the car in 2002. Higher prices have been reached several times since then, including by SVJ #4892 selling for over $1.9M

 

Of the seven known original cars #4892 is a recent addition to the list of known genuine SVJ's with factory documentation now having come to light.

 

An eighth SV/J was built at the Lamborghini factory between 1983 and 1987 from an unused Miura S chassis. This was made for Jean Claude Mimran, one of the Mimran brothers, the then owner of Lamborghini. Most experts do not recognize this as an "official" SVJ due to it being converted (albeit done by the factory) long after the Miura went out of production.

 

Further Miuras were subsequently upgraded to SVJ specifications (trying to imitate the real factory SVJs) by various garages of Switzerland, USA and Japan.

 

ROADSTER

Another one-off, the Miura Roadster (actually more of a targa-model, but without any removable roof) was built by Bertone as a show car. Based on a P400, it was first shown at the 1968 Brussels Auto Show. After having been exhibited at several auto salons the car was sold to the International Lead Zinc Research Organization (ILZRO) who turned it into a display-vehicle showcasing the possibilities of using zinc alloys in cars. The car was named the ZN75. A few other Miuras have had their tops removed, but this Bertone Miura Roadster was the only factory open-top Miura.

 

In 2006 the ZN75 was purchased by New York City real estate developer Adam Gordon. Gordon had Bobileff Motorcars in San Diego, California return the car to its original Bertone Roadster form. The restored car was first shown in August 2008 at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

 

The one of a kind Miura Roadster was shown at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in 2013.

 

P400 SVJ SPIDER

This one-off example of the Miura was displayed at the 1981 Geneva Motor Show with other new Lamborghini models (Jalpa and LM002) shortly after new company CEO Patrick Mimran took over the factory although it was never a factory authorised model r modifications. Finished in pearl white, the SVJ Spider was the formerly yellow Miura S presented at the 1981 Geneva Motor Show, and uses chassis #4808 Equipped with wide wheels and a rear wing reflecting the marque's revival, it was wrongly considered by some as a prototype for a possible limited series of Miura Spider whereas in fact it was simply a one off show car constructed on behalf by the Swiss Lamborghini Importer Lambomotor AG (and as such is not an official factory modification or indeed has any link to the factory bar its original 1970 build).

 

Subsequently, bought by Swiss Lamborghini collector Jean Wicki, the car had its rear wing and chin spoiler removed and was painted silver, bringing the car's style closer to the Berlinetta SVJ. Lamborghini specialist Autodrome (France) purchased the car from Wicki and restored its bodywork and upholstery in partnership with Carrosserie Lecoq (Paris). Painted traditional Miura lime green, the car was eventually sold to a Parisian collector. The car has stiffness issues and does not drive that well (as stated by the world-renowned Miura expert Joe Sackey), it's also not that well received by the general Miura cogniscenti who post on VLG and also on the worlds longest running and largest Miura debate which is on fchat. Other than private modifications, there are only two "open" Miuras, officially presented in International Motor shows: the Bertone Miura Roadster, exhibited on Bertone's own stand at Bruxelles in 1968, and this non factory example, shown on the Lamborghini stand at the Geneva Motor show in 1981.

 

2006 MIURA CONCEPT

A Miura concept car was presented at the American Museum of Television & Radio on January 5, 2006 alongside the Los Angeles Auto Show, though it was not presented at the show itself. Instead, the Miura concept car officially debuted at the North American International Auto Show two weeks later. It was the first design to be penned by Lamborghini design chief, Walter de'Silva, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 1966 Geneva introduction of the original Miura.

 

Lamborghini president and CEO Stefan Winkelmann denied that the concept would mark the Miura's return to production, saying “The Miura was a celebration of our history, but Lamborghini is about the future. Retro design is not what we are here for. So we won’t do the Miura.”

 

2016 Lamborghini Special edition Aventador Miura Homage

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Lamborghini Miura – a forerunner of all V12 Lamborghini super sports cars – Lamborghini has unveiled the Aventador Miura Homage. The special edition car has been created by the company’s Ad Personam customization division.

 

WIKIPEDIA

The Volkswagen Type 2, known officially (depending on body type) as the Transporter, Kombi or Microbus, or, informally, as the Bus (US) or Camper (UK), is a forward control panel van introduced in 1950 by the German automaker Volkswagen as its second car model. Following – and initially deriving from Volkswagen's first model, the Type 1 (Beetle) – it was given the factory designation Type 2.

 

As one of the forerunners of the modern cargo and passenger vans, the Type 2 gave rise to forward control competitors in the United States in the 1960s, including the Ford Econoline, the Dodge A100, and the Chevrolet Corvair 95 Corvan, the latter adopting the Type 2's rear-engine configuration.

 

European competition included the 1947-1981 Citroën H Van, the 1959-1980 Renault Estafette (both FF layout), and the 1953-1965 FR layout Ford Transit.

 

Japanese manufacturers also introduced the platform in different configurations, such as the Nissan Caravan, Toyota LiteAce and the Subaru Sambar.

 

Like the Beetle, the van has received numerous nicknames worldwide, including the "microbus", "minibus", and, because of its popularity during the counterculture movement of the 1960s, Hippie van/wagon, and still remains iconic for many hippies today.

 

Brazil contained the last factory in the world that produced the T2. Production in Brazil ceased on December 31, 2013, due to the introduction of more stringent safety regulations in the country. This marks the end of an era with the rear-engine Volkswagens manufactured (after the 2002 termination of its T3 successor in South Africa), which originated in 1935 with their Type 1 prototypes.

 

HISTORY

The concept for the Type 2 is credited to Dutch Volkswagen importer Ben Pon. (It has similarities in concept to the 1920s Rumpler Tropfenwagen and 1930s Dymaxion car by Buckminster Fuller, neither of which reached production.) Pon visited Wolfsburg in 1946, intending to purchase Type 1s for import to the Netherlands, where he saw an improvised parts-mover and realized something better was possible using the stock Type 1 pan. He first sketched the van in a doodle dated April 23, 1947, proposing a payload of 690 kg and placing the driver at the very front. Production would have to wait, however, as the factory was at capacity producing the Type 1.

 

When capacity freed up, a prototype known internally as the Type 29 was produced in a short three months. The stock Type 1 pan proved to be too weak so the prototype used a ladder chassis with unit body construction. Coincidentally the wheelbase was the same as the Type 1's. Engineers reused the reduction gear from the Type 81, enabling the 1.5 ton van to use a 25 hp (19 kW) flat four engine.

 

Although the aerodynamics of the first prototypes were poor (with an initial drag coefficient of Cd=0.75), engineers used the wind tunnel at the Technical University of Braunschweig to optimize the design. Simple changes such as splitting the windshield and roofline into a "vee" helped the production Type 2 achieve Cd=0.44, exceeding the Type 1's Cd=0.48. Volkswagen's new chief executive officer Heinz Nordhoff (appointed 1 January 1948) approved the van for production on 19 May 1949 and the first production model, now designated Type 2, rolled off the assembly line to debut 12 November. Only two models were offered: the Kombi (with two side windows and middle and rear seats that were easily removable by one person), and the Commercial. The Microbus was added in May 1950, joined by the Deluxe Microbus in June 1951. In all 9,541 Type 2s were produced in their first year of production.

 

An ambulance model was added in December 1951 which repositioned the fuel tank in front of the transaxle, put the spare tire behind the front seat, and added a "tailgate"-style rear door. These features became standard on the Type 2 from 1955 to 1967. 11,805 Type 2s were built in the 1951 model year. These were joined by a single-cab pickup in August 1952, and it changed the least of the Type 2s until all were heavily modified in 1968.

 

Unlike other rear engine Volkswagens, which evolved constantly over time but never saw the introduction of all-new models, the Transporter not only evolved, but was completely revised periodically with variations retrospectively referred to as versions "T1" to "T5" (a nomenclature only invented after the introduction of the front-drive T4 which replaced the T25). However, only generations T1 to T3 (or T25 as it is still called in Ireland and Great Britain) can be seen as directly related to the Beetle (see below for details).

 

The Type 2, along with the 1947 Citroën H Van, are among the first 'forward control' vans in which the driver was placed above the front roadwheels. They started a trend in Europe, where the 1952 GM Bedford CA, 1958 RAF-977, 1959 Renault Estafette, 1960 BMC Morris J4, and 1960 Commer FC also used the concept. In the United States, the Corvair-based Chevrolet Corvan cargo van and Greenbrier passenger van went so far as to copy the Type 2's rear-engine layout, using the Corvair's horizontally opposed, air-cooled engine for power. Except for the Greenbrier and various 1950s–70s Fiat minivans, the Type 2 remained unique in being rear-engined. This was a disadvantage for the early "barndoor" Panel Vans, which could not easily be loaded from the rear because the engine cover intruded on interior space, but generally advantageous in traction and interior noise.

 

VARIANTS

The Type 2 was available as a:

 

Panel van, a delivery van without side windows or rear seats.

Double-door Panel Van, a delivery van without side windows or rear seats and cargo doors on both sides.

High Roof Panel Van (German: Hochdach), a delivery van with raised roof.

Kombi, from German: Kombinationskraftwagen (combination motor vehicle), with side windows and removable rear seats, both a passenger and a cargo vehicle combined.

Bus, also called a Volkswagen Caravelle, a van with more comfortable interior reminiscent of passenger cars since the third generation.

Lotação (share-taxi), a version exclusive to Brazil, with 6 front-hinged doors for the passenger area and 4 bench-seats, catering to the supplemental public transport segment.[citation needed] Available from 1960 to 1989, in both the split-window and "clipper" (fitted with the bay-window front panel) bodystyles.

Samba-Bus, a van with skylight windows and cloth sunroof, first generation only, also known as a Deluxe Microbus. They were marketed for touring the Alps.

Flatbed pickup truck, or Single Cab, also available with wider load bed.

Crew cab pick-up, a flatbed truck with extended cab and two rows of seats, also called a Doka, from German: Doppelkabine.

Westfalia camping van, "Westy", with Westfalia roof and interior. Included optional "pop up" top.

Adventurewagen camping van, with high roof and camping units from Adventurewagen.

Semi-camping van that can also still be used as a passenger car and transporter, sacrificing some camping comforts. "Multivan" or "Weekender", available from the third generation on.

 

Apart from these factory variants, there were a multitude of third-party conversions available, some of which were offered through Volkswagen dealers. They included, but were not limited to, refrigerated vans, hearses, ambulances, police vans, fire engines and ladder trucks, and camping van conversions by companies other than Westfalia. There were even 30 Klv 20 rail-going draisines built for Deutsche Bundesbahn in 1955.

 

In South Africa, it is known as a well-loved variation of the ice cream van (first, second and third generations). The mere sight of one (in South Africa) sparks the familiar rhyme: I scream, We scream, We all scream for Ice-Cream!

 

FIRST GENERATION (T1; 1950–1967)

The first generation of the Volkswagen Type 2 with the split windshield, informally called the Microbus, Splitscreen, or Splittie among modern fans, was produced from 8 March 1950 through the end of the 1967 model year. From 1950 to 1956, the T1 (not called that at the time) was built in Wolfsburg; from 1956, it was built at the completely new Transporter factory in Hanover. Like the Beetle, the first Transporters used the 1100 Volkswagen air-cooled engine, an 1,131 cc, DIN-rated 18 kW (24 PS; 24 bhp), air-cooled flat-four-cylinder 'boxer' engine mounted in the rear. This was upgraded to the 1200 – an 1,192 cc 22 kW (30 PS; 30 bhp) in 1953. A higher compression ratio became standard in 1955; while an unusual early version of the 30 kW (41 PS; 40 bhp) engine debuted exclusively on the Type 2 in 1959. This engine proved to be so uncharacteristically troublesome that Volkswagen recalled all 1959 Transporters and replaced the engines with an updated version of the 30 kW engine. Any 1959 models that retain that early engine today are true survivors. Since the engine was totally discontinued at the outset, no parts were ever made available.

 

The early versions of the T1 until 1955 were often called the "Barndoor" (retrospectively called T1a since the 1990s), owing to the enormous rear engine cover, while the later versions with a slightly modified body (the roofline above the windshield is extended), smaller engine bay, and 15" roadwheels instead of the original 16" ones are nowadays called the T1b (again, only called this since the 1990s, based on VW's retrospective T1,2,3,4 etc. naming system.). From the 1964 model year, when the rear door was made wider (same as on the bay-window or T2), the vehicle could be referred to as the T1c. 1964 also saw the introduction of an optional sliding door for the passenger/cargo area instead of the outwardly hinged doors typical of cargo vans.

 

In 1962, a heavy-duty Transporter was introduced as a factory option. It featured a cargo capacity of 1,000 kg instead of the previous 750 kg, smaller but wider 14" roadwheels, and a 1.5 Le, 31 kW (42 PS; 42 bhp) DIN engine. This was so successful that only a year later, the 750 kg, 1.2 L Transporter was discontinued. The 1963 model year introduced the 1500 engine – 1,493 cc as standard equipment to the US market at 38 kW (52 PS; 51 bhp) DIN with an 83 mm bore, 69 mm (2.72 in) stroke, and 7.8:1 compression ratio. When the Beetle received the 1.5 L engine for the 1967 model year, its power was increased to 40 kW (54 PS; 54 bhp) DIN.

 

German production stopped after the 1967 model year; however, the T1 still was made in Brazil until 1975, when it was modified with a 1968–79 T2-style front end, and big 1972-vintage taillights into the so-called "T1.5" and produced until 1996. The Brazilian T1s were not identical to the last German models (the T1.5 was locally produced in Brazil using the 1950s and 1960s-era stamping dies to cut down on retooling, alongside the Beetle/Fusca, where the pre-1965 body style was retained), though they sported some characteristic features of the T1a, such as the cargo doors and five-stud 205 mm Pitch Circle Diameter rims. Wheel tracks varied between German and Brazilian production and with 14-inch, 15-inch and 16-inch wheel variants but commonly front track varied from 1290 mm to 1310 mm and rear track from 1370 mm to 1390 mm.

 

Among American enthusiasts, it is common to refer to the different models by the number of their windows. The basic Kombi or Bus is the 11-window (a.k.a. three-window bus because of three side windows) with a split windshield, two front cabin door windows, six rear side windows, and one rear window. The DeLuxe model featured eight rear side windows and two rear corner windows, making it the 15-window (not available in Europe). Meanwhile, the sunroof DeLuxe with its additional eight small skylight windows is, accordingly, the 23-window. From the 1964 model year, with its wider rear door, the rear corner windows were discontinued, making the latter two the 13-window and 21-window respectively. The 23- and later 21-window variants each carry the nickname 'Samba', or in Australia, officially 'Alpine'.

 

SAMBA

The Volkswagen Samba, in the United States also known as Sunroof Deluxe, was the most luxurious version of the T1. Volkswagen started producing Sambas in 1951.

 

Originally Volkswagen Vans were classified according to the number of windows they had. This particular model had 23 and later 21 windows including eight panoramic windows in the roof. To distinguish it from the normal 23 or 21-window Volkswagen van the name Samba was coined.

 

Instead of a sliding door at the side the Samba had two pivot doors. In addition the Samba had a fabric sunroof. At that time Volkswagen advertised with the idea of using the Samba to make tourist trips through the Alps.

 

Sambas were painted standard in two colors. Usually, the upper part was colored white. The two colored sections were separated by a decorative strip. Further the bus had a so-called "hat": at the front of the van the roof was just a little longer than the car itself to block the sun for the driver. The windows had chrome tables and the van had a more comprehensive dashboard than the normal T1.

 

When Volkswagen started producing the successor of the T1 (the T2) the company also stopped producing the Samba so there are no Sambas in later versions of the Transporter.

 

US CHICKEN TAX

Certain models of the Volkswagen Type 2 played a role in a historic episode during the early 1960s, known as the Chicken War. France and West Germany had placed tariffs on imports of U.S. chicken. Diplomacy failed, and in January 1964, two months after taking office, President Johnson imposed a 25% tax (almost ten times the average U.S. tariff) on potato starch, dextrin, brandy, and light trucks. Officially, the tax targeted items imported from Europe as approximating the value of lost American chicken sales to Europe.

 

In retrospect, audio tapes from the Johnson White House, revealed a quid pro quo unrelated to chicken. In January 1964, President Johnson attempted to convince United Auto Workers' president Walter Reuther not to initiate a strike just before the 1964 election, and to support the president's civil rights platform. Reuther, in turn, wanted Johnson to respond to Volkswagen's increased shipments to the United States.

 

The Chicken Tax directly curtailed importation of German-built Type 2s in configurations that qualified them as light trucks – that is, commercial vans (panel vans) and pickups. In 1964, U.S. imports of automobile trucks from West Germany declined to a value of $5.7 million – about one-third the value imported in the previous year. After 1971, Volkswagen cargo vans and pickup trucks, the intended targets, "practically disappeared from the U.S. market". While post-1971 Type 2 commercial vans and single-cab and double-cab pickups can be found in the United States today, they are exceedingly rare. Any post-1971 specimen found ostensibly has had its import tariff paid. As of 2013, the "chicken tax" remains in effect.

 

SECOND GENERATION (T2; 1967–1979)

In late 1967, the second generation of the Volkswagen Type 2 (T2) was introduced. It was built in Germany until 1979. In Mexico, the Volkswagen Kombi and Panel were produced from 1970 to 1994. Models before 1971 are often called the T2a (or "Early Bay"), while models after 1972 are called the T2b (or "Late Bay").

 

This second-generation Type 2 lost its distinctive split front windshield, and was slightly larger and considerably heavier than its predecessor. Its common nicknames are Breadloaf and Bay-window, or Loaf and Bay for short. At 1.6 L and 35 kW (48 PS; 47 bhp) DIN, the engine was also slightly larger. The battery and electrical system was upgraded to 12 volts, making it incompatible with electric accessories from the previous generation. The new model also did away with the swing axle rear suspension and transfer boxes previously used to raise ride height. Instead, half-shaft axles fitted with constant velocity joints raised ride height without the wild changes in camber of the Beetle-based swing axle suspension. The updated Bus transaxle is usually sought after by off-road racers using air-cooled Volkswagen components.

 

The T2b was introduced by way of gradual change over three years. The first models featured rounded bumpers incorporating a step for use when the door was open (replaced by indented bumpers without steps on later models), front doors that opened to 90° from the body, no lip on the front guards, unique engine hatches, and crescent air intakes in the D-pillars (later models after the Type 4 engine option was offered, have squared off intakes). The 1971 Type 2 featured a new, 1.6 L engine with dual intake ports on each cylinder head and was DIN-rated at 37 kW (50 PS; 50 bhp). An important change came with the introduction of front disc brakes and new roadwheels with brake ventilation holes and flatter hubcaps. Up until 1972, front indicators are set low on the nose rather than high on either side of the fresh air grille – giving rise to their being nicknamed "Low Lights". 1972's most prominent change was a bigger engine compartment to fit the larger 1.7- to 2.0-litre engines from the Volkswagen Type 4, and a redesigned rear end which eliminated the removable rear apron and introduced the larger late tail lights. The air inlets were also enlarged to accommodate the increased cooling air needs of the larger engines.

In 1971 the 1600cc Type 1 engine as used in the Beetle, was supplemented with the 1700cc Type 4 engine – as it was originally designed for the Type 4 (411 and 412) models. European vans kept the option of upright fan Type 1 1600 engine but the 1700 Type 4 became standard for US spec models.

 

In the Type 2, the Type 4 engine was an option for the 1972 model year onward. This engine was standard in models destined for the US and Canada. Only with the Type 4 engine did an automatic transmission become available for the first time in the 1973 model year. Both engines displaced 1.7 L, DIN-rated at 49 kW (67 PS; 66 bhp) with the manual transmission and 46 kW (63 PS; 62 bhp) with the automatic. The Type 4 engine was enlarged to 1.8 L and 50 kW (68 PS; 67 bhp) DIN for the 1974 model year and again to 2.0 L and 52 kW (71 PS; 70 bhp) DIN for the 1976 model year. The two-litre option appeared in South African manufactured models during 1976, originally only in a comparably well-equipped "Executive" model. The 1978 2.0 L now featured hydraulic valve lifters, eliminating the need to periodically adjust the valve clearances as on earlier models. The 1975 and later U.S. model years received Bosch L-Jetronic electronic fuel injection as standard equipment; 1978 was the first year for electronic ignition, utilizing a hall effect sensor and digital controller, eliminating maintenance-requiring contact-breaker points. As with all Transporter engines, the focus in development was not on power, but on low-end torque. The Type 4 engines were considerably more robust and durable than the Type 1 engines, particularly in Transporter service.

 

In 1972, for the 1973 model year, exterior revisions included relocated front turn indicators, squared off and set higher in the valance, above the headlights. Also, square-profiled bumpers, which became standard until the end of the T2 in 1979, were introduced in 1973. Crash safety improved with this change because of a compressible structure behind the front bumper. This meant that the T2b was capable of meeting US safety standards for passenger cars of the time, though not required of vans. The "VW" emblem on the front valance became slightly smaller.

 

Later model changes were primarily mechanical. By 1974, the T2 had gained its final shape. Very late in the T2's design life, during the late 1970s, the first prototypes of Type 2 vans with four-wheel drive (4WD) were built and tested.

 

T2c

The T2c, with a roof raised by about 10 cm was built starting in the early 1990s for the South American and Central American markets. Since 1991, the T2c has been built in México with the water-cooled 1.8 L inline four-cylinder 53 kW (72 PS; 71 bhp) carbureted engine - easily identified by the large, black front-mounted radiator - and since 1995 with the 1.6 L air-cooled engines for the Brazilian market.

 

Once production of the original Beetle was halted in late 2003, the T2 was the only Volkswagen model with an air-cooled, rear-mounted boxer engine, but then the Brazilian model shifted to a water-cooled engine on 23 December 2005. There was a 1.6 L 50 hp (37 kW; 51 PS) water-cooled diesel engine available from 1981 to 1985, which gave fuel economy of 15 km/l to 18 km/l - but gave slow performance and its insufficient cooling system led to short engine life.

 

The end of the Volkswagen air-cooled engine on a worldwide basis was marked by a Special Edition Kombi. An exclusive Silver paint job, and limited edition emblems were applied to only 200 units in late 2005, and were sold as 2006 models.

 

Stricter emissions regulations introduced by the Brazilian government for 2006 forced a shift to a flexible-fuel water-cooled engine[citation needed] able to run on petrol or alcohol. Borrowed from the Volkswagen Fox, the engine is a rear-mounted EA-111 1.4 L 8v Total Flex 1,390 cc, 58 kW (79 PS; 78 bhp) on petrol, and 60 kW (82 PS; 80 bhp) when run on ethanol, and 124 N·m (91 lbf·ft) torque. This version was very successful, despite the minor changes made to the overall T2-bodied vehicle. It still included the four-speed transmission, but a new final-drive ratio enabled cruising at 120 km/h (75 mph) at 4,100 rpm. Top speed was 130 km/h (81 mph). 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) acceleration took 22.7 seconds (vs. 29.5 seconds for the last air-cooled version). Other improvements included 6.6% better fuel economy, and nearly 2 dB less engine noise.

 

The Volkswagen Type 2 is by far the longest model run in Brazil, having been introduced in September 1950 as the Volkswagen "Kombi", a name it has kept throughout production.[citation needed] Only produced in two versions, bus (nine-seater or 12-seater – a fourth row is added for metro transportation or school bus market) or panel van, it offers only one factory option, a rear window defogger.[citation needed] As of June 2009, the T2 was being built at the Volkswagen Group's São Bernardo do Campo plant at a rate of 97 per day.

 

The production of the Brazilian Volkswagen Kombi ended in 2013 with a production run of 600 Last Edition vehicles.[28] A short movie called "Kombi's last wishes" was made by VW Brazil.

 

POST_TYPE 2 GENERATIONS

THIRD GENERATION (T3; 1979–1992)

The Volkswagen Type 2 (T3) also known as the T25, (or Vanagon in the United States), the T3 platform was introduced in 1980, and was one of the last new Volkswagen platforms to use an air-cooled engine. The Volkswagen air-cooled engine was phased out for a water-cooled boxer engine (still rear-mounted) in 1984. Compared to its predecessor the T2, the T3 was larger and heavier, with square corners replacing the rounded edges of the older models. The T3 is sometimes called "the wedge" by enthusiasts to differentiate it from earlier Kombis.

 

FOURTH GENERATION (T4; 1990–2003)

Since 1990, the Transporter in most world markets has been front-engined and water-cooled, similar to other contemporary Volkswagens, almost two decades later than it did for the passenger cars. T4s are marketed as Transporter in Europe. In the United States, Volkswagen Eurovan is the brand name.

 

FITH GENERATION (T5; 2003–2015)

The Volkswagen Transporter T5 range is the fifth generation of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles medium-sized light commercial vehicle and people movers. Launched 6 January 2003, the T5 went into full production in April 2003, replacing the fourth generation range.

 

Key markets for the T5 are Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, France and Turkey. It is not sold in the US market because it is classed as a light truck, accruing the 25% chicken tax on importation. The T5 has a more aerodynamic design. The angle of the windshield and A-pillar is less; this makes for a large dashboard and small bonnet.

 

In June 2009, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles announced the one-millionth T5 rolled off the production line in Hanover.

 

T5 GP introduced in 2010. Heavily face-lifted with some new power plants including the 180 bi-turbo range topper. These new engines saw the demise of the now "dirty" 5 cylinder units.

 

Late 2015 will see the arrival of the "Neu Sechs", the New 6. The T6 will offer further engine changes in early 2016, but will launch with the previous generation engines. The new engines will see the introduction of Ad-Blu to meet with euro 6 emission compliance. The new 6 was expected by many to be more than just a face lift.

 

With the T6 now hitting the roads it is very clear it would appear to be just a face lift. New front, new tailgate and a new dash. There are quality improvements, sound deadening, new colours and improved consumption, but many believe VW have missed an opportunity to go back to the top.

Sixth generation (T6; 2015–)

 

The new T6 will launch with the old Euro 5 non AdBlue power-plants, but will be offered with a Euro 6 diesel engine with 204bhp and AdBlue. Three further Euro 6 Adblue diesel power-plants with 84ps, 102ps and 150ps will also be offered.

 

There is some debate in the community over whether the T6 is a new model, or simply a face-lift. There are obvious external changes to the nose and tailgate, while internally there is a new dash in 2 versions. Volkswagen are claiming refinement to ride, handling and noise levels.

 

ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

In 2001, a Volkswagen Microbus Concept was created, with design cues from the T1 generation in a spirit similar to the New Beetle nostalgia movement. Volkswagen planned to start selling it in the United States market in 2007, but it was scrapped in May 2004 and replaced with a more cost-effective design to be sold worldwide.

 

NAMES AND NICKNAMES

Like the Beetle, from the beginning, the Type 2 earned many nicknames from its fans. Among the most popular,[citation needed] at least in Germany, are VW-Bus and Bulli (or Bully) or Hippie-van or the bus. The Type 2 was meant to be officially named the Bully, but Heinrich Lanz, producer of the Lanz Bulldog farm tractor, intervened. The model was then presented as the Volkswagen Transporter and Volkswagen Kleinbus, but the Bully nickname still caught on.

 

The official German-language model names Transporter and Kombi (Kombinationskraftwagen, combined-use vehicle) have also caught on as nicknames. Kombi is not only the name of the passenger variant, but is also the Australasian and Brazilian term for the whole Type 2 family; in much the same way that they are all called VW-Bus in Germany, even the pickup truck variations. In Mexico, the German Kombi was translated as Combi, and became a household word thanks to the vehicle's popularity in Mexico City's public transportation system. In Peru, where the term Combi was similarly adopted, the term Combi Asesina (Murdering Combi) is often used for buses of similar size, because of the notorious recklessness and competition of bus drivers in Lima to get passengers. In Portugal it is known as Pão-de-Forma (Breadloaf) because its design resembles a bread baked in a mold. Similarly, in Denmark, the Type 2 is referred to as Rugbrød (Rye bread). Finns dubbed it Kleinbus (mini-bus), as many taxicab companies adopted it for group transportation; the name Kleinbus has become an appellative for all passenger vans. The vehicle is also known as Kleinbus in Chile.

 

In the US, however, it is a VW bus, a "vee-dub", a minibus, a hippie-mobile, hippie bus, or hippie van, "combie", Microbus or a Transporter to aficionados. The early versions produced before 1967 used a split front windshield (giving rise to the nickname "Splitty"), and their comparative rarity has led to their becoming sought after by collectors and enthusiasts. The next version, sold in the US market from 1968 to 1979, is characterised by a large, curved windshield and is commonly called a "bay-window". It was replaced by the Vanagon, of which only the Westfalia camper version has a common nickname, "Westy".

 

It was called Volksie Bus in South Africa, notable in a series of that country's TV commercials. Kombi is also a generic nickname for vans and minibuses in South Africa and Swaziland, often used as a means of public transportation. In Nigeria it was called Danfo.

 

In the UK, it is known as a "Campervan". In France, it was called a "camping-car" (usually hyphenated) though this has been expanded to include other, often more specialized vehicles in more recent times.

 

MEXICAN PRODUCTION

T2 production began in 1970 at the Puebla assembly factory.

 

Offered initially only as a nine-passenger version called the Volkswagen Kombi, and from 1973 also its cargo van version called the Volkswagen Panel, both variants were fitted with the 1.5 L air-cooled boxer engine and four-speed manual gearbox. In 1974, the 1.6 L 44 bhp (33 kW; 45 PS) boxer engine replaced the 1.5 previous one, and production continued this way up to 1987. In 1987, the water-cooled 1.8 L 85 bhp (63 kW; 86 PS) inline four-cylinder engine replaced the air-cooled 1.6 L. This new model is recognisable by its black grille (for its engine coolant radiator), bumpers and moldings.

 

In 1975, Volkswagen de Mexico ordered two specially made pickups from Germany, one single cab and one double cab, for the Puebla plant. These were evaluated for the possibility of building pickups in Mexico, and were outfitted with every option except the Arctic package, including front and rear fog lights, intermittent wipers, trip odometer, clock, bumper rubber, PVC tilt, and dual doors on the single cab storage compartment. VW de Mexico was interested in having the lights, wiring, brake systems and other parts manufactured in Mexico. Ultimately, VW de Mexico declined to produce pickups, and the pickups were sold to an Autohaus, a Volkswagen dealer in San Antonio, Texas, since they could not be sold in Mexico. By law, no German-made Volkswagens were to be sold in Mexico. These are probably the only pickups that were produced in Germany for Mexican import, and have the "ME" export code on the M-code plate. The green double cab was sold to a new owner in New York, and has been lost track of. The light gray (L345, licht grau) single cab still exists. Pickups were not manufactured in Mexico, nor were they imported into Mexico from Germany, save for these two examples.

 

In 1988, a luxury variant – the Volkswagen Caravelle – made its debut in the Mexican market to compete with the Nissan Ichi Van, which was available in cargo, passenger and luxury versions.

 

The main differences between the two are that the Caravelle was sold as an eight-passenger version, while the Combi was available as a nine-passenger version, the Caravelle was only painted in metallic colors, while the Combi was only available in non-metallic colors, and the Caravelle was fitted with an AM/FM stereo cassette sound system, tinted windows, velour upholstery, reading lights, mid and rear headrests, and wheel covers from the European T25 model.

 

In 1991, the 10 cm higher roof made its debut in all variants, and the Combi began to be offered in eight- or nine-passenger variants. In 1991, since Mexican anti-pollution regulations required a three-way catalytic converter, a Digifant fuel injection system replaced the previous carburetor. The three variants continued without change until 1994.

 

In 1994, production ended in Mexico, with models being imported from Brazil. The Caravelle was discontinued, and both the Combi and the Panel were only offered in white color and finally in 2002, replaced by the T4 EuroVan Pasajeros and EuroVan Carga, passenger and cargo van in long wheelbase version, inline five-cylinder 2.5 L 115 bhp and five-speed manual gearbox imported from Germany.

 

WIKIPEDIA

The Lamborghini Miura is a sports car produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 1966 and 1973. The car pioneered the mid-engined two-seat layout, the standard for high-performance sports and supercars since. When released, it was the fastest production road car made.

 

The Miura was originally conceived by Lamborghini's engineering team, which designed the car in its spare time against the wishes of company founder Ferruccio Lamborghini, who preferred powerful yet sedate grand touring cars over the race car-derived machines produced by local rival Ferrari.

 

The Miura's rolling chassis was presented at the 1965 Turin auto show, and the prototype P400 debuted at the 1966 Geneva show. It received stellar receptions from showgoers and the motoring press alike, each impressed by Marcello Gandini's sleek styling and the car's revolutionary mid-engine design.

 

Lamborghini's flagship, the Miura received periodic updates and remained in production until 1973. A year later the extreme Countach entered the automaker's lineup, amid tumultuous financial times for the company.

 

DEVELOPMENT

During 1965, Lamborghini's three top engineers, Gian Paolo Dallara, Paolo Stanzani, and Bob Wallace put their own time into developing a prototype car known as the P400. The engineers envisioned a road car with racing pedigree – one which could win on the track and be driven on the road by enthusiasts. The three men worked on its design at night, hoping to convince company founder Ferruccio Lamborghini such a vehicle would neither be too expensive nor distract from the company's focus. When finally brought aboard, Lamborghini gave his engineers a free hand in the belief the P400 was a potentially valuable marketing tool, if nothing more.

 

The car featured a transversely-mounted mid-engine layout, a departure from previous Lamborghini cars. The V12 was also unusual in that it was effectively merged with the transmission and differential, reflecting a lack of space in the tightly-wrapped design. The rolling chassis was displayed at the Turin Salon in 1965. Impressed showgoers placed orders for the car despite the lack of a body to go over the chassis.

 

Bertone was placed in charge of styling the prototype, which was finished just days before its debut at the 1966 Geneva motor show. Curiously, none of the engineers had found time to check if the engine fit inside its compartment. Committed to showing the car, they decided to fill the engine bay with ballast and keep the hood locked throughout the show, as they had three years earlier for the début of the 350GTV. Sales head Sgarzi was forced to turn away members of the motoring press who wanted to see the P400's power plant. Despite this setback, the car was the highlight of the show, immediately boosting stylist Marcello Gandini's reputation.

 

The favourable reaction at Geneva meant the P400 was to go into production by the following year. The name "Miura", a famous type of fighting bull, was chosen, and featured in the company's newly created badge. The car gained the worldwide attention of automotive enthusiasts when it was chosen for the opening sequence of the original 1969 version of The Italian Job. In press interviews of the time Ferruccio Lamborghini was reticent about his precise birth date, but stressed that he was born under the star sign Taurus the bull.

Production history

 

P400

The earliest model of the Miura was known as the P400 (for Posteriore 4 litri). It was powered by a version of the 3.9 L Lamborghini V12 engine used in the 400GT at the time. The engine was mounted transversely and produced 350 PS (257 kW; 345 hp). Exactly 275 P400 were produced between 1966 and 1969 - a success for Lamborghini despite its then-steep price of US$20,000 (equivalent to $146,113 in 2015).

 

Taking a cue from the Morris Mini, Lamborghini formed the engine and gearbox in one casting. Its shared lubrication continued until the last 96 SVs, when the case was split to allow the correct oils to be used for each element.

 

An unconfirmed claim holds the first 125 Miuras were built of 0.9 mm steel and are therefore lighter than later cars. All cars had steel frames and doors, with aluminum front and rear skinned body sections. When leaving the factory they were originally fitted with Pirelli Cinturato 205VR15 tyres (CN72).

 

AWARDS

The Miura won the prestigious Gran Turismo Trophy at the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, and has been re-created for use in the Gran Turismo 5 video game.

 

P400S

The P400S Miura, also known as the Miura S, made its introduction at the Turin Motorshow in November 1968, where the original chassis had been introduced three years earlier. It was slightly revised from the P400, with the addition of power windows, bright chrome trim around external windows and headlights, new overhead inline console with new rocker switches, engine intake manifolds made 2 mm larger, different camshaft profiles, and notched trunk end panels (allowing for slightly more luggage space). Engine changes were reportedly good for an additional 20 PS (15 kW; 20 hp).

 

Other revisions were limited to creature comforts, such as a locking glovebox lid, a reversed position of the cigarette lighter and windshield wiper switch, and single release handles for front and rear body sections. Other interior improvements included the addition of power windows and optional air conditioning, available for US$800. About 338 P400S Miura were produced between December 1968 and March 1971. One S #4407 was owned by Frank Sinatra. Miles Davis also owned one, which he crashed in October 1972 under the influence of cocaine, breaking both ankles. Eddie Van Halen owns one and can be heard revving it up during the bridge in the song Panama

 

P400SV

The last and most famous Miura, the P400SV or Miura SV featured different cam timing and altered carburetors. These gave the engine an additional 15 PS (11 kW; 15 hp), to 385 PS (283 kW; 380 hp). The last 96 SV engines had a split sump. The gearbox now had its lubrication system separate from the engine, which allowed the use of the appropriate types of oil for the gearbox and the engine. This also alleviated concerns that metal shavings from the gearbox could travel into the engine with disastrous and expensive results and made the application of an optional limited-slip differential far easier.

 

The SV can be distinguished from its predecessors from its lack of "eyelashes" around the headlamps, wider rear fenders to accommodate the new 230 mm rear wheels and Pirelli Cinturato tires, and different taillights. 150 SVs were produced.

 

There was a misprint in the SV owners manual indicating bigger intake valves in English size (but correct size in metric). The intake and exhaust valves in all 4 liter V12 Lamborghini remained the same throughout all models. This intake size misprint carried forward into Espada 400GT and Countach LP 400/LP 400S owners manuals as well.

 

P400 JOTA

In 1970, Lamborghini development driver Bob Wallace created a test mule that would conform to the FIA's Appendix J racing regulations. The car was appropriately named the Miura Jota (the pronunciation of the letter 'J' in Spanish). Wallace made extensive modifications to the standard Miura chassis and engine. Weight reductions included replacing steel chassis components and body panels with the lightweight aluminium alloy Avional and replacing side windows with plastic, with the resulting car weighing approximately 800 pounds less than a production Miura. A front spoiler was added and the headlights were replaced with fixed, faired-in units. Wallace substituted two smaller, sill-mounted fuel tanks for the single larger original unit. The suspension was reworked and wider (9" in the front, 12" in the rear), lightweight wheels were fitted. The engine was modified to produce 418-440 bhp at 8800 rpm, with an increased compression ratio, altered cams, electronic ignition, dry-sump lubrication, and less restrictive exhaust system. This single example was eventually sold to a private buyer after extensive testing. In April 1971, the car crashed on the yet-unopened ring road around the city of Brescia, and burned to the ground.

 

It was once widely believed that the Jota had the chassis number of #5084 (a number well out of sequence for the date in question), it has been clarified by Miura expert Joe Sackey in his book The Lamborghini Miura Bible that this is not the case, and that #5084 is in fact a factory modified SV to SVJ spec. This fact has also been confirmed in the massive and long running Miura thread on the lamborghini section of www.ferrarichat.com

 

A recreation of the Jota was later undertaken by Chris Lawrence of Wymondham Engineering for Lamborghini owner Piet Pulford from the United Kingdom on chassis #3033.

 

P400 SV/J

There are six examples of the Miura SV/J known to be built by the factory while the Miura was still in production, one was built new (chassis #5090) and five were converted from existing SVs (chassis #4934, #4860, #4892, #4990 & #5084)

 

One of these cars, chassis #4934, was built for the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The Shah stored this car under armed guard with another SV in Royal Palace in Tehran. After he fled the country during the Iranian Revolution, his cars were seized by the Iranian government. The SV/J was sold into Dubai in 1995. In 1997 this car was sold in a Brooks auction to Nicolas Cage, at US$490,000, becoming the model's highest ever price at auction. Cage sold the car in 2002. Higher prices have been reached several times since then, including by SVJ #4892 selling for over $1.9M

 

Of the seven known original cars #4892 is a recent addition to the list of known genuine SVJ's with factory documentation now having come to light.

 

An eighth SV/J was built at the Lamborghini factory between 1983 and 1987 from an unused Miura S chassis. This was made for Jean Claude Mimran, one of the Mimran brothers, the then owner of Lamborghini. Most experts do not recognize this as an "official" SVJ due to it being converted (albeit done by the factory) long after the Miura went out of production.

 

Further Miuras were subsequently upgraded to SVJ specifications (trying to imitate the real factory SVJs) by various garages of Switzerland, USA and Japan.

 

ROADSTER

Another one-off, the Miura Roadster (actually more of a targa-model, but without any removable roof) was built by Bertone as a show car. Based on a P400, it was first shown at the 1968 Brussels Auto Show. After having been exhibited at several auto salons the car was sold to the International Lead Zinc Research Organization (ILZRO) who turned it into a display-vehicle showcasing the possibilities of using zinc alloys in cars. The car was named the ZN75. A few other Miuras have had their tops removed, but this Bertone Miura Roadster was the only factory open-top Miura.

 

In 2006 the ZN75 was purchased by New York City real estate developer Adam Gordon. Gordon had Bobileff Motorcars in San Diego, California return the car to its original Bertone Roadster form. The restored car was first shown in August 2008 at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

 

The one of a kind Miura Roadster was shown at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in 2013.

 

P400 SVJ SPIDER

This one-off example of the Miura was displayed at the 1981 Geneva Motor Show with other new Lamborghini models (Jalpa and LM002) shortly after new company CEO Patrick Mimran took over the factory although it was never a factory authorised model r modifications. Finished in pearl white, the SVJ Spider was the formerly yellow Miura S presented at the 1981 Geneva Motor Show, and uses chassis #4808 Equipped with wide wheels and a rear wing reflecting the marque's revival, it was wrongly considered by some as a prototype for a possible limited series of Miura Spider whereas in fact it was simply a one off show car constructed on behalf by the Swiss Lamborghini Importer Lambomotor AG (and as such is not an official factory modification or indeed has any link to the factory bar its original 1970 build).

 

Subsequently, bought by Swiss Lamborghini collector Jean Wicki, the car had its rear wing and chin spoiler removed and was painted silver, bringing the car's style closer to the Berlinetta SVJ. Lamborghini specialist Autodrome (France) purchased the car from Wicki and restored its bodywork and upholstery in partnership with Carrosserie Lecoq (Paris). Painted traditional Miura lime green, the car was eventually sold to a Parisian collector. The car has stiffness issues and does not drive that well (as stated by the world-renowned Miura expert Joe Sackey), it's also not that well received by the general Miura cogniscenti who post on VLG and also on the worlds longest running and largest Miura debate which is on fchat. Other than private modifications, there are only two "open" Miuras, officially presented in International Motor shows: the Bertone Miura Roadster, exhibited on Bertone's own stand at Bruxelles in 1968, and this non factory example, shown on the Lamborghini stand at the Geneva Motor show in 1981.

 

2006 MIURA CONCEPT

A Miura concept car was presented at the American Museum of Television & Radio on January 5, 2006 alongside the Los Angeles Auto Show, though it was not presented at the show itself. Instead, the Miura concept car officially debuted at the North American International Auto Show two weeks later. It was the first design to be penned by Lamborghini design chief, Walter de'Silva, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 1966 Geneva introduction of the original Miura.

 

Lamborghini president and CEO Stefan Winkelmann denied that the concept would mark the Miura's return to production, saying “The Miura was a celebration of our history, but Lamborghini is about the future. Retro design is not what we are here for. So we won’t do the Miura.”

 

2016 Lamborghini Special edition Aventador Miura Homage

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Lamborghini Miura – a forerunner of all V12 Lamborghini super sports cars – Lamborghini has unveiled the Aventador Miura Homage. The special edition car has been created by the company’s Ad Personam customization division.

 

WIKIPEDIA

"The Renault 4, also known as the 4L (pronounced "Quatrelle" in French), is a small economy car produced by the French automaker Renault between 1961 and 1994. It was the first front-wheel drive family car produced by Renault.

 

The car was launched at a time when several decades of economic stagnation were giving way to growing prosperity and surging car ownership in France. The first million cars were produced by 1 February 1966, less than four and a half years after launch; eventually over eight million were built, making the Renault 4 a commercial success because of the timing of its introduction and the merits of its design.

 

Cité de l'Automobile, Musée national de l’automobile, Collection Schlumpf is an automobile museum located in Mulhouse, France, and built around the Schlumpf Collection of classic automobiles. It has the largest displayed collection of automobiles and contains the largest and most comprehensive collection of Bugatti motor vehicles in the world.

 

Brothers Hans and Fritz Schlumpf were Swiss citizens born in Italy, but after their mother Jeanne was widowed, she moved the family to her home town of Mulhouse in Alsace, France. The two brothers, who were later described as having a "Schlumpf obsession", were devoted to their mother.

 

In 1935 the Schlumpf brothers founded a limited company which focused on producing spun woollen products. By 1940, at the time of the German invasion of France, 34-year-old Fritz was the chairman of a spinning mill in Malmerspach. After World War II, the two brothers devoted their time to obsessively growing their business, and became wealthy.

 

Mulhouse (pronounced [myluz]; Alsatian: Milhüsa or Milhüse, [mɪlˈyːzə]; German: Mülhausen; meaning mill house) is a subprefecture of the Haut-Rhin department in the Grand Est region of Eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. With a population of 109,443 in 2017 in the commune and 285,121 inhabitants in 2016 in the urban area, it is the largest city in Haut-Rhin and second largest in Alsace after Strasbourg. Mulhouse is the principal commune of the 39 communes which make up the communauté d'agglomération of Mulhouse Alsace Agglomération (m2A, population 272,712).

 

Mulhouse is famous for its museums, especially the Cité de l'Automobile (also known as the Musée national de l'automobile, 'National Museum of the Automobile') and the Cité du Train (also known as Musée Français du Chemin de Fer, 'French Museum of the Railway'), respectively the largest automobile and railway museums in the world. An industrial town nicknamed "the French Manchester", Mulhouse is also the main seat of the Upper Alsace University, where the secretariat of the European Physical Society is found.

 

Alsace (/ælˈsæs/, also US: /ælˈseɪs, ˈælsæs/; French: [alzas]; Low Alemannic German/Alsatian: 's Elsàss [ˈɛlsɑs]; German: Elsass [ˈɛlzas]; Latin: Alsatia) is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2017, it had a population of 1,889,589.

 

Until 1871, Alsace included the area now known as the Territoire de Belfort, which formed its southernmost part. From 1982 to 2016, Alsace was the smallest administrative région in metropolitan France, consisting of the Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin departments. Territorial reform passed by the French Parliament in 2014 resulted in the merger of the Alsace administrative region with Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine to form Grand Est. Due to protests it was decided in 2019 that Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin would form the future European Collectivity of Alsace in 2021.

 

Alsatian is an Alemannic dialect closely related to Swabian and Swiss German, although since World War II most Alsatians primarily speak French. Internal and international migration since 1945 has also changed the ethnolinguistic composition of Alsace. For more than 300 years, from the Thirty Years' War to World War II, the political status of Alsace was heavily contested between France and various German states in wars and diplomatic conferences. The economic and cultural capital of Alsace, as well as its largest city, is Strasbourg, which sits right on the contemporary German international border. The city is the seat of several international organisations and bodies." - info from Wikipedia.

 

During the summer of 2018 I went on my first ever cycling tour. On my own I cycled from Strasbourg, France to Geneva, Switzerland passing through the major cities of Switzerland. In total I cycled 1,185 km over the course of 16 days and took more than 8,000 photos.

 

Now on Instagram.

 

Become a patron to my photography on Patreon.

The Volkswagen Beetle – officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in Germany the Käfer (German, "beetle") and in the English-speaking world the Bug – is a two-door, four passenger, rear-engine economy car manufactured and marketed by German automaker Volkswagen (VW) from 1938 until 2003.

The Lancia Flaminia (Tipo 813/823/824/826) is a luxury car produced by Italian automaker Lancia from 1957 to 1970. It was Lancia's flagship model at that time, replacing the Aurelia. It was available throughout its lifetime as saloon, coupé and The Flaminia coupé and convertible were coachbuilt cars with bodies from several prestigious Italian coachbuilders. Four "presidential" stretched limousine Flaminias were produced by Pininfarina for use on state occasions.

 

There were 12,633 Flaminias sold over 13 years. Coupés outsold the four-door saloon, an unusual occurrence otherwise seen at the time only in American compact and midsize models whose coupé versions were standard factory models that cost the same or less than the sedan, while the Flaminia coupés' coachbuilt bodies made them considerably more expensive than the limousine-like Berlina.

 

The Flaminia was named after Via Flaminia, the road leading from Rome to Ariminum (Rimini). This respected the established Lancia tradition of naming individual models after Roman roads.

 

The Flaminia's chassis was a development of the Aurelia's, but was significantly upgraded. The front suspension was changed to a more conventional configuration with double wishbones, coil springs, telescopic shock absorbers, and an anti-roll bar. The rear suspension retained the De Dion setup, with a transaxle mounted at the rear as in the Aurelia. The first Berlina was available with drum brake or discs, all other models used discs only. They benefitted from radial tyre technology Pirelli Cinturato 165H400 CA67.

 

The original two bodies of the Flaminia were developed by Pininfarina and modelled after his two Aurelia-based motor show specials, named Florida. The Florida I, presented at the 1955 Turin Auto Show, was a saloon with rear suicide doors. The Florida II, presented a year later at the Salon International de l'Auto in Geneva, was a 2-door coupé, and became Battista Farina's personal car of choice. The production version of the Lancia Flaminia appeared in 1957.

 

Flaminia development timeline: Spring 1955: Pinin Farina Florida 4-door based on Lancia Aurelia chassis. March 1956 (Geneva): Pinin Farina Florida 2-door based on Lancia Aurelia chassis. April 1956 (Turin): Lancia Flaminia with 'suicide' door and coil spring suspension. March 1957 (Geneva): Lancia Flaminia with traditional door arrangement.

 

Source: Wikipedia

 

I have a faint memory of seeing a Lancia in the '50s, which I believe was a Flaminia, that had two windscreen wipers in front and four on the rear window - two inside and two outside. Very strange!

 

In the 80s, a collaboration between SAAB and Lancia led to SAAB selling a slightly modified Lancia Delta in the Nordic sountries, which was called SAAB-Lancia 600. We leased one for my wife, but it was completely unrealiable and failed to start a number of times. Ultimately we were allowed to break the contract. Quality was poor and the SAAB workshops were not up to the task of repairing them.

 

Taken at Gärdesloppet 2018, also called Prince Bertil Memorial

The Fiat 130 is a large executive car manufactured by the Italian automaker Fiat, available as saloon and coupé.

 

The saloon was launched in March 1969, replacing the previous largest and most exclusive Fiat saloon, the Fiat 2300. It was a thoroughly modern car, with four-wheel independent suspension (torsion bars in the front and coil springs in the rear), standard power steering and four-wheel disc brakes, and was the first Fiat to adopt an alternator instead of a direct-current generator.

 

The Coupé, based on the same platform, was introduced in March 1971. It was designed and built by Pininfarina, and significantly different in style, including a separate interior design. Even more luxurious, it featured a button-operated mechanism allowing the driver to open the passenger-side door. In addition to this model, there were two one-off variations built, a 2 door estate and a 4 door saloon known as the opera.

 

The saloon went out of production in 1976, with 15,093 produced. The Coupé continued until the following year, and production ended with 4,294 built in total.

  

Powertrain

A completely new V6 engine, with a 60° vee angle and belt-driven twin overhead camshafts was developed for the model by Ferrari engine designer Aurelio Lampredi. It displaced 2866 cc and was rated at 140 bhp (104 kW). Power was delivered to the rear axle via standard three-speed automatic transmission, and a five-speed ZF manual was an option. The engine was uprated to 160 bhp (119 kW) for 1970, and then in 1971 replaced by a larger, 3235 cc V6 engine producing 165 bhp (123 kW). (Wikipedia)

 

www.fiat130.it/prima pagina.html

 

www.kwmotori.kataweb.it/kwmotori/kwm.jsp?idContent=136310...

 

www.pagine70.com/vmnews/wmview.php?ArtID=178

 

This photo was taken at Sperlinga (Enna - Sicily) during a classic cars rally.

Some background:

The Daihatsu Move (ダイハツ・ムーヴ, Daihatsu Mūvu) was a kei car/city car manufactured by the Japanese automaker Daihatsu since August 1995. Kei car (keijidōsha 軽自動車, "light automobile") is the Japanese vehicle category for the smallest highway-legal passenger cars, and similar Japanese categories exist for microvans and kei trucks/utility vehicles. The kei car category was created by the Japanese government in 1949, and the regulations have been revised several times since. These regulations specify a maximum vehicle size, engine capacity, and power output, so that owners may enjoy both tax and insurance benefits. In most rural areas they are also exempted from the requirement to certify that adequate parking is available for the vehicle.

 

Kei cars have become very successful in Japan — consisting of over one third of domestic new car sales in fiscal 2016, despite dropping from a record 40% market share in 2013, after the government increased the kei car tax by 50 percent in 2014. However, in export markets, the genre is generally too specialized and too small for most models to be profitable. Notable exceptions exist though, for instance the Suzuki Alto and Jimny models, which were exported consistently from around 1980.

 

The Move was Daihatsu's response to the similarly designed Suzuki Wagon R that was introduced two years earlier in 1993. The Move was built upon the chassis of the popular Mira (L500) family car, but with a taller body, making it a microvan. The first-generation Move was marketed with a 658 cc (40.2 cu in) three-cylinder engine in Japan, which developed 32 kW (43 hp; 44 PS), and with an 847 cc (51.7 cu in) ED-20 engine in export markets, which also delivered 32 kW but offered more torque than the naturally aspirated 660 cc engines due to its larger displacement. For the domestic market, the Move was later also offered with an optional front-wheel drive model with a turbocharged 658 cc JB-JL four-cylinder engine producing 47 kW (63 hp; 64 PS) – the legal power limit for kei cars, and its top speed was limited to 87 mph (140 km/h) due to the legal restrictions of this vehicle class.

 

The Japanese domestic market models were internally designated L600, or L610 when equipped with four-wheel drive system; L602 was the code for the turbocharged version and export models were internally designated L601. Daihatsu produced more than half a million L600/L610 Move models during its three-year production run, mostly in Japan. It was imported to Europe, too, including the UK, and was furthermore offered with LHD in Continental Europe. In 1997, an upgraded variant with larger headlamps and revised front styling was introduced and marketed as the Move Custom in Japan and was available in subsequent generations, too.

 

However, the Move’s 1999 successor was not exported to Europe anymore, because the Move had turned out to be too similar to the Mira, which had already been sold in Europe for a couple of years under the name Cuore. Here, both models on the same platform and with the same engines filled virtually the same, relatively small microcar niche and sales rather cannibalized each other than being complementarily growing. Nevertheless, the Move microvan remained popular in Japan and Asian markets like Malaysia, Indonesia and China, and has so far been produced in six generations, the latest was launched in late 2014.

  

General specifications:

Wheelbase: 2,300 mm (90.6 in)

Seating: four passengers

Length: 3,295 mm (129.7 in)

Width: 1,395 mm (54.9 in)

Height: 1,620 mm (63.8 in)

Kerb weight: 690–800 kg (1,521–1,764 lb)

 

Powertrain:

658 cc (40.2 cu in) three-cylinder ED-20 engine with 32 kW (43 hp; 44 PS)

and a torque of 67 Nm / 49 lb-ft, coupled with a 5-speed manual or a

3- or 4-speed automatic gearbox

 

Performance:

Top speed: 131 km/h (81 mph)

Acceleration: 0-60 mph in 18.3 sec.

0-100 km/h in 19.4 sec

1/4 mile (402 m) drag time: 21 sec. with manual gearbox

Fuel consumption/mileage: 6 l/100km / 47.1 mpg (imp.) / 39.2 mpg (U.S.) / 16.7 km/l EU-cycle

  

The kit and its assembly:

Yes, a large-scale car, an exotic topic for me. But the “Blue Lights” Group Build at whatifmodellers.com in March 2021 was a good motivator to eventually tackle this project that I had fancied for years but never got myself to procure suitable hardware. I am a huge kei car fan, because these vehicles are a total contrasting concept to ever-growing “normal” cars around them, and there is a wide and very creative range of types around, ranging from sound family cars to vans, utility vehicles or even sports cars (and I am proud to admit that I own and drive such a specimen ^^).

 

Some inspiration for the model came from Kosuke Fujishima’s manga “You are under arrest”, in which, among other kei cars, a tuned, vintage Subaru R-2 in police service, which has its feeble, original 360cc rear engine with 31hp replaced by a Yamaha RZV500R with 80hp, plays a central role. Another factor were personal holiday experiences from a stay in Tokyo some years ago, where I came across several real-world kei cars in police service, including a proud and pristine Suzuki Swift at a rural koban, shiny and always ready for action and crime fighting.

The use of such a wee type of car for police duties appears a bit anachronistic, but these vehicles are just perfect for an urban and typically very tight operational environment. Even fire engines are relatively small in Japan, not bigger than a 7.5 ton truck, because the streets tend to be very narrow.

 

So, a home-made police kei car was the plan. I eventually settled upon an Aoshima 1:24 1st generation Daihatsu Move as a rather dry basis and added typical Japanese police details and equipment. Getting my hands on the police stuff turned out to be a lengthy affair, even though it’s not difficult: Aoshima offers several 1:24 aftermarket sets for conversions, which include flashlights, radio sets and other details. But these are prohibitively expensive, at least for what you get, so that I eventually bought a complete Japanese police car kit, a baroque Aoshima Nissan Cedric (430 Series) sedan. This basically offered the same sprues as the set, at the same price, and it not only supplied a lot of suitable Japanese police detail stuff, including extra flashlights, mirrors or an Asahikage (icon of the national police, “morning sunlight“) badge for the bonnet, it also provided me with a very nice set of optional steel rims. These replaced the Move’s OOB wheel options (either full hub caps or alloy rims for a turbocharged option) for a utility look. As a coincidence they are both 14” size, so that I could use the Move’s relatively narrow rubber tires on the Cedric’s wheels. With the chrome hubcaps, the new black wheels give the vehicle a kind of retro look, and it somehow reminds me of early American Hot Rods? Probably because of the Move’s boxy shape. Weird.

 

The police parts were simply added to the Move kit, but this was not always an easy task. In the cockpit I had to find enough space for the radio set in the dashboard, and the flashing lights had to be modified to suit the Move’s narrow roof – which thankfully features fixed rails, so that the bulky housing could be easily mounted over the B-pillar. I also found that one of the red flashing lights that are typically mounted to the front was missing, so that I had to improvise that and create suitable holders. Further additions include in- and external extra mirrors for the co-driver, a scratched notepad and a kind of chocolate bar on the dashboard.

  

Painting and markings:

Thanks to some preparation time for the GB since November 2020 I was able to get my hands on a rattle can with a Toyota white car paint (BTW, Daihatsu is part of Toyota), just on the last day before everything was shut down in Germany due to Covid-19 lockdown (lasting until building commenced in March 2021!). The plan was to stay as close to the typical TMPD paint scheme as possible, with a white upper car body and black lower flanks as well as a stylish black blaze on the bonnet.

 

Keeping things simple and easy, the hull was treated with white acrylic primer first and then painted with the Toyota tone. I am not certain whether an official White for Japanese police cars exists or not? In Germany there are RAL stones, but elsewhere…?

The black trim areas were created with decals and/or paint – either from the Cedric’s OOB sheet or from generic stripes (TL Modellbau), which were used instead of tape masking to create sharp demarcation lines, while the rest was filled with black (Humbrol 21). The fixed rails on the roof and the small spoiler became black, too, matching the flashlights’ housing. The window frames were painted in Tar Black (Revell 06), which is a very dark grey and rather looks like the typical rubber seals and plastic fairings than pure black.

Since a real-world police car would not be too flashy and rather have a robust utility look, I painted the bumpers in dark grey (Humbrol 67), later slightly dry-brushed with medium grey, simulating bare plastic. Not elegant, but a nice, slight contrast to the stark black/white livery. The chassis plate/suspension/underside was painted in semi-matt black, as well as the steel rims with their chrome caps. These suit the Move IMHO surprisingly well!

 

With simplicity and sobriety in mind, the interior was painted in medium grey, in this case Humbrol 164 (RAF Dark Sea Grey). A light black ink wash was applied to the seats and dry-brushing with light grey was added, too, to simulate fabric texture. The dashboard became grey, too, with black details like the instrument panel, vents and some switches. The radio set was painted black, too, to highlight it and underline that it is a retrofitted piece – even though this is hard to see from the outside.

 

Once all decals (a mix from the Move and the Cedric sheets) were in place and the door outlines emphasized with black ink, the car body was sealed with glossy acrylic varnish and the bumpers received a semi-matt finish, for the bare plastic look. The mirror surfaces were created with a self-adhesive, highly reflective foil, which – even though it is a bit thick – looks much better than any painted solution.

 

For the license plate I went for a typical yellow kei car version – even though I have seen police kei cars carrying white plates with green letters, which indicate special vehicles that have to undergo annual inspection. This is frequently found on “normal” Japanese police cars, and an option in the Cedric kit. But I found the yellow ones more suitable and attractive – maybe it’s a lethal flaw (also the selected numbers and kanji), but that’s already quite nit-picky.

  

An exotic topic, at least for me, and it’s also full of nostalgia and vacation memories. However, I think that the police Move looks pretty good and believable, it turned out better than expected and hoped for. It’s also kind of cute (kawaii!)!

And now I have a surplus car kit, the Nissan Cedric, too…

Australia.

British automaker Bentley was founded in 1919 by W.O.Bentley. Rolls Royce took over Bentley in 1931.

Replacing the T series Bentleys was the Mulsanne, it was built from 1980-92 and then after a break, was reintroduced from 2010-20 In between, was the Bentley Brooklands and then the Bentley Arnage. The Mulsanne was the first flagship car to be independently designed by Bentley Motors in nearly 80 years. Customers had a choice of 114 exterior colours, 21 carpet colours, nine wood veneers, and 24 interior leather hides.

The 2013 update got a improved interior specification and an extended wheelbase version was available from 2013. At least ten Special Edition models were produced over the years, including the 'Speed', the Le Mans and the W.O.Edition.

Engine; 505hp 6750cc Bentley L Series engine (the Mulsanne Speed got 530hp).

Some background:

The Daihatsu Move (ダイハツ・ムーヴ, Daihatsu Mūvu) was a kei car/city car manufactured by the Japanese automaker Daihatsu since August 1995. Kei car (keijidōsha 軽自動車, "light automobile") is the Japanese vehicle category for the smallest highway-legal passenger cars, and similar Japanese categories exist for microvans and kei trucks/utility vehicles. The kei car category was created by the Japanese government in 1949, and the regulations have been revised several times since. These regulations specify a maximum vehicle size, engine capacity, and power output, so that owners may enjoy both tax and insurance benefits. In most rural areas they are also exempted from the requirement to certify that adequate parking is available for the vehicle.

 

Kei cars have become very successful in Japan — consisting of over one third of domestic new car sales in fiscal 2016, despite dropping from a record 40% market share in 2013, after the government increased the kei car tax by 50 percent in 2014. However, in export markets, the genre is generally too specialized and too small for most models to be profitable. Notable exceptions exist though, for instance the Suzuki Alto and Jimny models, which were exported consistently from around 1980.

 

The Move was Daihatsu's response to the similarly designed Suzuki Wagon R that was introduced two years earlier in 1993. The Move was built upon the chassis of the popular Mira (L500) family car, but with a taller body, making it a microvan. The first-generation Move was marketed with a 658 cc (40.2 cu in) three-cylinder engine in Japan, which developed 32 kW (43 hp; 44 PS), and with an 847 cc (51.7 cu in) ED-20 engine in export markets, which also delivered 32 kW but offered more torque than the naturally aspirated 660 cc engines due to its larger displacement. For the domestic market, the Move was later also offered with an optional front-wheel drive model with a turbocharged 658 cc JB-JL four-cylinder engine producing 47 kW (63 hp; 64 PS) – the legal power limit for kei cars, and its top speed was limited to 87 mph (140 km/h) due to the legal restrictions of this vehicle class.

 

The Japanese domestic market models were internally designated L600, or L610 when equipped with four-wheel drive system; L602 was the code for the turbocharged version and export models were internally designated L601. Daihatsu produced more than half a million L600/L610 Move models during its three-year production run, mostly in Japan. It was imported to Europe, too, including the UK, and was furthermore offered with LHD in Continental Europe. In 1997, an upgraded variant with larger headlamps and revised front styling was introduced and marketed as the Move Custom in Japan and was available in subsequent generations, too.

 

However, the Move’s 1999 successor was not exported to Europe anymore, because the Move had turned out to be too similar to the Mira, which had already been sold in Europe for a couple of years under the name Cuore. Here, both models on the same platform and with the same engines filled virtually the same, relatively small microcar niche and sales rather cannibalized each other than being complementarily growing. Nevertheless, the Move microvan remained popular in Japan and Asian markets like Malaysia, Indonesia and China, and has so far been produced in six generations, the latest was launched in late 2014.

  

General specifications:

Wheelbase: 2,300 mm (90.6 in)

Seating: four passengers

Length: 3,295 mm (129.7 in)

Width: 1,395 mm (54.9 in)

Height: 1,620 mm (63.8 in)

Kerb weight: 690–800 kg (1,521–1,764 lb)

 

Powertrain:

658 cc (40.2 cu in) three-cylinder ED-20 engine with 32 kW (43 hp; 44 PS)

and a torque of 67 Nm / 49 lb-ft, coupled with a 5-speed manual or a

3- or 4-speed automatic gearbox

 

Performance:

Top speed: 131 km/h (81 mph)

Acceleration: 0-60 mph in 18.3 sec.

0-100 km/h in 19.4 sec

1/4 mile (402 m) drag time: 21 sec. with manual gearbox

Fuel consumption/mileage: 6 l/100km / 47.1 mpg (imp.) / 39.2 mpg (U.S.) / 16.7 km/l EU-cycle

  

The kit and its assembly:

Yes, a large-scale car, an exotic topic for me. But the “Blue Lights” Group Build at whatifmodellers.com in March 2021 was a good motivator to eventually tackle this project that I had fancied for years but never got myself to procure suitable hardware. I am a huge kei car fan, because these vehicles are a total contrasting concept to ever-growing “normal” cars around them, and there is a wide and very creative range of types around, ranging from sound family cars to vans, utility vehicles or even sports cars (and I am proud to admit that I own and drive such a specimen ^^).

 

Some inspiration for the model came from Kosuke Fujishima’s manga “You are under arrest”, in which, among other kei cars, a tuned, vintage Subaru R-2 in police service, which has its feeble, original 360cc rear engine with 31hp replaced by a Yamaha RZV500R with 80hp, plays a central role. Another factor were personal holiday experiences from a stay in Tokyo some years ago, where I came across several real-world kei cars in police service, including a proud and pristine Suzuki Swift at a rural koban, shiny and always ready for action and crime fighting.

The use of such a wee type of car for police duties appears a bit anachronistic, but these vehicles are just perfect for an urban and typically very tight operational environment. Even fire engines are relatively small in Japan, not bigger than a 7.5 ton truck, because the streets tend to be very narrow.

 

So, a home-made police kei car was the plan. I eventually settled upon an Aoshima 1:24 1st generation Daihatsu Move as a rather dry basis and added typical Japanese police details and equipment. Getting my hands on the police stuff turned out to be a lengthy affair, even though it’s not difficult: Aoshima offers several 1:24 aftermarket sets for conversions, which include flashlights, radio sets and other details. But these are prohibitively expensive, at least for what you get, so that I eventually bought a complete Japanese police car kit, a baroque Aoshima Nissan Cedric (430 Series) sedan. This basically offered the same sprues as the set, at the same price, and it not only supplied a lot of suitable Japanese police detail stuff, including extra flashlights, mirrors or an Asahikage (icon of the national police, “morning sunlight“) badge for the bonnet, it also provided me with a very nice set of optional steel rims. These replaced the Move’s OOB wheel options (either full hub caps or alloy rims for a turbocharged option) for a utility look. As a coincidence they are both 14” size, so that I could use the Move’s relatively narrow rubber tires on the Cedric’s wheels. With the chrome hubcaps, the new black wheels give the vehicle a kind of retro look, and it somehow reminds me of early American Hot Rods? Probably because of the Move’s boxy shape. Weird.

 

The police parts were simply added to the Move kit, but this was not always an easy task. In the cockpit I had to find enough space for the radio set in the dashboard, and the flashing lights had to be modified to suit the Move’s narrow roof – which thankfully features fixed rails, so that the bulky housing could be easily mounted over the B-pillar. I also found that one of the red flashing lights that are typically mounted to the front was missing, so that I had to improvise that and create suitable holders. Further additions include in- and external extra mirrors for the co-driver, a scratched notepad and a kind of chocolate bar on the dashboard.

  

Painting and markings:

Thanks to some preparation time for the GB since November 2020 I was able to get my hands on a rattle can with a Toyota white car paint (BTW, Daihatsu is part of Toyota), just on the last day before everything was shut down in Germany due to Covid-19 lockdown (lasting until building commenced in March 2021!). The plan was to stay as close to the typical TMPD paint scheme as possible, with a white upper car body and black lower flanks as well as a stylish black blaze on the bonnet.

 

Keeping things simple and easy, the hull was treated with white acrylic primer first and then painted with the Toyota tone. I am not certain whether an official White for Japanese police cars exists or not? In Germany there are RAL stones, but elsewhere…?

The black trim areas were created with decals and/or paint – either from the Cedric’s OOB sheet or from generic stripes (TL Modellbau), which were used instead of tape masking to create sharp demarcation lines, while the rest was filled with black (Humbrol 21). The fixed rails on the roof and the small spoiler became black, too, matching the flashlights’ housing. The window frames were painted in Tar Black (Revell 06), which is a very dark grey and rather looks like the typical rubber seals and plastic fairings than pure black.

Since a real-world police car would not be too flashy and rather have a robust utility look, I painted the bumpers in dark grey (Humbrol 67), later slightly dry-brushed with medium grey, simulating bare plastic. Not elegant, but a nice, slight contrast to the stark black/white livery. The chassis plate/suspension/underside was painted in semi-matt black, as well as the steel rims with their chrome caps. These suit the Move IMHO surprisingly well!

 

With simplicity and sobriety in mind, the interior was painted in medium grey, in this case Humbrol 164 (RAF Dark Sea Grey). A light black ink wash was applied to the seats and dry-brushing with light grey was added, too, to simulate fabric texture. The dashboard became grey, too, with black details like the instrument panel, vents and some switches. The radio set was painted black, too, to highlight it and underline that it is a retrofitted piece – even though this is hard to see from the outside.

 

Once all decals (a mix from the Move and the Cedric sheets) were in place and the door outlines emphasized with black ink, the car body was sealed with glossy acrylic varnish and the bumpers received a semi-matt finish, for the bare plastic look. The mirror surfaces were created with a self-adhesive, highly reflective foil, which – even though it is a bit thick – looks much better than any painted solution.

 

For the license plate I went for a typical yellow kei car version – even though I have seen police kei cars carrying white plates with green letters, which indicate special vehicles that have to undergo annual inspection. This is frequently found on “normal” Japanese police cars, and an option in the Cedric kit. But I found the yellow ones more suitable and attractive – maybe it’s a lethal flaw (also the selected numbers and kanji), but that’s already quite nit-picky.

  

An exotic topic, at least for me, and it’s also full of nostalgia and vacation memories. However, I think that the police Move looks pretty good and believable, it turned out better than expected and hoped for. It’s also kind of cute (kawaii!)!

And now I have a surplus car kit, the Nissan Cedric, too…

The Volkswagen Beetle (officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in Germany the Volkswagen Käfer, in Poland the Volkswagen Garbus and in the U.S. the Volkswagen Bug) is a two-door, four passenger, rear-engine economy car manufactured and marketed by German automaker Volkswagen (VW) from 1938 until 2003.

 

The need for this kind of car, and its functional objectives, was formulated by the leader of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, who wanted a cheap, simple car to be mass-produced for his country's new road network. Hitler contracted Ferdinand Porsche in 1934 to design and build it. Porsche and his team took until 1938 to finalise the design. The influence on Porsche's design of other contemporary cars, such as the Tatra V570 and the work of Josef Ganz remains a subject of dispute. The result was one of the first rear-engined cars since the Brass Era. With 21,529,464 produced, the Beetle is the longest-running and most-manufactured car of a single platform ever made.

 

Although designed in the 1930s, the Beetle was only produced in significant numbers from 1945 on (mass production had been put on hold during the Second World War) when the model was internally designated the Volkswagen Type 1, and marketed simply as the Volkswagen (or "People's Car"). Later models were designated Volkswagen 1200, 1300, 1500, 1302 or 1303, the former three indicating engine displacement, the latter two derived from the type number. The model became widely known in its home country as the Käfer (German for "beetle") and was later marketed as such in Germany, and as the Volkswagen in other countries. For example, in France it was known as the Coccinelle (French for ladybug).

 

The original 25 hp Beetle was designed for a top speed around 100 km/h, which would be a viable speed on the Reichsautobahn system. As Autobahn speeds increased in the postwar years, its output was boosted to 36, then 40 hp, the configuration that lasted through 1966 and became the "classic" Volkswagen motor. The Beetle ultimately gave rise to variants, including the Karmann Ghia, Type 2 and external coachbuilders. The Beetle marked a significant trend, led by Volkswagen, Fiat, and Renault, whereby the rear-engine, rear-wheel drive layout increased from 2.6 percent of continental Western Europe's car production in 1946 to 26.6 percent in 1956. The 1948 Citroën 2CV and other European models marked a later trend to front-wheel drive in the European small car market, a trend that would come to dominate that market. In 1974, Volkswagen's own front-wheel drive Golf model succeeded the Beetle. In 1994, Volkswagen unveiled the Concept One, a "retro"-themed concept car with a resemblance to the original Beetle, and in 1998 introduced the "New Beetle", built on the contemporary Golf platform with styling recalling the original Type 1. It remained in production through 2010, being succeeded in 2011 by the more aggressively styled Beetle (A5).

 

In the 1999 Car of the Century competition, to determine the world's most influential car in the 20th century, the Type 1 came fourth, after the Ford Model T, the Mini, and the Citroën DS.

 

HISTORY

THE PEOPLES CAR

In April 1934, Adolf Hitler gave the order to Ferdinand Porsche to develop a Volkswagen (literally, "people's car" in German, pronounced [ˈfɔlksvaːɡən]). The epithet Volks- literally, "people's-" had been applied to other Nazi-sponsored consumer goods such as the Volksempfänger ("people's radio").

 

In May 1934, at a meeting at Berlin’s Kaiserhof Hotel, Chancellor Hitler insisted on a basic vehicle that could transport two adults and three children at 100 km/h while not using more than 7 litres of fuel per 100 km (32 mpg US/39 mpg UK). The engine had to be powerful for sustained cruising on Germany’s new Autobahnen. Everything had to be designed to ensure parts could be quickly and inexpensively exchanged. The engine had to be air-cooled because, as Hitler explained, not every country doctor had his own garage (ethylene glycol antifreeze was only just beginning to be used in high-performance liquid-cooled aircraft engines. In general, radiators filled with water would freeze unless the vehicle was kept in a heated building overnight or drained and refilled each morning).

 

The "People's Car" would be available to citizens of Nazi Germany through a savings scheme, or Sparkarte (savings booklet), at 990 Reichsmark, about the price of a small motorcycle. (The average weekly income was then around 32RM.)

 

DEVELOPMENT

Ferdinand Porsche developed the Type 12, or "Auto für Jedermann" (car for everybody) for Zündapp in 1931. Porsche already preferred the flat-four engine, and selected a swing axle rear suspension (invented by Edmund Rumpler), while Zündapp insisted on a water-cooled five-cylinder radial engine. In 1932, three prototypes were running. All of those cars were lost during World War II, the last in a bombing raid in Stuttgart in 1945.

 

The Zündapp prototypes were followed by the Porsche Type 32, designed in 1933 for NSU Motorenwerke AG, another motorcycle company. The Type 32 was similar in design to the Type 12, but it had a flat-four engine. NSU's exit from car manufacturing resulted in the Type 32 being abandoned at the prototype stage.

 

Initially designated Type 60 by Porsche, the design team included Erwin Komenda and Karl Rabe. In October 1935, the first two Type 60 prototypes, known as the V1 and V2 (V for Versuchswagen, or "test car"), were ready. In 1936, testing began of three further V3 prototypes, built in Porsche's Stuttgart shop. A batch of thirty W30 development models, produced for Porsche by Daimler-Benz, underwent 2,900,000 km of further testing in 1937. All cars had the distinctive round shape and the air-cooled, rear-mounted engine. Included in this batch was a rollback soft top called the Cabrio Limousine. A further batch of 44 VW38 pre-production cars produced in 1938 introduced split rear windows; both the split window and the dash were retained on production Type 1s until 1953. The VW38 cars were followed by another batch of 50 VW39 cars, completed in July 1939.

 

The car was designed to be as simple as possible mechanically. The air-cooled 25 hp (19 kW) 995 cc motors' built-in oil cooler and flat-four engine configuration's superior performance was also effective for the German Afrika Korps in Africa's desert heat. The suspension design used compact torsion bars instead of coil or leaf springs. The Beetle is nearly airtight and will briefly float.

 

THE FACTORY

On 26 May 1938, Hitler laid the cornerstone for the Volkswagen factory in Fallersleben. He gave a speech, in which he named the car Kraft-durch-Freude-Wagen ("Strength Through Joy Car", usually abbreviated to KdF-Wagen). The name refers to Kraft durch Freude ('Strength Through Joy'), the official leisure organization of Nazi Germany. The model village of Stadt des KdF-Wagens was created near Fallersleben in Lower Saxony in 1938 for the benefit of the workers at the newly built factory.

 

The factory had only produced a handful of cars by the start of the war in 1939; the first volume-produced versions of the car's chassis were military vehicles, the Type 82 Kübelwagen (approximately 52,000 built) and the amphibious Type 166 Schwimmwagen (about 14,000 built).

 

The first Beetles were produced on a small scale in 1941.

 

WARTIME PRODUCTION

A handful of KdF-Wagen (Typ 60) were produced primarily for the Nazi elite from 1941 to 1944, but production figures were small because the factories were concentrating on production of the Kübelwagen (Typ 82), the beetle for the Wehrmacht (Typ 82 E), the Schwimmwagen (Typ 166), and a handful of other variants. The factory produced another wartime vehicle: the Kommandeurswagen (Typ 87); a Beetle body mounted on a 4WD Schwimmwagen chassis. The Kommandeurswagen had widened fenders to accommodate its Kronprinz all-terrain tires. 564 Kommandeurswagen were produced up to 1944, when all production was halted because of heavy damage to the factory by Allied air raids. Much of the essential equipment had already been moved to underground bunkers for protection, which let production resume quickly after hostilities ended. Due to gasoline shortages late in the war, a few "Holzbrenner" Beetles were built powered by pyrolysis gas producers located under the front hood.

 

POST-WAR PRODUCTION AND BOOM

In occupied Germany, the Allies followed the Morgenthau plan to remove all German war potential by complete or partial pastoralization. As part of this, in the Industrial plans for Germany, the rules for which industry Germany was to be allowed to retain were set out. German car production was set at a maximum of 10% of the 1936 car production numbers.

 

Mass production of civilian VW cars did not start until post-war occupation. The Volkswagen factory was handed over by the Americans to British control in 1945; it was to be dismantled and shipped to Britain. Thankfully for Volkswagen, no British car manufacturer was interested in the factory; an official report included the phrases "the vehicle does not meet the fundamental technical requirement of a motor-car ... it is quite unattractive to the average buyer ... To build the car commercially would be a completely uneconomic enterprise." The factory survived by producing cars for the British Army instead. Allied dismantling policy changed in late 1946 to mid-1947, although heavy industry continued to be dismantled until 1951. In March 1947, Herbert Hoover helped change policy by stating

 

There is the illusion that the New Germany left after the annexations can be reduced to a "pastoral state". It cannot be done unless we exterminate or move 25,000,000 people out of it.

 

The re-opening of the factory is largely accredited to British Army officer Major Ivan Hirst. Hirst was ordered to take control of the heavily bombed factory, which the Americans had captured. His first task was to remove an unexploded bomb that had fallen through the roof and lodged itself between some pieces of irreplaceable production equipment; if the bomb had exploded, the Beetle's fate would have been sealed. Knowing Germany needed jobs and the British Army needed vehicles. Hirst persuaded the British military to order 20,000 cars, and by March 1946 the factory was producing 1,000 cars a month (in Army khaki, under the name Volkswagen Type 1), which Hirst said "was the limit set by the availability of materials". During this period, the car reverted to its original name of Volkswagen and the town was renamed Wolfsburg. The first 1,785 Type 1s were made in 1945.

After World War II, it was officially designated the Volkswagen Type 1, but was more commonly known as the Beetle.Following the British Army-led restart of production and Hirst's establishment of sales network and exports to Netherlands, former Opel manager (and formerly a detractor of the Volkswagen) Heinz Nordhoff was appointed director of the Volkswagen factory in 1949. Under Nordhoff, production increased dramatically over the following decade, with the one-millionth car coming off the assembly line by 1955. During this post-war period, the Beetle had superior performance in its category with a top speed of 115 km/h and 0–100 km/h in 27.5 seconds with fuel consumption of 6.7 l/100 km (36 mpg) for the standard 25 kW (34 hp) engine. This was far superior to the Citroën 2CV, which was aimed at a low speed/poor road rural peasant market, and Morris Minor, designed for a market with no motorways / freeways; it was even competitive with more advanced small city cars like the Austin Mini.

 

In Small Wonder, Walter Henry Nelson wrote:

"The engine fires up immediately without a choke. It has tolerable road-handling and is economical to maintain. Although a small car, the engine has great elasticity and gave the feeling of better output than its small nominal size."

 

There were other, less-numerous models, as well. The Hebmüller cabriolet (officially Type 14A), a sporty two-seater, was built between 1949 and 1953; it numbered 696. The Type 18A, a fixed-top cabriolet, was produced by Austro-Tatra as a police and fire unit; 203 were assembled between January 1950 and March 1953.

 

The chassis became a technological and parts donor to Volkswagen Type 2 (also known as Bulli) and external coachbuilders like Rometsch, Dannenhauer & Stauss, Wilhelm Karmann, Enzmann, Beutler, Ghia-Aigle, Hebmüller & Söhne, Drews, Wendler.

 

On 17 February 1972, when Beetle No. 15,007,034 was produced, Beetle production surpassed that of the previous record holder, the Ford Model T. By 1973, total production was over 16 million, and by 23 June 1992, over 21 million had been produced.

 

DECLINE

Though extremely successful in the 1960s, the Beetle was increasingly faced with stiff competition from more modern designs globally. The Japanese had refined rear-wheel-drive, water-cooled, front-engine small cars including the Datsun 510 and Toyota Corona, whose sales in the North American market grew rapidly at the expense of Volkswagen in the late 1960s. Honda introduced the N600, based on the space-efficient transverse-engine, front-wheel-drive layout of the original Austin Mini, to the North American market in late 1969, and upgraded the model to the Honda Civic in 1972. The Japanese "big three" would soon dominate compact auto sales in North America. In 1971 Ford introduced its Pinto, which had some market impact as a low cost alternative. As the 1960s came to a close, Volkswagen faced increasingly stiff competition from European cars as well. The Beetle was faced with competition from new designs like the Fiat 127 and Renault 5, and more robust designs based on the Austin Mini layout such as the Superminis. German competitors, Ford and Opel also enjoyed strong sales of modern smaller cars like the Ford Escort and Opel Kadett. Volkswagen's attempts to boost the power of their air-cooled motor to meet the demands of higher highway speeds in the late 1960s, then comply with new pollution control regulations, caused problems for reliability and fuel efficiency that impaired the reputation of the aging design. Safety issues with the Beetle came under increasing scrutiny, culminating in the 1972 release of a rather scathing report. During the early 1970s, sales of the Beetle in Europe and North America plummeted.

 

There were other models introduced to supplement the Beetle in the VW product line throughout the 1960s; the Type 3, Type 4, and the NSU-based and larger K70. None of these models, aimed at more upscale markets, achieved the level of success as the Beetle. The over-reliance on a single model, now in decline, meant that Volkswagen was in financial crisis by 1974. It needed German government funding to produce the Beetle's replacement.

 

Production lines at Wolfsburg switched to the new water-cooled, front-engined, front-wheel drive Golf designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro in 1974, sold in North America at the time as the "Rabbit". The Golf would eventually become Volkswagen's most successful model since the Beetle. The Golf would be periodically redesigned over its lifetime, entering its seventh generation in 2012, with only a few components carried over between generations, while the Beetle had only minor refinements of its original design.

 

The Golf did not kill Beetle production, nor did the smaller Polo which was launched a year later. Production of the Beetle continued in smaller numbers at other German factories until 19 January 1978, when mainstream production shifted to Brazil and Mexico: markets where low operating cost was an important factor. However, this shift in production did not completely end sales of the Beetle in Europe, although after this date sales of the Beetle in Europe were very low. Beetle sedans were produced for U.S. markets until July 1977 and for European markets until 1985, with private companies continuing to import cars produced in Mexico after 1985. The Beetle convertible/Cabriolet ended production (as 1979 models) as of January 31, 1980.

 

The last Beetle was produced in Puebla, Mexico, in July 2003. The final batch of 3,000 Beetles were sold as 2004 models and badged as the Última Edición, with whitewall tires, a host of previously discontinued chrome trim, and the choice of two special paint colors taken from the New Beetle. Production in Brazil ended in 1986, then started again in 1993 and continued until 1996.

 

The Beetle outlasted most other cars which had adopted the rear air-cooled engine layout such as those by Subaru, Fiat, and General Motors. Porsche's 356 series which originally used some Volkswagen sourced parts, continued to use the classic rear engine layout (which later became water-cooled) in the Porsche 911 996 series, which remains competitive in the second decade of the 21st century.

 

WORLDWIDE END OF PRODUCTION

By 2002, over 21 million Type 1s had been produced, but by 2003, annual production had dropped to 30,000 from a peak of 1.3 million in 1971. VW announced the end of production in June 2003, citing decreasing demand, and the final original Type 1 VW Beetle (No. 21,529,464) rolled off the production line at Puebla, Mexico, on 30 July 2003 65 years after its original launch. This last Beetle, nicknamed El Rey (Spanish for "The King" after a legendary Mexican song by José Alfredo Jiménez) was delivered to the company's museum in Wolfsburg, Germany.

 

To celebrate the occasion, Volkswagen marketed a final special series of 3,000 Beetles marketed as "Última Edición" (Final Edition) in light blue (Aquarius Blue) or beige (Harvest Moon Beige). Each car included the 1.6 engine, whitewall tires, a CD player with four speakers, chrome bumpers, trim, hub caps and exterior mirrors, a Wolfsburg emblem above the front trunk's handle, chrome glove box badge, body coloured wheels, tinted glass, a rear parcel shelf, and VW Última Edición plaque.

 

A mariachi band serenaded production of the last car. In Mexico, there was an advertising campaign as a goodbye for the Beetle. In one of the ads was a very small parking space on the street, and many big cars tried to use it, but could not. After a while, a sign appears in that parking space saying: "Es increíble que un auto tan pequeño deje un vacío tan grande" (It is incredible that a car so small can leave such a large void). Another depicted the rear end of a 1954 Beetle (the year Volkswagen was established in Mexico) in the left side of the ad, reading "Erase una vez..." (Once upon a time...) and the last 2003 Beetle in the right side, reading "Fin" (The end). There were other ads with the same nostalgic tone.

 

- Engine: Fuel-injected (Bosch Digifant) four-cylinder horizontally opposed, 1,584 cc, 50 hp (37 kW), 98.1 N·m (72.4 lb·ft) @ 2,200 rpm, three-way catalytic converter

- Rated fuel mileage: 32.5 mpg-US (7.2 L/100 km; 39.0 mpg-imp)

- Max cruising speed: 130 km/h

- Brakes: front disc, rear drum

- Passengers: Five

- Tank: 40 L (11 US gal; 9 imp gal)

- Colours: Aquarius blue, Harvest Moon beige.

 

PROTOTYPES

DIESEL

In 1951, Volkswagen prototyped a 1.3 L diesel engine. Volkswagen made only two of these air-cooled boxer diesel engines (not turbocharged), and installed one engine in a Type 1 and another in a Type 2. The diesel Beetle was time tested on the Nürburgring and achieved 0–100 km/h in 60 seconds.

 

DESIGN

The Beetle featured a rear-located, rear-wheel drive, air-cooled four-cylinder, boxer engine in a two-door bodywork featuring a flat front windscreen, accommodating four passengers and providing luggage storage under the front bonnet and behind the rear seat – and offering a coefficient of drag of 0.41; to this relatively good CD, the also streamlined rear of car was of help. The bodywork attached with eighteen bolts to its nearly flat chassis which featured a central structural tunnel. Front and rear suspension featured torsion bars along with front stabilizer bar – providing independent suspension at all wheels. Certain initial features were subsequently revised, including mechanical drum brakes, split-window rear windows, mechanical direction-indicators and the non-synchronized gearbox. Other features, including its distinctive overall shape, endured.

 

Its engine, transmission, and cylinder heads were constructed of light alloy. An engine oil cooler (located in the engine fan's shroud) ensured optimal engine operating temperature and long engine life, optimized by a thermostat that bypassed the oil cooler when the engine was cold. Later models of the carburetor featured an automatic choke. Engine intake air passed through a metallic filter, while heavier particles were captured by an oil bath. After 1960, steering featured a hydraulic damper that absorbed steering irregularities.

 

Indicative of the car's utilitarian design, the interior featured painted metal surfaces, a metal dash consolidating instruments in a single, circular binnacle, adjustable front seats, a fold-down rear seat, optional swing-out rear windows, front windows with pivoting vent windows, heating via air-to-air exchange manifolds operating off the engine's heat, and a windshield washer system that eschewed the complexity and cost of an additional electric pump and instead received its pressurization from the car's spare tire (located in the front luggage compartment) which was accordingly overinflated to accommodate the washer function.

 

Throughout its production, VW marketed the Beetle with a four-speed manual transmission. From 1961 (and almost exclusively in Europe), VW offered an optional version of the Saxomat semi-automatic transmission: a regular 4-speed manual transaxle coupled to an electromagnetic clutch with a centrifugal clutch used for idle. Subsequently (beginning in 1967 in Europe and 1968 in the United States), VW offered an optional semi-automatic transmission (marketed as Automatic Stick Shift and also called AutoStick[citation needed]), which was a 3-speed manual coupled to an electro-pneumatic clutch and torque converter.

 

While the overall appearance of the Beetle changed little over its life span, it received over 78,000 incremental changes during its production.

 

EVOLUTION AND DESIGN CHANGES

BEETLE CABRIOLET

It was in 1948 that Wilhelm Karmann first bought a VW Beetle sedan and converted it into a four-seated convertible. The Beetle Cabriolet began production in 1949 by Karmann in Osnabrück. After successfully presenting it at VW in Wolfsburg, production started in 1949.

 

The convertible was more than a Beetle with a folding top. To compensate for the strength lost in removing the roof, the sills were reinforced with welded U-channel rails, a transverse beam was fitted below the front edge of the rear seat cushion, and the side cowl-panels below the instrument panel were double-wall. In addition, the lower corners of the door apertures had welded-in curved gussets, and the doors had secondary alignment wedges at the B-pillar.

 

The top was cabriolet-style with a full inner headliner hiding the folding mechanism and crossbars. In between the two top layers was 25 mm of insulation. The rear window was tempered safety glass, and after 1968, heated. Due to the thickness of the top, it remained quite tall when folded. To enable the driver to see over the lowered top, the inside rearview was mounted on an offset pivot. By twisting the mirror 180 degrees on a longitudinal axis, the mirror glass would raise approximately 5.1 cm.

 

The convertible was generally more lavishly equipped than the sedan with dual rear ashtrays, twin map pockets, a visor vanity mirror on the passenger side, rear stone shields, and through 1969, wheel trim rings. Many of these items did not become available on other Beetles until the advent of the optional "L" (Luxus) Package of 1970.

 

After a number of stylistic and technical alterations made to the Karmann cabriolet, (corresponding to the many changes VW made to the Beetle throughout its history), the last of 331,847 cabriolets came off the production line on 10 January 1980.

 

1950–1959 MODELS

During this period, a myriad of changes were made throughout the vehicle beginning with the availability of hydraulic brakes and a folding fabric sunroof in 1950. The rear window of the VW Beetle evolved from a divided or "split" oval, to a singular oval. The change occurred between October 1952 and March 1953. Beetles built during this time were known as a "Zwitter", or "hybrid", as they used the split-window bodyshell with oval-model chrome trim, vent windows and dashboard.

 

1953 models received a redesigned instrument panel. The one-piece “Pope's Nose” combination license plate/brake light was replaced by a smaller flat-bottomed license plate light. The brake light function was transferred to new heart-shaped lamps located in the top of the taillight housings.

 

In 1954, Volkswagen added 2 mm to the cylinder bore, increasing the displacement from 1,131 (1100) cc to 1,192 (1200) cc. This coincided with upgrades to various key components including a redesign of the crankshaft. This increased power from 30 hp (22 kW; 30 PS) to 36 hp (27 kW; 36 PS) and improved the engine's free revving abilities without compromising torque at lower engine speeds. At the same time, compression ratios were progressively raised as, little by little, the octane ratings of available fuel was raised in major markets during the 1950s and 1960s.

 

In 1955, the separate brake lights were discontinued and were combined into a new larger taillight housing. The traditional VW semaphore turn signals were replaced by conventional flashing directional indicator lamps for North America.

 

For 1956, the Beetle received what would become one of its more distinctive features, a set of twin chrome tailpipes. Models for North America gained taller bumper guards and tubular overrider bars.

 

For 1958, the Beetle received a revised instrument panel, and a larger rectangular rear window replaced the previous oval design.

 

1960–1969 MODELS

1960 models received a front sway bar along with a hydraulic steering damper.

 

For 1961, significant technical advances occurred in the form of a new engine and transmission. The engine remained at 1200cc but the power increased to 40 hp (30 kW; 41 PS) primarily due to an increase in compression ratio to 7.1:1. The carburetor received an electric automatic choke and the transmission was now synchronized on all forward gears. The traditional semaphore turns signals were replaced by conventional flashing directional indicators worldwide.

 

For 1962, the Beetle received a mechanical fuel level gauge in place of the former fuel tap. At the rear, larger tail lights were introduced incorporating a separate amber turn signal section to meet new European standards (these turn signals remained red in the US market until 1973). The former hand-pump style windscreen washer was replaced by a new design using compressed air. A Schrader valve located on the washer fluid tank allowed the system to be charged at a filling station to the recommended 35 psi (2.4 bar).

 

1964 models could be identified by a widened light housing on the engine lid over the rear license plate.

 

The largest change to date for the Beetle was in 1965: the majority of the body stampings were revised, which allowed for significantly larger windows. The windshield increased in area by 11% and was now slightly curved, rather than flat. Door windows increased accordingly by 6% (and door vent window edges were canted slightly back), rear side windows 17.5%, and the rear window 19.5%. The result was a more open, airy, modern look.

 

For 1966, the big news was an optional new 1300cc 50 hp (37 kW; 51 PS) engine in lieu of the previous 1200cc engine that had been the sole engine since 1954. Models so equipped carried a "1300" badge on the engine lid. The 1300cc engine was standard for North America.

 

For 1967, a yet-again larger-displacement engine was made available: 1500cc, 53 hp (40 kW; 54 PS) at 4,200 rpm. 1200 and 1300 engines continued to be available, as many markets based their taxation on engine size. 1500cc Beetles were equipped with front disc brakes and were identified with a "VW 1500" badge on the engine lid. North America received the 1500 engine as standard equipment, but did not receive front disc brakes. These models were identified by a "Volkswagen" badge on the engine lid.

 

The rear suspension was significantly revised including a widened track, softer torsion bars and the addition of a unique Z-configuration equalizing torsion spring. On US, UK and Ireland models, the generator output was increased from 180 to 360 watts, and the entire electrical system was upgraded from 6 volts to 12 volts. The clutch disc also increased in size and changes were made to the flywheel. New equipment included a driver's armrest on the door and locking buttons on both doors. Safety improvements included two-speed windscreen wipers, reversing lights (in some markets), and a driver's side mirror. In accord with the newly enacted US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108, North American models received a dual-circuit brake system, the clear glass headlamp covers were deleted; the headlamps were brought forward to the leading edge of the front fenders, and the sealed-beam units were exposed and surrounded by chrome bezels.

 

1968 was a year of major change. The most noticeable of which were the new larger, higher mounted C-section bumpers. At the rear, new larger taillamps were adopted and were able to accommodate backup lamps, which were previously separate bumper-mounted units. Beetles worldwide received the '67 North American style vertical headlamp placement, but with replaceable-bulb headlamps compliant with ECE regulations rather than the US sealed beams. Other improvements were a new outside gas filler with spring-loaded flap, eliminating the need to open the trunk to refuel. The fuel gauge was integrated with the speedometer and was now electrically-actuated rather than cable-operated. The windscreen washer was now pressured by the spare tire, which was to be maintained at a pressure of 42 psi (2.9 bar). A pressure valve in the connecting hose closed airflow to the fluid reservoir if spare tire pressure fell below 30 psi (2.1 bar), which was above the recommended pressures for the road tires. A ventilation system was introduced, which drew fresh air into the cabin from louvres on the front decklid. For improved shifting, the shift lever was shortened, stiffened and moved rearward by

78 mm.

 

A number of safety improvements were made in order to comply with new American safety regulations: these included trigger-operated outside door handles, a secondary front hood latch, collapsing steering column, soft vent window latches, rotary glove compartment latch and instrument panel knobs labeled with pictographs. US models received a padded instrument panel that was optional in other markets. To meet North American head restraint requirements, VW developed the industry's first high-back bucket seat.

 

A new 3-speed semi-automatic gear box with torque converter and vacuum-operated clutch became available mid-production year. The semi-automatic models received a vastly improved semi-trailing-arm rear suspension (also known as "Independent Rear Suspension" although the earlier swing axle Beetles were also independent) and eliminated the need for the equalizing torsion spring. This new rear suspension layout would eventually become an option on later models. Beetles equipped with the automatic were identified with a "VW Automatic" badge on the engine lid and a matching decal in the rear window. In North America, the badging and decal were later revised to read, "Automatic Stick Shift".

 

For 1969, the only exterior change was the fuel filler flap no longer had a finger indentation due to a new interior-mounted fuel door release. For North America, the Beetle received a heated rear window, day/night mirror and the semi-trailing, independent rear-arm suspension as standard equipment.

 

1970–1979 MODELS

In 1970, A new "L" (Luxus) Package was introduced including, among other items, twin map pockets, dual rear ashtrays, full carpeting, a passenger-side visor vanity mirror, and rubber bumper moldings. The optional 1500 cc engine now came with an engine lid having two rows of cooling louvers, while the convertible's engine lid gained two additional sets for a total of four. For North America, the 1500 cc engine was enlarged to 1600 cc engine and produced 57 hp (43 kW; 58 PS)

 

For 1971, for the first time there were two Beetles, the familiar standard Beetle and a new larger version that was different from the windscreen forward. All Beetles received an engine upgrade: the optional 1500 cc engine was replaced by a 1600 cc version with twin-port cylinder heads and a larger, relocated oil cooler. The new engine produced 60 hp (45 kW; 61 PS). The ventilation system was improved with the original dash-top vents augmented by a second pair aimed directly at the driver and passenger. For the first time the system was a flow-through design with crescent-shaped air exits fitted behind the rear quarter windows. Airflow could be increased via an optional 2-speed fan. The standard Beetle was now badged as the VW 1300; when equipped with the 1600 engine, it was badged 1300 S, to avoided confusion with the Type 3, which wore VW 1600 badges.

 

The new larger Beetle was sold as the 1302/1302 S, offering nearly 50% increased luggage capacity. A new MacPherson strut front suspension was incorporated, similar to what was used in the Type 4, and the front track was widened. The new suspension layout allowed the spare tire to be positioned flat under the trunk floor, although the car had to be lengthened slightly to accomplish this. This also allowed a reduction in turning radius. To gain additional trunk volume, the under-dash panel was lowered, allowing the fuel tank to be shifted rearward. From the windscreen back the big Beetle was identical to its smaller progenitor, except for having the semi-trailing arm rear suspension as standard equipment. Overall, the big Beetle was 50 mm longer in length and 35 mm wider and rode on a 20 mm longer wheelbase than the standard model. Both Beetles were available with or without the L Package. The convertible was now based on the 1302 body. In North America, the 1302 was marketed as the Super Beetle and came only with the L Package and 1600 cc engine. While it lacked the front disc brakes that normally accompanied the larger motor, it was fitted with brake drums that were slightly larger than the standard Beetle. With the Super Beetle being sold as the premium model in North America, the standard Beetle, while retaining the same 1600 cc engine, was stripped of many of its earlier features in order to reduce the selling price. Bright window and running board moldings disappeared, along with the day/night mirror, horn ring, map pocket, locking glove box and miscellaneous other items.

 

1972 models had an 11% larger rear window 40 mm taller, larger front brakes[citation needed] and the convertible engine lid with four rows of louvres was now used on all Beetles. Inside the vehicle, a four-spoke energy-absorbing steering wheel was introduced, the windshield wiper/washer knob was replaced in favor of a steering column stalk, and intermittent wipers were a new option available in selected markets. An engine compartment socket for the proprietary VW Diagnosis system was also introduced. The rear luggage area was fitted with a folding parcel shelf. A limited-edition Commemorative model was launched in celebration of the Beetle's passing the record of the Ford Model T as the world's most-produced automobile. The Commemorative Beetle was a 1302 LS finished in a special Marathon Blue Metallic paint and unique 4.5 x 15 styled steel wheels. In the U.S., it was marketed as the Super Beetle Baja Champion SE.

 

1973 models featured significantly-enlarged "elephant foot" taillamps mounted in reshaped rear fenders. In the engine bay, the oil-bath air cleaner gave way to a dry element filter, and the generator was replaced with an alternator. The 1302/Super became the 1303 with a new taller wrap-around windscreen. The changes to the cowl and windshield resulted in slight redesign of the front hood. The instrument panel, formerly shared with the standard Beetle, was all-new and incorporated a raised speedometer pod, rocker-style switches and side-window defrosters. The limited-edition GSR (Gelb-Schwarz Rennen) was a 1303 S available only in Saturn Yellow paint equipped with special 140 mm wide sport wheels fitted with 175/70-15 Pirelli Cinturato CN36 high-performance radial tires. Front and rear deck lids were finished in matte black, as was all exterior trim with the exception of the chrome headlamp bezels. Inside were corduroy and leatherette high-bolstered sport seats and a small diameter three-spoke steering wheel with padded leather rim and a small red VW logo on the bottom spoke. In North America, the GSR was sold as the Super Beetle Sports Bug. The North American model had body-color deck lids and was available in Marathon Blue Metallic in addition to Saturn Yellow. In some markets, the sport wheels (in both 4.5-inch and 5.5-inch widths), sport steering wheel and sport seats became available as stand-alone options.

 

For 1974, North American models received newly required 8.0 km/h impact bumpers mounted on self-restoring energy absorbers, which added approximately 25 mm to the car's overall length. On the Super Beetle, the steering knuckle, and consequently the lower attachment point of the strut, was redesigned to improve handling and stability in the event of a tire blowout. A limited-edition Big Beetle was introduced based on the 1303 LS. Available in unique metallic paint colors, the car featured styled-steel 5.5 in (140 mm) wide sport wheels wrapped in 175/70-15 tires, corduroy seat inserts, upgraded loop-pile carpet, wood-look instrument panel trim and a padded steering wheel with bright accents. In the North American market, a limited-edition Sun Bug was introduced as a standard Beetle or Super Beetle. Both were finished in metallic gold and featured styled-steel 4.5 in (110 mm)-wide sport wheels. Inside were brown corduroy and leatherette seats, loop-pile carpet, and padded four-spoke deluxe steering wheel. The Super Beetle Sun Bug included a sliding-steel sunroof.

 

In 1975, front turn indicators were moved from the top of the front fenders down into the bumper. At the rear, the license plate light housing was now molded of plastic with a ribbed top surface. To comply with tightening emission standards, the 1600 cc engine in Japanese and North American markets received Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection, a derivative of the Bosch D-Jetronic system formerly used in the VW Type 3 and Type 4. The injected engine received a new muffler and in California a catalytic converter. This necessitated a bulge in the rear apron under the rear bumper and replaced the distinctive twin "pea shooter" tailpipes with a single offset pipe, making injected models identifiable at a glance. 5 mph (8.0 km/h) bumper-equipped North American models retained fender-top front indicators. The 1303 received rack and pinion steering. In North America, the 1303/Super Beetle sedan was moved upmarket and was now christened La Grande Bug. Similar to the Big Beetle of 1974, La Grande Bug was available in blue or green metallic paint in the U.S. and blue, green or gold metallic in Canada and was equipped with the same features as the 1974 Sun Bug. Mid-year, the Love Bug was introduced for North America: based on the standard Beetle, it was available only in Phoenix Red or Ravenna Green (both colors shared with the VW-Porsche 914) with all exterior trim finished in matte black. A price leader, the Love Bug retailed for less than a standard Beetle. The "Volkswagen" script on the engine lid of all North American Beetles was replaced with a "Fuel Injection" badge.

 

In 1976, the 1303/La Grande Bug was discontinued, with the larger body continuing only in convertible form. To make up for the loss in North American markets, the standard Beetle was upgraded, regaining some of the features that were removed in 1971. In addition, the 2-speed ventilation fan was included, previously available in North America only on the larger Beetle. The automatic stickshift option was discontinued as well.

 

1977 models received new front seats with separate head restraints. This was the final model year for the Beetle sedan in North America. The convertible was offered in a Champagne Edition in triple white with the padded deluxe steering wheel, burled elm-grain dash trim and (110 mm wide sport wheels. Approximately 1,000 Champagne Editions were produced.

 

WIKIPEDIA

The Volkswagen Type 2, officially known as the Transporter or informally as Bus (US) or Camper (UK), was a panel van introduced in 1950 by German automaker Volkswagen as its second car model – following and initially deriving from Volkswagen's first model, the Type 1 (Beetle), it was given the factory designation Type 2.

As one of the forerunners of the modern cargo and passenger vans, the Type 2 gave rise to competitors in the United States and Europe, including the Ford Econoline, the Dodge A100, and the Corvair 95 Corvan, the latter adopting the Type 2's rear-engine configuration. European competition included the Renault Estafette and the Ford Transit. As of January 2010, updated versions of the Type 2 remain in production in international markets— as a passenger van, as a cargo van, and as a pickup truck.

Like the Beetle, the van has received numerous nicknames worldwide, including the "microbus", "minibus", "kombi" and, due to its popularity during the counterculture movement of the 1960s, "hippie van".

 

The concept for the Type 2 is credited to Dutch Volkswagen importer Ben Pon. (It has similarities in concept to the 1920s Rumpler Tropfenwagen and 1930s Dymaxion car by Buckminster Fuller, neither of which reached production.) Pon visited Wolfsburg in 1946, intending to purchase Type 1s for import to Holland, where he saw an improvised parts-mover and realized something better was possible using the stock Type 1 pan. He first sketched the van in a doodle dated April 23, 1947, proposing a payload of 690 kg (1,500 lb) and placing the driver at the very front. Production would have to wait, however, as the factory was at capacity producing the Type 1.

When capacity freed up a prototype known internally as the Type 29 was produced in a short three months. The stock Type 1 pan proved to be too weak so the prototype used a ladder chassis with unit body construction. Coincidentally the wheelbase was the same as the Type 1's. Engineers reused the reduction gear from the Type 81, enabling the 1.5 ton van to use a 25 hp (19 kW) flat four engine.

Although the aerodynamics of the first prototypes were poor (with an initial drag coefficient of 0.75), engineers used the wind tunnel at the Technical University of Braunschweig to optimize the design. Simple changes such as splitting the windshield and roofline into a "vee" helped the production Type 2 achieve a drag coefficient of 0.44, exceeding the Type 1's 0.48. Volkswagen's new chief executive officer Heinz Nordhoff (appointed 1 January 1948) approved the van for production on 19 May 1949 and the first production model, now designated Type 2, rolled off the assembly line to debut 12 November. Only two models were offered: the Kombi (with two side windows and middle and rear seats that were easily removable by one person), and the Commercial. The Microbus was added in May 1950, joined by the Deluxe Microbus in June 1951. In all 9,541 Type 2s were produced in their first year of production.

An ambulance model was added in December 1951 which repositioned the fuel tank in front of the transaxle, put the spare tire behind the front seat, and added a "tailgate"-style rear door. These features became standard on the Type 2 from 1955 to 1967. 11,805 Type 2s were built in the 1951 model year. These were joined by a single-cab pickup in August 1952, and it changed the least of the Type 2s until all were heavily modified in 1968.

Unlike other rear engine Volkswagens, which evolved constantly over time but never saw the introduction of all-new models, the Transporter not only evolved, but was completely revised periodically with variations retrospectively referred to as versions "T1" to "T5" (a nomenclature only invented after the introduction of the front-drive T4 which repaced the T25) However only generations T1 to T3 (or T25 as it is still called in Ireland and Great Britain) can be seen as directly related to the Beetle (see below for details).

The Type 2, along with the 1947 Citroën H Van, are among the first 'forward control' vans in which the driver was placed above the front roadwheels. They started a trend in Europe, where the 1952 GM Bedford CA, 1959 Renault Estafette, 1960 BMC Morris J4, and 1960 Commer FC also used the concept. In the United States, the Corvair-based Chevrolet Corvan cargo van and Greenbrier passenger van went so far as to copy the Type 2's rear-engine layout, using the Corvair's horizontally-opposed, air-cooled engine for power. Except for the Greenbrier and various 1950s–70s Fiat minivans, the Type 2 remained unique in being rear-engined. This was a disadvantage for the early "barndoor" Panel Vans, which couldn't easily be loaded from the rear due to the engine cover intruding on interior space, but generally advantageous in traction and interior noise.

 

The Type 2 was available as a:

Panel van, a delivery van without side windows or rear seats.

Nippen Tucket, available in six colours, with or without doors.

Walk-Through Panel Van, a delivery van without side windows or rear seats and cargo doors on both sides.

High Roof Panel Van (German: Hochdach), a delivery van with raised roof.

Kombi, from German: Kombinationskraftwagen (combination motor vehicle), with side windows and removable rear seats, both a passenger and a cargo vehicle combined.

Bus, also called a Volkswagen Caravelle, a van with more comfortable interior reminiscent of passenger cars since the third generation.

Samba-Bus, a van with skylight windows and cloth sunroof, first generation only, also known as a Deluxe Microbus. They were marketed for touring the Alps,

Flatbed pickup truck, or Single Cab, also available with wider load bed.

Crew cab pick-up, a flatbed truck with extended cab and two rows of seats, also called a Doka, from German: Doppelkabine.

Westfalia camping van, "Westy", with Westfalia roof and interior.

Adventurewagen camping van, with high roof and camping units from Adventurewagen.

Semi-camping van that can also still be used as a passenger car and transporter, sacrificing some camping comforts. "Multivan" or "Weekender", available from the third generation on.

Apart from these factory variants, there were a multitude of third-party conversions available, some of which were offered through Volkswagen dealers. They included, but were not limited to, refrigerated vans, hearses, ambulances, police vans, fire engines and ladder trucks, and camping van conversions by companies other than Westfalia. There were even 30 Klv 20 rail-going draisines built for Deutsche Bundesbahn in 1955.

 

The first generation of the Volkswagen Type 2 with the split windshield, informally called the Microbus, Splitscreen, or Splittie among modern fans, was produced from 8 March 1950 through the end of the 1967 model year. From 1950–1956, the T1 was built in Wolfsburg; from 1956, it was built at the completely new Transporter factory in Hanover. Like the Beetle, the first Transporters used the 1100 Volkswagen air cooled engine, an 1,131 cc (69.0 cu in), DIN-rated 18 kW (24 PS; 24 bhp), air-cooled flat-four cylinder 'boxer' engine mounted in the rear. This was upgraded to the 1200 – an 1,192 cc (72.7 cu in) 22 kW (30 PS; 30 bhp) in 1953. A higher compression ratio became standard in 1955; while an unusual early version of the 30 kW (41 PS; 40 bhp) engine debuted exclusively on the Type 2 in 1959. This engine proved to be so uncharacteristically troublesome that Volkswagen recalled all 1959 Transporters and replaced the engines with an updated version of the 30 kW engine. Any 1959 models that retain that early engine today are true survivors. Since the engine was totally discontinued at the outset, no parts were ever made available.

The early versions of the T1 until 1955 were often called the "Barndoor" (retrospectively called T1a since the 1990s), owing to the enormous rear engine cover, while the later versions with a slightly modified body (the roofline above the windshield is extended), smaller engine bay, and 15" roadwheels instead of the original 16" ones are nowadays called the T1b (again, only called this since the 1990s, based on VW's restrospective T1,2,3,4 etc. naming system.). From the 1964 model year, when the rear door was made wider (same as on the bay-window or T2), the vehicle could be referred to as the T1c. 1964 also saw the introduction of an optional sliding door for the passenger/cargo area instead of the outwardly hinged doors typical of cargo vans. This change arguably makes the 1964 Volkswagen the first true minivan, although the term wouldn't be coined for another two decades.

In 1962, a heavy-duty Transporter was introduced as a factory option. It featured a cargo capacity of 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) instead of the previous 750 kg (1,653 lb), smaller but wider 14" roadwheels, and a 1.5 Le, 31 kW (42 PS; 42 bhp) DIN engine. This was so successful that only a year later, the 750 kg, 1.2 L Transporter was discontinued. The 1963 model year introduced the 1500 engine – 1,493 cc (91.1 cu in) as standard equipment to the US market at 38 kW (52 PS; 51 bhp) DIN with an 83 mm (3.27 in) bore, 69 mm (2.72 in) stroke, and 7.8:1 compression ratio. When the Beetle received the 1.5 L engine for the 1967 model year, its power was increased to 40 kW (54 PS; 54 bhp) DIN.

  

1966 Volkswagen Kombi (North America)

German production stopped after the 1967 model year; however, the T1 still was made in Brazil until 1975, when it was modified with a 1968–79 T2-style front end, and big 1972-vintage taillights into the so-called "T1.5" and produced until 1996. The Brazilian T1s were not identical to the last German models (the T1.5 was locally produced in Brazil using the 1950s and 1960s-era stamping dies to cut down on retooling, alongside the Beetle/Fusca, where the pre-1965 body style was retained), though they sported some characteristic features of the T1a, such as the cargo doors and five-stud 205 mm (8.1 in) PCD) rims.

  

VW Bus Type 2 (T1), hippie colors

Among American enthusiasts, it is common to refer to the different models by the number of their windows. The basic Kombi or Bus is the 11-window (a.k.a. three-window bus because of three side windows) with a split windshield, two front cabin door windows, six rear side windows, and one rear window. The DeLuxe model featured eight rear side windows and two rear corner windows, making it the 15-window (not available in Europe). Meanwhile, the sunroof DeLuxe with its additional eight small skylight windows is, accordingly, the 23-window. From the 1964 model year, with its wider rear door, the rear corner windows were discontinued, making the latter two the 13-window and 21-window respectively. The 23- and later 21-window variants each carry the nickname 'Samba', or in Australia, officially 'Alpine'.

 

Certain models of the Volkswagen Type 2 played a role in an historic episode during the early 1960s, known as the Chicken War. France and West Germany had placed tariffs on imports of U.S. chicken. Diplomacy failed, and in January 1964, two months after taking office, President Johnson imposed a 25% tax (almost 10 times the average U.S. tariff) on potato starch, dextrin, brandy, and light trucks. Officially, the tax targeted items imported from Europe as approximating the value of lost American chicken sales to Europe.

In retrospect, audio tapes from the Johnson White House, revealed a quid pro quo unrelated to chicken. In January 1964, President Johnson attempted to convince United Auto Workers' president Walter Reuther not to initiate a strike just prior to the 1964 election, and to support the president's civil rights platform. Reuther, in turn, wanted Johnson to respond to Volkswagen's increased shipments to the United States.

The Chicken Tax directly curtailed importation of German-built Type 2s in configurations that qualified them as light trucks – that is, commercial vans (panel vans) and pickups. In 1964, U.S. imports of automobile trucks from West Germany declined to a value of $5.7 million – about one-third the value imported in the previous year. After 1971, Volkswagen cargo vans and pickup trucks, the intended targets, "practically disappeared from the U.S. market". While post-1971 Type 2 commercial vans and single-cab and double-cab pickups can be found in the United States today, they are exceedingly rare. As of 2009, the Chicken tax remains in effect.

(Source Wikipedia)

The Volkswagen Type 2, officially known as the Transporter or informally as Bus (US) or Camper (UK), was a panel van introduced in 1950 by German automaker Volkswagen as its second car model – following and initially deriving from Volkswagen's first model, the Type 1 (Beetle), it was given the factory designation Type 2.

As one of the forerunners of the modern cargo and passenger vans, the Type 2 gave rise to competitors in the United States and Europe, including the Ford Econoline, the Dodge A100, and the Corvair 95 Corvan, the latter adopting the Type 2's rear-engine configuration. European competition included the Renault Estafette and the Ford Transit. As of January 2010, updated versions of the Type 2 remain in production in international markets— as a passenger van, as a cargo van, and as a pickup truck.

Like the Beetle, the van has received numerous nicknames worldwide, including the "microbus", "minibus", "kombi" and, due to its popularity during the counterculture movement of the 1960s, "hippie van".

 

The concept for the Type 2 is credited to Dutch Volkswagen importer Ben Pon. (It has similarities in concept to the 1920s Rumpler Tropfenwagen and 1930s Dymaxion car by Buckminster Fuller, neither of which reached production.) Pon visited Wolfsburg in 1946, intending to purchase Type 1s for import to Holland, where he saw an improvised parts-mover and realized something better was possible using the stock Type 1 pan. He first sketched the van in a doodle dated April 23, 1947, proposing a payload of 690 kg (1,500 lb) and placing the driver at the very front. Production would have to wait, however, as the factory was at capacity producing the Type 1.

When capacity freed up a prototype known internally as the Type 29 was produced in a short three months. The stock Type 1 pan proved to be too weak so the prototype used a ladder chassis with unit body construction. Coincidentally the wheelbase was the same as the Type 1's. Engineers reused the reduction gear from the Type 81, enabling the 1.5 ton van to use a 25 hp (19 kW) flat four engine.

Although the aerodynamics of the first prototypes were poor (with an initial drag coefficient of 0.75), engineers used the wind tunnel at the Technical University of Braunschweig to optimize the design. Simple changes such as splitting the windshield and roofline into a "vee" helped the production Type 2 achieve a drag coefficient of 0.44, exceeding the Type 1's 0.48. Volkswagen's new chief executive officer Heinz Nordhoff (appointed 1 January 1948) approved the van for production on 19 May 1949 and the first production model, now designated Type 2, rolled off the assembly line to debut 12 November. Only two models were offered: the Kombi (with two side windows and middle and rear seats that were easily removable by one person), and the Commercial. The Microbus was added in May 1950, joined by the Deluxe Microbus in June 1951. In all 9,541 Type 2s were produced in their first year of production.

An ambulance model was added in December 1951 which repositioned the fuel tank in front of the transaxle, put the spare tire behind the front seat, and added a "tailgate"-style rear door. These features became standard on the Type 2 from 1955 to 1967. 11,805 Type 2s were built in the 1951 model year. These were joined by a single-cab pickup in August 1952, and it changed the least of the Type 2s until all were heavily modified in 1968.

Unlike other rear engine Volkswagens, which evolved constantly over time but never saw the introduction of all-new models, the Transporter not only evolved, but was completely revised periodically with variations retrospectively referred to as versions "T1" to "T5" (a nomenclature only invented after the introduction of the front-drive T4 which repaced the T25) However only generations T1 to T3 (or T25 as it is still called in Ireland and Great Britain) can be seen as directly related to the Beetle (see below for details).

The Type 2, along with the 1947 Citroën H Van, are among the first 'forward control' vans in which the driver was placed above the front roadwheels. They started a trend in Europe, where the 1952 GM Bedford CA, 1959 Renault Estafette, 1960 BMC Morris J4, and 1960 Commer FC also used the concept. In the United States, the Corvair-based Chevrolet Corvan cargo van and Greenbrier passenger van went so far as to copy the Type 2's rear-engine layout, using the Corvair's horizontally-opposed, air-cooled engine for power. Except for the Greenbrier and various 1950s–70s Fiat minivans, the Type 2 remained unique in being rear-engined. This was a disadvantage for the early "barndoor" Panel Vans, which couldn't easily be loaded from the rear due to the engine cover intruding on interior space, but generally advantageous in traction and interior noise.

 

The Type 2 was available as a:

Panel van, a delivery van without side windows or rear seats.

Nippen Tucket, available in six colours, with or without doors.

Walk-Through Panel Van, a delivery van without side windows or rear seats and cargo doors on both sides.

High Roof Panel Van (German: Hochdach), a delivery van with raised roof.

Kombi, from German: Kombinationskraftwagen (combination motor vehicle), with side windows and removable rear seats, both a passenger and a cargo vehicle combined.

Bus, also called a Volkswagen Caravelle, a van with more comfortable interior reminiscent of passenger cars since the third generation.

Samba-Bus, a van with skylight windows and cloth sunroof, first generation only, also known as a Deluxe Microbus. They were marketed for touring the Alps,

Flatbed pickup truck, or Single Cab, also available with wider load bed.

Crew cab pick-up, a flatbed truck with extended cab and two rows of seats, also called a Doka, from German: Doppelkabine.

Westfalia camping van, "Westy", with Westfalia roof and interior.

Adventurewagen camping van, with high roof and camping units from Adventurewagen.

Semi-camping van that can also still be used as a passenger car and transporter, sacrificing some camping comforts. "Multivan" or "Weekender", available from the third generation on.

Apart from these factory variants, there were a multitude of third-party conversions available, some of which were offered through Volkswagen dealers. They included, but were not limited to, refrigerated vans, hearses, ambulances, police vans, fire engines and ladder trucks, and camping van conversions by companies other than Westfalia. There were even 30 Klv 20 rail-going draisines built for Deutsche Bundesbahn in 1955.

 

The first generation of the Volkswagen Type 2 with the split windshield, informally called the Microbus, Splitscreen, or Splittie among modern fans, was produced from 8 March 1950 through the end of the 1967 model year. From 1950–1956, the T1 was built in Wolfsburg; from 1956, it was built at the completely new Transporter factory in Hanover. Like the Beetle, the first Transporters used the 1100 Volkswagen air cooled engine, an 1,131 cc (69.0 cu in), DIN-rated 18 kW (24 PS; 24 bhp), air-cooled flat-four cylinder 'boxer' engine mounted in the rear. This was upgraded to the 1200 – an 1,192 cc (72.7 cu in) 22 kW (30 PS; 30 bhp) in 1953. A higher compression ratio became standard in 1955; while an unusual early version of the 30 kW (41 PS; 40 bhp) engine debuted exclusively on the Type 2 in 1959. This engine proved to be so uncharacteristically troublesome that Volkswagen recalled all 1959 Transporters and replaced the engines with an updated version of the 30 kW engine. Any 1959 models that retain that early engine today are true survivors. Since the engine was totally discontinued at the outset, no parts were ever made available.

The early versions of the T1 until 1955 were often called the "Barndoor" (retrospectively called T1a since the 1990s), owing to the enormous rear engine cover, while the later versions with a slightly modified body (the roofline above the windshield is extended), smaller engine bay, and 15" roadwheels instead of the original 16" ones are nowadays called the T1b (again, only called this since the 1990s, based on VW's restrospective T1,2,3,4 etc. naming system.). From the 1964 model year, when the rear door was made wider (same as on the bay-window or T2), the vehicle could be referred to as the T1c. 1964 also saw the introduction of an optional sliding door for the passenger/cargo area instead of the outwardly hinged doors typical of cargo vans. This change arguably makes the 1964 Volkswagen the first true minivan, although the term wouldn't be coined for another two decades.

In 1962, a heavy-duty Transporter was introduced as a factory option. It featured a cargo capacity of 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) instead of the previous 750 kg (1,653 lb), smaller but wider 14" roadwheels, and a 1.5 Le, 31 kW (42 PS; 42 bhp) DIN engine. This was so successful that only a year later, the 750 kg, 1.2 L Transporter was discontinued. The 1963 model year introduced the 1500 engine – 1,493 cc (91.1 cu in) as standard equipment to the US market at 38 kW (52 PS; 51 bhp) DIN with an 83 mm (3.27 in) bore, 69 mm (2.72 in) stroke, and 7.8:1 compression ratio. When the Beetle received the 1.5 L engine for the 1967 model year, its power was increased to 40 kW (54 PS; 54 bhp) DIN.

  

1966 Volkswagen Kombi (North America)

German production stopped after the 1967 model year; however, the T1 still was made in Brazil until 1975, when it was modified with a 1968–79 T2-style front end, and big 1972-vintage taillights into the so-called "T1.5" and produced until 1996. The Brazilian T1s were not identical to the last German models (the T1.5 was locally produced in Brazil using the 1950s and 1960s-era stamping dies to cut down on retooling, alongside the Beetle/Fusca, where the pre-1965 body style was retained), though they sported some characteristic features of the T1a, such as the cargo doors and five-stud 205 mm (8.1 in) PCD) rims.

  

VW Bus Type 2 (T1), hippie colors

Among American enthusiasts, it is common to refer to the different models by the number of their windows. The basic Kombi or Bus is the 11-window (a.k.a. three-window bus because of three side windows) with a split windshield, two front cabin door windows, six rear side windows, and one rear window. The DeLuxe model featured eight rear side windows and two rear corner windows, making it the 15-window (not available in Europe). Meanwhile, the sunroof DeLuxe with its additional eight small skylight windows is, accordingly, the 23-window. From the 1964 model year, with its wider rear door, the rear corner windows were discontinued, making the latter two the 13-window and 21-window respectively. The 23- and later 21-window variants each carry the nickname 'Samba', or in Australia, officially 'Alpine'.

 

Certain models of the Volkswagen Type 2 played a role in an historic episode during the early 1960s, known as the Chicken War. France and West Germany had placed tariffs on imports of U.S. chicken. Diplomacy failed, and in January 1964, two months after taking office, President Johnson imposed a 25% tax (almost 10 times the average U.S. tariff) on potato starch, dextrin, brandy, and light trucks. Officially, the tax targeted items imported from Europe as approximating the value of lost American chicken sales to Europe.

In retrospect, audio tapes from the Johnson White House, revealed a quid pro quo unrelated to chicken. In January 1964, President Johnson attempted to convince United Auto Workers' president Walter Reuther not to initiate a strike just prior to the 1964 election, and to support the president's civil rights platform. Reuther, in turn, wanted Johnson to respond to Volkswagen's increased shipments to the United States.

The Chicken Tax directly curtailed importation of German-built Type 2s in configurations that qualified them as light trucks – that is, commercial vans (panel vans) and pickups. In 1964, U.S. imports of automobile trucks from West Germany declined to a value of $5.7 million – about one-third the value imported in the previous year. After 1971, Volkswagen cargo vans and pickup trucks, the intended targets, "practically disappeared from the U.S. market". While post-1971 Type 2 commercial vans and single-cab and double-cab pickups can be found in the United States today, they are exceedingly rare. As of 2009, the Chicken tax remains in effect.

(Source Wikipedia)

 

Shot at Båstnäs Vehicle graveyard with a Nikon D70.

Edited on a IPad 2

The Citroën XM is an executive car that was produced by the French automaker Citroën between 1989 and 2000. The XM was voted 1990 European Car of the Year.

 

Design:

 

The angular, dart-like Bertone design was a development of Marcello Gandini's Citroën BX concept. It was a longer car with a longer, inclined nose, more refined details and with headlamps that were very much slimmer than the norm (Gandini's own XM proposal was rejected as looking too much like an Opel). The design process of the car was described in the journal Car Styling. In the article Citroen's design chief, Art Blakeslee, explained the appearance of the car, saying "I believe the XM is a modern and dynamic shape, with unique styling elements such as the very long, low hood, the extensive use of glass and the kick-up in the belt line". In the book Citroen XM another Citroen designer, Daniel Abramson, explained: "We lowered the belt line to give the shape a stronger image. It is purely a 'design statement' that is not functional and does nothing for the aerodynamics of the vehicle. We wanted a car that looks good from every angle". Abramson is also reported as saying that they "picked three areas to emphasise: 1) A very aggressive look ("Almost sinister"), 2) Lots of glass to create a greenhouse effect, and 3) An aerodynamic accent based on fact (low drag)".

 

There were many advances, most apparently designed to counteract the main criticisms of its predecessor. The CX leaned in corners, so the XM had active electronic management of the suspension; the CX rusted, so the XM had a partially galvanised body shell (most surviving XMs have very little corrosion); the CX was underpowered, so the XM offered the option of a 3.0 L V6 engine – the first V6 in a Citroën since the Maserati-engined SM of 1970.

 

Ventilation was markedly more effective in the XM. Rear accommodation in the XM was improved over the CX in both width, legroom and height. In particular the rear passengers were seated higher than those in the front in order to afford a good view out, important for a vehicle which would operate in French government service. The XM shared a floorpan with the Peugeot 605, and the two models fared similarly in both teething problems and market acceptance. Unlike the 605 sedan design, the XM was a liftback design - a feature thought to be desirable in certain European markets.

 

History:

 

Launched on 23 May 1989, the XM was the modern iteration of the Big Citroën, a replacement for the Citroën CX. It was intended to compete against vehicles like the Audi 100 and BMW's 5-series in a sector that accounted for 14.2% of the European market. Citroen was quoted as saying that the car was supposed to "take what Citroen means and make it acceptable". The car's initial reception was positive. The XM won the prestigious European Car of the Year award for 1990 (gaining almost twice as many votes as the second, the Mercedes-Benz SL) and went on to win a further 14 awards that year.

 

The anticipated annual sales were 450 cars a day in the first full year of production, or 160,000 units a year. Sales never reached this level for a variety of reasons. The market for executive cars made by mainstream manufacturers was in decline as customers opted for offerings from more prestigious marques such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz; in parallel customers were placing a higher priority on speed and handling rather than ride comfort which was Citroen's specialty. The XM was underdeveloped at launch which resulted in reliability problems; the vehicle as designed was inconsistent in its abilities. The XM's styling was also controversial and alienated those who desired a more conventional three box sedan. Most subjective of all was the matter of the XM not living up to the expectations created by its forerunner the Citroen DS, despite that car having been launched in an era of national markets, of different demands and standards, an era when there was more scope for large advances in engineering and design than were possible in 1989.

 

The XM inherited a loyal global customer base of executive class customers and a clear brand image, but did not enjoy the commercial success and iconic status of its predecessors, the CX and the DS, which both raised the bar of automotive performance for other manufacturers. Export markets experienced lower sales from the outset, partly due to the XM's pricing. The least expensive XM was nearly 50% more expensive at the time of launch than the corresponding CX. Whilst strong at first home market sales also declined, after the mechanical issues of the first few model years became known. The problem was caused by defective electrical connectors. Cost-cutting on the components was needed since the parent company was in financial difficulty at the time of the design of the XM. Between 1980 and 1984 the company lost $1.5 billion.

 

In mid-1994, the XM was revised in order to improve competitiveness. All models were fitted with driver's airbag (signalling the end of the single-spoke steering wheel), belt-pretensioners, a redesigned dashboard and upper door casings. The suspension was redesigned to reduce roll, pitch and dive. Most noticeable was the adoption of a passive rear-steering system similar to that on the Citroen Xantia. This sharpened the "steering without inducing a nervous twitch." Power output on the turbocharged motor was increased to 150 bhp (112 kW; 152 PS) from 145 bhp (108 kW; 147 PS) at 4400 rpm. This allowed the car to develop more torque at much lower revs.

 

By the mid-1990s, it was apparent that the XM's image meant it was less desirable than German products such as the BMW 5 Series. The view of the XM as commercially unsuccessful is reported by Compucars, the used car website, along with numerous other period commentaries. Production ended in June 2000.

 

With total sales over its lifetime of just 330,000 units in more than 10 years, and the fact that its replacement took 5 years to arrive, the XM might be considered a failure. This was the case particularly in the United Kingdom market, where demand was reduced to a virtual trickle by the late 1990s. But despite its common roots with the Peugeot 605, the XM may still emerge as a collectible car, as the DS and CX both did.

 

[Text taken from Wikipedia]

 

This Lego miniland-scale Citroen XM has been created for Flickr LUGNuts' 85th Build Challenge, - "Like, Totally 80's", - for vehicles created during the decade of the 1980s.

The Lamborghini Miura is a sports car produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 1966 and 1973. The car pioneered the mid-engined two-seat layout, the standard for high-performance sports and supercars since. When released, it was the fastest production road car made.

 

The Miura was originally conceived by Lamborghini's engineering team, which designed the car in its spare time against the wishes of company founder Ferruccio Lamborghini, who preferred powerful yet sedate grand touring cars over the race car-derived machines produced by local rival Ferrari.

 

The Miura's rolling chassis was presented at the 1965 Turin auto show, and the prototype P400 debuted at the 1966 Geneva show. It received stellar receptions from showgoers and the motoring press alike, each impressed by Marcello Gandini's sleek styling and the car's revolutionary mid-engine design.

 

Lamborghini's flagship, the Miura received periodic updates and remained in production until 1973. A year later the extreme Countach entered the automaker's lineup, amid tumultuous financial times for the company.

 

DEVELOPMENT

During 1965, Lamborghini's three top engineers, Gian Paolo Dallara, Paolo Stanzani, and Bob Wallace put their own time into developing a prototype car known as the P400. The engineers envisioned a road car with racing pedigree – one which could win on the track and be driven on the road by enthusiasts. The three men worked on its design at night, hoping to convince company founder Ferruccio Lamborghini such a vehicle would neither be too expensive nor distract from the company's focus. When finally brought aboard, Lamborghini gave his engineers a free hand in the belief the P400 was a potentially valuable marketing tool, if nothing more.

 

The car featured a transversely-mounted mid-engine layout, a departure from previous Lamborghini cars. The V12 was also unusual in that it was effectively merged with the transmission and differential, reflecting a lack of space in the tightly-wrapped design. The rolling chassis was displayed at the Turin Salon in 1965. Impressed showgoers placed orders for the car despite the lack of a body to go over the chassis.

 

Bertone was placed in charge of styling the prototype, which was finished just days before its debut at the 1966 Geneva motor show. Curiously, none of the engineers had found time to check if the engine fit inside its compartment. Committed to showing the car, they decided to fill the engine bay with ballast and keep the hood locked throughout the show, as they had three years earlier for the début of the 350GTV. Sales head Sgarzi was forced to turn away members of the motoring press who wanted to see the P400's power plant. Despite this setback, the car was the highlight of the show, immediately boosting stylist Marcello Gandini's reputation.

 

The favourable reaction at Geneva meant the P400 was to go into production by the following year. The name "Miura", a famous type of fighting bull, was chosen, and featured in the company's newly created badge. The car gained the worldwide attention of automotive enthusiasts when it was chosen for the opening sequence of the original 1969 version of The Italian Job. In press interviews of the time Ferruccio Lamborghini was reticent about his precise birth date, but stressed that he was born under the star sign Taurus the bull.

Production history

 

P400

The earliest model of the Miura was known as the P400 (for Posteriore 4 litri). It was powered by a version of the 3.9 L Lamborghini V12 engine used in the 400GT at the time. The engine was mounted transversely and produced 350 PS (257 kW; 345 hp). Exactly 275 P400 were produced between 1966 and 1969 - a success for Lamborghini despite its then-steep price of US$20,000 (equivalent to $146,113 in 2015).

 

Taking a cue from the Morris Mini, Lamborghini formed the engine and gearbox in one casting. Its shared lubrication continued until the last 96 SVs, when the case was split to allow the correct oils to be used for each element.

 

An unconfirmed claim holds the first 125 Miuras were built of 0.9 mm steel and are therefore lighter than later cars. All cars had steel frames and doors, with aluminum front and rear skinned body sections. When leaving the factory they were originally fitted with Pirelli Cinturato 205VR15 tyres (CN72).

 

AWARDS

The Miura won the prestigious Gran Turismo Trophy at the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, and has been re-created for use in the Gran Turismo 5 video game.

 

P400S

The P400S Miura, also known as the Miura S, made its introduction at the Turin Motorshow in November 1968, where the original chassis had been introduced three years earlier. It was slightly revised from the P400, with the addition of power windows, bright chrome trim around external windows and headlights, new overhead inline console with new rocker switches, engine intake manifolds made 2 mm larger, different camshaft profiles, and notched trunk end panels (allowing for slightly more luggage space). Engine changes were reportedly good for an additional 20 PS (15 kW; 20 hp).

 

Other revisions were limited to creature comforts, such as a locking glovebox lid, a reversed position of the cigarette lighter and windshield wiper switch, and single release handles for front and rear body sections. Other interior improvements included the addition of power windows and optional air conditioning, available for US$800. About 338 P400S Miura were produced between December 1968 and March 1971. One S #4407 was owned by Frank Sinatra. Miles Davis also owned one, which he crashed in October 1972 under the influence of cocaine, breaking both ankles. Eddie Van Halen owns one and can be heard revving it up during the bridge in the song Panama

 

P400SV

The last and most famous Miura, the P400SV or Miura SV featured different cam timing and altered carburetors. These gave the engine an additional 15 PS (11 kW; 15 hp), to 385 PS (283 kW; 380 hp). The last 96 SV engines had a split sump. The gearbox now had its lubrication system separate from the engine, which allowed the use of the appropriate types of oil for the gearbox and the engine. This also alleviated concerns that metal shavings from the gearbox could travel into the engine with disastrous and expensive results and made the application of an optional limited-slip differential far easier.

 

The SV can be distinguished from its predecessors from its lack of "eyelashes" around the headlamps, wider rear fenders to accommodate the new 230 mm rear wheels and Pirelli Cinturato tires, and different taillights. 150 SVs were produced.

 

There was a misprint in the SV owners manual indicating bigger intake valves in English size (but correct size in metric). The intake and exhaust valves in all 4 liter V12 Lamborghini remained the same throughout all models. This intake size misprint carried forward into Espada 400GT and Countach LP 400/LP 400S owners manuals as well.

 

P400 JOTA

In 1970, Lamborghini development driver Bob Wallace created a test mule that would conform to the FIA's Appendix J racing regulations. The car was appropriately named the Miura Jota (the pronunciation of the letter 'J' in Spanish). Wallace made extensive modifications to the standard Miura chassis and engine. Weight reductions included replacing steel chassis components and body panels with the lightweight aluminium alloy Avional and replacing side windows with plastic, with the resulting car weighing approximately 800 pounds less than a production Miura. A front spoiler was added and the headlights were replaced with fixed, faired-in units. Wallace substituted two smaller, sill-mounted fuel tanks for the single larger original unit. The suspension was reworked and wider (9" in the front, 12" in the rear), lightweight wheels were fitted. The engine was modified to produce 418-440 bhp at 8800 rpm, with an increased compression ratio, altered cams, electronic ignition, dry-sump lubrication, and less restrictive exhaust system. This single example was eventually sold to a private buyer after extensive testing. In April 1971, the car crashed on the yet-unopened ring road around the city of Brescia, and burned to the ground.

 

It was once widely believed that the Jota had the chassis number of #5084 (a number well out of sequence for the date in question), it has been clarified by Miura expert Joe Sackey in his book The Lamborghini Miura Bible that this is not the case, and that #5084 is in fact a factory modified SV to SVJ spec. This fact has also been confirmed in the massive and long running Miura thread on the lamborghini section of www.ferrarichat.com

 

A recreation of the Jota was later undertaken by Chris Lawrence of Wymondham Engineering for Lamborghini owner Piet Pulford from the United Kingdom on chassis #3033.

 

P400 SV/J

There are six examples of the Miura SV/J known to be built by the factory while the Miura was still in production, one was built new (chassis #5090) and five were converted from existing SVs (chassis #4934, #4860, #4892, #4990 & #5084)

 

One of these cars, chassis #4934, was built for the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The Shah stored this car under armed guard with another SV in Royal Palace in Tehran. After he fled the country during the Iranian Revolution, his cars were seized by the Iranian government. The SV/J was sold into Dubai in 1995. In 1997 this car was sold in a Brooks auction to Nicolas Cage, at US$490,000, becoming the model's highest ever price at auction. Cage sold the car in 2002. Higher prices have been reached several times since then, including by SVJ #4892 selling for over $1.9M

 

Of the seven known original cars #4892 is a recent addition to the list of known genuine SVJ's with factory documentation now having come to light.

 

An eighth SV/J was built at the Lamborghini factory between 1983 and 1987 from an unused Miura S chassis. This was made for Jean Claude Mimran, one of the Mimran brothers, the then owner of Lamborghini. Most experts do not recognize this as an "official" SVJ due to it being converted (albeit done by the factory) long after the Miura went out of production.

 

Further Miuras were subsequently upgraded to SVJ specifications (trying to imitate the real factory SVJs) by various garages of Switzerland, USA and Japan.

 

ROADSTER

Another one-off, the Miura Roadster (actually more of a targa-model, but without any removable roof) was built by Bertone as a show car. Based on a P400, it was first shown at the 1968 Brussels Auto Show. After having been exhibited at several auto salons the car was sold to the International Lead Zinc Research Organization (ILZRO) who turned it into a display-vehicle showcasing the possibilities of using zinc alloys in cars. The car was named the ZN75. A few other Miuras have had their tops removed, but this Bertone Miura Roadster was the only factory open-top Miura.

 

In 2006 the ZN75 was purchased by New York City real estate developer Adam Gordon. Gordon had Bobileff Motorcars in San Diego, California return the car to its original Bertone Roadster form. The restored car was first shown in August 2008 at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

 

The one of a kind Miura Roadster was shown at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in 2013.

 

P400 SVJ SPIDER

This one-off example of the Miura was displayed at the 1981 Geneva Motor Show with other new Lamborghini models (Jalpa and LM002) shortly after new company CEO Patrick Mimran took over the factory although it was never a factory authorised model r modifications. Finished in pearl white, the SVJ Spider was the formerly yellow Miura S presented at the 1981 Geneva Motor Show, and uses chassis #4808 Equipped with wide wheels and a rear wing reflecting the marque's revival, it was wrongly considered by some as a prototype for a possible limited series of Miura Spider whereas in fact it was simply a one off show car constructed on behalf by the Swiss Lamborghini Importer Lambomotor AG (and as such is not an official factory modification or indeed has any link to the factory bar its original 1970 build).

 

Subsequently, bought by Swiss Lamborghini collector Jean Wicki, the car had its rear wing and chin spoiler removed and was painted silver, bringing the car's style closer to the Berlinetta SVJ. Lamborghini specialist Autodrome (France) purchased the car from Wicki and restored its bodywork and upholstery in partnership with Carrosserie Lecoq (Paris). Painted traditional Miura lime green, the car was eventually sold to a Parisian collector. The car has stiffness issues and does not drive that well (as stated by the world-renowned Miura expert Joe Sackey), it's also not that well received by the general Miura cogniscenti who post on VLG and also on the worlds longest running and largest Miura debate which is on fchat. Other than private modifications, there are only two "open" Miuras, officially presented in International Motor shows: the Bertone Miura Roadster, exhibited on Bertone's own stand at Bruxelles in 1968, and this non factory example, shown on the Lamborghini stand at the Geneva Motor show in 1981.

 

2006 MIURA CONCEPT

A Miura concept car was presented at the American Museum of Television & Radio on January 5, 2006 alongside the Los Angeles Auto Show, though it was not presented at the show itself. Instead, the Miura concept car officially debuted at the North American International Auto Show two weeks later. It was the first design to be penned by Lamborghini design chief, Walter de'Silva, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 1966 Geneva introduction of the original Miura.

 

Lamborghini president and CEO Stefan Winkelmann denied that the concept would mark the Miura's return to production, saying “The Miura was a celebration of our history, but Lamborghini is about the future. Retro design is not what we are here for. So we won’t do the Miura.”

 

2016 Lamborghini Special edition Aventador Miura Homage

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Lamborghini Miura – a forerunner of all V12 Lamborghini super sports cars – Lamborghini has unveiled the Aventador Miura Homage. The special edition car has been created by the company’s Ad Personam customization division.

 

WIKIPEDIA

United States.

British automaker Bentley was founded in 1919 by W.O.Bentley. The company was well respected for its racing success. Rolls Royce took over Bentley in 1931.

The 1933-36 Bentley 3½ litre was the first of the new 'Derby' Bentleys, rolling chassis’s were built at Rolls Royce's Derby factory and 3½ litre engine was developed from Rolls' straight 6 cyl.

1177 3½ Litre cars were produced, about half of them bodied by Park Ward, with the remainder by a wide variety of coach builders.

Carrosserie Antem was one of the leading French coachbuilders between the wars. Amateur racing driver Nicky Embiricos, initially purchased this Antem bodied 3½ litre, in 1939, Maharaja of Talcher bought the car and had it loaded it onto a troopship and sailed with it to Calcutta.

Engine; 110hp 223 cu in 6 cyl

2018 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance

The Peugeot 504 is a large family car manufactured by French automaker Peugeot between 1968 and 1983, with licensed production continuing until 2006.

 

Peugeot's flagship, the 504 made its public debut on 12 September 1968 at the Paris Salon. The press launch which had been scheduled for June 1968 was at the last minute deferred by three months, and production got off to a similarly delayed start because of the political and industrial disruption which exploded across France in May 1968.

 

The 504 was a sunroof-equipped four-door saloon, introduced with a carbureted 1,796 cc four-cylinder petrol engine 79 bhp (59 kW; 80 PS) with optional fuel injection. A column-mounted four-speed manual transmission was standard; a three-speed ZF 3HP12 automatic available as an upgrade.

 

The 504 was European Car of the Year in 1969, praised for its styling, quality, chassis, ride, visibility, strong engine and refinement.

 

The 504 Injection two-door coupé and two-door cabriolet were introduced at the Salon de Geneva in March 1969. The engine produced the same 97 bhp (72 kW; 98 PS) of output as in the fuel-injected saloon, but the final drive ratio was slightly revised to give a slightly higher road speed of 20.6 mph (33.2 km/h) at 1,000 rpm.

 

The 504 received a new four-cylinder 1971 cc engine, rated at 96 bhp (72 kW; 97 PS) (carburated) and 104 bhp (78 kW; 105 PS) (fuel-injected), and a four-cylinder 2112 cc diesel rated at 65 bhp (48 kW; 66 PS). The 1796 cc engine remained available.

 

In September 1970 an estate was added, featuring a higher rear roof, lengthened wheel base and solid rear axle with four coil springs. It was joined by the 7-seat "Familiale", which had all its occupants facing forward in three rows of seats.

 

In April 1973, because of the oil crisis Peugeot presented the 504 L. It featured a live rear axle and a smaller 1,796 cc engine rated at 79 bhp (59 kW; 80 PS) (81 bhp (60 kW; 82 PS) for Automatic).

 

At the 1974 October Motor Show Peugeot presented a more powerful engine for the 504 coupé and cabriolet, now fitted with a 2664 cc V6 unit developed in collaboration with Volvo and Renault. This was the same engine that would be used for the 604 berline, to be introduced at Geneva five months later, in March 1975. The engine incorporated various innovative features such as an aluminium cylinder block, and a fuel-feed system that employed carburetors of differing type, one (type 34 TBIA) featuring a single chamber controlled directly according to the movement of the accelerator pedal, and the second being a twin chamber carburetor (type 35 CEEI) designed to operate simultaneously with the first, using a pneumatic linkage. Maximum output for the 504 coupé and cabriolet fitted with this new V6 engine was given as 136 bhp (101 kW; 138 PS), supporting a top speed of 186 km/h (116 mph). During 1975, the first full year of production, 2,643 of these 6 cylinder 504 coupés and cabriolet were produced, which was considered a respectable number, although dwarfed by the 236,733 4 cylinder 504 "berlines" (saloons/sedans) and "breaks" (estates/station wagons) produced by Peugeot in France in the same year. Following launch of the six cylinder cars, the four cylinder versions of the coupé and cabriolet 504s were delisted: they returned to the showrooms in 1978 in response, it was reported, to customer demand.

 

At the Paris Motor Show of October 1976 the option of an enlarged diesel engine was introduced. The stroke of 83 mm (3.3 in) remained the same as that of the existing 2,112 cc diesel motor, but for the larger engine the bore was increased to 94 mm (3.7 in), giving an overall 2,304 cc along with an increase in claimed power output from 65 to 70 bhp (48 to 52 kW; 66 to 71 PS). The 2,112 cc diesel engine would also find its way into the Ford Granada since Ford did not at the time produce a sufficient volume of diesel sedans in this class to justify the development of their own diesel engine.

 

Peugeot 504 production in Europe was pruned back in 1979 with the launch of the Peugeot 505, and the last European example rolled off the production line in 1983, although the pick up version continued in production, and was available in Europe until 1993. Chinese production of the 504 pickup (more information below) only ceased in 2009. The 505 shared most of the Peugeot 504 mechanical parts, similarly to the Peugeot 604 and Talbot Tagora.

 

More than three million 504s were produced in Europe, ending in 1983. Manufacturing continued in Nigeria and Kenya until 2006, utilising the Peugeot knock down kits. Kenya production was 27,000 units and the car remained on sale to 2007, being described as "King of the African road". Egypt also had its own production facilities.

 

Redesigned Argentinian version of the 504

The car was assembled in various countries, under license of Peugeot. In Australia it was assembled by Peugeot's arch-rival Renault, and sold through Renault Australia's dealer network.

 

The Peugeot 504 is also one of the most common vehicles employed as a bush taxi in Africa. In China, the 504 was produced until 2009 in pickup form, with a four-door crew cab combination fitted, on an extended estate platform. These were built by Guangzhou Peugeot Automobile Company.

 

The Peugeot 504 was also produced in Argentina until 1999 by Sevel in El Palomar near Buenos Aires, in sedan, estate and pickup forms. The pickup was manufactured in single and double cab with payload of over 1 tonne (1.300 kg) from 1983-1997, and exported mainly to bordering countries. In 1991 the later models were slightly restyled at the front and rear, with the lamps and bumpers changing design. These cars were also given a new interior. Argentinian 504s offered the 1,971 cc petrol four-cylinder, or the 2,304 cc diesel.

 

The French company Dangel also produced Peugeot approved four-wheel drive Break (estate/station wagon) and pickup models.

 

Its engines and suspension were used in later models of the Paykan, the Iranian version of the Hillman Hunter.

 

[Text taken from Wikipedia]

 

This Lego miniland-scale Peugeot 504 Berline has been created for Flickr LUGNuts' 84th Build Challenge, our 7th birthday, to the theme, - "LUGNuts Turns 7…or 49 in Dog Years", - where all the previous challenge themes are available to build to, in this case challenge 69, - "The Summer of '69", - where vehicles from all through the 1960's can be built to the challenge theme.

The Peugeot 504 is a large family car manufactured by French automaker Peugeot between 1968 and 1983, with licensed production continuing until 2006.

 

Peugeot's flagship, the 504 made its public debut on 12 September 1968 at the Paris Salon. The press launch which had been scheduled for June 1968 was at the last minute deferred by three months, and production got off to a similarly delayed start because of the political and industrial disruption which exploded across France in May 1968.

 

The 504 was a sunroof-equipped four-door saloon, introduced with a carbureted 1,796 cc four-cylinder petrol engine 79 bhp (59 kW; 80 PS) with optional fuel injection. A column-mounted four-speed manual transmission was standard; a three-speed ZF 3HP12 automatic available as an upgrade.

 

The 504 was European Car of the Year in 1969, praised for its styling, quality, chassis, ride, visibility, strong engine and refinement.

 

The 504 Injection two-door coupé and two-door cabriolet were introduced at the Salon de Geneva in March 1969. The engine produced the same 97 bhp (72 kW; 98 PS) of output as in the fuel-injected saloon, but the final drive ratio was slightly revised to give a slightly higher road speed of 20.6 mph (33.2 km/h) at 1,000 rpm.

 

The 504 received a new four-cylinder 1971 cc engine, rated at 96 bhp (72 kW; 97 PS) (carburated) and 104 bhp (78 kW; 105 PS) (fuel-injected), and a four-cylinder 2112 cc diesel rated at 65 bhp (48 kW; 66 PS). The 1796 cc engine remained available.

 

In September 1970 an estate was added, featuring a higher rear roof, lengthened wheel base and solid rear axle with four coil springs. It was joined by the 7-seat "Familiale", which had all its occupants facing forward in three rows of seats.

 

In April 1973, because of the oil crisis Peugeot presented the 504 L. It featured a live rear axle and a smaller 1,796 cc engine rated at 79 bhp (59 kW; 80 PS) (81 bhp (60 kW; 82 PS) for Automatic).

 

At the 1974 October Motor Show Peugeot presented a more powerful engine for the 504 coupé and cabriolet, now fitted with a 2664 cc V6 unit developed in collaboration with Volvo and Renault. This was the same engine that would be used for the 604 berline, to be introduced at Geneva five months later, in March 1975. The engine incorporated various innovative features such as an aluminium cylinder block, and a fuel-feed system that employed carburetors of differing type, one (type 34 TBIA) featuring a single chamber controlled directly according to the movement of the accelerator pedal, and the second being a twin chamber carburetor (type 35 CEEI) designed to operate simultaneously with the first, using a pneumatic linkage. Maximum output for the 504 coupé and cabriolet fitted with this new V6 engine was given as 136 bhp (101 kW; 138 PS), supporting a top speed of 186 km/h (116 mph). During 1975, the first full year of production, 2,643 of these 6 cylinder 504 coupés and cabriolet were produced, which was considered a respectable number, although dwarfed by the 236,733 4 cylinder 504 "berlines" (saloons/sedans) and "breaks" (estates/station wagons) produced by Peugeot in France in the same year. Following launch of the six cylinder cars, the four cylinder versions of the coupé and cabriolet 504s were delisted: they returned to the showrooms in 1978 in response, it was reported, to customer demand.

 

At the Paris Motor Show of October 1976 the option of an enlarged diesel engine was introduced. The stroke of 83 mm (3.3 in) remained the same as that of the existing 2,112 cc diesel motor, but for the larger engine the bore was increased to 94 mm (3.7 in), giving an overall 2,304 cc along with an increase in claimed power output from 65 to 70 bhp (48 to 52 kW; 66 to 71 PS). The 2,112 cc diesel engine would also find its way into the Ford Granada since Ford did not at the time produce a sufficient volume of diesel sedans in this class to justify the development of their own diesel engine.

 

Peugeot 504 production in Europe was pruned back in 1979 with the launch of the Peugeot 505, and the last European example rolled off the production line in 1983, although the pick up version continued in production, and was available in Europe until 1993. Chinese production of the 504 pickup (more information below) only ceased in 2009. The 505 shared most of the Peugeot 504 mechanical parts, similarly to the Peugeot 604 and Talbot Tagora.

 

More than three million 504s were produced in Europe, ending in 1983. Manufacturing continued in Nigeria and Kenya until 2006, utilising the Peugeot knock down kits. Kenya production was 27,000 units and the car remained on sale to 2007, being described as "King of the African road". Egypt also had its own production facilities.

 

Redesigned Argentinian version of the 504

The car was assembled in various countries, under license of Peugeot. In Australia it was assembled by Peugeot's arch-rival Renault, and sold through Renault Australia's dealer network.

 

The Peugeot 504 is also one of the most common vehicles employed as a bush taxi in Africa. In China, the 504 was produced until 2009 in pickup form, with a four-door crew cab combination fitted, on an extended estate platform. These were built by Guangzhou Peugeot Automobile Company.

 

The Peugeot 504 was also produced in Argentina until 1999 by Sevel in El Palomar near Buenos Aires, in sedan, estate and pickup forms. The pickup was manufactured in single and double cab with payload of over 1 tonne (1.300 kg) from 1983-1997, and exported mainly to bordering countries. In 1991 the later models were slightly restyled at the front and rear, with the lamps and bumpers changing design. These cars were also given a new interior. Argentinian 504s offered the 1,971 cc petrol four-cylinder, or the 2,304 cc diesel.

 

The French company Dangel also produced Peugeot approved four-wheel drive Break (estate/station wagon) and pickup models.

 

Its engines and suspension were used in later models of the Paykan, the Iranian version of the Hillman Hunter.

 

[Text taken from Wikipedia]

 

This Lego miniland-scale Peugeot 504 Berline has been created for Flickr LUGNuts' 84th Build Challenge, our 7th birthday, to the theme, - "LUGNuts Turns 7…or 49 in Dog Years", - where all the previous challenge themes are available to build to, in this case challenge 69, - "The Summer of '69", - where vehicles from all through the 1960's can be built to the challenge theme.

The Lamborghini Diablo is a high-performance mid-engined sports car that was built by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 1990 and 2001. It was the first Lamborghini capable of attaining a top speed in excess of 200 miles per hour (320 km/h). After the end of its production run in 2001, the Diablo was replaced by the Lamborghini Murciélago. Diablo is "devil" in Spanish, which is diavolo in Italian.

 

History of development

 

At a time when the company was financed by the Swiss-based Mimran brothers, Lamborghini began development of what was codenamed Project 132 in June 1985 as a replacement for the Countach model. The brief stated that its top speed had to be at least 315 km/h (196 mph).

 

The design of the car was contracted to Marcello Gandini, who had designed its two predecessors. When Chrysler bought the company in 1987, providing money to complete its development, its management was uncomfortable with Gandini’s designs and commissioned its design team in Detroit to execute a third extensive redesign, smoothing out the trademark sharp edges and corners of Gandini's original design, and leaving him famously unimpressed. In fact, Gandini was so disappointed with the "softened" shape that he would later realize his original design in the Cizeta-Moroder V16T.

 

The car became known as the Diablo, carrying on Lamborghini's tradition of naming its cars after breeds of fighting bull. The Diablo was named after a ferocious bull raised by the Duke of Veragua in the 19th century, famous for fighting an epic battle with 'El Chicorro' in Madrid on July 11, 1869. In the words of Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, the Diablo was designed "solely to be the biggest head-turner in the world."

 

The development is believed to have cost a total of 6 billion Italian lira.

 

Diablo VT Roadster

 

1995-1998 Lamborghini Diablo VT Roadster

 

The Diablo VT Roadster was introduced in December 1995 and featured an electrically operated carbon fiber targa top which was stored above the engine lid when not in use. Besides the roof, the roadster's body was altered from the fixed-top VT model in a number of ways. The front bumper was revised, replacing the quad rectangular driving lamps with two rectangular and two round units. The brake cooling ducts were moved inboard of the driving lamps and changed to a straked design, while the rear ducts featured the vertical painted design seen on the SE30.

 

The engine lid was changed substantially in order to vent properly when the roof panel was covering it. The roadster also featured revised 17 inch wheels. The air intakes on top/sides were made larger than the coupe Diablos. In 1998 the wheels have been updated to 18 inch, and the engine power raised to 530 HP by adding the variable valve timing system. Top speed specification was raised to 335 km/h (208 mph).

 

In 1999 the dashboard received a major optical update by Audi, and the pop-up headlights were replaced by fixed headlights, same as for the coupés. This resulted in a better aerodynamic shape and modern optics.

 

[Text from Wikipedia]

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamborghini_Diablo

 

This Lego miniland scale Lamborghini Diablo VT Roadster has been created for Flickr LUGNuts' 96th Build Challenge - The 8th Birthday, titled - 'Happy Crazy Eight Birthday, LUGNuts' - where all previous build challenges are available to build to. This model is built to the LUGNuts 92nd build challenge, - "Stuck in the 90s" featuring vehicles from the decade of the 1990s

"The Big 3" automakers in papercraft. 1976 Cadillac Sedan-Deville, 1977 Lincoln Town-coupe, 1977 Chrysler New Yorker. I made the Caddy a sedan because I like the roof line. And they all have fender skirts over the rear wheels.

The Lamborghini Murciélago is a high performance sports car produced by Italian automaker Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. and designed by Luc Donckerwolke. It was introduced in 2001 as the successor to the Diablo.

 

The name Murciélago, pronounced moor-thee-EH-la-go in traditional Castilian Spanish and moor-see-EH-la-goh in Spanish of Latin America as well as by Lamborghini staff, means "bat" in Spanish. A bull by this name survived 24 sword strokes in an 1879 fight at the arena of Córdoba, and fought with such passion and spirit that the matador chose to spare its life, a rare honor. In another Lamborghini tie-in, the bull was later presented as a gift to Don Antonio Miura, who was a noted breeder and whose bull ranch the Lamborghini Miura was named after, and went on to sire a line of famous fighting bulls.

 

At the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, Lamborghini unveiled a new version of the Murciélago, the LP 670-4 SuperVeloce. The SV moniker had previously appeared on the 1995–99 Diablo SV, a highly tuned version of the car that appeared close to the end of the model's production run.

 

The SuperVeloce's V12 produces 670 PS (493 kW; 661 hp) at 8000 rpm and 660 N·m (490 lb·ft) of torque at 6500 rpm, thanks to improved valve timing and intake system modifications. The car's weight was reduced by 100 kg (220 lb) by swapping several interior parts and exterior panels out for carbon fiber replacements, along with the installation of a new, lighter exhaust system. The LP670-4 SV comes standard with the LP640's optional six-piston caliper, 15-inch carbon-ceramic disc brakes, slowing black 18-inch wheels. In its June 2009 issue, Car and Driver magazine predicted that the LP 670-4 SV was capable of reaching 100 km/h (62 mph) from a standing start in just 3.2 seconds. Lamborghini claims the car can reach 342 km/h (213 mph) with an optional smaller spoiler, or 337 km/h (209 mph) with the standard Aeropack wing.

 

According to Maurizio Reggiani, head of Lamborghini R&D, the LP 670-4 SV's steering was tuned for high-speed sensitivity. Production of the top-of-the-line Murciélago was limited to 350 cars, priced at $450,000.

  

England

British automaker Bentley was founded in 1919 by W.O.Bentley. The company was well respected for its racing success. Rolls Royce took over Bentley in 1931.

The 1933-36 Bentley 3½ litre was the first of the new 'Derby' Bentleys, rolling chassis’s were built at Rolls Royce's Derby factory and the 3½ litre engine was developed from Rolls' straight 6 cyl.

1177 3½ Litre cars were produced, about half of them bodied by Park Ward, with the remainder by a wide variety of coach builders.

This coupe, a very low build Barker and Co Coupe.

Engine; 110hp 223 cu in 6 cyl

2025 Goodwood Revival

The Volkswagen Type 2, officially known as the Transporter or informally as Bus (US) or Camper (UK), was a panel van introduced in 1950 by German automaker Volkswagen as its second car model – following and initially deriving from Volkswagen's first model, the Type 1 (Beetle), it was given the factory designation Type 2.

As one of the forerunners of the modern cargo and passenger vans, the Type 2 gave rise to competitors in the United States and Europe, including the Ford Econoline, the Dodge A100, and the Corvair 95 Corvan, the latter adopting the Type 2's rear-engine configuration. European competition included the Renault Estafette and the Ford Transit. As of January 2010, updated versions of the Type 2 remain in production in international markets— as a passenger van, as a cargo van, and as a pickup truck.

Like the Beetle, the van has received numerous nicknames worldwide, including the "microbus", "minibus", "kombi" and, due to its popularity during the counterculture movement of the 1960s, "hippie van".

 

The concept for the Type 2 is credited to Dutch Volkswagen importer Ben Pon. (It has similarities in concept to the 1920s Rumpler Tropfenwagen and 1930s Dymaxion car by Buckminster Fuller, neither of which reached production.) Pon visited Wolfsburg in 1946, intending to purchase Type 1s for import to Holland, where he saw an improvised parts-mover and realized something better was possible using the stock Type 1 pan. He first sketched the van in a doodle dated April 23, 1947, proposing a payload of 690 kg (1,500 lb) and placing the driver at the very front. Production would have to wait, however, as the factory was at capacity producing the Type 1.

When capacity freed up a prototype known internally as the Type 29 was produced in a short three months. The stock Type 1 pan proved to be too weak so the prototype used a ladder chassis with unit body construction. Coincidentally the wheelbase was the same as the Type 1's. Engineers reused the reduction gear from the Type 81, enabling the 1.5 ton van to use a 25 hp (19 kW) flat four engine.

Although the aerodynamics of the first prototypes were poor (with an initial drag coefficient of 0.75), engineers used the wind tunnel at the Technical University of Braunschweig to optimize the design. Simple changes such as splitting the windshield and roofline into a "vee" helped the production Type 2 achieve a drag coefficient of 0.44, exceeding the Type 1's 0.48. Volkswagen's new chief executive officer Heinz Nordhoff (appointed 1 January 1948) approved the van for production on 19 May 1949 and the first production model, now designated Type 2, rolled off the assembly line to debut 12 November. Only two models were offered: the Kombi (with two side windows and middle and rear seats that were easily removable by one person), and the Commercial. The Microbus was added in May 1950, joined by the Deluxe Microbus in June 1951. In all 9,541 Type 2s were produced in their first year of production.

An ambulance model was added in December 1951 which repositioned the fuel tank in front of the transaxle, put the spare tire behind the front seat, and added a "tailgate"-style rear door. These features became standard on the Type 2 from 1955 to 1967. 11,805 Type 2s were built in the 1951 model year. These were joined by a single-cab pickup in August 1952, and it changed the least of the Type 2s until all were heavily modified in 1968.

Unlike other rear engine Volkswagens, which evolved constantly over time but never saw the introduction of all-new models, the Transporter not only evolved, but was completely revised periodically with variations retrospectively referred to as versions "T1" to "T5" (a nomenclature only invented after the introduction of the front-drive T4 which repaced the T25) However only generations T1 to T3 (or T25 as it is still called in Ireland and Great Britain) can be seen as directly related to the Beetle (see below for details).

The Type 2, along with the 1947 Citroën H Van, are among the first 'forward control' vans in which the driver was placed above the front roadwheels. They started a trend in Europe, where the 1952 GM Bedford CA, 1959 Renault Estafette, 1960 BMC Morris J4, and 1960 Commer FC also used the concept. In the United States, the Corvair-based Chevrolet Corvan cargo van and Greenbrier passenger van went so far as to copy the Type 2's rear-engine layout, using the Corvair's horizontally-opposed, air-cooled engine for power. Except for the Greenbrier and various 1950s–70s Fiat minivans, the Type 2 remained unique in being rear-engined. This was a disadvantage for the early "barndoor" Panel Vans, which couldn't easily be loaded from the rear due to the engine cover intruding on interior space, but generally advantageous in traction and interior noise.

 

The Type 2 was available as a:

Panel van, a delivery van without side windows or rear seats.

Nippen Tucket, available in six colours, with or without doors.

Walk-Through Panel Van, a delivery van without side windows or rear seats and cargo doors on both sides.

High Roof Panel Van (German: Hochdach), a delivery van with raised roof.

Kombi, from German: Kombinationskraftwagen (combination motor vehicle), with side windows and removable rear seats, both a passenger and a cargo vehicle combined.

Bus, also called a Volkswagen Caravelle, a van with more comfortable interior reminiscent of passenger cars since the third generation.

Samba-Bus, a van with skylight windows and cloth sunroof, first generation only, also known as a Deluxe Microbus. They were marketed for touring the Alps,

Flatbed pickup truck, or Single Cab, also available with wider load bed.

Crew cab pick-up, a flatbed truck with extended cab and two rows of seats, also called a Doka, from German: Doppelkabine.

Westfalia camping van, "Westy", with Westfalia roof and interior.

Adventurewagen camping van, with high roof and camping units from Adventurewagen.

Semi-camping van that can also still be used as a passenger car and transporter, sacrificing some camping comforts. "Multivan" or "Weekender", available from the third generation on.

Apart from these factory variants, there were a multitude of third-party conversions available, some of which were offered through Volkswagen dealers. They included, but were not limited to, refrigerated vans, hearses, ambulances, police vans, fire engines and ladder trucks, and camping van conversions by companies other than Westfalia. There were even 30 Klv 20 rail-going draisines built for Deutsche Bundesbahn in 1955.

 

The first generation of the Volkswagen Type 2 with the split windshield, informally called the Microbus, Splitscreen, or Splittie among modern fans, was produced from 8 March 1950 through the end of the 1967 model year. From 1950–1956, the T1 was built in Wolfsburg; from 1956, it was built at the completely new Transporter factory in Hanover. Like the Beetle, the first Transporters used the 1100 Volkswagen air cooled engine, an 1,131 cc (69.0 cu in), DIN-rated 18 kW (24 PS; 24 bhp), air-cooled flat-four cylinder 'boxer' engine mounted in the rear. This was upgraded to the 1200 – an 1,192 cc (72.7 cu in) 22 kW (30 PS; 30 bhp) in 1953. A higher compression ratio became standard in 1955; while an unusual early version of the 30 kW (41 PS; 40 bhp) engine debuted exclusively on the Type 2 in 1959. This engine proved to be so uncharacteristically troublesome that Volkswagen recalled all 1959 Transporters and replaced the engines with an updated version of the 30 kW engine. Any 1959 models that retain that early engine today are true survivors. Since the engine was totally discontinued at the outset, no parts were ever made available.

The early versions of the T1 until 1955 were often called the "Barndoor" (retrospectively called T1a since the 1990s), owing to the enormous rear engine cover, while the later versions with a slightly modified body (the roofline above the windshield is extended), smaller engine bay, and 15" roadwheels instead of the original 16" ones are nowadays called the T1b (again, only called this since the 1990s, based on VW's restrospective T1,2,3,4 etc. naming system.). From the 1964 model year, when the rear door was made wider (same as on the bay-window or T2), the vehicle could be referred to as the T1c. 1964 also saw the introduction of an optional sliding door for the passenger/cargo area instead of the outwardly hinged doors typical of cargo vans. This change arguably makes the 1964 Volkswagen the first true minivan, although the term wouldn't be coined for another two decades.

In 1962, a heavy-duty Transporter was introduced as a factory option. It featured a cargo capacity of 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) instead of the previous 750 kg (1,653 lb), smaller but wider 14" roadwheels, and a 1.5 Le, 31 kW (42 PS; 42 bhp) DIN engine. This was so successful that only a year later, the 750 kg, 1.2 L Transporter was discontinued. The 1963 model year introduced the 1500 engine – 1,493 cc (91.1 cu in) as standard equipment to the US market at 38 kW (52 PS; 51 bhp) DIN with an 83 mm (3.27 in) bore, 69 mm (2.72 in) stroke, and 7.8:1 compression ratio. When the Beetle received the 1.5 L engine for the 1967 model year, its power was increased to 40 kW (54 PS; 54 bhp) DIN.

  

1966 Volkswagen Kombi (North America)

German production stopped after the 1967 model year; however, the T1 still was made in Brazil until 1975, when it was modified with a 1968–79 T2-style front end, and big 1972-vintage taillights into the so-called "T1.5" and produced until 1996. The Brazilian T1s were not identical to the last German models (the T1.5 was locally produced in Brazil using the 1950s and 1960s-era stamping dies to cut down on retooling, alongside the Beetle/Fusca, where the pre-1965 body style was retained), though they sported some characteristic features of the T1a, such as the cargo doors and five-stud 205 mm (8.1 in) PCD) rims.

  

VW Bus Type 2 (T1), hippie colors

Among American enthusiasts, it is common to refer to the different models by the number of their windows. The basic Kombi or Bus is the 11-window (a.k.a. three-window bus because of three side windows) with a split windshield, two front cabin door windows, six rear side windows, and one rear window. The DeLuxe model featured eight rear side windows and two rear corner windows, making it the 15-window (not available in Europe). Meanwhile, the sunroof DeLuxe with its additional eight small skylight windows is, accordingly, the 23-window. From the 1964 model year, with its wider rear door, the rear corner windows were discontinued, making the latter two the 13-window and 21-window respectively. The 23- and later 21-window variants each carry the nickname 'Samba', or in Australia, officially 'Alpine'.

 

Certain models of the Volkswagen Type 2 played a role in an historic episode during the early 1960s, known as the Chicken War. France and West Germany had placed tariffs on imports of U.S. chicken. Diplomacy failed, and in January 1964, two months after taking office, President Johnson imposed a 25% tax (almost 10 times the average U.S. tariff) on potato starch, dextrin, brandy, and light trucks. Officially, the tax targeted items imported from Europe as approximating the value of lost American chicken sales to Europe.

In retrospect, audio tapes from the Johnson White House, revealed a quid pro quo unrelated to chicken. In January 1964, President Johnson attempted to convince United Auto Workers' president Walter Reuther not to initiate a strike just prior to the 1964 election, and to support the president's civil rights platform. Reuther, in turn, wanted Johnson to respond to Volkswagen's increased shipments to the United States.

The Chicken Tax directly curtailed importation of German-built Type 2s in configurations that qualified them as light trucks – that is, commercial vans (panel vans) and pickups. In 1964, U.S. imports of automobile trucks from West Germany declined to a value of $5.7 million – about one-third the value imported in the previous year. After 1971, Volkswagen cargo vans and pickup trucks, the intended targets, "practically disappeared from the U.S. market". While post-1971 Type 2 commercial vans and single-cab and double-cab pickups can be found in the United States today, they are exceedingly rare. As of 2009, the Chicken tax remains in effect.

(Source Wikipedia)

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

Latil was a French automaker specializing in heavy duty vehicles, such as trucks, tractors and buses. Beyond the design and production of vehicles for civil use, Latil also built after World War I a number of military vehicles. For instance, in 1911, Latil designed and built its first four-wheel drive vehicle. This type of vehicle interested the French Army in 1913 for its ability to tow heavy artillery on every field and the TAR (Tracteur d'Artillerie Roulante) was built.

 

Beyond a number of field tractors, Latil also designed and built an armed combat vehicle for the French Army, the armored AMD-37 scout car. The origins of this design can be traced back until December 1931, when the French Cavalry conceived a plan for the future production of armored fighting vehicles. One of the classes foreseen was that of an Automitrailleuse de Découverte (AMD), a specialized long range reconnaissance vehicle. The specifications were formulated on 22 December 1931, changed again on 18 November 1932 and finally approved on 9 December 1932. They called for a weight of 4 metric tons (4.0 t), a range of 400 kilometers (250 mi), a road speed of 70 km/h, a cruising speed of 40 km/h, a turning circle of 12 meters (39 ft), 5–8 mm armor, a 20 mm gun and a 7.5 mm machine gun.

 

In 1933, several competing companies responded (including Latil, Renault, Panhard and Berliet) with their proposals. Being rooted in rather heavy machinery, Latil proposed two designs: one was a 4x4 vehicle which would meet the required specification profile, but it was eventually rejected due to poor off-road performance in favor of the Panhard design, which would become the highly successful Panhard 178.

The other proposal fell outside of the specification limits. It was a bigger and much heavier 8x8 design, certainly influenced by the German SdKfz. 232 heavy scout car family. However, despite falling outside of the requirements, the Commission de Vincennes was impressed enough to order a prototype of this vehicle.

 

The Latil prototype had basically a conservative layout and was ready in October 1933. It was presented to the Commission de Vincennes in January 1934 under the name Latil Automitrailleuse de Découverte, Modèle 1934 (AMD-34). The AMD-34 was, despite its 8x8 chassis and tank-like silhouette, based on modified Latil truck elements. Onto the ladder frame chassis, a hull made of screwed cast armor elements with a maximum thickness of 25 mm was mounted. The leaf spring suspension as well as the all-wheel drive were based on components of Latil’s heavy duty trucks. The eight large and steerable wheels were spaced apart as far as possible, with almost no overhang at the front and at the rear for a very good off-road performance and climbing capability. The crew consisted of three men: a driver and a radio operator, who both sat in the front of the hull, plus the commander, who, beyond directing the vehicle, also had to operate the weapons. The radio operator also had to support the commander as loader in the event of combat.

 

Power came from a water-cooled V8 petrol engine, an uprated version of Latil’s own V3 truck engine from 1933, with an output of 180 hp (132 kW). The engine was in the rear of the hull, separated from the fighting compartment at the front by a firewall bulkhead, and flanked side-by-side with two self-sealing fuel tanks with the large capacity of 80 and 320 liters capacity (the smaller tank fueled the engine and was constantly replenished from the bigger tank). A novel feature was an automatic fire extinguishing system, which used several tanks placed at critical spots of the vehicle, containing methyl bromide. The vehicle’s armament was mounted in a standardized, cast APX-R turret (which was also used on several light tanks like the Renault R-35) and consisted of a short-barreled Puteaux 37mm/L21 SA 18 gun as well as a coaxial 7.5 mm MAC31 Reibel machine gun. 42 armor-piercing and 58 high explosive rounds were typically carried, plus 2.500 rounds for the machine gun.

 

The hexagonal turret had a 30 mm thick, domed rotatable cupola with vertical vision slits. It had to be either hand cranked or moved about by the weight of the commander. The rear of the turret had a hatch that hinged down which could be used as a seat to improve observation. Driver and radio operator (who had an ER 54 radio set available) had no hatches on their own. They entered the vehicle through a relatively large door on the vehicle’s left side.

 

After testing between 9 January and 2 February 1934 and comparison with the lighter 4 ton types, the AMR-34 was, despite its weight of almost 10 tons, accepted by the commission on 15 February under the condition some small modifications were carried out. In the autumn, the improved prototype was tested by the Cavalry and in late 1934 the type was accepted under the name Latil Automitrailleuse de Découverte, Modèle 1935, better known under its handle “AMD-35”. Production started on a small scale in 1935 and by the end of the year the first AMD-35’s reached the Cavalry units. After complaints about reliability, such as cracking gun sights, and overheating, between 29 June and 2 December 1936 a new test program took place, resulting in many more detail modifications, including the fitting of a silencer, a ventilator on the turret and in the main cabin and a small, round hatch for the driver which allowed a better field of view when the crew did not have to work under armor cover.

The main weapon was also changed into a SA 38 37mm cannon with a longer (L33) barrel, since the original Puteaux cannon had only a very poor armor penetration of 12 mm at 500 meters. In this form, the vehicle was re-designated AMD-37. Several older vehicles were updated with this weapon, too, or they received a 25mm (0.98 in) SA35 L47.2 or L52 autocannon.

 

Overall, the AMD-37 proved to be an effective design. The eight-wheel armored car with all-wheel-drive and all-wheel-steering had a very good performance on- and off-road, even though with certain limits due to the vehicle’s weight and resulting ground pressure. The cabin was relatively spacious and comfortable, so that long range missions of 500 km (319 ml) and more could be endured well by the crews.

 

However, several inherent flaws persisted. One problem (which the AMD-37 shared with almost every French combat vehicle from the pre-WWII era) was that the commander was overburdened with tasks, especially under stressful combat conditions. The French Cavalry did not see this as a major flaw: A commander was supposed to acquire such a degree of dexterity that his workload did not negate the lack of need to coordinate the actions of two or even three men in a larger turret crew or the advantage of a quicker reaction because of a superior rotation speed. At first, a two-man-turret was required, but when it transpired that this would reduce the armor protection, it was abandoned in favor of thicker steel casts. However, the AMD-37’s armor level was generally relatively low, and hull’s seams offered attackers who knew where to aim several weak points that allowed even light hand weapons to penetrate the armor. Another tactical flaw associated with the turret was the hatchless cupola, forcing the commander to fight buttoned-up or leave the vehicle’s armor protection for a better field of view.

 

Operationally, though, the AMD-37 suffered from poor mechanical reliability: the suspension units were complicated and, since they were based on existing civil truck elements, too weak for heavy off-road operations under military conditions. The AMD-37’s weight of almost 10 tons (the comparable German SdKfz 231 was bigger but weighed only 8.3 tons) did not help, either. In consequence, the AMD-37 demanded enormous maintenance efforts, especially since the cast armor modules did not allow an easy access to the suspension and engine.

 

On 10 May 1940, on the eve of the German invasion in mainland France, the AMD-37 was part of 14 Divisions Légères Mécaniques (Mechanized Light Divisions; "light" meaning here "mobile", they were not light in the sense of being lightly equipped) battalions, each fielding dedicated reconnaissance groups with four to ten vehicles, which also comprised light Panhard 178 scout cars.

45 French AMD-37s were in Syria, a mandate territory, and 30 more were based in Morocco. The tanks in Syria would fight during the allied invasion of that mandate territory in 1941 and then partly be taken over by the Free French 1e CCC, those in North Africa during Operation Torch in November 1942.

The majority of AMD-37s in Western Europe fell into German hands, though: 78 were used as “Panzerkampfwagen 37R(f)” and mainly used in second line units for policy and security duties or for driver training. A small number of these German vehicles were sent to Finland, fighting on the Eastern Front, where they were outclassed by Soviet KV-1s and T-34s and quickly destroyed or abandoned.

 

Plans to augment the AMD-35’s armament with a bigger turret and a more powerful 47mm SA 35 gun (basically the same turret fitted to the SOMUA S-35 medium tank and the heavy Char B1bis) or an additional machine in the front bow for the radio operator were, due to the German invasion, never carried out.

  

Specifications:

Crew: Three (commander, radio operator/loader, driver)

Weight: 9,600 kg (21,145 lb)

Length: 5.29 m (17 ft 4 in)

Width: 2.52 m (8 ft 3 in)

Height: 2.44 metres (8 ft ½ in)

Suspension: Wheeled (Tires: 270–20, bulletproof), with leaf springs

Wading depth: 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in)

Trench crossing capability: 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)

Ground clearance: 350 mm (13 3/4 in)

Climbing capability: 30°

Fuel capacity: 400 l

 

Armor:

9-30 mm (.35-1.18 in) cast steel

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 75 km/h (47 mph) on road, 55 km/h (34 mph) off-road

Operational range: 600 km (375 mi) on road

Power/weight: 18,7 PS/t

 

Engine:

Water-cooled Latil V8 gasoline engine with 7.336 cm³ displacement and 180 hp (132 kW) output

Transmission:

Latil gearbox with 4 forward and 1 reverse gears, eight-wheel drive and steering

 

Armament:

1× Puteaux 37mm/L33 SA 18 gun with 100 rounds

1× coaxial 7.5 mm MAC31 Reibel machine gun with 2.500 rounds

  

The kit and its assembly:

This build was inspired by a drawing that I came across at DeviantArt a while ago, created by someone called MedJoe:

www.deviantart.com/medjoe/art/Autoblinde-SOMUA-S35bis-679...

The picture showed a Somua S-35 tank, set on eight wheels that heavily resembled those of the SdKfz. 234/2 “Puma”, in French colors and markings and designated S-35bis. I found the idea weird (since a full-fledged S-35 would certainly have at 20 tons been too heavy for a wheeled chassis), but the overall look of this combo was very convincing to me. I kept the idea in the back of my mind, until I came across a cheap Heller Somua S-35 in 1:72 scale and decided to take the concept to the (model) hardware stage and offer a personal interpretation.

 

Work started when I was able to acquire a sprue from a Plastic Soldier SdKfz. 231 kit, which provided a total of nine wheels in a suitable size and style, as well as suspension elements.

 

Building the hull was a straightforward affair: The Heller S-35 was built OOB, just the parts for the tracked suspension were left away. Some details and attachment points in the lower hull sections had to be removed, too. From the SdKfz. 232 I took the leaf spring suspension parts (these came as two frames for four wheels each, rather crude and solid parts) and cut the outer leaf spring packs off, so that their depth was reduced but the attachment points for the wheels were still there. These were simply glued into the space for the former tracks, similar to the drawing. This resulted in a slightly wide track, but narrowing the lower hull for a better look would have been a complicated affair, so I stuck with the simple solution. It does not look bad, though.

 

In order to make the vehicle’s role as a scout car more plausible and to avoid a head-heavy look, I decided to replace the original S-35 turret with a smaller APX turret from a Renault R-35. I found a suitable resin donor at ModelTrans, which was easily integrated to the S-35 hull. I perfectly fits into the S-35’s rounded cast armor style, which is so typical for many early French WWII tanks. Unfortunately, the resin R-35 turret had an air bubble at the rear, which had to be filled with putty. In order to differentiate the turret a little and modernize it, I added a longer gun barrel – in this case a piece from a hollow steel needle.

 

Other small mods include a pair of scratched rear-view mirrors for the driver, the spare wheel at the front (certainly not the best position, but the only place that was available and practical, and other armored vehicles of the time like the British Humber scout car also carried a spare wheel at the front) and an antenna at the rear, made from heated black sprue material.

  

Painting and markings:

This was not easy and it took a while to settle on a design. There were rather gaudy camouflage designs in the French army, but due to the model’s small scale I did not want a too complex design. I eventually decided to apply a rather simple scheme, inspired by the painting suggestions from the Heller kit: a disruptive two-tone scheme in a pale beige tone and a rather bluish dark green, which was confirmed through museum tanks. An odd quirk of the Heller kit is that the instructions and the box art show the same camouflage, but in inverted colors!?

 

I stuck to Heller’s suggestions and decided to follow the box art camouflage, which uses dark green (Humbrol 30) as basic color with light sand blotches (Humbrol 103) on top, which I found more appropriate for the middle European theatre of operations. I assume that these two tones were in real life separated by very narrow black or dark brown lines for more contrast – but I did not try this stunt on the small 1:72 scale model, it would IMHO have looked rather awkward. And there are French vehicles of the era that show these colors without any additional lines, too.

 

Markings/decals were mostly puzzled together from the scrap box, since the Heller decals turned out to be rather stiff and lack any adhesion to the model. I only used the “license plates”, which were fixed to the model with acrylic varnish, the rest are spares.

 

The kit received an overall washing with dark brown and a careful dry-brushing treatment with light grey.

After the final coat of matt varnish had been applied and all parts assembled, I dusted the lower areas with a dull grey-brown mix of artist pigments, simulating dust.

  

An experimental build, since drawing a whif is easier than actually building it, where parts have to fit somehow and you cannot change the size of them. Even though the resulting 8x8 scout car looks a little weird with its minimal overhang at the front and the rear, I like the result a lot – it looks very plausible to me. I also think that the smaller turret underlines the vehicle’s role as a rather lightly armed reconnaissance vehicle. It lowers the size and the silhouette, and subdues the S-35 origin – but without neglecting the typical French cast armor look. Certainly not a 1:1 copy of the inspiring drawing, but true to the original idea.

 

The Porsche 935 was a race car developed and manufactured by German automaker Porsche. Introduced in 1976 as the factory racing version of the 911 (930) Turbo and prepared for FIA-Group 5 rules, it was an evolution of the Carrera RSR 2.1 turbo prototype, the second place overall finisher in the 1974 24 Hours of Le Mans.

 

Beginning with the 1977 season, Porsche offered the 935 to customers entering the World Championship for Makes, in the IMSA GT Championship and in the German Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (DRM). The 935 went on to win the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans overall, and other major endurance races.

 

After having won both world championships in 1976, Porsche focused on Le Mans. Due to a lack of competition in 1976, Porsche decided not to defend its sportscar championship with the 936 in 1977, leaving it to the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33. The series would be demoted to a European series in 1978 before being discontinued.

 

In the 1977 World Championship for Makes season, the factory continued to develop and race one or two new 935, in case BMW or another brand would bring a competitive turbocharged car. Customers of the 935/77A were not happy that the factory would race them with a newer car, but as the 935/77 was often unreliable, it won only four of the nine WCM events, which did not include Le Mans.

 

In the WCM season opening 24 hour Daytona, the old car was entered, but tyre failures caused a DNF, with an old RSR taking the win in front of two customer 935. The new car body was changed significantly to lower drag, resulting in a 10 km/h higher top speed at Paul Ricard, where it covered 3,500 km in tests at speed, lapping three to four seconds faster. The front fenders, which in 1976 had followed the hood, now protruded above the hood line, and also accommodated mirrors. The rear fenders were altered, but the biggest change was the addition of a second rear window above the standard one. This allowed cleaner air flow to the rear wing under which the single turbo was later replaced by two KKK units. This improved throttle response and also power, but several head gasket failures meant that Porsche had some home work to do for 1978.

 

The works 935/77 qualified sixth at the 1977 24 Hours of Le Mans, behind the Renault Alpines and the 936s, but engine troubles ended their race early. As in 1976, a 936 won after the turbo powered sportscars chased each other into troubles. This time, a customer 935 finished third overall.

 

As for most of the models built his November, the Porsche 935/77 is a major redesign of a previously created model. In LUGNuts there was a build challenge named 'Redo or Redemption' just for this type of build.

Some background:

The Daihatsu Move (ダイハツ・ムーヴ, Daihatsu Mūvu) was a kei car/city car manufactured by the Japanese automaker Daihatsu since August 1995. Kei car (keijidōsha 軽自動車, "light automobile") is the Japanese vehicle category for the smallest highway-legal passenger cars, and similar Japanese categories exist for microvans and kei trucks/utility vehicles. The kei car category was created by the Japanese government in 1949, and the regulations have been revised several times since. These regulations specify a maximum vehicle size, engine capacity, and power output, so that owners may enjoy both tax and insurance benefits. In most rural areas they are also exempted from the requirement to certify that adequate parking is available for the vehicle.

 

Kei cars have become very successful in Japan — consisting of over one third of domestic new car sales in fiscal 2016, despite dropping from a record 40% market share in 2013, after the government increased the kei car tax by 50 percent in 2014. However, in export markets, the genre is generally too specialized and too small for most models to be profitable. Notable exceptions exist though, for instance the Suzuki Alto and Jimny models, which were exported consistently from around 1980.

 

The Move was Daihatsu's response to the similarly designed Suzuki Wagon R that was introduced two years earlier in 1993. The Move was built upon the chassis of the popular Mira (L500) family car, but with a taller body, making it a microvan. The first-generation Move was marketed with a 658 cc (40.2 cu in) three-cylinder engine in Japan, which developed 32 kW (43 hp; 44 PS), and with an 847 cc (51.7 cu in) ED-20 engine in export markets, which also delivered 32 kW but offered more torque than the naturally aspirated 660 cc engines due to its larger displacement. For the domestic market, the Move was later also offered with an optional front-wheel drive model with a turbocharged 658 cc JB-JL four-cylinder engine producing 47 kW (63 hp; 64 PS) – the legal power limit for kei cars, and its top speed was limited to 87 mph (140 km/h) due to the legal restrictions of this vehicle class.

 

The Japanese domestic market models were internally designated L600, or L610 when equipped with four-wheel drive system; L602 was the code for the turbocharged version and export models were internally designated L601. Daihatsu produced more than half a million L600/L610 Move models during its three-year production run, mostly in Japan. It was imported to Europe, too, including the UK, and was furthermore offered with LHD in Continental Europe. In 1997, an upgraded variant with larger headlamps and revised front styling was introduced and marketed as the Move Custom in Japan and was available in subsequent generations, too.

 

However, the Move’s 1999 successor was not exported to Europe anymore, because the Move had turned out to be too similar to the Mira, which had already been sold in Europe for a couple of years under the name Cuore. Here, both models on the same platform and with the same engines filled virtually the same, relatively small microcar niche and sales rather cannibalized each other than being complementarily growing. Nevertheless, the Move microvan remained popular in Japan and Asian markets like Malaysia, Indonesia and China, and has so far been produced in six generations, the latest was launched in late 2014.

  

General specifications:

Wheelbase: 2,300 mm (90.6 in)

Seating: four passengers

Length: 3,295 mm (129.7 in)

Width: 1,395 mm (54.9 in)

Height: 1,620 mm (63.8 in)

Kerb weight: 690–800 kg (1,521–1,764 lb)

 

Powertrain:

658 cc (40.2 cu in) three-cylinder ED-20 engine with 32 kW (43 hp; 44 PS)

and a torque of 67 Nm / 49 lb-ft, coupled with a 5-speed manual or a

3- or 4-speed automatic gearbox

 

Performance:

Top speed: 131 km/h (81 mph)

Acceleration: 0-60 mph in 18.3 sec.

0-100 km/h in 19.4 sec

1/4 mile (402 m) drag time: 21 sec. with manual gearbox

Fuel consumption/mileage: 6 l/100km / 47.1 mpg (imp.) / 39.2 mpg (U.S.) / 16.7 km/l EU-cycle

  

The kit and its assembly:

Yes, a large-scale car, an exotic topic for me. But the “Blue Lights” Group Build at whatifmodellers.com in March 2021 was a good motivator to eventually tackle this project that I had fancied for years but never got myself to procure suitable hardware. I am a huge kei car fan, because these vehicles are a total contrasting concept to ever-growing “normal” cars around them, and there is a wide and very creative range of types around, ranging from sound family cars to vans, utility vehicles or even sports cars (and I am proud to admit that I own and drive such a specimen ^^).

 

Some inspiration for the model came from Kosuke Fujishima’s manga “You are under arrest”, in which, among other kei cars, a tuned, vintage Subaru R-2 in police service, which has its feeble, original 360cc rear engine with 31hp replaced by a Yamaha RZV500R with 80hp, plays a central role. Another factor were personal holiday experiences from a stay in Tokyo some years ago, where I came across several real-world kei cars in police service, including a proud and pristine Suzuki Swift at a rural koban, shiny and always ready for action and crime fighting.

The use of such a wee type of car for police duties appears a bit anachronistic, but these vehicles are just perfect for an urban and typically very tight operational environment. Even fire engines are relatively small in Japan, not bigger than a 7.5 ton truck, because the streets tend to be very narrow.

 

So, a home-made police kei car was the plan. I eventually settled upon an Aoshima 1:24 1st generation Daihatsu Move as a rather dry basis and added typical Japanese police details and equipment. Getting my hands on the police stuff turned out to be a lengthy affair, even though it’s not difficult: Aoshima offers several 1:24 aftermarket sets for conversions, which include flashlights, radio sets and other details. But these are prohibitively expensive, at least for what you get, so that I eventually bought a complete Japanese police car kit, a baroque Aoshima Nissan Cedric (430 Series) sedan. This basically offered the same sprues as the set, at the same price, and it not only supplied a lot of suitable Japanese police detail stuff, including extra flashlights, mirrors or an Asahikage (icon of the national police, “morning sunlight“) badge for the bonnet, it also provided me with a very nice set of optional steel rims. These replaced the Move’s OOB wheel options (either full hub caps or alloy rims for a turbocharged option) for a utility look. As a coincidence they are both 14” size, so that I could use the Move’s relatively narrow rubber tires on the Cedric’s wheels. With the chrome hubcaps, the new black wheels give the vehicle a kind of retro look, and it somehow reminds me of early American Hot Rods? Probably because of the Move’s boxy shape. Weird.

 

The police parts were simply added to the Move kit, but this was not always an easy task. In the cockpit I had to find enough space for the radio set in the dashboard, and the flashing lights had to be modified to suit the Move’s narrow roof – which thankfully features fixed rails, so that the bulky housing could be easily mounted over the B-pillar. I also found that one of the red flashing lights that are typically mounted to the front was missing, so that I had to improvise that and create suitable holders. Further additions include in- and external extra mirrors for the co-driver, a scratched notepad and a kind of chocolate bar on the dashboard.

  

Painting and markings:

Thanks to some preparation time for the GB since November 2020 I was able to get my hands on a rattle can with a Toyota white car paint (BTW, Daihatsu is part of Toyota), just on the last day before everything was shut down in Germany due to Covid-19 lockdown (lasting until building commenced in March 2021!). The plan was to stay as close to the typical TMPD paint scheme as possible, with a white upper car body and black lower flanks as well as a stylish black blaze on the bonnet.

 

Keeping things simple and easy, the hull was treated with white acrylic primer first and then painted with the Toyota tone. I am not certain whether an official White for Japanese police cars exists or not? In Germany there are RAL stones, but elsewhere…?

The black trim areas were created with decals and/or paint – either from the Cedric’s OOB sheet or from generic stripes (TL Modellbau), which were used instead of tape masking to create sharp demarcation lines, while the rest was filled with black (Humbrol 21). The fixed rails on the roof and the small spoiler became black, too, matching the flashlights’ housing. The window frames were painted in Tar Black (Revell 06), which is a very dark grey and rather looks like the typical rubber seals and plastic fairings than pure black.

Since a real-world police car would not be too flashy and rather have a robust utility look, I painted the bumpers in dark grey (Humbrol 67), later slightly dry-brushed with medium grey, simulating bare plastic. Not elegant, but a nice, slight contrast to the stark black/white livery. The chassis plate/suspension/underside was painted in semi-matt black, as well as the steel rims with their chrome caps. These suit the Move IMHO surprisingly well!

 

With simplicity and sobriety in mind, the interior was painted in medium grey, in this case Humbrol 164 (RAF Dark Sea Grey). A light black ink wash was applied to the seats and dry-brushing with light grey was added, too, to simulate fabric texture. The dashboard became grey, too, with black details like the instrument panel, vents and some switches. The radio set was painted black, too, to highlight it and underline that it is a retrofitted piece – even though this is hard to see from the outside.

 

Once all decals (a mix from the Move and the Cedric sheets) were in place and the door outlines emphasized with black ink, the car body was sealed with glossy acrylic varnish and the bumpers received a semi-matt finish, for the bare plastic look. The mirror surfaces were created with a self-adhesive, highly reflective foil, which – even though it is a bit thick – looks much better than any painted solution.

 

For the license plate I went for a typical yellow kei car version – even though I have seen police kei cars carrying white plates with green letters, which indicate special vehicles that have to undergo annual inspection. This is frequently found on “normal” Japanese police cars, and an option in the Cedric kit. But I found the yellow ones more suitable and attractive – maybe it’s a lethal flaw (also the selected numbers and kanji), but that’s already quite nit-picky.

  

An exotic topic, at least for me, and it’s also full of nostalgia and vacation memories. However, I think that the police Move looks pretty good and believable, it turned out better than expected and hoped for. It’s also kind of cute (kawaii!)!

And now I have a surplus car kit, the Nissan Cedric, too…

The Lamborghini Diablo is a high-performance mid-engined sports car that was built by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 1990 and 2001. It was the first Lamborghini capable of attaining a top speed in excess of 200 miles per hour (320 km/h). After the end of its production run in 2001, the Diablo was replaced by the Lamborghini Murciélago. Diablo is "devil" in Spanish, which is diavolo in Italian.

 

History of development

 

At a time when the company was financed by the Swiss-based Mimran brothers, Lamborghini began development of what was codenamed Project 132 in June 1985 as a replacement for the Countach model. The brief stated that its top speed had to be at least 315 km/h (196 mph).

 

The design of the car was contracted to Marcello Gandini, who had designed its two predecessors. When Chrysler bought the company in 1987, providing money to complete its development, its management was uncomfortable with Gandini’s designs and commissioned its design team in Detroit to execute a third extensive redesign, smoothing out the trademark sharp edges and corners of Gandini's original design, and leaving him famously unimpressed. In fact, Gandini was so disappointed with the "softened" shape that he would later realize his original design in the Cizeta-Moroder V16T.

 

The car became known as the Diablo, carrying on Lamborghini's tradition of naming its cars after breeds of fighting bull. The Diablo was named after a ferocious bull raised by the Duke of Veragua in the 19th century, famous for fighting an epic battle with 'El Chicorro' in Madrid on July 11, 1869. In the words of Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, the Diablo was designed "solely to be the biggest head-turner in the world."

 

The development is believed to have cost a total of 6 billion Italian lira.

 

Diablo VT Roadster

 

1995-1998 Lamborghini Diablo VT Roadster

 

The Diablo VT Roadster was introduced in December 1995 and featured an electrically operated carbon fiber targa top which was stored above the engine lid when not in use. Besides the roof, the roadster's body was altered from the fixed-top VT model in a number of ways. The front bumper was revised, replacing the quad rectangular driving lamps with two rectangular and two round units. The brake cooling ducts were moved inboard of the driving lamps and changed to a straked design, while the rear ducts featured the vertical painted design seen on the SE30.

 

The engine lid was changed substantially in order to vent properly when the roof panel was covering it. The roadster also featured revised 17 inch wheels. The air intakes on top/sides were made larger than the coupe Diablos. In 1998 the wheels have been updated to 18 inch, and the engine power raised to 530 HP by adding the variable valve timing system. Top speed specification was raised to 335 km/h (208 mph).

 

In 1999 the dashboard received a major optical update by Audi, and the pop-up headlights were replaced by fixed headlights, same as for the coupés. This resulted in a better aerodynamic shape and modern optics.

 

[Text from Wikipedia]

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamborghini_Diablo

 

This Lego miniland scale Lamborghini Diablo VT Roadster has been created for Flickr LUGNuts' 96th Build Challenge - The 8th Birthday, titled - 'Happy Crazy Eight Birthday, LUGNuts' - where all previous build challenges are available to build to. This model is built to the LUGNuts 92nd build challenge, - "Stuck in the 90s" featuring vehicles from the decade of the 1990s

The Renault 12 is a large family car introduced by French automaker Renault at the Paris Motor Show in October 1969[2] and produced in France till 1980. Available as a saloon (Berline) and estate (Break), it was also produced under licence in many countries around the globe into the early 21st century.

 

In its first few years the 12 received praise from the European press for its spacious, comfortable interior, its styling, its performance and its low fuel consumption. However it fared worse in the North American press: in a test of the 1974 model, Road & Track was critical of the engine's "obtrusive" noise, and called the heavy, non-power steering "a serious design flaw". They also gave it "very poor marks" for the ventilation system.

 

Renault 12 production and sales ended in western Europe in 1980, but the model continued to be produced and sold by Renault affiliates elsewhere. The last R12 was produced in 2000 in Turkey, whereas Romanian automaker Dacia continued producing the R12-based 1310 sedan and estate until 2004 and the R12-based Dacia Pick-Up until December 2006.

 

n 1970, two new variants were introduced. The estate was launched with the same trim levels and engines as in the saloon and a high performance Renault 12 Gordini model was introduced equipped with the all-aluminium 1565 cc block from the R16 TS fitted with two double-barrel Weber carburettors producing 125 PS (92 kW; 123 hp), a reinforced crankshaft, a five speed gearbox, ventilated disc brakes on the front wheels and normal disc brakes on the rear wheels, as well as a tuned suspension. The Gordini was able to reach 185 km/h (115 mph) and was sold with paint schemes comprising a solid pastel colour (there were several to choose from) with double white stripes added on, the most famous combination being French Blue with stripes. 2225 Renault 12 Gordinis were sold in 1971 but after that sales began a free fall. Renault stopped production of the Gordini in 1974 after 5188 had been sold (compared to 11,607 Renault 8 Gordinis).

 

[Text from Wikipedia]

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_12

 

One of my more successful car fixing ventures involved rebuilding a regular R12 engine in a friend's car. The Gordini used the engine from the Renault 16 TS (of which I had two) - aluminium with steel liners. And, a much more complicated powetrain assembly - I always had issues trying to sort out its problems.

Australia.

British automaker Bentley was founded in 1919 by W.O.Bentley. The company was well respected for its racing success. Rolls Royce took over Bentley in 1931.

The 1933-36 Bentley 3½ litre was the first of the new 'Derby' Bentleys, rolling chassis’s were built at Rolls Royce's Derby factory. The 3½ litre engine was developed from Rolls' straight 6 cyl. 1177 3½ Litre cars were produced.

The engine size was increased in 1936 to 4¼ litres, 1234 4¼ litre cars were built before replaced in 1939 by the Bentley Mk V.

A lot of the 3½ litre and 4¼ litre Derby Bentleys were bodied by Park Ward, with the remainder by a wide variety of coach builders, this car was bodied by H.J Mulliner. one of only six built with a concealed hood, it was brought to Australia in 1969.

Engine; 4257cc Rolls Royce 6 cyl

The Renault 12 is a large family car introduced by French automaker Renault at the Paris Motor Show in October 1969[2] and produced in France till 1980. Available as a saloon (Berline) and estate (Break), it was also produced under licence in many countries around the globe into the early 21st century.

 

In its first few years the 12 received praise from the European press for its spacious, comfortable interior, its styling, its performance and its low fuel consumption. However it fared worse in the North American press: in a test of the 1974 model, Road & Track was critical of the engine's "obtrusive" noise, and called the heavy, non-power steering "a serious design flaw". They also gave it "very poor marks" for the ventilation system.

 

Renault 12 production and sales ended in western Europe in 1980, but the model continued to be produced and sold by Renault affiliates elsewhere. The last R12 was produced in 2000 in Turkey, whereas Romanian automaker Dacia continued producing the R12-based 1310 sedan and estate until 2004 and the R12-based Dacia Pick-Up until December 2006.

 

n 1970, two new variants were introduced. The estate was launched with the same trim levels and engines as in the saloon and a high performance Renault 12 Gordini model was introduced equipped with the all-aluminium 1565 cc block from the R16 TS fitted with two double-barrel Weber carburettors producing 125 PS (92 kW; 123 hp), a reinforced crankshaft, a five speed gearbox, ventilated disc brakes on the front wheels and normal disc brakes on the rear wheels, as well as a tuned suspension. The Gordini was able to reach 185 km/h (115 mph) and was sold with paint schemes comprising a solid pastel colour (there were several to choose from) with double white stripes added on, the most famous combination being French Blue with stripes. 2225 Renault 12 Gordinis were sold in 1971 but after that sales began a free fall. Renault stopped production of the Gordini in 1974 after 5188 had been sold (compared to 11,607 Renault 8 Gordinis).

 

[Text from Wikipedia]

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_12

 

One of my more successful car fixing ventures involved rebuilding a regular R12 engine in a friend's car. The Gordini used the engine from the Renault 16 TS (of which I had two) - aluminium with steel liners. And, a much more complicated powetrain assembly - I always had issues trying to sort out its problems.

United States.

British automaker Bentley was founded in 1919 by W.O.Bentley. Rolls Royce took over Bentley in 1931.

The first Bentley produced after the War was the 1946-52 Mk VI with the same body as the Rolls Royce Silver Dawn.

The Bentley R Type was built from 1952-55, sometimes called the Mark VII, it replaced the 1946-52 Mark VI. The front of the saloon was identical to the Mark VI, but the boot was almost doubled in capacity.

Mainly available as a 4 door Saloon from Bentley, but separate coach builders did build other versions, such as the Bentley R Type Continental 2 door Coupe built by H.J.Mulliner & Co, with modified engine, it was the fastest 4 seat production car in the world at the time. This is one of the 193 built.

(2323 R Type 4 door Saloons were built)

Engine; 280 cu in 6 cyl

2015 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance

The Volkswagen Type 2, known officially (depending on body type) as the Transporter, Kombi or Microbus, or, informally, as the Bus (US) or Camper (UK), is a forward control panel van introduced in 1950 by the German automaker Volkswagen as its second car model. Following – and initially deriving from Volkswagen's first model, the Type 1 (Beetle) – it was given the factory designation Type 2.

 

As one of the forerunners of the modern cargo and passenger vans, the Type 2 gave rise to forward control competitors in the United States in the 1960s, including the Ford Econoline, the Dodge A100, and the Chevrolet Corvair 95 Corvan, the latter adopting the Type 2's rear-engine configuration.

 

European competition included the 1947-1981 Citroën H Van, the 1959-1980 Renault Estafette (both FF layout), and the 1953-1965 FR layout Ford Transit.

 

Japanese manufacturers also introduced the platform in different configurations, such as the Nissan Caravan, Toyota LiteAce and the Subaru Sambar.

 

Like the Beetle, the van has received numerous nicknames worldwide, including the "microbus", "minibus", and, because of its popularity during the counterculture movement of the 1960s, Hippie van/wagon, and still remains iconic for many hippies today.

 

Brazil contained the last factory in the world that produced the T2. Production in Brazil ceased on December 31, 2013, due to the introduction of more stringent safety regulations in the country. This marks the end of an era with the rear-engine Volkswagens manufactured (after the 2002 termination of its T3 successor in South Africa), which originated in 1935 with their Type 1 prototypes.

 

HISTORY

The concept for the Type 2 is credited to Dutch Volkswagen importer Ben Pon. (It has similarities in concept to the 1920s Rumpler Tropfenwagen and 1930s Dymaxion car by Buckminster Fuller, neither of which reached production.) Pon visited Wolfsburg in 1946, intending to purchase Type 1s for import to the Netherlands, where he saw an improvised parts-mover and realized something better was possible using the stock Type 1 pan. He first sketched the van in a doodle dated April 23, 1947, proposing a payload of 690 kg and placing the driver at the very front. Production would have to wait, however, as the factory was at capacity producing the Type 1.

 

When capacity freed up, a prototype known internally as the Type 29 was produced in a short three months. The stock Type 1 pan proved to be too weak so the prototype used a ladder chassis with unit body construction. Coincidentally the wheelbase was the same as the Type 1's. Engineers reused the reduction gear from the Type 81, enabling the 1.5 ton van to use a 25 hp (19 kW) flat four engine.

 

Although the aerodynamics of the first prototypes were poor (with an initial drag coefficient of Cd=0.75), engineers used the wind tunnel at the Technical University of Braunschweig to optimize the design. Simple changes such as splitting the windshield and roofline into a "vee" helped the production Type 2 achieve Cd=0.44, exceeding the Type 1's Cd=0.48. Volkswagen's new chief executive officer Heinz Nordhoff (appointed 1 January 1948) approved the van for production on 19 May 1949 and the first production model, now designated Type 2, rolled off the assembly line to debut 12 November. Only two models were offered: the Kombi (with two side windows and middle and rear seats that were easily removable by one person), and the Commercial. The Microbus was added in May 1950, joined by the Deluxe Microbus in June 1951. In all 9,541 Type 2s were produced in their first year of production.

 

An ambulance model was added in December 1951 which repositioned the fuel tank in front of the transaxle, put the spare tire behind the front seat, and added a "tailgate"-style rear door. These features became standard on the Type 2 from 1955 to 1967. 11,805 Type 2s were built in the 1951 model year. These were joined by a single-cab pickup in August 1952, and it changed the least of the Type 2s until all were heavily modified in 1968.

 

Unlike other rear engine Volkswagens, which evolved constantly over time but never saw the introduction of all-new models, the Transporter not only evolved, but was completely revised periodically with variations retrospectively referred to as versions "T1" to "T5" (a nomenclature only invented after the introduction of the front-drive T4 which replaced the T25). However, only generations T1 to T3 (or T25 as it is still called in Ireland and Great Britain) can be seen as directly related to the Beetle (see below for details).

 

The Type 2, along with the 1947 Citroën H Van, are among the first 'forward control' vans in which the driver was placed above the front roadwheels. They started a trend in Europe, where the 1952 GM Bedford CA, 1958 RAF-977, 1959 Renault Estafette, 1960 BMC Morris J4, and 1960 Commer FC also used the concept. In the United States, the Corvair-based Chevrolet Corvan cargo van and Greenbrier passenger van went so far as to copy the Type 2's rear-engine layout, using the Corvair's horizontally opposed, air-cooled engine for power. Except for the Greenbrier and various 1950s–70s Fiat minivans, the Type 2 remained unique in being rear-engined. This was a disadvantage for the early "barndoor" Panel Vans, which could not easily be loaded from the rear because the engine cover intruded on interior space, but generally advantageous in traction and interior noise.

 

VARIANTS

The Type 2 was available as a:

 

Panel van, a delivery van without side windows or rear seats.

Double-door Panel Van, a delivery van without side windows or rear seats and cargo doors on both sides.

High Roof Panel Van (German: Hochdach), a delivery van with raised roof.

Kombi, from German: Kombinationskraftwagen (combination motor vehicle), with side windows and removable rear seats, both a passenger and a cargo vehicle combined.

Bus, also called a Volkswagen Caravelle, a van with more comfortable interior reminiscent of passenger cars since the third generation.

Lotação (share-taxi), a version exclusive to Brazil, with 6 front-hinged doors for the passenger area and 4 bench-seats, catering to the supplemental public transport segment.[citation needed] Available from 1960 to 1989, in both the split-window and "clipper" (fitted with the bay-window front panel) bodystyles.

Samba-Bus, a van with skylight windows and cloth sunroof, first generation only, also known as a Deluxe Microbus. They were marketed for touring the Alps.

Flatbed pickup truck, or Single Cab, also available with wider load bed.

Crew cab pick-up, a flatbed truck with extended cab and two rows of seats, also called a Doka, from German: Doppelkabine.

Westfalia camping van, "Westy", with Westfalia roof and interior. Included optional "pop up" top.

Adventurewagen camping van, with high roof and camping units from Adventurewagen.

Semi-camping van that can also still be used as a passenger car and transporter, sacrificing some camping comforts. "Multivan" or "Weekender", available from the third generation on.

 

Apart from these factory variants, there were a multitude of third-party conversions available, some of which were offered through Volkswagen dealers. They included, but were not limited to, refrigerated vans, hearses, ambulances, police vans, fire engines and ladder trucks, and camping van conversions by companies other than Westfalia. There were even 30 Klv 20 rail-going draisines built for Deutsche Bundesbahn in 1955.

 

In South Africa, it is known as a well-loved variation of the ice cream van (first, second and third generations). The mere sight of one (in South Africa) sparks the familiar rhyme: I scream, We scream, We all scream for Ice-Cream!

 

FIRST GENERATION (T1; 1950–1967)

The first generation of the Volkswagen Type 2 with the split windshield, informally called the Microbus, Splitscreen, or Splittie among modern fans, was produced from 8 March 1950 through the end of the 1967 model year. From 1950 to 1956, the T1 (not called that at the time) was built in Wolfsburg; from 1956, it was built at the completely new Transporter factory in Hanover. Like the Beetle, the first Transporters used the 1100 Volkswagen air-cooled engine, an 1,131 cc, DIN-rated 18 kW (24 PS; 24 bhp), air-cooled flat-four-cylinder 'boxer' engine mounted in the rear. This was upgraded to the 1200 – an 1,192 cc 22 kW (30 PS; 30 bhp) in 1953. A higher compression ratio became standard in 1955; while an unusual early version of the 30 kW (41 PS; 40 bhp) engine debuted exclusively on the Type 2 in 1959. This engine proved to be so uncharacteristically troublesome that Volkswagen recalled all 1959 Transporters and replaced the engines with an updated version of the 30 kW engine. Any 1959 models that retain that early engine today are true survivors. Since the engine was totally discontinued at the outset, no parts were ever made available.

 

The early versions of the T1 until 1955 were often called the "Barndoor" (retrospectively called T1a since the 1990s), owing to the enormous rear engine cover, while the later versions with a slightly modified body (the roofline above the windshield is extended), smaller engine bay, and 15" roadwheels instead of the original 16" ones are nowadays called the T1b (again, only called this since the 1990s, based on VW's retrospective T1,2,3,4 etc. naming system.). From the 1964 model year, when the rear door was made wider (same as on the bay-window or T2), the vehicle could be referred to as the T1c. 1964 also saw the introduction of an optional sliding door for the passenger/cargo area instead of the outwardly hinged doors typical of cargo vans.

 

In 1962, a heavy-duty Transporter was introduced as a factory option. It featured a cargo capacity of 1,000 kg instead of the previous 750 kg, smaller but wider 14" roadwheels, and a 1.5 Le, 31 kW (42 PS; 42 bhp) DIN engine. This was so successful that only a year later, the 750 kg, 1.2 L Transporter was discontinued. The 1963 model year introduced the 1500 engine – 1,493 cc as standard equipment to the US market at 38 kW (52 PS; 51 bhp) DIN with an 83 mm bore, 69 mm (2.72 in) stroke, and 7.8:1 compression ratio. When the Beetle received the 1.5 L engine for the 1967 model year, its power was increased to 40 kW (54 PS; 54 bhp) DIN.

 

German production stopped after the 1967 model year; however, the T1 still was made in Brazil until 1975, when it was modified with a 1968–79 T2-style front end, and big 1972-vintage taillights into the so-called "T1.5" and produced until 1996. The Brazilian T1s were not identical to the last German models (the T1.5 was locally produced in Brazil using the 1950s and 1960s-era stamping dies to cut down on retooling, alongside the Beetle/Fusca, where the pre-1965 body style was retained), though they sported some characteristic features of the T1a, such as the cargo doors and five-stud 205 mm Pitch Circle Diameter rims. Wheel tracks varied between German and Brazilian production and with 14-inch, 15-inch and 16-inch wheel variants but commonly front track varied from 1290 mm to 1310 mm and rear track from 1370 mm to 1390 mm.

 

Among American enthusiasts, it is common to refer to the different models by the number of their windows. The basic Kombi or Bus is the 11-window (a.k.a. three-window bus because of three side windows) with a split windshield, two front cabin door windows, six rear side windows, and one rear window. The DeLuxe model featured eight rear side windows and two rear corner windows, making it the 15-window (not available in Europe). Meanwhile, the sunroof DeLuxe with its additional eight small skylight windows is, accordingly, the 23-window. From the 1964 model year, with its wider rear door, the rear corner windows were discontinued, making the latter two the 13-window and 21-window respectively. The 23- and later 21-window variants each carry the nickname 'Samba', or in Australia, officially 'Alpine'.

 

SAMBA

The Volkswagen Samba, in the United States also known as Sunroof Deluxe, was the most luxurious version of the T1. Volkswagen started producing Sambas in 1951.

 

Originally Volkswagen Vans were classified according to the number of windows they had. This particular model had 23 and later 21 windows including eight panoramic windows in the roof. To distinguish it from the normal 23 or 21-window Volkswagen van the name Samba was coined.

 

Instead of a sliding door at the side the Samba had two pivot doors. In addition the Samba had a fabric sunroof. At that time Volkswagen advertised with the idea of using the Samba to make tourist trips through the Alps.

 

Sambas were painted standard in two colors. Usually, the upper part was colored white. The two colored sections were separated by a decorative strip. Further the bus had a so-called "hat": at the front of the van the roof was just a little longer than the car itself to block the sun for the driver. The windows had chrome tables and the van had a more comprehensive dashboard than the normal T1.

 

When Volkswagen started producing the successor of the T1 (the T2) the company also stopped producing the Samba so there are no Sambas in later versions of the Transporter.

 

US CHICKEN TAX

Certain models of the Volkswagen Type 2 played a role in a historic episode during the early 1960s, known as the Chicken War. France and West Germany had placed tariffs on imports of U.S. chicken. Diplomacy failed, and in January 1964, two months after taking office, President Johnson imposed a 25% tax (almost ten times the average U.S. tariff) on potato starch, dextrin, brandy, and light trucks. Officially, the tax targeted items imported from Europe as approximating the value of lost American chicken sales to Europe.

 

In retrospect, audio tapes from the Johnson White House, revealed a quid pro quo unrelated to chicken. In January 1964, President Johnson attempted to convince United Auto Workers' president Walter Reuther not to initiate a strike just before the 1964 election, and to support the president's civil rights platform. Reuther, in turn, wanted Johnson to respond to Volkswagen's increased shipments to the United States.

 

The Chicken Tax directly curtailed importation of German-built Type 2s in configurations that qualified them as light trucks – that is, commercial vans (panel vans) and pickups. In 1964, U.S. imports of automobile trucks from West Germany declined to a value of $5.7 million – about one-third the value imported in the previous year. After 1971, Volkswagen cargo vans and pickup trucks, the intended targets, "practically disappeared from the U.S. market". While post-1971 Type 2 commercial vans and single-cab and double-cab pickups can be found in the United States today, they are exceedingly rare. Any post-1971 specimen found ostensibly has had its import tariff paid. As of 2013, the "chicken tax" remains in effect.

 

SECOND GENERATION (T2; 1967–1979)

In late 1967, the second generation of the Volkswagen Type 2 (T2) was introduced. It was built in Germany until 1979. In Mexico, the Volkswagen Kombi and Panel were produced from 1970 to 1994. Models before 1971 are often called the T2a (or "Early Bay"), while models after 1972 are called the T2b (or "Late Bay").

 

This second-generation Type 2 lost its distinctive split front windshield, and was slightly larger and considerably heavier than its predecessor. Its common nicknames are Breadloaf and Bay-window, or Loaf and Bay for short. At 1.6 L and 35 kW (48 PS; 47 bhp) DIN, the engine was also slightly larger. The battery and electrical system was upgraded to 12 volts, making it incompatible with electric accessories from the previous generation. The new model also did away with the swing axle rear suspension and transfer boxes previously used to raise ride height. Instead, half-shaft axles fitted with constant velocity joints raised ride height without the wild changes in camber of the Beetle-based swing axle suspension. The updated Bus transaxle is usually sought after by off-road racers using air-cooled Volkswagen components.

 

The T2b was introduced by way of gradual change over three years. The first models featured rounded bumpers incorporating a step for use when the door was open (replaced by indented bumpers without steps on later models), front doors that opened to 90° from the body, no lip on the front guards, unique engine hatches, and crescent air intakes in the D-pillars (later models after the Type 4 engine option was offered, have squared off intakes). The 1971 Type 2 featured a new, 1.6 L engine with dual intake ports on each cylinder head and was DIN-rated at 37 kW (50 PS; 50 bhp). An important change came with the introduction of front disc brakes and new roadwheels with brake ventilation holes and flatter hubcaps. Up until 1972, front indicators are set low on the nose rather than high on either side of the fresh air grille – giving rise to their being nicknamed "Low Lights". 1972's most prominent change was a bigger engine compartment to fit the larger 1.7- to 2.0-litre engines from the Volkswagen Type 4, and a redesigned rear end which eliminated the removable rear apron and introduced the larger late tail lights. The air inlets were also enlarged to accommodate the increased cooling air needs of the larger engines.

In 1971 the 1600cc Type 1 engine as used in the Beetle, was supplemented with the 1700cc Type 4 engine – as it was originally designed for the Type 4 (411 and 412) models. European vans kept the option of upright fan Type 1 1600 engine but the 1700 Type 4 became standard for US spec models.

 

In the Type 2, the Type 4 engine was an option for the 1972 model year onward. This engine was standard in models destined for the US and Canada. Only with the Type 4 engine did an automatic transmission become available for the first time in the 1973 model year. Both engines displaced 1.7 L, DIN-rated at 49 kW (67 PS; 66 bhp) with the manual transmission and 46 kW (63 PS; 62 bhp) with the automatic. The Type 4 engine was enlarged to 1.8 L and 50 kW (68 PS; 67 bhp) DIN for the 1974 model year and again to 2.0 L and 52 kW (71 PS; 70 bhp) DIN for the 1976 model year. The two-litre option appeared in South African manufactured models during 1976, originally only in a comparably well-equipped "Executive" model. The 1978 2.0 L now featured hydraulic valve lifters, eliminating the need to periodically adjust the valve clearances as on earlier models. The 1975 and later U.S. model years received Bosch L-Jetronic electronic fuel injection as standard equipment; 1978 was the first year for electronic ignition, utilizing a hall effect sensor and digital controller, eliminating maintenance-requiring contact-breaker points. As with all Transporter engines, the focus in development was not on power, but on low-end torque. The Type 4 engines were considerably more robust and durable than the Type 1 engines, particularly in Transporter service.

 

In 1972, for the 1973 model year, exterior revisions included relocated front turn indicators, squared off and set higher in the valance, above the headlights. Also, square-profiled bumpers, which became standard until the end of the T2 in 1979, were introduced in 1973. Crash safety improved with this change because of a compressible structure behind the front bumper. This meant that the T2b was capable of meeting US safety standards for passenger cars of the time, though not required of vans. The "VW" emblem on the front valance became slightly smaller.

 

Later model changes were primarily mechanical. By 1974, the T2 had gained its final shape. Very late in the T2's design life, during the late 1970s, the first prototypes of Type 2 vans with four-wheel drive (4WD) were built and tested.

 

T2c

The T2c, with a roof raised by about 10 cm was built starting in the early 1990s for the South American and Central American markets. Since 1991, the T2c has been built in México with the water-cooled 1.8 L inline four-cylinder 53 kW (72 PS; 71 bhp) carbureted engine - easily identified by the large, black front-mounted radiator - and since 1995 with the 1.6 L air-cooled engines for the Brazilian market.

 

Once production of the original Beetle was halted in late 2003, the T2 was the only Volkswagen model with an air-cooled, rear-mounted boxer engine, but then the Brazilian model shifted to a water-cooled engine on 23 December 2005. There was a 1.6 L 50 hp (37 kW; 51 PS) water-cooled diesel engine available from 1981 to 1985, which gave fuel economy of 15 km/l to 18 km/l - but gave slow performance and its insufficient cooling system led to short engine life.

 

The end of the Volkswagen air-cooled engine on a worldwide basis was marked by a Special Edition Kombi. An exclusive Silver paint job, and limited edition emblems were applied to only 200 units in late 2005, and were sold as 2006 models.

 

Stricter emissions regulations introduced by the Brazilian government for 2006 forced a shift to a flexible-fuel water-cooled engine[citation needed] able to run on petrol or alcohol. Borrowed from the Volkswagen Fox, the engine is a rear-mounted EA-111 1.4 L 8v Total Flex 1,390 cc, 58 kW (79 PS; 78 bhp) on petrol, and 60 kW (82 PS; 80 bhp) when run on ethanol, and 124 N·m (91 lbf·ft) torque. This version was very successful, despite the minor changes made to the overall T2-bodied vehicle. It still included the four-speed transmission, but a new final-drive ratio enabled cruising at 120 km/h (75 mph) at 4,100 rpm. Top speed was 130 km/h (81 mph). 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) acceleration took 22.7 seconds (vs. 29.5 seconds for the last air-cooled version). Other improvements included 6.6% better fuel economy, and nearly 2 dB less engine noise.

 

The Volkswagen Type 2 is by far the longest model run in Brazil, having been introduced in September 1950 as the Volkswagen "Kombi", a name it has kept throughout production.[citation needed] Only produced in two versions, bus (nine-seater or 12-seater – a fourth row is added for metro transportation or school bus market) or panel van, it offers only one factory option, a rear window defogger.[citation needed] As of June 2009, the T2 was being built at the Volkswagen Group's São Bernardo do Campo plant at a rate of 97 per day.

 

The production of the Brazilian Volkswagen Kombi ended in 2013 with a production run of 600 Last Edition vehicles.[28] A short movie called "Kombi's last wishes" was made by VW Brazil.

 

POST_TYPE 2 GENERATIONS

THIRD GENERATION (T3; 1979–1992)

The Volkswagen Type 2 (T3) also known as the T25, (or Vanagon in the United States), the T3 platform was introduced in 1980, and was one of the last new Volkswagen platforms to use an air-cooled engine. The Volkswagen air-cooled engine was phased out for a water-cooled boxer engine (still rear-mounted) in 1984. Compared to its predecessor the T2, the T3 was larger and heavier, with square corners replacing the rounded edges of the older models. The T3 is sometimes called "the wedge" by enthusiasts to differentiate it from earlier Kombis.

 

FOURTH GENERATION (T4; 1990–2003)

Since 1990, the Transporter in most world markets has been front-engined and water-cooled, similar to other contemporary Volkswagens, almost two decades later than it did for the passenger cars. T4s are marketed as Transporter in Europe. In the United States, Volkswagen Eurovan is the brand name.

 

FITH GENERATION (T5; 2003–2015)

The Volkswagen Transporter T5 range is the fifth generation of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles medium-sized light commercial vehicle and people movers. Launched 6 January 2003, the T5 went into full production in April 2003, replacing the fourth generation range.

 

Key markets for the T5 are Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, France and Turkey. It is not sold in the US market because it is classed as a light truck, accruing the 25% chicken tax on importation. The T5 has a more aerodynamic design. The angle of the windshield and A-pillar is less; this makes for a large dashboard and small bonnet.

 

In June 2009, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles announced the one-millionth T5 rolled off the production line in Hanover.

 

T5 GP introduced in 2010. Heavily face-lifted with some new power plants including the 180 bi-turbo range topper. These new engines saw the demise of the now "dirty" 5 cylinder units.

 

Late 2015 will see the arrival of the "Neu Sechs", the New 6. The T6 will offer further engine changes in early 2016, but will launch with the previous generation engines. The new engines will see the introduction of Ad-Blu to meet with euro 6 emission compliance. The new 6 was expected by many to be more than just a face lift.

 

With the T6 now hitting the roads it is very clear it would appear to be just a face lift. New front, new tailgate and a new dash. There are quality improvements, sound deadening, new colours and improved consumption, but many believe VW have missed an opportunity to go back to the top.

Sixth generation (T6; 2015–)

 

The new T6 will launch with the old Euro 5 non AdBlue power-plants, but will be offered with a Euro 6 diesel engine with 204bhp and AdBlue. Three further Euro 6 Adblue diesel power-plants with 84ps, 102ps and 150ps will also be offered.

 

There is some debate in the community over whether the T6 is a new model, or simply a face-lift. There are obvious external changes to the nose and tailgate, while internally there is a new dash in 2 versions. Volkswagen are claiming refinement to ride, handling and noise levels.

 

ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

In 2001, a Volkswagen Microbus Concept was created, with design cues from the T1 generation in a spirit similar to the New Beetle nostalgia movement. Volkswagen planned to start selling it in the United States market in 2007, but it was scrapped in May 2004 and replaced with a more cost-effective design to be sold worldwide.

 

NAMES AND NICKNAMES

Like the Beetle, from the beginning, the Type 2 earned many nicknames from its fans. Among the most popular,[citation needed] at least in Germany, are VW-Bus and Bulli (or Bully) or Hippie-van or the bus. The Type 2 was meant to be officially named the Bully, but Heinrich Lanz, producer of the Lanz Bulldog farm tractor, intervened. The model was then presented as the Volkswagen Transporter and Volkswagen Kleinbus, but the Bully nickname still caught on.

 

The official German-language model names Transporter and Kombi (Kombinationskraftwagen, combined-use vehicle) have also caught on as nicknames. Kombi is not only the name of the passenger variant, but is also the Australasian and Brazilian term for the whole Type 2 family; in much the same way that they are all called VW-Bus in Germany, even the pickup truck variations. In Mexico, the German Kombi was translated as Combi, and became a household word thanks to the vehicle's popularity in Mexico City's public transportation system. In Peru, where the term Combi was similarly adopted, the term Combi Asesina (Murdering Combi) is often used for buses of similar size, because of the notorious recklessness and competition of bus drivers in Lima to get passengers. In Portugal it is known as Pão-de-Forma (Breadloaf) because its design resembles a bread baked in a mold. Similarly, in Denmark, the Type 2 is referred to as Rugbrød (Rye bread). Finns dubbed it Kleinbus (mini-bus), as many taxicab companies adopted it for group transportation; the name Kleinbus has become an appellative for all passenger vans. The vehicle is also known as Kleinbus in Chile.

 

In the US, however, it is a VW bus, a "vee-dub", a minibus, a hippie-mobile, hippie bus, or hippie van, "combie", Microbus or a Transporter to aficionados. The early versions produced before 1967 used a split front windshield (giving rise to the nickname "Splitty"), and their comparative rarity has led to their becoming sought after by collectors and enthusiasts. The next version, sold in the US market from 1968 to 1979, is characterised by a large, curved windshield and is commonly called a "bay-window". It was replaced by the Vanagon, of which only the Westfalia camper version has a common nickname, "Westy".

 

It was called Volksie Bus in South Africa, notable in a series of that country's TV commercials. Kombi is also a generic nickname for vans and minibuses in South Africa and Swaziland, often used as a means of public transportation. In Nigeria it was called Danfo.

 

In the UK, it is known as a "Campervan". In France, it was called a "camping-car" (usually hyphenated) though this has been expanded to include other, often more specialized vehicles in more recent times.

 

MEXICAN PRODUCTION

T2 production began in 1970 at the Puebla assembly factory.

 

Offered initially only as a nine-passenger version called the Volkswagen Kombi, and from 1973 also its cargo van version called the Volkswagen Panel, both variants were fitted with the 1.5 L air-cooled boxer engine and four-speed manual gearbox. In 1974, the 1.6 L 44 bhp (33 kW; 45 PS) boxer engine replaced the 1.5 previous one, and production continued this way up to 1987. In 1987, the water-cooled 1.8 L 85 bhp (63 kW; 86 PS) inline four-cylinder engine replaced the air-cooled 1.6 L. This new model is recognisable by its black grille (for its engine coolant radiator), bumpers and moldings.

 

In 1975, Volkswagen de Mexico ordered two specially made pickups from Germany, one single cab and one double cab, for the Puebla plant. These were evaluated for the possibility of building pickups in Mexico, and were outfitted with every option except the Arctic package, including front and rear fog lights, intermittent wipers, trip odometer, clock, bumper rubber, PVC tilt, and dual doors on the single cab storage compartment. VW de Mexico was interested in having the lights, wiring, brake systems and other parts manufactured in Mexico. Ultimately, VW de Mexico declined to produce pickups, and the pickups were sold to an Autohaus, a Volkswagen dealer in San Antonio, Texas, since they could not be sold in Mexico. By law, no German-made Volkswagens were to be sold in Mexico. These are probably the only pickups that were produced in Germany for Mexican import, and have the "ME" export code on the M-code plate. The green double cab was sold to a new owner in New York, and has been lost track of. The light gray (L345, licht grau) single cab still exists. Pickups were not manufactured in Mexico, nor were they imported into Mexico from Germany, save for these two examples.

 

In 1988, a luxury variant – the Volkswagen Caravelle – made its debut in the Mexican market to compete with the Nissan Ichi Van, which was available in cargo, passenger and luxury versions.

 

The main differences between the two are that the Caravelle was sold as an eight-passenger version, while the Combi was available as a nine-passenger version, the Caravelle was only painted in metallic colors, while the Combi was only available in non-metallic colors, and the Caravelle was fitted with an AM/FM stereo cassette sound system, tinted windows, velour upholstery, reading lights, mid and rear headrests, and wheel covers from the European T25 model.

 

In 1991, the 10 cm higher roof made its debut in all variants, and the Combi began to be offered in eight- or nine-passenger variants. In 1991, since Mexican anti-pollution regulations required a three-way catalytic converter, a Digifant fuel injection system replaced the previous carburetor. The three variants continued without change until 1994.

 

In 1994, production ended in Mexico, with models being imported from Brazil. The Caravelle was discontinued, and both the Combi and the Panel were only offered in white color and finally in 2002, replaced by the T4 EuroVan Pasajeros and EuroVan Carga, passenger and cargo van in long wheelbase version, inline five-cylinder 2.5 L 115 bhp and five-speed manual gearbox imported from Germany.

 

WIKIPEDIA

"The Big 3" luxury automakers in papercraft. 1976 Cadillac Sedan-Deville, 1977 Lincoln Town-coupe, 1977 Chrysler New Yorker. I made the Caddy a sedan because I like the roof line. And they all have fender skirts over the rear wheels.

The Porsche 935 was a race car developed and manufactured by German automaker Porsche. Introduced in 1976 as the factory racing version of the 911 (930) Turbo and prepared for FIA-Group 5 rules, it was an evolution of the Carrera RSR 2.1 turbo prototype, the second place overall finisher in the 1974 24 Hours of Le Mans.

 

Beginning with the 1977 season, Porsche offered the 935 to customers entering the World Championship for Makes, in the IMSA GT Championship and in the German Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (DRM). The 935 went on to win the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans overall, and other major endurance races.

 

After having won both world championships in 1976, Porsche focused on Le Mans. Due to a lack of competition in 1976, Porsche decided not to defend its sportscar championship with the 936 in 1977, leaving it to the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33. The series would be demoted to a European series in 1978 before being discontinued.

 

In the 1977 World Championship for Makes season, the factory continued to develop and race one or two new 935, in case BMW or another brand would bring a competitive turbocharged car. Customers of the 935/77A were not happy that the factory would race them with a newer car, but as the 935/77 was often unreliable, it won only four of the nine WCM events, which did not include Le Mans.

 

In the WCM season opening 24 hour Daytona, the old car was entered, but tyre failures caused a DNF, with an old RSR taking the win in front of two customer 935. The new car body was changed significantly to lower drag, resulting in a 10 km/h higher top speed at Paul Ricard, where it covered 3,500 km in tests at speed, lapping three to four seconds faster. The front fenders, which in 1976 had followed the hood, now protruded above the hood line, and also accommodated mirrors. The rear fenders were altered, but the biggest change was the addition of a second rear window above the standard one. This allowed cleaner air flow to the rear wing under which the single turbo was later replaced by two KKK units. This improved throttle response and also power, but several head gasket failures meant that Porsche had some home work to do for 1978.

 

The works 935/77 qualified sixth at the 1977 24 Hours of Le Mans, behind the Renault Alpines and the 936s, but engine troubles ended their race early. As in 1976, a 936 won after the turbo powered sportscars chased each other into troubles. This time, a customer 935 finished third overall.

 

As for most of the models built his November, the Porsche 935/77 is a major redesign of a previously created model. In LUGNuts there was a build challenge named 'Redo or Redemption' just for this type of build.

The Peugeot 504 is a large family car manufactured by French automaker Peugeot between 1968 and 1983, with licensed production continuing until 2006.

 

Peugeot's flagship, the 504 made its public debut on 12 September 1968 at the Paris Salon. The press launch which had been scheduled for June 1968 was at the last minute deferred by three months, and production got off to a similarly delayed start because of the political and industrial disruption which exploded across France in May 1968.

 

The 504 was a sunroof-equipped four-door saloon, introduced with a carbureted 1,796 cc four-cylinder petrol engine 79 bhp (59 kW; 80 PS) with optional fuel injection. A column-mounted four-speed manual transmission was standard; a three-speed ZF 3HP12 automatic available as an upgrade.

 

The 504 was European Car of the Year in 1969, praised for its styling, quality, chassis, ride, visibility, strong engine and refinement.

 

The 504 Injection two-door coupé and two-door cabriolet were introduced at the Salon de Geneva in March 1969. The engine produced the same 97 bhp (72 kW; 98 PS) of output as in the fuel-injected saloon, but the final drive ratio was slightly revised to give a slightly higher road speed of 20.6 mph (33.2 km/h) at 1,000 rpm.

 

The 504 received a new four-cylinder 1971 cc engine, rated at 96 bhp (72 kW; 97 PS) (carburated) and 104 bhp (78 kW; 105 PS) (fuel-injected), and a four-cylinder 2112 cc diesel rated at 65 bhp (48 kW; 66 PS). The 1796 cc engine remained available.

 

In September 1970 an estate was added, featuring a higher rear roof, lengthened wheel base and solid rear axle with four coil springs. It was joined by the 7-seat "Familiale", which had all its occupants facing forward in three rows of seats.

 

In April 1973, because of the oil crisis Peugeot presented the 504 L. It featured a live rear axle and a smaller 1,796 cc engine rated at 79 bhp (59 kW; 80 PS) (81 bhp (60 kW; 82 PS) for Automatic).

 

At the 1974 October Motor Show Peugeot presented a more powerful engine for the 504 coupé and cabriolet, now fitted with a 2664 cc V6 unit developed in collaboration with Volvo and Renault. This was the same engine that would be used for the 604 berline, to be introduced at Geneva five months later, in March 1975. The engine incorporated various innovative features such as an aluminium cylinder block, and a fuel-feed system that employed carburetors of differing type, one (type 34 TBIA) featuring a single chamber controlled directly according to the movement of the accelerator pedal, and the second being a twin chamber carburetor (type 35 CEEI) designed to operate simultaneously with the first, using a pneumatic linkage. Maximum output for the 504 coupé and cabriolet fitted with this new V6 engine was given as 136 bhp (101 kW; 138 PS), supporting a top speed of 186 km/h (116 mph). During 1975, the first full year of production, 2,643 of these 6 cylinder 504 coupés and cabriolet were produced, which was considered a respectable number, although dwarfed by the 236,733 4 cylinder 504 "berlines" (saloons/sedans) and "breaks" (estates/station wagons) produced by Peugeot in France in the same year. Following launch of the six cylinder cars, the four cylinder versions of the coupé and cabriolet 504s were delisted: they returned to the showrooms in 1978 in response, it was reported, to customer demand.

 

At the Paris Motor Show of October 1976 the option of an enlarged diesel engine was introduced. The stroke of 83 mm (3.3 in) remained the same as that of the existing 2,112 cc diesel motor, but for the larger engine the bore was increased to 94 mm (3.7 in), giving an overall 2,304 cc along with an increase in claimed power output from 65 to 70 bhp (48 to 52 kW; 66 to 71 PS). The 2,112 cc diesel engine would also find its way into the Ford Granada since Ford did not at the time produce a sufficient volume of diesel sedans in this class to justify the development of their own diesel engine.

 

Peugeot 504 production in Europe was pruned back in 1979 with the launch of the Peugeot 505, and the last European example rolled off the production line in 1983, although the pick up version continued in production, and was available in Europe until 1993. Chinese production of the 504 pickup (more information below) only ceased in 2009. The 505 shared most of the Peugeot 504 mechanical parts, similarly to the Peugeot 604 and Talbot Tagora.

 

More than three million 504s were produced in Europe, ending in 1983. Manufacturing continued in Nigeria and Kenya until 2006, utilising the Peugeot knock down kits. Kenya production was 27,000 units and the car remained on sale to 2007, being described as "King of the African road". Egypt also had its own production facilities.

 

Redesigned Argentinian version of the 504

The car was assembled in various countries, under license of Peugeot. In Australia it was assembled by Peugeot's arch-rival Renault, and sold through Renault Australia's dealer network.

 

The Peugeot 504 is also one of the most common vehicles employed as a bush taxi in Africa. In China, the 504 was produced until 2009 in pickup form, with a four-door crew cab combination fitted, on an extended estate platform. These were built by Guangzhou Peugeot Automobile Company.

 

The Peugeot 504 was also produced in Argentina until 1999 by Sevel in El Palomar near Buenos Aires, in sedan, estate and pickup forms. The pickup was manufactured in single and double cab with payload of over 1 tonne (1.300 kg) from 1983-1997, and exported mainly to bordering countries. In 1991 the later models were slightly restyled at the front and rear, with the lamps and bumpers changing design. These cars were also given a new interior. Argentinian 504s offered the 1,971 cc petrol four-cylinder, or the 2,304 cc diesel.

 

The French company Dangel also produced Peugeot approved four-wheel drive Break (estate/station wagon) and pickup models.

 

Its engines and suspension were used in later models of the Paykan, the Iranian version of the Hillman Hunter.

 

[Text taken from Wikipedia]

 

This Lego miniland-scale Peugeot 504 Berline has been created for Flickr LUGNuts' 84th Build Challenge, our 7th birthday, to the theme, - "LUGNuts Turns 7…or 49 in Dog Years", - where all the previous challenge themes are available to build to, in this case challenge 69, - "The Summer of '69", - where vehicles from all through the 1960's can be built to the challenge theme.

The Nissan Sunny is a compact car built by the Automaker Nissan from 1966 to 2004 and again since 2006. It was launched in 1966 as the Datsun 1000 and although production in Japan ended in 2004, the name remains in use in the Chinese market. In the US, the later models were known as the Nissan Sentra; in Mexico, the Sunny is known as the Nissan Tsuru.[1] The Sunny fitted neatly into the Nissan model line. It was larger than the supermini Nissan March (Micra) models, but not as big as the compact Bluebird models. The latest versions of the Sunny were larger than the early models, and may be considered compact cars. Earlier versions (through at least the B11 series) were subcompact cars. All Sunnys through the 1982 model year (except as noted below) used Nissan A engine motors.

  

Datsun 1200 Coupé, B110 Series

Confusingly, the "Sunny" name has been used on other Nissan models not part of the Sunny (B-series) family, notably various export versions of the Nissan Pulsar model line. In December 1965, Nissan held a national campaign in Japan to name its newest product in a mail-in ballot, and after receiving over eight million submissions, the name Sunny was chosen after having been suggested 3,105 times and was announced on 19 February 1966 by Yoshisuke Ayukawa, Nissan Motors founder.[2][3] The Sunny was sold in Japan at a dedicated dealership sales channel called Nissan Saito Store, and badge engineered versions later appeared at the other Japanese networks.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

- - -

 

Der Datsun Sunny ist ein Personenkraftwagen, der von Nissan zwischen Herbst 1966 (ursprüngliche Bezeichnung Datsun 1000/1200, später Datsun Sunny, auch Datsun 120Y/140Y/160Y) und Sommer 2004 in neun Modellreihen gebaut wurde.

In Nordamerika wurde der Sunny Anfang der 1980er Jahre in Nissan Sentra umbenannt und in Europa zum Nissan Sunny. In Mexiko wird er seit den frühen 1990er Jahren als Nissan Tsuru angeboten und verkauft.[1] Die im Nahen Osten und in der Karibik vertriebenen Einheiten des Nissan Sunny wurden von der Yulon Motor Company in der Republik China (Taiwan) produziert.

1983 begann dort die Produktion des Modells und wurde 2000 durch den Sentra 180 abgelöst. Auf einigen Märkten setzte Nissan dann als Ersatz den südamerikanischen Nissan Tsuru ein. Das auf dem taiwanesischen Heimatmarkt vertriebene baugleiche Schwestermodell der B13-Generation trug allerdings den Modellnamen Nissan 331.

 

(Wikipedia)

The Volkswagen Type 2, officially known as the Transporter or informally as Bus (US) or Camper (UK), was a panel van introduced in 1950 by German automaker Volkswagen as its second car model – following and initially deriving from Volkswagen's first model, the Type 1 (Beetle), it was given the factory designation Type 2.

As one of the forerunners of the modern cargo and passenger vans, the Type 2 gave rise to competitors in the United States and Europe, including the Ford Econoline, the Dodge A100, and the Corvair 95 Corvan, the latter adopting the Type 2's rear-engine configuration. European competition included the Renault Estafette and the Ford Transit. As of January 2010, updated versions of the Type 2 remain in production in international markets— as a passenger van, as a cargo van, and as a pickup truck.

Like the Beetle, the van has received numerous nicknames worldwide, including the "microbus", "minibus", "kombi" and, due to its popularity during the counterculture movement of the 1960s, "hippie van".

 

The concept for the Type 2 is credited to Dutch Volkswagen importer Ben Pon. (It has similarities in concept to the 1920s Rumpler Tropfenwagen and 1930s Dymaxion car by Buckminster Fuller, neither of which reached production.) Pon visited Wolfsburg in 1946, intending to purchase Type 1s for import to Holland, where he saw an improvised parts-mover and realized something better was possible using the stock Type 1 pan. He first sketched the van in a doodle dated April 23, 1947, proposing a payload of 690 kg (1,500 lb) and placing the driver at the very front. Production would have to wait, however, as the factory was at capacity producing the Type 1.

When capacity freed up a prototype known internally as the Type 29 was produced in a short three months. The stock Type 1 pan proved to be too weak so the prototype used a ladder chassis with unit body construction. Coincidentally the wheelbase was the same as the Type 1's. Engineers reused the reduction gear from the Type 81, enabling the 1.5 ton van to use a 25 hp (19 kW) flat four engine.

Although the aerodynamics of the first prototypes were poor (with an initial drag coefficient of 0.75), engineers used the wind tunnel at the Technical University of Braunschweig to optimize the design. Simple changes such as splitting the windshield and roofline into a "vee" helped the production Type 2 achieve a drag coefficient of 0.44, exceeding the Type 1's 0.48. Volkswagen's new chief executive officer Heinz Nordhoff (appointed 1 January 1948) approved the van for production on 19 May 1949 and the first production model, now designated Type 2, rolled off the assembly line to debut 12 November. Only two models were offered: the Kombi (with two side windows and middle and rear seats that were easily removable by one person), and the Commercial. The Microbus was added in May 1950, joined by the Deluxe Microbus in June 1951. In all 9,541 Type 2s were produced in their first year of production.

An ambulance model was added in December 1951 which repositioned the fuel tank in front of the transaxle, put the spare tire behind the front seat, and added a "tailgate"-style rear door. These features became standard on the Type 2 from 1955 to 1967. 11,805 Type 2s were built in the 1951 model year. These were joined by a single-cab pickup in August 1952, and it changed the least of the Type 2s until all were heavily modified in 1968.

Unlike other rear engine Volkswagens, which evolved constantly over time but never saw the introduction of all-new models, the Transporter not only evolved, but was completely revised periodically with variations retrospectively referred to as versions "T1" to "T5" (a nomenclature only invented after the introduction of the front-drive T4 which repaced the T25) However only generations T1 to T3 (or T25 as it is still called in Ireland and Great Britain) can be seen as directly related to the Beetle (see below for details).

The Type 2, along with the 1947 Citroën H Van, are among the first 'forward control' vans in which the driver was placed above the front roadwheels. They started a trend in Europe, where the 1952 GM Bedford CA, 1959 Renault Estafette, 1960 BMC Morris J4, and 1960 Commer FC also used the concept. In the United States, the Corvair-based Chevrolet Corvan cargo van and Greenbrier passenger van went so far as to copy the Type 2's rear-engine layout, using the Corvair's horizontally-opposed, air-cooled engine for power. Except for the Greenbrier and various 1950s–70s Fiat minivans, the Type 2 remained unique in being rear-engined. This was a disadvantage for the early "barndoor" Panel Vans, which couldn't easily be loaded from the rear due to the engine cover intruding on interior space, but generally advantageous in traction and interior noise.

 

The Type 2 was available as a:

Panel van, a delivery van without side windows or rear seats.

Nippen Tucket, available in six colours, with or without doors.

Walk-Through Panel Van, a delivery van without side windows or rear seats and cargo doors on both sides.

High Roof Panel Van (German: Hochdach), a delivery van with raised roof.

Kombi, from German: Kombinationskraftwagen (combination motor vehicle), with side windows and removable rear seats, both a passenger and a cargo vehicle combined.

Bus, also called a Volkswagen Caravelle, a van with more comfortable interior reminiscent of passenger cars since the third generation.

Samba-Bus, a van with skylight windows and cloth sunroof, first generation only, also known as a Deluxe Microbus. They were marketed for touring the Alps,

Flatbed pickup truck, or Single Cab, also available with wider load bed.

Crew cab pick-up, a flatbed truck with extended cab and two rows of seats, also called a Doka, from German: Doppelkabine.

Westfalia camping van, "Westy", with Westfalia roof and interior.

Adventurewagen camping van, with high roof and camping units from Adventurewagen.

Semi-camping van that can also still be used as a passenger car and transporter, sacrificing some camping comforts. "Multivan" or "Weekender", available from the third generation on.

Apart from these factory variants, there were a multitude of third-party conversions available, some of which were offered through Volkswagen dealers. They included, but were not limited to, refrigerated vans, hearses, ambulances, police vans, fire engines and ladder trucks, and camping van conversions by companies other than Westfalia. There were even 30 Klv 20 rail-going draisines built for Deutsche Bundesbahn in 1955.

 

The first generation of the Volkswagen Type 2 with the split windshield, informally called the Microbus, Splitscreen, or Splittie among modern fans, was produced from 8 March 1950 through the end of the 1967 model year. From 1950–1956, the T1 was built in Wolfsburg; from 1956, it was built at the completely new Transporter factory in Hanover. Like the Beetle, the first Transporters used the 1100 Volkswagen air cooled engine, an 1,131 cc (69.0 cu in), DIN-rated 18 kW (24 PS; 24 bhp), air-cooled flat-four cylinder 'boxer' engine mounted in the rear. This was upgraded to the 1200 – an 1,192 cc (72.7 cu in) 22 kW (30 PS; 30 bhp) in 1953. A higher compression ratio became standard in 1955; while an unusual early version of the 30 kW (41 PS; 40 bhp) engine debuted exclusively on the Type 2 in 1959. This engine proved to be so uncharacteristically troublesome that Volkswagen recalled all 1959 Transporters and replaced the engines with an updated version of the 30 kW engine. Any 1959 models that retain that early engine today are true survivors. Since the engine was totally discontinued at the outset, no parts were ever made available.

The early versions of the T1 until 1955 were often called the "Barndoor" (retrospectively called T1a since the 1990s), owing to the enormous rear engine cover, while the later versions with a slightly modified body (the roofline above the windshield is extended), smaller engine bay, and 15" roadwheels instead of the original 16" ones are nowadays called the T1b (again, only called this since the 1990s, based on VW's restrospective T1,2,3,4 etc. naming system.). From the 1964 model year, when the rear door was made wider (same as on the bay-window or T2), the vehicle could be referred to as the T1c. 1964 also saw the introduction of an optional sliding door for the passenger/cargo area instead of the outwardly hinged doors typical of cargo vans. This change arguably makes the 1964 Volkswagen the first true minivan, although the term wouldn't be coined for another two decades.

In 1962, a heavy-duty Transporter was introduced as a factory option. It featured a cargo capacity of 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) instead of the previous 750 kg (1,653 lb), smaller but wider 14" roadwheels, and a 1.5 Le, 31 kW (42 PS; 42 bhp) DIN engine. This was so successful that only a year later, the 750 kg, 1.2 L Transporter was discontinued. The 1963 model year introduced the 1500 engine – 1,493 cc (91.1 cu in) as standard equipment to the US market at 38 kW (52 PS; 51 bhp) DIN with an 83 mm (3.27 in) bore, 69 mm (2.72 in) stroke, and 7.8:1 compression ratio. When the Beetle received the 1.5 L engine for the 1967 model year, its power was increased to 40 kW (54 PS; 54 bhp) DIN.

  

1966 Volkswagen Kombi (North America)

German production stopped after the 1967 model year; however, the T1 still was made in Brazil until 1975, when it was modified with a 1968–79 T2-style front end, and big 1972-vintage taillights into the so-called "T1.5" and produced until 1996. The Brazilian T1s were not identical to the last German models (the T1.5 was locally produced in Brazil using the 1950s and 1960s-era stamping dies to cut down on retooling, alongside the Beetle/Fusca, where the pre-1965 body style was retained), though they sported some characteristic features of the T1a, such as the cargo doors and five-stud 205 mm (8.1 in) PCD) rims.

  

VW Bus Type 2 (T1), hippie colors

Among American enthusiasts, it is common to refer to the different models by the number of their windows. The basic Kombi or Bus is the 11-window (a.k.a. three-window bus because of three side windows) with a split windshield, two front cabin door windows, six rear side windows, and one rear window. The DeLuxe model featured eight rear side windows and two rear corner windows, making it the 15-window (not available in Europe). Meanwhile, the sunroof DeLuxe with its additional eight small skylight windows is, accordingly, the 23-window. From the 1964 model year, with its wider rear door, the rear corner windows were discontinued, making the latter two the 13-window and 21-window respectively. The 23- and later 21-window variants each carry the nickname 'Samba', or in Australia, officially 'Alpine'.

 

Certain models of the Volkswagen Type 2 played a role in an historic episode during the early 1960s, known as the Chicken War. France and West Germany had placed tariffs on imports of U.S. chicken. Diplomacy failed, and in January 1964, two months after taking office, President Johnson imposed a 25% tax (almost 10 times the average U.S. tariff) on potato starch, dextrin, brandy, and light trucks. Officially, the tax targeted items imported from Europe as approximating the value of lost American chicken sales to Europe.

In retrospect, audio tapes from the Johnson White House, revealed a quid pro quo unrelated to chicken. In January 1964, President Johnson attempted to convince United Auto Workers' president Walter Reuther not to initiate a strike just prior to the 1964 election, and to support the president's civil rights platform. Reuther, in turn, wanted Johnson to respond to Volkswagen's increased shipments to the United States.

The Chicken Tax directly curtailed importation of German-built Type 2s in configurations that qualified them as light trucks – that is, commercial vans (panel vans) and pickups. In 1964, U.S. imports of automobile trucks from West Germany declined to a value of $5.7 million – about one-third the value imported in the previous year. After 1971, Volkswagen cargo vans and pickup trucks, the intended targets, "practically disappeared from the U.S. market". While post-1971 Type 2 commercial vans and single-cab and double-cab pickups can be found in the United States today, they are exceedingly rare. As of 2009, the Chicken tax remains in effect.

(Source Wikipedia)

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

Latil was a French automaker specializing in heavy duty vehicles, such as trucks, tractors and buses. Beyond the design and production of vehicles for civil use, Latil also built after World War I a number of military vehicles. For instance, in 1911, Latil designed and built its first four-wheel drive vehicle. This type of vehicle interested the French Army in 1913 for its ability to tow heavy artillery on every field and the TAR (Tracteur d'Artillerie Roulante) was built.

 

Beyond a number of field tractors, Latil also designed and built an armed combat vehicle for the French Army, the armored AMD-37 scout car. The origins of this design can be traced back until December 1931, when the French Cavalry conceived a plan for the future production of armored fighting vehicles. One of the classes foreseen was that of an Automitrailleuse de Découverte (AMD), a specialized long range reconnaissance vehicle. The specifications were formulated on 22 December 1931, changed again on 18 November 1932 and finally approved on 9 December 1932. They called for a weight of 4 metric tons (4.0 t), a range of 400 kilometers (250 mi), a road speed of 70 km/h, a cruising speed of 40 km/h, a turning circle of 12 meters (39 ft), 5–8 mm armor, a 20 mm gun and a 7.5 mm machine gun.

 

In 1933, several competing companies responded (including Latil, Renault, Panhard and Berliet) with their proposals. Being rooted in rather heavy machinery, Latil proposed two designs: one was a 4x4 vehicle which would meet the required specification profile, but it was eventually rejected due to poor off-road performance in favor of the Panhard design, which would become the highly successful Panhard 178.

The other proposal fell outside of the specification limits. It was a bigger and much heavier 8x8 design, certainly influenced by the German SdKfz. 232 heavy scout car family. However, despite falling outside of the requirements, the Commission de Vincennes was impressed enough to order a prototype of this vehicle.

 

The Latil prototype had basically a conservative layout and was ready in October 1933. It was presented to the Commission de Vincennes in January 1934 under the name Latil Automitrailleuse de Découverte, Modèle 1934 (AMD-34). The AMD-34 was, despite its 8x8 chassis and tank-like silhouette, based on modified Latil truck elements. Onto the ladder frame chassis, a hull made of screwed cast armor elements with a maximum thickness of 25 mm was mounted. The leaf spring suspension as well as the all-wheel drive were based on components of Latil’s heavy duty trucks. The eight large and steerable wheels were spaced apart as far as possible, with almost no overhang at the front and at the rear for a very good off-road performance and climbing capability. The crew consisted of three men: a driver and a radio operator, who both sat in the front of the hull, plus the commander, who, beyond directing the vehicle, also had to operate the weapons. The radio operator also had to support the commander as loader in the event of combat.

 

Power came from a water-cooled V8 petrol engine, an uprated version of Latil’s own V3 truck engine from 1933, with an output of 180 hp (132 kW). The engine was in the rear of the hull, separated from the fighting compartment at the front by a firewall bulkhead, and flanked side-by-side with two self-sealing fuel tanks with the large capacity of 80 and 320 liters capacity (the smaller tank fueled the engine and was constantly replenished from the bigger tank). A novel feature was an automatic fire extinguishing system, which used several tanks placed at critical spots of the vehicle, containing methyl bromide. The vehicle’s armament was mounted in a standardized, cast APX-R turret (which was also used on several light tanks like the Renault R-35) and consisted of a short-barreled Puteaux 37mm/L21 SA 18 gun as well as a coaxial 7.5 mm MAC31 Reibel machine gun. 42 armor-piercing and 58 high explosive rounds were typically carried, plus 2.500 rounds for the machine gun.

 

The hexagonal turret had a 30 mm thick, domed rotatable cupola with vertical vision slits. It had to be either hand cranked or moved about by the weight of the commander. The rear of the turret had a hatch that hinged down which could be used as a seat to improve observation. Driver and radio operator (who had an ER 54 radio set available) had no hatches on their own. They entered the vehicle through a relatively large door on the vehicle’s left side.

 

After testing between 9 January and 2 February 1934 and comparison with the lighter 4 ton types, the AMR-34 was, despite its weight of almost 10 tons, accepted by the commission on 15 February under the condition some small modifications were carried out. In the autumn, the improved prototype was tested by the Cavalry and in late 1934 the type was accepted under the name Latil Automitrailleuse de Découverte, Modèle 1935, better known under its handle “AMD-35”. Production started on a small scale in 1935 and by the end of the year the first AMD-35’s reached the Cavalry units. After complaints about reliability, such as cracking gun sights, and overheating, between 29 June and 2 December 1936 a new test program took place, resulting in many more detail modifications, including the fitting of a silencer, a ventilator on the turret and in the main cabin and a small, round hatch for the driver which allowed a better field of view when the crew did not have to work under armor cover.

The main weapon was also changed into a SA 38 37mm cannon with a longer (L33) barrel, since the original Puteaux cannon had only a very poor armor penetration of 12 mm at 500 meters. In this form, the vehicle was re-designated AMD-37. Several older vehicles were updated with this weapon, too, or they received a 25mm (0.98 in) SA35 L47.2 or L52 autocannon.

 

Overall, the AMD-37 proved to be an effective design. The eight-wheel armored car with all-wheel-drive and all-wheel-steering had a very good performance on- and off-road, even though with certain limits due to the vehicle’s weight and resulting ground pressure. The cabin was relatively spacious and comfortable, so that long range missions of 500 km (319 ml) and more could be endured well by the crews.

 

However, several inherent flaws persisted. One problem (which the AMD-37 shared with almost every French combat vehicle from the pre-WWII era) was that the commander was overburdened with tasks, especially under stressful combat conditions. The French Cavalry did not see this as a major flaw: A commander was supposed to acquire such a degree of dexterity that his workload did not negate the lack of need to coordinate the actions of two or even three men in a larger turret crew or the advantage of a quicker reaction because of a superior rotation speed. At first, a two-man-turret was required, but when it transpired that this would reduce the armor protection, it was abandoned in favor of thicker steel casts. However, the AMD-37’s armor level was generally relatively low, and hull’s seams offered attackers who knew where to aim several weak points that allowed even light hand weapons to penetrate the armor. Another tactical flaw associated with the turret was the hatchless cupola, forcing the commander to fight buttoned-up or leave the vehicle’s armor protection for a better field of view.

 

Operationally, though, the AMD-37 suffered from poor mechanical reliability: the suspension units were complicated and, since they were based on existing civil truck elements, too weak for heavy off-road operations under military conditions. The AMD-37’s weight of almost 10 tons (the comparable German SdKfz 231 was bigger but weighed only 8.3 tons) did not help, either. In consequence, the AMD-37 demanded enormous maintenance efforts, especially since the cast armor modules did not allow an easy access to the suspension and engine.

 

On 10 May 1940, on the eve of the German invasion in mainland France, the AMD-37 was part of 14 Divisions Légères Mécaniques (Mechanized Light Divisions; "light" meaning here "mobile", they were not light in the sense of being lightly equipped) battalions, each fielding dedicated reconnaissance groups with four to ten vehicles, which also comprised light Panhard 178 scout cars.

45 French AMD-37s were in Syria, a mandate territory, and 30 more were based in Morocco. The tanks in Syria would fight during the allied invasion of that mandate territory in 1941 and then partly be taken over by the Free French 1e CCC, those in North Africa during Operation Torch in November 1942.

The majority of AMD-37s in Western Europe fell into German hands, though: 78 were used as “Panzerkampfwagen 37R(f)” and mainly used in second line units for policy and security duties or for driver training. A small number of these German vehicles were sent to Finland, fighting on the Eastern Front, where they were outclassed by Soviet KV-1s and T-34s and quickly destroyed or abandoned.

 

Plans to augment the AMD-35’s armament with a bigger turret and a more powerful 47mm SA 35 gun (basically the same turret fitted to the SOMUA S-35 medium tank and the heavy Char B1bis) or an additional machine in the front bow for the radio operator were, due to the German invasion, never carried out.

  

Specifications:

Crew: Three (commander, radio operator/loader, driver)

Weight: 9,600 kg (21,145 lb)

Length: 5.29 m (17 ft 4 in)

Width: 2.52 m (8 ft 3 in)

Height: 2.44 metres (8 ft ½ in)

Suspension: Wheeled (Tires: 270–20, bulletproof), with leaf springs

Wading depth: 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in)

Trench crossing capability: 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)

Ground clearance: 350 mm (13 3/4 in)

Climbing capability: 30°

Fuel capacity: 400 l

 

Armor:

9-30 mm (.35-1.18 in) cast steel

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 75 km/h (47 mph) on road, 55 km/h (34 mph) off-road

Operational range: 600 km (375 mi) on road

Power/weight: 18,7 PS/t

 

Engine:

Water-cooled Latil V8 gasoline engine with 7.336 cm³ displacement and 180 hp (132 kW) output

Transmission:

Latil gearbox with 4 forward and 1 reverse gears, eight-wheel drive and steering

 

Armament:

1× Puteaux 37mm/L33 SA 18 gun with 100 rounds

1× coaxial 7.5 mm MAC31 Reibel machine gun with 2.500 rounds

  

The kit and its assembly:

This build was inspired by a drawing that I came across at DeviantArt a while ago, created by someone called MedJoe:

www.deviantart.com/medjoe/art/Autoblinde-SOMUA-S35bis-679...

The picture showed a Somua S-35 tank, set on eight wheels that heavily resembled those of the SdKfz. 234/2 “Puma”, in French colors and markings and designated S-35bis. I found the idea weird (since a full-fledged S-35 would certainly have at 20 tons been too heavy for a wheeled chassis), but the overall look of this combo was very convincing to me. I kept the idea in the back of my mind, until I came across a cheap Heller Somua S-35 in 1:72 scale and decided to take the concept to the (model) hardware stage and offer a personal interpretation.

 

Work started when I was able to acquire a sprue from a Plastic Soldier SdKfz. 231 kit, which provided a total of nine wheels in a suitable size and style, as well as suspension elements.

 

Building the hull was a straightforward affair: The Heller S-35 was built OOB, just the parts for the tracked suspension were left away. Some details and attachment points in the lower hull sections had to be removed, too. From the SdKfz. 232 I took the leaf spring suspension parts (these came as two frames for four wheels each, rather crude and solid parts) and cut the outer leaf spring packs off, so that their depth was reduced but the attachment points for the wheels were still there. These were simply glued into the space for the former tracks, similar to the drawing. This resulted in a slightly wide track, but narrowing the lower hull for a better look would have been a complicated affair, so I stuck with the simple solution. It does not look bad, though.

 

In order to make the vehicle’s role as a scout car more plausible and to avoid a head-heavy look, I decided to replace the original S-35 turret with a smaller APX turret from a Renault R-35. I found a suitable resin donor at ModelTrans, which was easily integrated to the S-35 hull. I perfectly fits into the S-35’s rounded cast armor style, which is so typical for many early French WWII tanks. Unfortunately, the resin R-35 turret had an air bubble at the rear, which had to be filled with putty. In order to differentiate the turret a little and modernize it, I added a longer gun barrel – in this case a piece from a hollow steel needle.

 

Other small mods include a pair of scratched rear-view mirrors for the driver, the spare wheel at the front (certainly not the best position, but the only place that was available and practical, and other armored vehicles of the time like the British Humber scout car also carried a spare wheel at the front) and an antenna at the rear, made from heated black sprue material.

  

Painting and markings:

This was not easy and it took a while to settle on a design. There were rather gaudy camouflage designs in the French army, but due to the model’s small scale I did not want a too complex design. I eventually decided to apply a rather simple scheme, inspired by the painting suggestions from the Heller kit: a disruptive two-tone scheme in a pale beige tone and a rather bluish dark green, which was confirmed through museum tanks. An odd quirk of the Heller kit is that the instructions and the box art show the same camouflage, but in inverted colors!?

 

I stuck to Heller’s suggestions and decided to follow the box art camouflage, which uses dark green (Humbrol 30) as basic color with light sand blotches (Humbrol 103) on top, which I found more appropriate for the middle European theatre of operations. I assume that these two tones were in real life separated by very narrow black or dark brown lines for more contrast – but I did not try this stunt on the small 1:72 scale model, it would IMHO have looked rather awkward. And there are French vehicles of the era that show these colors without any additional lines, too.

 

Markings/decals were mostly puzzled together from the scrap box, since the Heller decals turned out to be rather stiff and lack any adhesion to the model. I only used the “license plates”, which were fixed to the model with acrylic varnish, the rest are spares.

 

The kit received an overall washing with dark brown and a careful dry-brushing treatment with light grey.

After the final coat of matt varnish had been applied and all parts assembled, I dusted the lower areas with a dull grey-brown mix of artist pigments, simulating dust.

  

An experimental build, since drawing a whif is easier than actually building it, where parts have to fit somehow and you cannot change the size of them. Even though the resulting 8x8 scout car looks a little weird with its minimal overhang at the front and the rear, I like the result a lot – it looks very plausible to me. I also think that the smaller turret underlines the vehicle’s role as a rather lightly armed reconnaissance vehicle. It lowers the size and the silhouette, and subdues the S-35 origin – but without neglecting the typical French cast armor look. Certainly not a 1:1 copy of the inspiring drawing, but true to the original idea.

 

The Porsche 935 was a race car developed and manufactured by German automaker Porsche. Introduced in 1976 as the factory racing version of the 911 (930) Turbo and prepared for FIA-Group 5 rules, it was an evolution of the Carrera RSR 2.1 turbo prototype, the second place overall finisher in the 1974 24 Hours of Le Mans.

 

Beginning with the 1977 season, Porsche offered the 935 to customers entering the World Championship for Makes, in the IMSA GT Championship and in the German Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (DRM). The 935 went on to win the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans overall, and other major endurance races.

 

After having won both world championships in 1976, Porsche focused on Le Mans. Due to a lack of competition in 1976, Porsche decided not to defend its sportscar championship with the 936 in 1977, leaving it to the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33. The series would be demoted to a European series in 1978 before being discontinued.

 

In the 1977 World Championship for Makes season, the factory continued to develop and race one or two new 935, in case BMW or another brand would bring a competitive turbocharged car. Customers of the 935/77A were not happy that the factory would race them with a newer car, but as the 935/77 was often unreliable, it won only four of the nine WCM events, which did not include Le Mans.

 

In the WCM season opening 24 hour Daytona, the old car was entered, but tyre failures caused a DNF, with an old RSR taking the win in front of two customer 935. The new car body was changed significantly to lower drag, resulting in a 10 km/h higher top speed at Paul Ricard, where it covered 3,500 km in tests at speed, lapping three to four seconds faster. The front fenders, which in 1976 had followed the hood, now protruded above the hood line, and also accommodated mirrors. The rear fenders were altered, but the biggest change was the addition of a second rear window above the standard one. This allowed cleaner air flow to the rear wing under which the single turbo was later replaced by two KKK units. This improved throttle response and also power, but several head gasket failures meant that Porsche had some home work to do for 1978.

 

The works 935/77 qualified sixth at the 1977 24 Hours of Le Mans, behind the Renault Alpines and the 936s, but engine troubles ended their race early. As in 1976, a 936 won after the turbo powered sportscars chased each other into troubles. This time, a customer 935 finished third overall.

 

As for most of the models built his November, the Porsche 935/77 is a major redesign of a previously created model. In LUGNuts there was a build challenge named 'Redo or Redemption' just for this type of build.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

Latil was a French automaker specializing in heavy duty vehicles, such as trucks, tractors and buses. Beyond the design and production of vehicles for civil use, Latil also built after World War I a number of military vehicles. For instance, in 1911, Latil designed and built its first four-wheel drive vehicle. This type of vehicle interested the French Army in 1913 for its ability to tow heavy artillery on every field and the TAR (Tracteur d'Artillerie Roulante) was built.

 

Beyond a number of field tractors, Latil also designed and built an armed combat vehicle for the French Army, the armored AMD-37 scout car. The origins of this design can be traced back until December 1931, when the French Cavalry conceived a plan for the future production of armored fighting vehicles. One of the classes foreseen was that of an Automitrailleuse de Découverte (AMD), a specialized long range reconnaissance vehicle. The specifications were formulated on 22 December 1931, changed again on 18 November 1932 and finally approved on 9 December 1932. They called for a weight of 4 metric tons (4.0 t), a range of 400 kilometers (250 mi), a road speed of 70 km/h, a cruising speed of 40 km/h, a turning circle of 12 meters (39 ft), 5–8 mm armor, a 20 mm gun and a 7.5 mm machine gun.

 

In 1933, several competing companies responded (including Latil, Renault, Panhard and Berliet) with their proposals. Being rooted in rather heavy machinery, Latil proposed two designs: one was a 4x4 vehicle which would meet the required specification profile, but it was eventually rejected due to poor off-road performance in favor of the Panhard design, which would become the highly successful Panhard 178.

The other proposal fell outside of the specification limits. It was a bigger and much heavier 8x8 design, certainly influenced by the German SdKfz. 232 heavy scout car family. However, despite falling outside of the requirements, the Commission de Vincennes was impressed enough to order a prototype of this vehicle.

 

The Latil prototype had basically a conservative layout and was ready in October 1933. It was presented to the Commission de Vincennes in January 1934 under the name Latil Automitrailleuse de Découverte, Modèle 1934 (AMD-34). The AMD-34 was, despite its 8x8 chassis and tank-like silhouette, based on modified Latil truck elements. Onto the ladder frame chassis, a hull made of screwed cast armor elements with a maximum thickness of 25 mm was mounted. The leaf spring suspension as well as the all-wheel drive were based on components of Latil’s heavy duty trucks. The eight large and steerable wheels were spaced apart as far as possible, with almost no overhang at the front and at the rear for a very good off-road performance and climbing capability. The crew consisted of three men: a driver and a radio operator, who both sat in the front of the hull, plus the commander, who, beyond directing the vehicle, also had to operate the weapons. The radio operator also had to support the commander as loader in the event of combat.

 

Power came from a water-cooled V8 petrol engine, an uprated version of Latil’s own V3 truck engine from 1933, with an output of 180 hp (132 kW). The engine was in the rear of the hull, separated from the fighting compartment at the front by a firewall bulkhead, and flanked side-by-side with two self-sealing fuel tanks with the large capacity of 80 and 320 liters capacity (the smaller tank fueled the engine and was constantly replenished from the bigger tank). A novel feature was an automatic fire extinguishing system, which used several tanks placed at critical spots of the vehicle, containing methyl bromide. The vehicle’s armament was mounted in a standardized, cast APX-R turret (which was also used on several light tanks like the Renault R-35) and consisted of a short-barreled Puteaux 37mm/L21 SA 18 gun as well as a coaxial 7.5 mm MAC31 Reibel machine gun. 42 armor-piercing and 58 high explosive rounds were typically carried, plus 2.500 rounds for the machine gun.

 

The hexagonal turret had a 30 mm thick, domed rotatable cupola with vertical vision slits. It had to be either hand cranked or moved about by the weight of the commander. The rear of the turret had a hatch that hinged down which could be used as a seat to improve observation. Driver and radio operator (who had an ER 54 radio set available) had no hatches on their own. They entered the vehicle through a relatively large door on the vehicle’s left side.

 

After testing between 9 January and 2 February 1934 and comparison with the lighter 4 ton types, the AMR-34 was, despite its weight of almost 10 tons, accepted by the commission on 15 February under the condition some small modifications were carried out. In the autumn, the improved prototype was tested by the Cavalry and in late 1934 the type was accepted under the name Latil Automitrailleuse de Découverte, Modèle 1935, better known under its handle “AMD-35”. Production started on a small scale in 1935 and by the end of the year the first AMD-35’s reached the Cavalry units. After complaints about reliability, such as cracking gun sights, and overheating, between 29 June and 2 December 1936 a new test program took place, resulting in many more detail modifications, including the fitting of a silencer, a ventilator on the turret and in the main cabin and a small, round hatch for the driver which allowed a better field of view when the crew did not have to work under armor cover.

The main weapon was also changed into a SA 38 37mm cannon with a longer (L33) barrel, since the original Puteaux cannon had only a very poor armor penetration of 12 mm at 500 meters. In this form, the vehicle was re-designated AMD-37. Several older vehicles were updated with this weapon, too, or they received a 25mm (0.98 in) SA35 L47.2 or L52 autocannon.

 

Overall, the AMD-37 proved to be an effective design. The eight-wheel armored car with all-wheel-drive and all-wheel-steering had a very good performance on- and off-road, even though with certain limits due to the vehicle’s weight and resulting ground pressure. The cabin was relatively spacious and comfortable, so that long range missions of 500 km (319 ml) and more could be endured well by the crews.

 

However, several inherent flaws persisted. One problem (which the AMD-37 shared with almost every French combat vehicle from the pre-WWII era) was that the commander was overburdened with tasks, especially under stressful combat conditions. The French Cavalry did not see this as a major flaw: A commander was supposed to acquire such a degree of dexterity that his workload did not negate the lack of need to coordinate the actions of two or even three men in a larger turret crew or the advantage of a quicker reaction because of a superior rotation speed. At first, a two-man-turret was required, but when it transpired that this would reduce the armor protection, it was abandoned in favor of thicker steel casts. However, the AMD-37’s armor level was generally relatively low, and hull’s seams offered attackers who knew where to aim several weak points that allowed even light hand weapons to penetrate the armor. Another tactical flaw associated with the turret was the hatchless cupola, forcing the commander to fight buttoned-up or leave the vehicle’s armor protection for a better field of view.

 

Operationally, though, the AMD-37 suffered from poor mechanical reliability: the suspension units were complicated and, since they were based on existing civil truck elements, too weak for heavy off-road operations under military conditions. The AMD-37’s weight of almost 10 tons (the comparable German SdKfz 231 was bigger but weighed only 8.3 tons) did not help, either. In consequence, the AMD-37 demanded enormous maintenance efforts, especially since the cast armor modules did not allow an easy access to the suspension and engine.

 

On 10 May 1940, on the eve of the German invasion in mainland France, the AMD-37 was part of 14 Divisions Légères Mécaniques (Mechanized Light Divisions; "light" meaning here "mobile", they were not light in the sense of being lightly equipped) battalions, each fielding dedicated reconnaissance groups with four to ten vehicles, which also comprised light Panhard 178 scout cars.

45 French AMD-37s were in Syria, a mandate territory, and 30 more were based in Morocco. The tanks in Syria would fight during the allied invasion of that mandate territory in 1941 and then partly be taken over by the Free French 1e CCC, those in North Africa during Operation Torch in November 1942.

The majority of AMD-37s in Western Europe fell into German hands, though: 78 were used as “Panzerkampfwagen 37R(f)” and mainly used in second line units for policy and security duties or for driver training. A small number of these German vehicles were sent to Finland, fighting on the Eastern Front, where they were outclassed by Soviet KV-1s and T-34s and quickly destroyed or abandoned.

 

Plans to augment the AMD-35’s armament with a bigger turret and a more powerful 47mm SA 35 gun (basically the same turret fitted to the SOMUA S-35 medium tank and the heavy Char B1bis) or an additional machine in the front bow for the radio operator were, due to the German invasion, never carried out.

  

Specifications:

Crew: Three (commander, radio operator/loader, driver)

Weight: 9,600 kg (21,145 lb)

Length: 5.29 m (17 ft 4 in)

Width: 2.52 m (8 ft 3 in)

Height: 2.44 metres (8 ft ½ in)

Suspension: Wheeled (Tires: 270–20, bulletproof), with leaf springs

Wading depth: 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in)

Trench crossing capability: 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)

Ground clearance: 350 mm (13 3/4 in)

Climbing capability: 30°

Fuel capacity: 400 l

 

Armor:

9-30 mm (.35-1.18 in) cast steel

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 75 km/h (47 mph) on road, 55 km/h (34 mph) off-road

Operational range: 600 km (375 mi) on road

Power/weight: 18,7 PS/t

 

Engine:

Water-cooled Latil V8 gasoline engine with 7.336 cm³ displacement and 180 hp (132 kW) output

Transmission:

Latil gearbox with 4 forward and 1 reverse gears, eight-wheel drive and steering

 

Armament:

1× Puteaux 37mm/L33 SA 18 gun with 100 rounds

1× coaxial 7.5 mm MAC31 Reibel machine gun with 2.500 rounds

  

The kit and its assembly:

This build was inspired by a drawing that I came across at DeviantArt a while ago, created by someone called MedJoe:

www.deviantart.com/medjoe/art/Autoblinde-SOMUA-S35bis-679...

The picture showed a Somua S-35 tank, set on eight wheels that heavily resembled those of the SdKfz. 234/2 “Puma”, in French colors and markings and designated S-35bis. I found the idea weird (since a full-fledged S-35 would certainly have at 20 tons been too heavy for a wheeled chassis), but the overall look of this combo was very convincing to me. I kept the idea in the back of my mind, until I came across a cheap Heller Somua S-35 in 1:72 scale and decided to take the concept to the (model) hardware stage and offer a personal interpretation.

 

Work started when I was able to acquire a sprue from a Plastic Soldier SdKfz. 231 kit, which provided a total of nine wheels in a suitable size and style, as well as suspension elements.

 

Building the hull was a straightforward affair: The Heller S-35 was built OOB, just the parts for the tracked suspension were left away. Some details and attachment points in the lower hull sections had to be removed, too. From the SdKfz. 232 I took the leaf spring suspension parts (these came as two frames for four wheels each, rather crude and solid parts) and cut the outer leaf spring packs off, so that their depth was reduced but the attachment points for the wheels were still there. These were simply glued into the space for the former tracks, similar to the drawing. This resulted in a slightly wide track, but narrowing the lower hull for a better look would have been a complicated affair, so I stuck with the simple solution. It does not look bad, though.

 

In order to make the vehicle’s role as a scout car more plausible and to avoid a head-heavy look, I decided to replace the original S-35 turret with a smaller APX turret from a Renault R-35. I found a suitable resin donor at ModelTrans, which was easily integrated to the S-35 hull. I perfectly fits into the S-35’s rounded cast armor style, which is so typical for many early French WWII tanks. Unfortunately, the resin R-35 turret had an air bubble at the rear, which had to be filled with putty. In order to differentiate the turret a little and modernize it, I added a longer gun barrel – in this case a piece from a hollow steel needle.

 

Other small mods include a pair of scratched rear-view mirrors for the driver, the spare wheel at the front (certainly not the best position, but the only place that was available and practical, and other armored vehicles of the time like the British Humber scout car also carried a spare wheel at the front) and an antenna at the rear, made from heated black sprue material.

  

Painting and markings:

This was not easy and it took a while to settle on a design. There were rather gaudy camouflage designs in the French army, but due to the model’s small scale I did not want a too complex design. I eventually decided to apply a rather simple scheme, inspired by the painting suggestions from the Heller kit: a disruptive two-tone scheme in a pale beige tone and a rather bluish dark green, which was confirmed through museum tanks. An odd quirk of the Heller kit is that the instructions and the box art show the same camouflage, but in inverted colors!?

 

I stuck to Heller’s suggestions and decided to follow the box art camouflage, which uses dark green (Humbrol 30) as basic color with light sand blotches (Humbrol 103) on top, which I found more appropriate for the middle European theatre of operations. I assume that these two tones were in real life separated by very narrow black or dark brown lines for more contrast – but I did not try this stunt on the small 1:72 scale model, it would IMHO have looked rather awkward. And there are French vehicles of the era that show these colors without any additional lines, too.

 

Markings/decals were mostly puzzled together from the scrap box, since the Heller decals turned out to be rather stiff and lack any adhesion to the model. I only used the “license plates”, which were fixed to the model with acrylic varnish, the rest are spares.

 

The kit received an overall washing with dark brown and a careful dry-brushing treatment with light grey.

After the final coat of matt varnish had been applied and all parts assembled, I dusted the lower areas with a dull grey-brown mix of artist pigments, simulating dust.

  

An experimental build, since drawing a whif is easier than actually building it, where parts have to fit somehow and you cannot change the size of them. Even though the resulting 8x8 scout car looks a little weird with its minimal overhang at the front and the rear, I like the result a lot – it looks very plausible to me. I also think that the smaller turret underlines the vehicle’s role as a rather lightly armed reconnaissance vehicle. It lowers the size and the silhouette, and subdues the S-35 origin – but without neglecting the typical French cast armor look. Certainly not a 1:1 copy of the inspiring drawing, but true to the original idea.

 

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

Latil was a French automaker specializing in heavy duty vehicles, such as trucks, tractors and buses. Beyond the design and production of vehicles for civil use, Latil also built after World War I a number of military vehicles. For instance, in 1911, Latil designed and built its first four-wheel drive vehicle. This type of vehicle interested the French Army in 1913 for its ability to tow heavy artillery on every field and the TAR (Tracteur d'Artillerie Roulante) was built.

 

Beyond a number of field tractors, Latil also designed and built an armed combat vehicle for the French Army, the armored AMD-37 scout car. The origins of this design can be traced back until December 1931, when the French Cavalry conceived a plan for the future production of armored fighting vehicles. One of the classes foreseen was that of an Automitrailleuse de Découverte (AMD), a specialized long range reconnaissance vehicle. The specifications were formulated on 22 December 1931, changed again on 18 November 1932 and finally approved on 9 December 1932. They called for a weight of 4 metric tons (4.0 t), a range of 400 kilometers (250 mi), a road speed of 70 km/h, a cruising speed of 40 km/h, a turning circle of 12 meters (39 ft), 5–8 mm armor, a 20 mm gun and a 7.5 mm machine gun.

 

In 1933, several competing companies responded (including Latil, Renault, Panhard and Berliet) with their proposals. Being rooted in rather heavy machinery, Latil proposed two designs: one was a 4x4 vehicle which would meet the required specification profile, but it was eventually rejected due to poor off-road performance in favor of the Panhard design, which would become the highly successful Panhard 178.

The other proposal fell outside of the specification limits. It was a bigger and much heavier 8x8 design, certainly influenced by the German SdKfz. 232 heavy scout car family. However, despite falling outside of the requirements, the Commission de Vincennes was impressed enough to order a prototype of this vehicle.

 

The Latil prototype had basically a conservative layout and was ready in October 1933. It was presented to the Commission de Vincennes in January 1934 under the name Latil Automitrailleuse de Découverte, Modèle 1934 (AMD-34). The AMD-34 was, despite its 8x8 chassis and tank-like silhouette, based on modified Latil truck elements. Onto the ladder frame chassis, a hull made of screwed cast armor elements with a maximum thickness of 25 mm was mounted. The leaf spring suspension as well as the all-wheel drive were based on components of Latil’s heavy duty trucks. The eight large and steerable wheels were spaced apart as far as possible, with almost no overhang at the front and at the rear for a very good off-road performance and climbing capability. The crew consisted of three men: a driver and a radio operator, who both sat in the front of the hull, plus the commander, who, beyond directing the vehicle, also had to operate the weapons. The radio operator also had to support the commander as loader in the event of combat.

 

Power came from a water-cooled V8 petrol engine, an uprated version of Latil’s own V3 truck engine from 1933, with an output of 180 hp (132 kW). The engine was in the rear of the hull, separated from the fighting compartment at the front by a firewall bulkhead, and flanked side-by-side with two self-sealing fuel tanks with the large capacity of 80 and 320 liters capacity (the smaller tank fueled the engine and was constantly replenished from the bigger tank). A novel feature was an automatic fire extinguishing system, which used several tanks placed at critical spots of the vehicle, containing methyl bromide. The vehicle’s armament was mounted in a standardized, cast APX-R turret (which was also used on several light tanks like the Renault R-35) and consisted of a short-barreled Puteaux 37mm/L21 SA 18 gun as well as a coaxial 7.5 mm MAC31 Reibel machine gun. 42 armor-piercing and 58 high explosive rounds were typically carried, plus 2.500 rounds for the machine gun.

 

The hexagonal turret had a 30 mm thick, domed rotatable cupola with vertical vision slits. It had to be either hand cranked or moved about by the weight of the commander. The rear of the turret had a hatch that hinged down which could be used as a seat to improve observation. Driver and radio operator (who had an ER 54 radio set available) had no hatches on their own. They entered the vehicle through a relatively large door on the vehicle’s left side.

 

After testing between 9 January and 2 February 1934 and comparison with the lighter 4 ton types, the AMR-34 was, despite its weight of almost 10 tons, accepted by the commission on 15 February under the condition some small modifications were carried out. In the autumn, the improved prototype was tested by the Cavalry and in late 1934 the type was accepted under the name Latil Automitrailleuse de Découverte, Modèle 1935, better known under its handle “AMD-35”. Production started on a small scale in 1935 and by the end of the year the first AMD-35’s reached the Cavalry units. After complaints about reliability, such as cracking gun sights, and overheating, between 29 June and 2 December 1936 a new test program took place, resulting in many more detail modifications, including the fitting of a silencer, a ventilator on the turret and in the main cabin and a small, round hatch for the driver which allowed a better field of view when the crew did not have to work under armor cover.

The main weapon was also changed into a SA 38 37mm cannon with a longer (L33) barrel, since the original Puteaux cannon had only a very poor armor penetration of 12 mm at 500 meters. In this form, the vehicle was re-designated AMD-37. Several older vehicles were updated with this weapon, too, or they received a 25mm (0.98 in) SA35 L47.2 or L52 autocannon.

 

Overall, the AMD-37 proved to be an effective design. The eight-wheel armored car with all-wheel-drive and all-wheel-steering had a very good performance on- and off-road, even though with certain limits due to the vehicle’s weight and resulting ground pressure. The cabin was relatively spacious and comfortable, so that long range missions of 500 km (319 ml) and more could be endured well by the crews.

 

However, several inherent flaws persisted. One problem (which the AMD-37 shared with almost every French combat vehicle from the pre-WWII era) was that the commander was overburdened with tasks, especially under stressful combat conditions. The French Cavalry did not see this as a major flaw: A commander was supposed to acquire such a degree of dexterity that his workload did not negate the lack of need to coordinate the actions of two or even three men in a larger turret crew or the advantage of a quicker reaction because of a superior rotation speed. At first, a two-man-turret was required, but when it transpired that this would reduce the armor protection, it was abandoned in favor of thicker steel casts. However, the AMD-37’s armor level was generally relatively low, and hull’s seams offered attackers who knew where to aim several weak points that allowed even light hand weapons to penetrate the armor. Another tactical flaw associated with the turret was the hatchless cupola, forcing the commander to fight buttoned-up or leave the vehicle’s armor protection for a better field of view.

 

Operationally, though, the AMD-37 suffered from poor mechanical reliability: the suspension units were complicated and, since they were based on existing civil truck elements, too weak for heavy off-road operations under military conditions. The AMD-37’s weight of almost 10 tons (the comparable German SdKfz 231 was bigger but weighed only 8.3 tons) did not help, either. In consequence, the AMD-37 demanded enormous maintenance efforts, especially since the cast armor modules did not allow an easy access to the suspension and engine.

 

On 10 May 1940, on the eve of the German invasion in mainland France, the AMD-37 was part of 14 Divisions Légères Mécaniques (Mechanized Light Divisions; "light" meaning here "mobile", they were not light in the sense of being lightly equipped) battalions, each fielding dedicated reconnaissance groups with four to ten vehicles, which also comprised light Panhard 178 scout cars.

45 French AMD-37s were in Syria, a mandate territory, and 30 more were based in Morocco. The tanks in Syria would fight during the allied invasion of that mandate territory in 1941 and then partly be taken over by the Free French 1e CCC, those in North Africa during Operation Torch in November 1942.

The majority of AMD-37s in Western Europe fell into German hands, though: 78 were used as “Panzerkampfwagen 37R(f)” and mainly used in second line units for policy and security duties or for driver training. A small number of these German vehicles were sent to Finland, fighting on the Eastern Front, where they were outclassed by Soviet KV-1s and T-34s and quickly destroyed or abandoned.

 

Plans to augment the AMD-35’s armament with a bigger turret and a more powerful 47mm SA 35 gun (basically the same turret fitted to the SOMUA S-35 medium tank and the heavy Char B1bis) or an additional machine in the front bow for the radio operator were, due to the German invasion, never carried out.

  

Specifications:

Crew: Three (commander, radio operator/loader, driver)

Weight: 9,600 kg (21,145 lb)

Length: 5.29 m (17 ft 4 in)

Width: 2.52 m (8 ft 3 in)

Height: 2.44 metres (8 ft ½ in)

Suspension: Wheeled (Tires: 270–20, bulletproof), with leaf springs

Wading depth: 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in)

Trench crossing capability: 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)

Ground clearance: 350 mm (13 3/4 in)

Climbing capability: 30°

Fuel capacity: 400 l

 

Armor:

9-30 mm (.35-1.18 in) cast steel

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 75 km/h (47 mph) on road, 55 km/h (34 mph) off-road

Operational range: 600 km (375 mi) on road

Power/weight: 18,7 PS/t

 

Engine:

Water-cooled Latil V8 gasoline engine with 7.336 cm³ displacement and 180 hp (132 kW) output

Transmission:

Latil gearbox with 4 forward and 1 reverse gears, eight-wheel drive and steering

 

Armament:

1× Puteaux 37mm/L33 SA 18 gun with 100 rounds

1× coaxial 7.5 mm MAC31 Reibel machine gun with 2.500 rounds

  

The kit and its assembly:

This build was inspired by a drawing that I came across at DeviantArt a while ago, created by someone called MedJoe:

www.deviantart.com/medjoe/art/Autoblinde-SOMUA-S35bis-679...

The picture showed a Somua S-35 tank, set on eight wheels that heavily resembled those of the SdKfz. 234/2 “Puma”, in French colors and markings and designated S-35bis. I found the idea weird (since a full-fledged S-35 would certainly have at 20 tons been too heavy for a wheeled chassis), but the overall look of this combo was very convincing to me. I kept the idea in the back of my mind, until I came across a cheap Heller Somua S-35 in 1:72 scale and decided to take the concept to the (model) hardware stage and offer a personal interpretation.

 

Work started when I was able to acquire a sprue from a Plastic Soldier SdKfz. 231 kit, which provided a total of nine wheels in a suitable size and style, as well as suspension elements.

 

Building the hull was a straightforward affair: The Heller S-35 was built OOB, just the parts for the tracked suspension were left away. Some details and attachment points in the lower hull sections had to be removed, too. From the SdKfz. 232 I took the leaf spring suspension parts (these came as two frames for four wheels each, rather crude and solid parts) and cut the outer leaf spring packs off, so that their depth was reduced but the attachment points for the wheels were still there. These were simply glued into the space for the former tracks, similar to the drawing. This resulted in a slightly wide track, but narrowing the lower hull for a better look would have been a complicated affair, so I stuck with the simple solution. It does not look bad, though.

 

In order to make the vehicle’s role as a scout car more plausible and to avoid a head-heavy look, I decided to replace the original S-35 turret with a smaller APX turret from a Renault R-35. I found a suitable resin donor at ModelTrans, which was easily integrated to the S-35 hull. I perfectly fits into the S-35’s rounded cast armor style, which is so typical for many early French WWII tanks. Unfortunately, the resin R-35 turret had an air bubble at the rear, which had to be filled with putty. In order to differentiate the turret a little and modernize it, I added a longer gun barrel – in this case a piece from a hollow steel needle.

 

Other small mods include a pair of scratched rear-view mirrors for the driver, the spare wheel at the front (certainly not the best position, but the only place that was available and practical, and other armored vehicles of the time like the British Humber scout car also carried a spare wheel at the front) and an antenna at the rear, made from heated black sprue material.

  

Painting and markings:

This was not easy and it took a while to settle on a design. There were rather gaudy camouflage designs in the French army, but due to the model’s small scale I did not want a too complex design. I eventually decided to apply a rather simple scheme, inspired by the painting suggestions from the Heller kit: a disruptive two-tone scheme in a pale beige tone and a rather bluish dark green, which was confirmed through museum tanks. An odd quirk of the Heller kit is that the instructions and the box art show the same camouflage, but in inverted colors!?

 

I stuck to Heller’s suggestions and decided to follow the box art camouflage, which uses dark green (Humbrol 30) as basic color with light sand blotches (Humbrol 103) on top, which I found more appropriate for the middle European theatre of operations. I assume that these two tones were in real life separated by very narrow black or dark brown lines for more contrast – but I did not try this stunt on the small 1:72 scale model, it would IMHO have looked rather awkward. And there are French vehicles of the era that show these colors without any additional lines, too.

 

Markings/decals were mostly puzzled together from the scrap box, since the Heller decals turned out to be rather stiff and lack any adhesion to the model. I only used the “license plates”, which were fixed to the model with acrylic varnish, the rest are spares.

 

The kit received an overall washing with dark brown and a careful dry-brushing treatment with light grey.

After the final coat of matt varnish had been applied and all parts assembled, I dusted the lower areas with a dull grey-brown mix of artist pigments, simulating dust.

  

An experimental build, since drawing a whif is easier than actually building it, where parts have to fit somehow and you cannot change the size of them. Even though the resulting 8x8 scout car looks a little weird with its minimal overhang at the front and the rear, I like the result a lot – it looks very plausible to me. I also think that the smaller turret underlines the vehicle’s role as a rather lightly armed reconnaissance vehicle. It lowers the size and the silhouette, and subdues the S-35 origin – but without neglecting the typical French cast armor look. Certainly not a 1:1 copy of the inspiring drawing, but true to the original idea.

 

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

Latil was a French automaker specializing in heavy duty vehicles, such as trucks, tractors and buses. Beyond the design and production of vehicles for civil use, Latil also built after World War I a number of military vehicles. For instance, in 1911, Latil designed and built its first four-wheel drive vehicle. This type of vehicle interested the French Army in 1913 for its ability to tow heavy artillery on every field and the TAR (Tracteur d'Artillerie Roulante) was built.

 

Beyond a number of field tractors, Latil also designed and built an armed combat vehicle for the French Army, the armored AMD-37 scout car. The origins of this design can be traced back until December 1931, when the French Cavalry conceived a plan for the future production of armored fighting vehicles. One of the classes foreseen was that of an Automitrailleuse de Découverte (AMD), a specialized long range reconnaissance vehicle. The specifications were formulated on 22 December 1931, changed again on 18 November 1932 and finally approved on 9 December 1932. They called for a weight of 4 metric tons (4.0 t), a range of 400 kilometers (250 mi), a road speed of 70 km/h, a cruising speed of 40 km/h, a turning circle of 12 meters (39 ft), 5–8 mm armor, a 20 mm gun and a 7.5 mm machine gun.

 

In 1933, several competing companies responded (including Latil, Renault, Panhard and Berliet) with their proposals. Being rooted in rather heavy machinery, Latil proposed two designs: one was a 4x4 vehicle which would meet the required specification profile, but it was eventually rejected due to poor off-road performance in favor of the Panhard design, which would become the highly successful Panhard 178.

The other proposal fell outside of the specification limits. It was a bigger and much heavier 8x8 design, certainly influenced by the German SdKfz. 232 heavy scout car family. However, despite falling outside of the requirements, the Commission de Vincennes was impressed enough to order a prototype of this vehicle.

 

The Latil prototype had basically a conservative layout and was ready in October 1933. It was presented to the Commission de Vincennes in January 1934 under the name Latil Automitrailleuse de Découverte, Modèle 1934 (AMD-34). The AMD-34 was, despite its 8x8 chassis and tank-like silhouette, based on modified Latil truck elements. Onto the ladder frame chassis, a hull made of screwed cast armor elements with a maximum thickness of 25 mm was mounted. The leaf spring suspension as well as the all-wheel drive were based on components of Latil’s heavy duty trucks. The eight large and steerable wheels were spaced apart as far as possible, with almost no overhang at the front and at the rear for a very good off-road performance and climbing capability. The crew consisted of three men: a driver and a radio operator, who both sat in the front of the hull, plus the commander, who, beyond directing the vehicle, also had to operate the weapons. The radio operator also had to support the commander as loader in the event of combat.

 

Power came from a water-cooled V8 petrol engine, an uprated version of Latil’s own V3 truck engine from 1933, with an output of 180 hp (132 kW). The engine was in the rear of the hull, separated from the fighting compartment at the front by a firewall bulkhead, and flanked side-by-side with two self-sealing fuel tanks with the large capacity of 80 and 320 liters capacity (the smaller tank fueled the engine and was constantly replenished from the bigger tank). A novel feature was an automatic fire extinguishing system, which used several tanks placed at critical spots of the vehicle, containing methyl bromide. The vehicle’s armament was mounted in a standardized, cast APX-R turret (which was also used on several light tanks like the Renault R-35) and consisted of a short-barreled Puteaux 37mm/L21 SA 18 gun as well as a coaxial 7.5 mm MAC31 Reibel machine gun. 42 armor-piercing and 58 high explosive rounds were typically carried, plus 2.500 rounds for the machine gun.

 

The hexagonal turret had a 30 mm thick, domed rotatable cupola with vertical vision slits. It had to be either hand cranked or moved about by the weight of the commander. The rear of the turret had a hatch that hinged down which could be used as a seat to improve observation. Driver and radio operator (who had an ER 54 radio set available) had no hatches on their own. They entered the vehicle through a relatively large door on the vehicle’s left side.

 

After testing between 9 January and 2 February 1934 and comparison with the lighter 4 ton types, the AMR-34 was, despite its weight of almost 10 tons, accepted by the commission on 15 February under the condition some small modifications were carried out. In the autumn, the improved prototype was tested by the Cavalry and in late 1934 the type was accepted under the name Latil Automitrailleuse de Découverte, Modèle 1935, better known under its handle “AMD-35”. Production started on a small scale in 1935 and by the end of the year the first AMD-35’s reached the Cavalry units. After complaints about reliability, such as cracking gun sights, and overheating, between 29 June and 2 December 1936 a new test program took place, resulting in many more detail modifications, including the fitting of a silencer, a ventilator on the turret and in the main cabin and a small, round hatch for the driver which allowed a better field of view when the crew did not have to work under armor cover.

The main weapon was also changed into a SA 38 37mm cannon with a longer (L33) barrel, since the original Puteaux cannon had only a very poor armor penetration of 12 mm at 500 meters. In this form, the vehicle was re-designated AMD-37. Several older vehicles were updated with this weapon, too, or they received a 25mm (0.98 in) SA35 L47.2 or L52 autocannon.

 

Overall, the AMD-37 proved to be an effective design. The eight-wheel armored car with all-wheel-drive and all-wheel-steering had a very good performance on- and off-road, even though with certain limits due to the vehicle’s weight and resulting ground pressure. The cabin was relatively spacious and comfortable, so that long range missions of 500 km (319 ml) and more could be endured well by the crews.

 

However, several inherent flaws persisted. One problem (which the AMD-37 shared with almost every French combat vehicle from the pre-WWII era) was that the commander was overburdened with tasks, especially under stressful combat conditions. The French Cavalry did not see this as a major flaw: A commander was supposed to acquire such a degree of dexterity that his workload did not negate the lack of need to coordinate the actions of two or even three men in a larger turret crew or the advantage of a quicker reaction because of a superior rotation speed. At first, a two-man-turret was required, but when it transpired that this would reduce the armor protection, it was abandoned in favor of thicker steel casts. However, the AMD-37’s armor level was generally relatively low, and hull’s seams offered attackers who knew where to aim several weak points that allowed even light hand weapons to penetrate the armor. Another tactical flaw associated with the turret was the hatchless cupola, forcing the commander to fight buttoned-up or leave the vehicle’s armor protection for a better field of view.

 

Operationally, though, the AMD-37 suffered from poor mechanical reliability: the suspension units were complicated and, since they were based on existing civil truck elements, too weak for heavy off-road operations under military conditions. The AMD-37’s weight of almost 10 tons (the comparable German SdKfz 231 was bigger but weighed only 8.3 tons) did not help, either. In consequence, the AMD-37 demanded enormous maintenance efforts, especially since the cast armor modules did not allow an easy access to the suspension and engine.

 

On 10 May 1940, on the eve of the German invasion in mainland France, the AMD-37 was part of 14 Divisions Légères Mécaniques (Mechanized Light Divisions; "light" meaning here "mobile", they were not light in the sense of being lightly equipped) battalions, each fielding dedicated reconnaissance groups with four to ten vehicles, which also comprised light Panhard 178 scout cars.

45 French AMD-37s were in Syria, a mandate territory, and 30 more were based in Morocco. The tanks in Syria would fight during the allied invasion of that mandate territory in 1941 and then partly be taken over by the Free French 1e CCC, those in North Africa during Operation Torch in November 1942.

The majority of AMD-37s in Western Europe fell into German hands, though: 78 were used as “Panzerkampfwagen 37R(f)” and mainly used in second line units for policy and security duties or for driver training. A small number of these German vehicles were sent to Finland, fighting on the Eastern Front, where they were outclassed by Soviet KV-1s and T-34s and quickly destroyed or abandoned.

 

Plans to augment the AMD-35’s armament with a bigger turret and a more powerful 47mm SA 35 gun (basically the same turret fitted to the SOMUA S-35 medium tank and the heavy Char B1bis) or an additional machine in the front bow for the radio operator were, due to the German invasion, never carried out.

  

Specifications:

Crew: Three (commander, radio operator/loader, driver)

Weight: 9,600 kg (21,145 lb)

Length: 5.29 m (17 ft 4 in)

Width: 2.52 m (8 ft 3 in)

Height: 2.44 metres (8 ft ½ in)

Suspension: Wheeled (Tires: 270–20, bulletproof), with leaf springs

Wading depth: 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in)

Trench crossing capability: 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)

Ground clearance: 350 mm (13 3/4 in)

Climbing capability: 30°

Fuel capacity: 400 l

 

Armor:

9-30 mm (.35-1.18 in) cast steel

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 75 km/h (47 mph) on road, 55 km/h (34 mph) off-road

Operational range: 600 km (375 mi) on road

Power/weight: 18,7 PS/t

 

Engine:

Water-cooled Latil V8 gasoline engine with 7.336 cm³ displacement and 180 hp (132 kW) output

Transmission:

Latil gearbox with 4 forward and 1 reverse gears, eight-wheel drive and steering

 

Armament:

1× Puteaux 37mm/L33 SA 18 gun with 100 rounds

1× coaxial 7.5 mm MAC31 Reibel machine gun with 2.500 rounds

  

The kit and its assembly:

This build was inspired by a drawing that I came across at DeviantArt a while ago, created by someone called MedJoe:

www.deviantart.com/medjoe/art/Autoblinde-SOMUA-S35bis-679...

The picture showed a Somua S-35 tank, set on eight wheels that heavily resembled those of the SdKfz. 234/2 “Puma”, in French colors and markings and designated S-35bis. I found the idea weird (since a full-fledged S-35 would certainly have at 20 tons been too heavy for a wheeled chassis), but the overall look of this combo was very convincing to me. I kept the idea in the back of my mind, until I came across a cheap Heller Somua S-35 in 1:72 scale and decided to take the concept to the (model) hardware stage and offer a personal interpretation.

 

Work started when I was able to acquire a sprue from a Plastic Soldier SdKfz. 231 kit, which provided a total of nine wheels in a suitable size and style, as well as suspension elements.

 

Building the hull was a straightforward affair: The Heller S-35 was built OOB, just the parts for the tracked suspension were left away. Some details and attachment points in the lower hull sections had to be removed, too. From the SdKfz. 232 I took the leaf spring suspension parts (these came as two frames for four wheels each, rather crude and solid parts) and cut the outer leaf spring packs off, so that their depth was reduced but the attachment points for the wheels were still there. These were simply glued into the space for the former tracks, similar to the drawing. This resulted in a slightly wide track, but narrowing the lower hull for a better look would have been a complicated affair, so I stuck with the simple solution. It does not look bad, though.

 

In order to make the vehicle’s role as a scout car more plausible and to avoid a head-heavy look, I decided to replace the original S-35 turret with a smaller APX turret from a Renault R-35. I found a suitable resin donor at ModelTrans, which was easily integrated to the S-35 hull. I perfectly fits into the S-35’s rounded cast armor style, which is so typical for many early French WWII tanks. Unfortunately, the resin R-35 turret had an air bubble at the rear, which had to be filled with putty. In order to differentiate the turret a little and modernize it, I added a longer gun barrel – in this case a piece from a hollow steel needle.

 

Other small mods include a pair of scratched rear-view mirrors for the driver, the spare wheel at the front (certainly not the best position, but the only place that was available and practical, and other armored vehicles of the time like the British Humber scout car also carried a spare wheel at the front) and an antenna at the rear, made from heated black sprue material.

  

Painting and markings:

This was not easy and it took a while to settle on a design. There were rather gaudy camouflage designs in the French army, but due to the model’s small scale I did not want a too complex design. I eventually decided to apply a rather simple scheme, inspired by the painting suggestions from the Heller kit: a disruptive two-tone scheme in a pale beige tone and a rather bluish dark green, which was confirmed through museum tanks. An odd quirk of the Heller kit is that the instructions and the box art show the same camouflage, but in inverted colors!?

 

I stuck to Heller’s suggestions and decided to follow the box art camouflage, which uses dark green (Humbrol 30) as basic color with light sand blotches (Humbrol 103) on top, which I found more appropriate for the middle European theatre of operations. I assume that these two tones were in real life separated by very narrow black or dark brown lines for more contrast – but I did not try this stunt on the small 1:72 scale model, it would IMHO have looked rather awkward. And there are French vehicles of the era that show these colors without any additional lines, too.

 

Markings/decals were mostly puzzled together from the scrap box, since the Heller decals turned out to be rather stiff and lack any adhesion to the model. I only used the “license plates”, which were fixed to the model with acrylic varnish, the rest are spares.

 

The kit received an overall washing with dark brown and a careful dry-brushing treatment with light grey.

After the final coat of matt varnish had been applied and all parts assembled, I dusted the lower areas with a dull grey-brown mix of artist pigments, simulating dust.

  

An experimental build, since drawing a whif is easier than actually building it, where parts have to fit somehow and you cannot change the size of them. Even though the resulting 8x8 scout car looks a little weird with its minimal overhang at the front and the rear, I like the result a lot – it looks very plausible to me. I also think that the smaller turret underlines the vehicle’s role as a rather lightly armed reconnaissance vehicle. It lowers the size and the silhouette, and subdues the S-35 origin – but without neglecting the typical French cast armor look. Certainly not a 1:1 copy of the inspiring drawing, but true to the original idea.

 

The Citroën XM is an executive car that was produced by the French automaker Citroën between 1989 and 2000. The XM was voted 1990 European Car of the Year.

 

Design:

 

The angular, dart-like Bertone design was a development of Marcello Gandini's Citroën BX concept. It was a longer car with a longer, inclined nose, more refined details and with headlamps that were very much slimmer than the norm (Gandini's own XM proposal was rejected as looking too much like an Opel). The design process of the car was described in the journal Car Styling. In the article Citroen's design chief, Art Blakeslee, explained the appearance of the car, saying "I believe the XM is a modern and dynamic shape, with unique styling elements such as the very long, low hood, the extensive use of glass and the kick-up in the belt line". In the book Citroen XM another Citroen designer, Daniel Abramson, explained: "We lowered the belt line to give the shape a stronger image. It is purely a 'design statement' that is not functional and does nothing for the aerodynamics of the vehicle. We wanted a car that looks good from every angle". Abramson is also reported as saying that they "picked three areas to emphasise: 1) A very aggressive look ("Almost sinister"), 2) Lots of glass to create a greenhouse effect, and 3) An aerodynamic accent based on fact (low drag)".

 

There were many advances, most apparently designed to counteract the main criticisms of its predecessor. The CX leaned in corners, so the XM had active electronic management of the suspension; the CX rusted, so the XM had a partially galvanised body shell (most surviving XMs have very little corrosion); the CX was underpowered, so the XM offered the option of a 3.0 L V6 engine – the first V6 in a Citroën since the Maserati-engined SM of 1970.

 

Ventilation was markedly more effective in the XM. Rear accommodation in the XM was improved over the CX in both width, legroom and height. In particular the rear passengers were seated higher than those in the front in order to afford a good view out, important for a vehicle which would operate in French government service. The XM shared a floorpan with the Peugeot 605, and the two models fared similarly in both teething problems and market acceptance. Unlike the 605 sedan design, the XM was a liftback design - a feature thought to be desirable in certain European markets.

 

History:

 

Launched on 23 May 1989, the XM was the modern iteration of the Big Citroën, a replacement for the Citroën CX. It was intended to compete against vehicles like the Audi 100 and BMW's 5-series in a sector that accounted for 14.2% of the European market. Citroen was quoted as saying that the car was supposed to "take what Citroen means and make it acceptable". The car's initial reception was positive. The XM won the prestigious European Car of the Year award for 1990 (gaining almost twice as many votes as the second, the Mercedes-Benz SL) and went on to win a further 14 awards that year.

 

The anticipated annual sales were 450 cars a day in the first full year of production, or 160,000 units a year. Sales never reached this level for a variety of reasons. The market for executive cars made by mainstream manufacturers was in decline as customers opted for offerings from more prestigious marques such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz; in parallel customers were placing a higher priority on speed and handling rather than ride comfort which was Citroen's specialty. The XM was underdeveloped at launch which resulted in reliability problems; the vehicle as designed was inconsistent in its abilities. The XM's styling was also controversial and alienated those who desired a more conventional three box sedan. Most subjective of all was the matter of the XM not living up to the expectations created by its forerunner the Citroen DS, despite that car having been launched in an era of national markets, of different demands and standards, an era when there was more scope for large advances in engineering and design than were possible in 1989.

 

The XM inherited a loyal global customer base of executive class customers and a clear brand image, but did not enjoy the commercial success and iconic status of its predecessors, the CX and the DS, which both raised the bar of automotive performance for other manufacturers. Export markets experienced lower sales from the outset, partly due to the XM's pricing. The least expensive XM was nearly 50% more expensive at the time of launch than the corresponding CX. Whilst strong at first home market sales also declined, after the mechanical issues of the first few model years became known. The problem was caused by defective electrical connectors. Cost-cutting on the components was needed since the parent company was in financial difficulty at the time of the design of the XM. Between 1980 and 1984 the company lost $1.5 billion.

 

In mid-1994, the XM was revised in order to improve competitiveness. All models were fitted with driver's airbag (signalling the end of the single-spoke steering wheel), belt-pretensioners, a redesigned dashboard and upper door casings. The suspension was redesigned to reduce roll, pitch and dive. Most noticeable was the adoption of a passive rear-steering system similar to that on the Citroen Xantia. This sharpened the "steering without inducing a nervous twitch." Power output on the turbocharged motor was increased to 150 bhp (112 kW; 152 PS) from 145 bhp (108 kW; 147 PS) at 4400 rpm. This allowed the car to develop more torque at much lower revs.

 

By the mid-1990s, it was apparent that the XM's image meant it was less desirable than German products such as the BMW 5 Series. The view of the XM as commercially unsuccessful is reported by Compucars, the used car website, along with numerous other period commentaries. Production ended in June 2000.

 

With total sales over its lifetime of just 330,000 units in more than 10 years, and the fact that its replacement took 5 years to arrive, the XM might be considered a failure. This was the case particularly in the United Kingdom market, where demand was reduced to a virtual trickle by the late 1990s. But despite its common roots with the Peugeot 605, the XM may still emerge as a collectible car, as the DS and CX both did.

 

[Text taken from Wikipedia]

 

The Citroen XM joins my recent Citroen Traction Avant, along with the Citroen DS and CX in my large Citroen collection.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

Latil was a French automaker specializing in heavy duty vehicles, such as trucks, tractors and buses. Beyond the design and production of vehicles for civil use, Latil also built after World War I a number of military vehicles. For instance, in 1911, Latil designed and built its first four-wheel drive vehicle. This type of vehicle interested the French Army in 1913 for its ability to tow heavy artillery on every field and the TAR (Tracteur d'Artillerie Roulante) was built.

 

Beyond a number of field tractors, Latil also designed and built an armed combat vehicle for the French Army, the armored AMD-37 scout car. The origins of this design can be traced back until December 1931, when the French Cavalry conceived a plan for the future production of armored fighting vehicles. One of the classes foreseen was that of an Automitrailleuse de Découverte (AMD), a specialized long range reconnaissance vehicle. The specifications were formulated on 22 December 1931, changed again on 18 November 1932 and finally approved on 9 December 1932. They called for a weight of 4 metric tons (4.0 t), a range of 400 kilometers (250 mi), a road speed of 70 km/h, a cruising speed of 40 km/h, a turning circle of 12 meters (39 ft), 5–8 mm armor, a 20 mm gun and a 7.5 mm machine gun.

 

In 1933, several competing companies responded (including Latil, Renault, Panhard and Berliet) with their proposals. Being rooted in rather heavy machinery, Latil proposed two designs: one was a 4x4 vehicle which would meet the required specification profile, but it was eventually rejected due to poor off-road performance in favor of the Panhard design, which would become the highly successful Panhard 178.

The other proposal fell outside of the specification limits. It was a bigger and much heavier 8x8 design, certainly influenced by the German SdKfz. 232 heavy scout car family. However, despite falling outside of the requirements, the Commission de Vincennes was impressed enough to order a prototype of this vehicle.

 

The Latil prototype had basically a conservative layout and was ready in October 1933. It was presented to the Commission de Vincennes in January 1934 under the name Latil Automitrailleuse de Découverte, Modèle 1934 (AMD-34). The AMD-34 was, despite its 8x8 chassis and tank-like silhouette, based on modified Latil truck elements. Onto the ladder frame chassis, a hull made of screwed cast armor elements with a maximum thickness of 25 mm was mounted. The leaf spring suspension as well as the all-wheel drive were based on components of Latil’s heavy duty trucks. The eight large and steerable wheels were spaced apart as far as possible, with almost no overhang at the front and at the rear for a very good off-road performance and climbing capability. The crew consisted of three men: a driver and a radio operator, who both sat in the front of the hull, plus the commander, who, beyond directing the vehicle, also had to operate the weapons. The radio operator also had to support the commander as loader in the event of combat.

 

Power came from a water-cooled V8 petrol engine, an uprated version of Latil’s own V3 truck engine from 1933, with an output of 180 hp (132 kW). The engine was in the rear of the hull, separated from the fighting compartment at the front by a firewall bulkhead, and flanked side-by-side with two self-sealing fuel tanks with the large capacity of 80 and 320 liters capacity (the smaller tank fueled the engine and was constantly replenished from the bigger tank). A novel feature was an automatic fire extinguishing system, which used several tanks placed at critical spots of the vehicle, containing methyl bromide. The vehicle’s armament was mounted in a standardized, cast APX-R turret (which was also used on several light tanks like the Renault R-35) and consisted of a short-barreled Puteaux 37mm/L21 SA 18 gun as well as a coaxial 7.5 mm MAC31 Reibel machine gun. 42 armor-piercing and 58 high explosive rounds were typically carried, plus 2.500 rounds for the machine gun.

 

The hexagonal turret had a 30 mm thick, domed rotatable cupola with vertical vision slits. It had to be either hand cranked or moved about by the weight of the commander. The rear of the turret had a hatch that hinged down which could be used as a seat to improve observation. Driver and radio operator (who had an ER 54 radio set available) had no hatches on their own. They entered the vehicle through a relatively large door on the vehicle’s left side.

 

After testing between 9 January and 2 February 1934 and comparison with the lighter 4 ton types, the AMR-34 was, despite its weight of almost 10 tons, accepted by the commission on 15 February under the condition some small modifications were carried out. In the autumn, the improved prototype was tested by the Cavalry and in late 1934 the type was accepted under the name Latil Automitrailleuse de Découverte, Modèle 1935, better known under its handle “AMD-35”. Production started on a small scale in 1935 and by the end of the year the first AMD-35’s reached the Cavalry units. After complaints about reliability, such as cracking gun sights, and overheating, between 29 June and 2 December 1936 a new test program took place, resulting in many more detail modifications, including the fitting of a silencer, a ventilator on the turret and in the main cabin and a small, round hatch for the driver which allowed a better field of view when the crew did not have to work under armor cover.

The main weapon was also changed into a SA 38 37mm cannon with a longer (L33) barrel, since the original Puteaux cannon had only a very poor armor penetration of 12 mm at 500 meters. In this form, the vehicle was re-designated AMD-37. Several older vehicles were updated with this weapon, too, or they received a 25mm (0.98 in) SA35 L47.2 or L52 autocannon.

 

Overall, the AMD-37 proved to be an effective design. The eight-wheel armored car with all-wheel-drive and all-wheel-steering had a very good performance on- and off-road, even though with certain limits due to the vehicle’s weight and resulting ground pressure. The cabin was relatively spacious and comfortable, so that long range missions of 500 km (319 ml) and more could be endured well by the crews.

 

However, several inherent flaws persisted. One problem (which the AMD-37 shared with almost every French combat vehicle from the pre-WWII era) was that the commander was overburdened with tasks, especially under stressful combat conditions. The French Cavalry did not see this as a major flaw: A commander was supposed to acquire such a degree of dexterity that his workload did not negate the lack of need to coordinate the actions of two or even three men in a larger turret crew or the advantage of a quicker reaction because of a superior rotation speed. At first, a two-man-turret was required, but when it transpired that this would reduce the armor protection, it was abandoned in favor of thicker steel casts. However, the AMD-37’s armor level was generally relatively low, and hull’s seams offered attackers who knew where to aim several weak points that allowed even light hand weapons to penetrate the armor. Another tactical flaw associated with the turret was the hatchless cupola, forcing the commander to fight buttoned-up or leave the vehicle’s armor protection for a better field of view.

 

Operationally, though, the AMD-37 suffered from poor mechanical reliability: the suspension units were complicated and, since they were based on existing civil truck elements, too weak for heavy off-road operations under military conditions. The AMD-37’s weight of almost 10 tons (the comparable German SdKfz 231 was bigger but weighed only 8.3 tons) did not help, either. In consequence, the AMD-37 demanded enormous maintenance efforts, especially since the cast armor modules did not allow an easy access to the suspension and engine.

 

On 10 May 1940, on the eve of the German invasion in mainland France, the AMD-37 was part of 14 Divisions Légères Mécaniques (Mechanized Light Divisions; "light" meaning here "mobile", they were not light in the sense of being lightly equipped) battalions, each fielding dedicated reconnaissance groups with four to ten vehicles, which also comprised light Panhard 178 scout cars.

45 French AMD-37s were in Syria, a mandate territory, and 30 more were based in Morocco. The tanks in Syria would fight during the allied invasion of that mandate territory in 1941 and then partly be taken over by the Free French 1e CCC, those in North Africa during Operation Torch in November 1942.

The majority of AMD-37s in Western Europe fell into German hands, though: 78 were used as “Panzerkampfwagen 37R(f)” and mainly used in second line units for policy and security duties or for driver training. A small number of these German vehicles were sent to Finland, fighting on the Eastern Front, where they were outclassed by Soviet KV-1s and T-34s and quickly destroyed or abandoned.

 

Plans to augment the AMD-35’s armament with a bigger turret and a more powerful 47mm SA 35 gun (basically the same turret fitted to the SOMUA S-35 medium tank and the heavy Char B1bis) or an additional machine in the front bow for the radio operator were, due to the German invasion, never carried out.

  

Specifications:

Crew: Three (commander, radio operator/loader, driver)

Weight: 9,600 kg (21,145 lb)

Length: 5.29 m (17 ft 4 in)

Width: 2.52 m (8 ft 3 in)

Height: 2.44 metres (8 ft ½ in)

Suspension: Wheeled (Tires: 270–20, bulletproof), with leaf springs

Wading depth: 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in)

Trench crossing capability: 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)

Ground clearance: 350 mm (13 3/4 in)

Climbing capability: 30°

Fuel capacity: 400 l

 

Armor:

9-30 mm (.35-1.18 in) cast steel

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 75 km/h (47 mph) on road, 55 km/h (34 mph) off-road

Operational range: 600 km (375 mi) on road

Power/weight: 18,7 PS/t

 

Engine:

Water-cooled Latil V8 gasoline engine with 7.336 cm³ displacement and 180 hp (132 kW) output

Transmission:

Latil gearbox with 4 forward and 1 reverse gears, eight-wheel drive and steering

 

Armament:

1× Puteaux 37mm/L33 SA 18 gun with 100 rounds

1× coaxial 7.5 mm MAC31 Reibel machine gun with 2.500 rounds

  

The kit and its assembly:

This build was inspired by a drawing that I came across at DeviantArt a while ago, created by someone called MedJoe:

www.deviantart.com/medjoe/art/Autoblinde-SOMUA-S35bis-679...

The picture showed a Somua S-35 tank, set on eight wheels that heavily resembled those of the SdKfz. 234/2 “Puma”, in French colors and markings and designated S-35bis. I found the idea weird (since a full-fledged S-35 would certainly have at 20 tons been too heavy for a wheeled chassis), but the overall look of this combo was very convincing to me. I kept the idea in the back of my mind, until I came across a cheap Heller Somua S-35 in 1:72 scale and decided to take the concept to the (model) hardware stage and offer a personal interpretation.

 

Work started when I was able to acquire a sprue from a Plastic Soldier SdKfz. 231 kit, which provided a total of nine wheels in a suitable size and style, as well as suspension elements.

 

Building the hull was a straightforward affair: The Heller S-35 was built OOB, just the parts for the tracked suspension were left away. Some details and attachment points in the lower hull sections had to be removed, too. From the SdKfz. 232 I took the leaf spring suspension parts (these came as two frames for four wheels each, rather crude and solid parts) and cut the outer leaf spring packs off, so that their depth was reduced but the attachment points for the wheels were still there. These were simply glued into the space for the former tracks, similar to the drawing. This resulted in a slightly wide track, but narrowing the lower hull for a better look would have been a complicated affair, so I stuck with the simple solution. It does not look bad, though.

 

In order to make the vehicle’s role as a scout car more plausible and to avoid a head-heavy look, I decided to replace the original S-35 turret with a smaller APX turret from a Renault R-35. I found a suitable resin donor at ModelTrans, which was easily integrated to the S-35 hull. I perfectly fits into the S-35’s rounded cast armor style, which is so typical for many early French WWII tanks. Unfortunately, the resin R-35 turret had an air bubble at the rear, which had to be filled with putty. In order to differentiate the turret a little and modernize it, I added a longer gun barrel – in this case a piece from a hollow steel needle.

 

Other small mods include a pair of scratched rear-view mirrors for the driver, the spare wheel at the front (certainly not the best position, but the only place that was available and practical, and other armored vehicles of the time like the British Humber scout car also carried a spare wheel at the front) and an antenna at the rear, made from heated black sprue material.

  

Painting and markings:

This was not easy and it took a while to settle on a design. There were rather gaudy camouflage designs in the French army, but due to the model’s small scale I did not want a too complex design. I eventually decided to apply a rather simple scheme, inspired by the painting suggestions from the Heller kit: a disruptive two-tone scheme in a pale beige tone and a rather bluish dark green, which was confirmed through museum tanks. An odd quirk of the Heller kit is that the instructions and the box art show the same camouflage, but in inverted colors!?

 

I stuck to Heller’s suggestions and decided to follow the box art camouflage, which uses dark green (Humbrol 30) as basic color with light sand blotches (Humbrol 103) on top, which I found more appropriate for the middle European theatre of operations. I assume that these two tones were in real life separated by very narrow black or dark brown lines for more contrast – but I did not try this stunt on the small 1:72 scale model, it would IMHO have looked rather awkward. And there are French vehicles of the era that show these colors without any additional lines, too.

 

Markings/decals were mostly puzzled together from the scrap box, since the Heller decals turned out to be rather stiff and lack any adhesion to the model. I only used the “license plates”, which were fixed to the model with acrylic varnish, the rest are spares.

 

The kit received an overall washing with dark brown and a careful dry-brushing treatment with light grey.

After the final coat of matt varnish had been applied and all parts assembled, I dusted the lower areas with a dull grey-brown mix of artist pigments, simulating dust.

  

An experimental build, since drawing a whif is easier than actually building it, where parts have to fit somehow and you cannot change the size of them. Even though the resulting 8x8 scout car looks a little weird with its minimal overhang at the front and the rear, I like the result a lot – it looks very plausible to me. I also think that the smaller turret underlines the vehicle’s role as a rather lightly armed reconnaissance vehicle. It lowers the size and the silhouette, and subdues the S-35 origin – but without neglecting the typical French cast armor look. Certainly not a 1:1 copy of the inspiring drawing, but true to the original idea.

 

The Peugeot 406 is a large family car made by the French automaker Peugeot from 1995 to 2004. Available in saloon, estate and coupé bodystyles with a choice of petrol or turbodiesel engines, the 406 replaced the Peugeot 405 in Peugeot's lineup, and was itself replaced by the Peugeot 407. It used the same platform as the Citroën Xantia, though without that car's sophisticated hydropneumatic suspension system.

 

The project:

 

The styling of the 406 is heavily influenced by its predecessor, the 405, which began to be phased out from the 406's launch in September 1995, and eventually finished production in Europe in 1997, when the last estate models were discontinued. United Kingdom sales of the 406 began in February 1996.

 

Initially, the car was available with 1.8 L and 2.0 L petrol and 1.9 L turbodiesel engines, followed by a turbocharged 2.0 petrol, 3.0 (2946cc) V6 petrol, and 110 bhp 2.1 L turbodiesel. The diesel versions were very popular, and the 406 became one of Europe's best-selling diesel-powered cars.

 

The 2-door coupé was both designed and manufactured by Italian design studio Pininfarina, with choices of a 2.0 L 4-cylinder engine or a 3.0 L V6, and from 2001, a 2.2 L HDi diesel engine. On later models, a 2.2 L petrol engine was available. Total of 107,633 coupés were made.

 

For its final year on sale in the United Kingdom, the model was simply called the Peugeot Coupé, with the 406 branding dropped from the name.

 

The 406 was notably successful in the United Kingdom, having broken into the key UK fleet sales market, with a high percentage of units becoming company cars and taxis.

 

In 2002, a Peugeot 406 HDi set the world record for the longest distance driven on a single tank of fuel. The car travelled across Australia between Melbourne to Rockhampton, with a total distance of 2,348 km.

 

Facelift:

 

The facelifted 406 sedan was introduced in 1999 and safety, strength and speed enhancements resulted in improved Euro NCAP performance. Where the old 406 had one star and a struck off star, the post facelift models gained 3 stars. The changes included the new and improved EW/DW Engine Family HDI with greater power, torque and fuel efficiency along with increased refinement, making it comparatively quiet for a diesel. A downside was an increase in the car's insurance group from 9 to 12.

 

The exterior look was amended as the 406 featured more pronounced ribs, clear headlights, chrome trim and a new honeycomb grill. The rear lights were finished in red with a strip of the car's paint colour across the centre.

 

The interior was also redesigned to improve comfort and space. New equipment included automated digital climate control/air conditioning on most models except the most basic and a multi-function display for warning messages, trip computer, radio and external temperature. There was a more extensive use of wooden trim, better quality plastics, including soft touch plastics, and in addition some models received electrically folding mirrors, with automatic headlights and wipers. The top-of-the-range Executive model was specified a 10 speaker JBL sound system, electrically adjusted and heated leather seats, a memory position for the seats and mirrors, headlight washer jets, a rear sun blind, thicker carpeting, lights in the sun visors, satellite navigation and ambient lighting.

 

406 ended production in 2004.

 

[Text from Wikipedia]

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peugeot_406

 

This miniland-scale Lego Peugeot 406 Coupe (1996 - Pininfarina) has been created for Flickr LUGNuts' 92nd Build Challenge, - "Stuck in the 90's", - all about vehicles from the decade of the 1990s.

 

The Pininfarina-styled Peugeot 406 Coupé is one of my very favourite 1990s cars, particularly the graceful styling.

The Ferrari 250 GT Lusso is a GT car which was manufactured by Italian automaker Ferrari from 1963 to 1964. Sometimes known as the GTL, GT/L or Berlinetta Lusso, it is larger and more luxurious[α] than the 250 GT Berlinetta. The 250 GT Lusso, which was not intended to compete in sports car racing, is considered to be one of the most elegant Ferraris. Keeping in line with the Ferrari "tradition" of that time, the 250 GT Lusso was designed by the Turinese coachbuilder Pininfarina, and bodied by Carrozzeria Scaglietti. Although the interior was more spacious than that of the 250 GT, the 250 GT Lusso remained a two-seat GT coupe, unlike the 250 GTE. The car was manufactured for only eighteen months, from early 1963 to mid 1964, and was the last model of Ferrari 250 GT generation.Auto shows often provide an opportunity for manufacturers to introduce new designs publicly. Ferrari did so at the 1962 Paris Motor Show to unveil, as a prototype, the 250 GT Lusso.[2] The prototype was almost identical to the production version, and only minor details changed thereafter.The new model was a way for Ferrari to fill a void left between the sporty 250 GT SWB and the luxurious 250 GTE 2+2,[6][β] the Lusso met the new demands of the 1960s. Indeed, fans of sporting driving of the time became as fond of civilized designs, that is, comfortable and spacious, as they were of radical sports cars.[3][7] Ferrari did not skimp on details in the GTL, which shows on the scales; weight ranged from 1,020 to 1,310 kg (2,250 to 2,890 lb), depending on equipment.Unusually brief for a Ferrari model, GTL's production began January 1963 and ended August 1964. According to a longstanding American expert on Ferrari, Peter Coltrin, the construction of the 250 GT Lusso must have begun soon after the presentation of the prototype of the Paris Motor Show.Although it was not intended to compete, the 250 GT Lusso made a few appearances in several sporting events in 1964 and 1965, such as the Targa Florio and the Tour de France. The final iteration of the 250 GT series, 351 copies of GT Lusso were produced before being replaced by the Ferrari 275 GTB. (Note nomenclature change due to increase in engine cylinder capacity.)[2] Originally sold for $13,375, the GTL saw sales in 2010 between $400,000 and $500,000, and currently in 2013 values are approaching 4 times this figure.Whats the most beautiful Ferrari ever? For most people it would be difficult to single out just one, but the general consensus points to the golden age of Ferrari designs that started vaguely in the late 1950’s and continued into the early 70’s. Many of the pre-Nixon era cars built sometime after the mid 50’s embody all the traditional Ferrari virtues, with just enough technology to make them almost dependable as daily drivers or fit for the occasional autoshow/ parade appearance. Ferrari 250 GT Sales Brochure One of the most beautiful 60’s era Ferrari is the Pininfarina designed 250 GT Lusso Berlinetta. The Lusso was the end of the line for the crazy popular 250 series that had been scorching race tracks and showrooms alike. The line started in 1959 with the GTO, essentially a race car for the street. Since then, many variations including the Spyder, Monza and Tessarossa have been produced and have all had their special attributes on either a short or long wheelbase. The first Lusso appeared at the 1962 Paris Auto Salon, with production starting in 1963 due to positive public response. The Lusso was special in that it may have been Ferrari’s first luxury GT car by design. The word Lusso itself meant luxury in Italian and the term Berlinetta is often used in Italy to describe coupes.

Ferrari 250 GT Lusso Interior As a luxury GT coupe, the 250 Lusso had no equal in its day (in the looks category). Mechanically, it was rather simple, but had plenty of luxury features like wood trim and leather seats, all to be expected for around $12,000 in 1964. A small space behind the seats accommodated luggage. A four speed manual transmission was the only gearbox officially available. A few cars were said to have been fitted with air conditioning, competition carburetors and a five speed manual transmission. These were rare, as most cars came from the factory equipped alike. The heart of the Lusso was a slightly de-tuned version of the SOHC 3.0 litre V12 used in the GTO. At 250 hp in standard trim, it was designed to accommodate up to Webber three carburetors. An astonishing number in a road going sports car for the 60’s. The lightweight Lusso weighed only 2249 lbs and could reach 60 mph in under 8 seconds and go all the way up to 150mph. It came equipped with power assisted disc brakes all around when it needed to be slowed down.Only 350 or so Lussos were produced by Scaglietti before production ended in 1964. The Lusso had established a reputation for being a fast and comfortable touring car preferred by the rich and celebrities. Famous actor Steve McQueen owned one, a rare dark brown 66 model. Despite the fron independent and ridged live rear suspension, the Lusso was a comfortable highway crusier due in part to the 15 inch Borannio wire wheel/tire combination.Like many sports cars the Lusso was not perfect, but it was insanely beautiful. Problems with smoking and overheasting were said to mar the owner experience, but these issues were reserved for the playboy or occasional actor who would push the car to its limits for extended periods of time. The Lusso was replaced by the technically more impressive 275 GTB, but it arguably was not as successful a design from an aestethic point of view. The Lusso would later be called one of the 10 best sports cars of the 60’s by Sports Car International magazine, securing its place as one of Pininifanari and Ferrari’s best.

autopolis.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/1963-1964-ferrari-250-...

BUYER'S GUIDE

 

REAL GRAND TOURING:

ITALY TO ENGLAND IN A MASERATI LEVANTE

 

July 11, 2017

 

As we headed deep into the Jura Mountains through Switzerland into the heart of France, I wondered what Adolfo Orsi would have made of the Maserati Levante. The Maserati brothers—Alfieri, Bindo, Carlo, Ettore, and Ernesto—of course founded the automaker that bears their name. But it was self-made industrialist and machine tool magnate Orsi, after buying the company from the brothers in 1937 and moving it from Bologna to Modena, who in 1957 launched its first volume-produced gran turismo, the 3500 GT. Orsi loved racing cars. He loved big, fast, elegant road cars. Could he imagine an SUV wearing the iconic trident badge?

 

Orsi would have understood the economics of the Levante. The SUV with a premium badge is a business strategy that’s proven hugely successful for Porsche, which uses profits from the Cayenne and Macan SUVs to fund ongoing development of its sports cars. Premium brands from Bentley to Jaguar to Lamborghini to Rolls-Royce are now following the Porsche model and jumping on the SUV bandwagon; there are even rumors Ferrari is working on an SUV based on next-generation GTC4Lusso hardware.

 

The 3500 GT didn’t stop Maserati from skidding into financial crisis in 1958 after a $3 million deal to supply machine tools to Argentina fell apart with the ousting of dictator Juan Perón. But almost 60 years later, in a world where demand for big GTs is finite and buyers are turning away from sedans, no matter how exotic the badge, the newly launched Levante is already doing the heavy lifting at Maserati, accounting for 38 percent of sales in the U.S. for the first six months of this year. It’s on track to become the company’s best-selling model worldwide. But is it good enough to secure Maserati’s future?

 

To find out, we start in Modena, where Maserati, operating out of a modern glass-curtained structure in front of the factory built by Orsi in the late 1930s, still calls home. This is where the GranTurismo and GranCabrio—both mildly tweaked for the 2018 model year with a new grille and front fascia, an upgraded interior that includes a new infotainment system, and the adoption of the 456-hp and 384-lb-ft version of the 4.7-liter V-8 as standard—are still assembled. After a perfunctory introduction to the Levante, we head out of the courtyard and into the Modena morning traffic. Our first stop is 180 miles to the west, at the Mirafiori factory in Turin, where Maserati’s SUV is made.

 

The E35 autostrada running past Modena is busy and littered with speed cameras, so we run at no more than 85–90 mph, slowing to 80 as we go under the camera gantries. It’s quieter with fewer cameras after we turn onto the E70 toward Turin, and we pick up the pace. The Levante cruises effortlessly at 100 mph, the 424-hp 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6 under the hood of our S-spec version turning a relaxed 2,400 rpm. It’s a deceptively potent powerplant, this engine, building speed with an elastic surge rather than a sledgehammer shove. At one point the big Maserati is loafing along at an indicated 140 mph.

 

Orsi, whose best Maserati road cars effortlessly ate up highway miles at triple-digit speeds, would have approved.

 

He would have approved, too, of the fact the Levante is made in Italy. That wasn’t the original plan: The Kubang concept that previewed the Levante in 2011 (itself a rework of a 2003 Maserati SUV concept also called Kubang designed by Giugiaro) was originally intended to be based on Jeep Grand Cherokee hardware and built in the U.S. The idea made sense to FCA boss Sergio Marchionne, a razor-sharp financial engineer with little time for the sentimental side of the auto biz. But common sense—and a labor deal with workers in Turin—prevailed, and Levante production was switched to the giant Fiat Mirafiori plant. The Jeep hardware idea went away, too: The Levante rolls on a modified version of the platform that underpins the Quattroporte and Ghibli sedans.

 

Mirafiori is a steel and concrete metaphor for the decline of Fiat as a major automaker. Construction of the factory was started in 1937 to replace the quirky plant a few miles away at Lingotto, where the production line spiraled slowly upward from the ground floor, with completed cars being tested on a rooftop track. That scene in the movie The Italian Job where the three Minis are chased around what looks like a banked NASCAR oval someone built six stories up? Filmed on the roof at Lingotto.

 

In its pomp Mirafiori was the largest industrial complex in Italy and one of the largest auto factories ever built. Sprawling across almost 1,000 acres, with 25 miles of production lines, at its peak it employed 50,000 workers and could build 5,000 cars a day. This year it will build less than one-twentieth that number. Large swathes of Mirafiori are quietly rusting and crumbling, but the area of the plant that’s been refurbished to build the Levante, adjacent to the line for the slow-selling Alfa Romeo MiTo compact, is bright, airy, and gleaming—the very model of a modern auto factory.

 

With 13 available exterior colors, 28 interior color combinations, three available engines—345-hp and 424-hp versions of the gasoline V-6, plus the 271-hp VM Motori 3.0-liter turbodiesel V-6—wheels ranging from 18 inches to 21 inches, and various market-specific pieces of hardware to meet regulations and customer preferences in places as diverse as Shanghai, Seattle, and San Marino, Maserati says it is possible to build 1,583,090,535,606 different variants of the Levante. With production currently pegged at 140 a day, it’s going to take them a long, long time. …

 

The St. Bernard Pass, north of Turin, near the top end of the Aosta Valley, is sports car country. The tarmac squirms and wiggles up and over the third-highest mountain pass in Switzerland, placing a premium on grip and agility, power and torque. The Levante is no sports car, but it has 50/50 front to rear weight distribution and what Maserati claims is the lowest center of gravity in its class. As the road twists and turns, our S model, on the 20-inch wheel/tire combination, offers decent levels of front-end bite, and the mechanical rear differential, working in combination with the all-wheel-drive system that sends 100 percent of the torque to the rear axle until front wheel slip is detected, helps punch the big Maserati out of tight corners. With 428 lb-ft on tap from 1,750 rpm to 5,000 rpm, the twin-turbo V-6 makes impressively light work the Levante’s 4,650-pound heft.

 

If the Levante cost the same per pound as beluga caviar, it would be priced at almost $20 million. I only know this because our dinner in Geneva after the run down from the St. Bernard Pass, hosted by Caviar House & Prunier’s Jean-Pierre Esmilaire, featured some of the company’s finest beluga, straight from a 4-pound tin that apparently retails for about $17,000. That’s a lot of money for fish eggs, no matter how rare the fish or how tasty the eggs. A Levante S specified to a similar level as the one we’re driving would retail for about $95,000 in the U.S., or roughly five-and-a-half 4-pound tins of Caviar House & Prunier beluga. In that context, it’s a value. Back in the real world, it’s merely competitive, retailing Stateside for about the same money as a similarly configured Porsche Cayenne S.

 

Whether it’s caviar or cars, much of what makes a modern luxury brand is carefully managed scarcity combined with a compelling backstory. Maserati has the compelling backstory, starring legendary cars such as Bora, Khamsin, Kyalami and the original Ghibli, with supporting roles from Wilbur Shaw’s back-to-back wins in the 8CTF at the 1939 and 1940 Indy 500s, and a World Formula 1 Championship in 1957 with Juan-Manuel Fangio at the wheel of the glorious 250F, still one of the most beautiful front-engine racing cars ever built.

 

It should have the scarcity, too. Even with Levante in full production—right-hand-drive markets are only now just getting the gasoline engine versions, and a V-8 powered model is reportedly in the wings—company boss Reid Bigland says there is no plan to retail more than 75,000 Maseratis a year. We’ll see if that number holds. Sergio Marchionne certainly won’t back away from the opportunity to sell more high-margin Maseratis if sales of low-margin Fiats and Dodges stutter, and given the fact Porsche last year sold more than 237,000 vehicles worldwide, it would seem he has plenty of headroom to expand the Maserati brand’s footprint without compromising its exclusive image.

 

It comes as no surprise to learn Porsche’s Cayenne was the benchmark against which the Levante was developed, and as we switch back and forth between back roads and autoroutes through Switzerland and France, passing through the heart of Champagne country en route to Calais, there’s time to reflect on how close the Maserati team came to its target.

 

The Levante is an inch narrower than the Porsche, but it rolls on a 4-inch-longer wheelbase. That doesn’t quite translate into the interior room the raw numbers suggest, however, because the Maserati’s dash-to-axle is much more extravagant than the Porsche’s. The Levante doesn’t feel quite as big inside as you’d expect.

 

The Italian twin-turbo V-6 has near identical power and slightly more torque than its German counterpart, and it delivers both with a touch more brio. Both cars have eight-speed automatics with paddle shifters, and here the edge goes to the more maturely calibrated Cayenne transmission. In Sport mode the shifts in the Maserati thump home hard—simply, engineers admit, to impress customers who think that’s how a sports car should be. It’s unnecessary. So, too, is the overly melodramatic snarl from the exhaust.

 

Maserati opted to make air suspension standard across the Levante range, and it was the right call. It enables the ride height to be raised for off-road work and lowered for high-speed freeway running, with five different settings available across a 3.3-inch range. In Sport mode the primary ride is plusher than in the Cayenne, though with the 20-inch wheel/tire setup, the secondary ride can be jittery on broken surfaces. Normal mode ups the comfort level, but there’s more secondary body motion than in, say, a Range Rover Sport, and the diagonal and side-to-side pitching isn’t as well controlled. And although the steering is accurate, there’s not the feedback you want. It all adds up to a chassis that, though fundamentally precise and predictable, can leave the driver feeling oddly detached on occasion.

 

It’s best to drive the Levante like a gran turismo rather than try and hustle it like a sports car. Off the freeways I liked it with the engine and suspension in Normal mode and the transmission in manual, taking the time, as I did in the 3500 GT I once drove, to get the Levante slowed and settled and in the right gear before committing to corners, then clipping the apex and getting back on the gas nice and early. As with those big, old Maserati coupes, less haste equals more speed in the Levante.

 

En route to Calais and the train that will take us under the English Channel to Dover to begin the final leg of our journey to Goodwood and a weekend at the fabulous Festival of Speed, we make a brief stop in front of the eerily deserted pits and grandstands on either side of the busy D27 road, on what was once the start-finish straight of the old grand prix circuit just outside Reims. The first race on this fearsomely fast road course was held here in 1926, and Formula 1 cars raced here until 1966. A Maserati, driven by maestro Fangio, held the outright lap record in 1953.

 

We’ve had almost 900 miles of seat time in the Levante. That’s enough time to consider its strengths and weaknesses. There are things that can be—and need to be—fixed quickly, like the jittery secondary ride (I’d like to try a Levante on 19-inch rims and more compliant tires), the obtuse PRNDL shifter (a fundamental control interface should not be so difficult to use), and the bits and pieces in the interior that have been obviously lifted from the FCA parts bin. The infotainment system also has some strange quirks—the home screen, for example, features dozens of identically sized and colored icons that in our car seemed to change position from time to time for no apparent reason, making finding the function you wanted doubly difficult.

 

Melding the spirit of Maserati with the practicality of an SUV requires a fine balancing act, and for the most part the Levante pulls it off. It’s more than just a transfer of familiar brand iconography to an unfamiliar vehicle format; the Levante works as a Maserati because big, fast, luxurious SUVs have become the gran turismos of the 21st century, the vehicles you buy to take you and your luggage quickly and comfortably across continents, on all roads, in all weather conditions.

 

Adolfo Orsi can rest easy.

 

Article by Angus MacKenzie

 

The Renault 12 is a large family car introduced by French automaker Renault at the Paris Motor Show in October 1969[2] and produced in France till 1980. Available as a saloon (Berline) and estate (Break), it was also produced under licence in many countries around the globe into the early 21st century.

 

In its first few years the 12 received praise from the European press for its spacious, comfortable interior, its styling, its performance and its low fuel consumption. However it fared worse in the North American press: in a test of the 1974 model, Road & Track was critical of the engine's "obtrusive" noise, and called the heavy, non-power steering "a serious design flaw". They also gave it "very poor marks" for the ventilation system.

 

Renault 12 production and sales ended in western Europe in 1980, but the model continued to be produced and sold by Renault affiliates elsewhere. The last R12 was produced in 2000 in Turkey, whereas Romanian automaker Dacia continued producing the R12-based 1310 sedan and estate until 2004 and the R12-based Dacia Pick-Up until December 2006.

 

n 1970, two new variants were introduced. The estate was launched with the same trim levels and engines as in the saloon and a high performance Renault 12 Gordini model was introduced equipped with the all-aluminium 1565 cc block from the R16 TS fitted with two double-barrel Weber carburettors producing 125 PS (92 kW; 123 hp), a reinforced crankshaft, a five speed gearbox, ventilated disc brakes on the front wheels and normal disc brakes on the rear wheels, as well as a tuned suspension. The Gordini was able to reach 185 km/h (115 mph) and was sold with paint schemes comprising a solid pastel colour (there were several to choose from) with double white stripes added on, the most famous combination being French Blue with stripes. 2225 Renault 12 Gordinis were sold in 1971 but after that sales began a free fall. Renault stopped production of the Gordini in 1974 after 5188 had been sold (compared to 11,607 Renault 8 Gordinis).

 

[Text from Wikipedia]

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_12

 

One of my more successful car fixing ventures involved rebuilding a regular R12 engine in a friend's car. The Gordini used the engine from the Renault 16 TS (of which I had two) - aluminium with steel liners. And, a much more complicated powetrain assembly - I always had issues trying to sort out its problems.

The Lamborghini Diablo is a high-performance mid-engined sports car that was built by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 1990 and 2001. It was the first Lamborghini capable of attaining a top speed in excess of 200 miles per hour (320 km/h). After the end of its production run in 2001, the Diablo was replaced by the Lamborghini Murciélago. Diablo is "devil" in Spanish, which is diavolo in Italian.

 

History of development

 

At a time when the company was financed by the Swiss-based Mimran brothers, Lamborghini began development of what was codenamed Project 132 in June 1985 as a replacement for the Countach model. The brief stated that its top speed had to be at least 315 km/h (196 mph).

 

The design of the car was contracted to Marcello Gandini, who had designed its two predecessors. When Chrysler bought the company in 1987, providing money to complete its development, its management was uncomfortable with Gandini’s designs and commissioned its design team in Detroit to execute a third extensive redesign, smoothing out the trademark sharp edges and corners of Gandini's original design, and leaving him famously unimpressed. In fact, Gandini was so disappointed with the "softened" shape that he would later realize his original design in the Cizeta-Moroder V16T.

 

The car became known as the Diablo, carrying on Lamborghini's tradition of naming its cars after breeds of fighting bull. The Diablo was named after a ferocious bull raised by the Duke of Veragua in the 19th century, famous for fighting an epic battle with 'El Chicorro' in Madrid on July 11, 1869. In the words of Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, the Diablo was designed "solely to be the biggest head-turner in the world."

 

The development is believed to have cost a total of 6 billion Italian lira.

 

Diablo VT Roadster

 

1995-1998 Lamborghini Diablo VT Roadster

 

The Diablo VT Roadster was introduced in December 1995 and featured an electrically operated carbon fiber targa top which was stored above the engine lid when not in use. Besides the roof, the roadster's body was altered from the fixed-top VT model in a number of ways. The front bumper was revised, replacing the quad rectangular driving lamps with two rectangular and two round units. The brake cooling ducts were moved inboard of the driving lamps and changed to a straked design, while the rear ducts featured the vertical painted design seen on the SE30.

 

The engine lid was changed substantially in order to vent properly when the roof panel was covering it. The roadster also featured revised 17 inch wheels. The air intakes on top/sides were made larger than the coupe Diablos. In 1998 the wheels have been updated to 18 inch, and the engine power raised to 530 HP by adding the variable valve timing system. Top speed specification was raised to 335 km/h (208 mph).

 

In 1999 the dashboard received a major optical update by Audi, and the pop-up headlights were replaced by fixed headlights, same as for the coupés. This resulted in a better aerodynamic shape and modern optics.

 

[Text from Wikipedia]

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamborghini_Diablo

 

This Lego miniland scale Lamborghini Diablo VT Roadster has been created for Flickr LUGNuts' 96th Build Challenge - The 8th Birthday, titled - 'Happy Crazy Eight Birthday, LUGNuts' - where all previous build challenges are available to build to. This model is built to the LUGNuts 92nd build challenge, - "Stuck in the 90s" featuring vehicles from the decade of the 1990s