PANHARD ET LEVASSOR (France) 1889-1967
Having acquired French rights to the Daimler engine, the engineers
Panhard et Levassor built their first car in 1891. It was rear-engined,
but Levassor soon developed the basic layout of front engine beneath
a bonnet driving the rear wheels which was followed by most subsequent
constructors.
The Daimler vee-twin was succeeded in 1895 by Panhard's 2.4-litre
vertical-twin Phenix engine, their mainstay for many years. In 1898,
Panhard introduced a four-cylinder power unit. Successful in racing,
Panhard won the 1894 Paris-Rouen, 1896 Paris-Marseille-Paris, 1898
Paris-Amsterdam and the 1899 Tour de France. Panhard built a wide
range of cars in the early 1900s, including a 1.8-litre three-cylinder
8/11 cv.
In l906 they presented a 50cv four-cylinder of 10.5 litres and a
six-cylinder of 11 litres. In 1909, Panhard had no fewer than four
different models: a 25 cv six of 4962cc, four-cylinder 15 cv (3380cc)
and 10 cv (2412cc) models and a Phenix twin-cylinder of 1206cc.
In 1910 the Phenix disappeared; new models included a six-cylinder
28 cv of 6597cc and a four-cylinder 25 cv (5231cc) as well as a
4398cc 20 cv with a Knight sleeve-valve engine. Another sleeve-valve
model, of 2613cc, came in 1912. From that date, the sleeve-valve
Knight engine was dominant at Panhard: a 35 cv of 7363cc was soon
added to the line-up. In 1914, the first Panhard sleeve-valve six,
a 6597cc 30 cv, was presented.
After the war, Panhard resumed production with the 2280cc 10 cv
poppet-valve model but soon returned to Knight-engined cars. In
1922 they introduced a small version of the 10 cv sleeve-valve of
1187cc. In 1925 all Panhards were sleeve-valve engined, from the
four-cylinder 10, 16 and 20 cv to the eight-cylinder 35 cv (6355cc);
that year, the 10 cv was enlarged to 1480cc. In 1927 another six-cylinder,
the 2344cc 20/60 cv was made. Another eight-cylinder Panhard was
built in the 1930s but this 5-litre car proved a failure. The range
at that time was based on the 16/45 cv 1 ·8-litre and the 18/SOcv
2.3-litre.
A futuristic touch came with the astonishing Dynamic of 1937: it
had three seats at the front with the steering in the centre, backbone
chassis and faired-in headlamps and wheels. It was offered in 2.5-litre,
2.7-litre and 3.8-litre forms.
After the war, a complete change in policy resulted in the small
fwd 610cc air-cooled flat-twin "Dyna", enlarged to 750cc in 1950
and 800cc in 1952. A sports car, the "Junior", was evolved from
the Dyna in 1952. The last Panhard was the 24CT coupé launched in
1964. When Citroën took over Panhard in 1967, the factory was forced
to stop making cars but the production of armored cars under the
Panhard name still continues.
More
about Panhard today: www.panhard.fr
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