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1940 Cadillac La Salle Shop Manual

1940 shop manual for Cadillac/La Salle. 8-1/2" by 11" format, soft covers. 80 pages. Original (not a reprint). Released by Cadillac Motor Car Division, General Motors, Detroit Michigan. Instructions for various repairs, along with numberous black and white photos.

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After the First World War, Parisian Edouard Ballot, a manufacturer of automotive and stationary gasoline engines, decided to enhance his firm’s reputation by entering the spot of auto racing.

Engines of his own make were totally unsuited to the high speed demands of racing. Hence, Ballot hired the brilliant Swiss automotive engineer Ernest Henry, who had designed the first truly modern, high-revolution engines for the prewar Peugeot grand prix racers. It is said that Ballot announced his decision to go into racing on Christmas Eve 1918 and instructed Henry to have a team of four cars ready for the Indianapolis 500-mile race the following May.

Henry designed the new Ballot cars around a large new engine of just under five liters. Like the Peugeot, it featured double overhead camshafts, inclined overhead valves and twin carburetors. Unlike the four-cylinder Peugeots, however, the Ballot Indianapolis cars are straight eights developing about 130 horsepower.

Remarkably, Henry completed construction of the four cars in late April of 1919, and they were shipped to America. In his haste to compete, however, Ballot failed to provide his cars with complete spare parts—an oversight that was to doom the marque’s chances at Indianapolis.

Assigned to drive the Ballots were four of the finest racing drivers in France—Albert Guyot, Paul Bablot, Louis Wagner and the great René Thomas. When time trials opened for the 1919 running of the Indianapolis 500, the Ballots were clearly the fastest cars on track. Thomas set a new lap record of 104.7 miles per hour, some five miles per hour faster than the old mark.

However, the Ballots’ gearing proven unsuited to the long race around the 2 1/2 –mile oval at Indianapolis. And since the team did not bring extra rear axles with alternate gear ratios, it was forced to fit their cars with smaller American-made wheels—on which the Ballots were never designed to run. And, although they were very fast, the cars didn’t run as well as expected at Indianapolis. The best finisher among the Ballot drivers was Guyot, who brought his car home in fourth place.

The Ballot firm went on to achieve racing success in later years with smaller cars—notably in the Italian Grand Prix near Brescia in 1921. After a close but unsuccessful try in the Targa Florio race in November 1919 the 4.9-liter cars were relegated to competing in hill-climbing events.

Ballot continued to build sports and touring cars throughout the 1920s, but the firm went out of existence in the early 1930s.

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Toward the end of 1902, preparations were already under way for the organization of a Paris-Madrid race. When the list of entries was closed on may 16, 1903, the number of competitors in all categories (heavy cars, light cars, voiturettes and motorcycles) had reached  278. One hundred fourteen vehicles in the heavy car category the mercedes cars, some of which were the new 90 horsepower model, rated as the favorites.

The Mors, which had participated in the 1902 Paris-Vienna race, had been a disappointment, but the 1903 racing model was bigger and more powerful. The coachwork was reminiscent of a boat hull, the capacity of the fuel tank had been increased and its 70 horsepower motor was equipped with mechanically operated overhead inlet-valves.

The builders tried to give their machines the maximum power possible while remaining within the authorized weight limits. The chassis were lightened and safety devices were almost non-existent to save weight for heavy, powerful engines. Efforts to make the cars lighter weakened some of them so much that they were incapable of sustaining the high speeds demanded of them.

The crowds began to gather the evening before the race. It was scheduled to start at versailles at 3.30 in the a.m, but the start was delayed. At that time, about 100,000 persons were piling up along the line of cars waiting to leave at intervals of one minute in the dawn fog. Already it was becoming impossible to control the spectators, who were getting closer and closer to the cars and would not move aside except to let them pass before closing their ranks again. At the first checkpoint located at Rambouillet, the mors driven by Fernand Gabriel, the 63rd car to leave the starting line, had already passed about 25 cars. Speed of more than 84 mph were recorded - a speed never before attained in long distance races.

At Angouleme, Gabriel was in 11th place. There had already been a fatal accident but it was on the tortuous road between Libourne and Bordeaux that a series of tragedies took place Foolhardy spectators and clouds of blinding dust masked the turns, and fatal accidents happened one after the other. As the drivers entered Bordeaux, it was learned that the French and Spanish government had decided to stop the race. It was agreed that no official results would be drawn up and only the elapsed times would be published. Thus Gabriel took first place with an average speed of 40.2 mph. Subsequent long-distance races were to be much better organized and controlled for officials would not forget the sad example of the Paris Madrid race.

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 In 1948 the young automotive designer Colin Chapman began racing in a modified Austin Seven. In each year following, Chapman's various modified cars diverged more and more from their originalsources. The Mark 2, his second car, incorporated a Ford 10 engine and a beefed-up frame. HisMark 3, a 750-formula car produced in 1951, sooutperformed its rivals that major rule changes had to be made in formula racing because of it.

Chapman's cars continued to improve, and by 1952 they were no longer modified from base cars, but were built from components. By this time, they were dominating virtually all of the events they entered. In 1954, for example, Peter Gammon drove a Lotus Mark 6 to 14 victories out of 17 races entered. In 1956 the Mark 11 brought major victories to eight different drivers.

Each time a Lotus car was modified, it was assigned a new Mark number. Lotus cars of different Mark designations frequently won various classes of races simultaneously. In 1962, for example, different Lotus models dominated the formula juniors and two classes of sports-car racing.

Perhaps the finest—and certainly the best¬known—of the long line of Lotus racing machines was the Mark 72, introduced in 1970. With the Austrian driver Jochen Rindt at the wheel, the Mark 72 Formula One car won the first four races it entered. During practice laps for the fifth race, the Italian Grand Prix, a spectacular and tragic crash took Rindt's life. Rindt was awarded the World Championship posthumously, but the Lotus team found itself without a first-class driver, so the talented—but largely inexperienced—Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi took the job. During the remainder of the 1970 season and even through the following one, Fittipaldi was apparently having trouble getting used to his car, for the Mark 72 made a series of disappointing showings. Chapman and Fittipaldi therefore collaborated on certain minor design changes in preparation for the 1972 racing season

.When the new Lotus, the JPS 72, was unveiled at the start of the 1972 season, it had brand-new identity. The relaxation of a previous ban on advertising borne by racing cars had permitted the Lotus sponsors, John Player cigarettes, to turn the car into what amounted to the world's fastest bill¬board. It enabled driver Emerson Fittipaldi to enjoy his finest season, winning five Grand Prix races and a World Championship. In 1973 the Lotus scored many brilliant successes, with Fittipaldi winning in Argentina, Brazil and Spain. Ronnie Peterson won the French, Austrian, Italian and United States-East races in the Lotus JPS 72. This same year a Lotus also won the prestigious Constructor's Championship.

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The earliest of the American road classics, the Vanderbilt Cup race, was at first dominated by experienced European drivers and their most sophisticated cars. However in 1905 with the second running of the vanderbilt Cup, a Locomobile came in third - the first time ever that an American car had placed in an international competition. Thus encouraged, a number of American manufactures  expressed interest in developing entries for the 1906 Vanderblt, and 12 of their cars were chosen as starters in the 297-mile elimination race. The Locomobile Company, intent on bettering its winning reputation, produced two cars designed by A.L Riker at a cost of $40,000, the faster of which would be driven in the competition by the skillful Joe Tracy.

A 90-horsepower Locomobile with Tracy at the wheel won the elimination over seven other American cars, and was chosen as one of the team representing the United States. But on the day of the big race it was dogged by misfortune-first by the need for tire changes (11 in all) and then by a skidding accident. When the race was finally stopped because of foolhardy spectators crowding onto the track, Tracy and his Locombile were in tenth place.

There was no Vanderbilt race in 1907, but the Locomobile Company was ready to meet the challenge in the 1908 event. Both 1906 cars had been meticulously prepared, and to avoid the previous tire problem, experimental runs had been made with several brands of tires. Removable rims were now mounted on all four wheels to reduce whatever time might be required for changes.

Since Tracy had retired from active competition, George Robertson, a young New Yorker, was chosen to drive No.16, with Jim Florida at the wheel of the other Locomobile entry. American manufactures were becoming more and more competitive, and though the race retained its international flavor, only seven of the 19 cars entered were European. Robertson set a fierce pace right from the starting line. A blowout in the fourth lap cut his lead, but at the 140-mile mark he was again out in front. His ruthlessly tight cornering cost him dearly on the last lap when he threw a tire and spend precious seconds changing it. But a 100-mph sprint narrowed spend  precious seconds changing it. But a 100-mph sprint narrowed the gap between the Loco and its one remaining adversary, and "Old 16" achieved a breathtaking victory. An average speed of 64.3 mph made this race the fastest Vanderbilt Cup race yet run. "Old 16" - a stock car finely tuned and striped for racing - had given the new American automobile industry a great boost in its climb toward world -wide recognition.

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Early road races usually took place over routes between major cities in Europe. But in 1907  the Paris newspaper Le Matin sponsored a far more demanding event - a transcontinental race between Peking, China and Paris, France. This competition took the entries across the deserts of central Asia, through mountain passes thousands of feet in elevation and along the most primitive of trails.

In 1907 Itala earned a place among the great racing cars of all time by winning this epic event. This rugged automobile  had a 35-40 horsepower engine, a four-speed gearbox and a shaft drive. It was a production car with only a few modifications for the race. The gearbox, for example, was made of tough nickel steel and survived the entire race with no signs of wear. The chassis which also emerged unscathed, was made of girder steel somewhat thicker than that used for regular production models. In addition a supplementary fan was added to provide extra cooling, but  this was removed after the race was under way. Another special feature, a large chest full of spare parts, was also discarded to save weight. In preparation for traveling long distances through sparsely settled territory, the car was equipped with extra gas, oil and water capacity. Its tires were larger than those ordinarily used on production models, and this proved to be a big advantage in negotiating rough terrain.

The owner of the car was Prince Scipione Borghese, a wealthy Italian with a penchant for adventure and fine automobiles. He was familiar with central Asia, having explored the Pamir Mountains and having followed the course of rivers in Siberia to the pacific Ocean. A member of the Italian Parliament, he became a national hero after carrying the Italian colors triumphantly into Paris as the winner of the Peking-Paris Race.

Ettore Guizzardi, the prince's chief chauffeur and mechanic, and journalist Luigi Barzini accompanied the prince during the race. Guizzardi was an expert mechanic Who could dismantle the 1907 Itala and reassemble it in a matter of hours, and Barzini wrote regular accounts of the race that captured the attention of readers throughout italy and England, for his dispatches appeared in both the Milan Corriere della Sera and the London Daily Telegraph.

Competing against both French and Dutch cars, Itala completed the race in 60 days. Aside from broken springs, which delayed the car while replacements were installed in Moscow, the Itala performed magnificently throughout the transcontinental trek. It was a great triumph for Itala, for the prince and for Italy as well as  it marked the emergence of the Italian auto industry as a contender for world leadership.
     

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The best known and most successful of all the steam-powered cars, the Stanley steamer was a product of the genius of Freelan O. and Francis E.Stanley. The brothers built their first steam car in 1897 and created a sensation everywhere they drove it. By created a sensation everywhere they drove it. By 1899 three more Stanley cars had been built, and one was driven to the top of mount Washington in new Hampshire, a tortuous ten-mile climb no other automobile had been able to complete until this time.

In 1905 the brothers began to enter speed trials held on the sandy beaches of the Florida coast. With Francis Stanley at the wheel, one of the steamers defeated a front-wheel-drive Christie, and a driver named Louis Ross drove a steamer to a new record of 38 seconds in the mile run.

Impressive as they were, these achievements were only preparation for the Stanley's all-out-assault on speed records during 1906 and 1907. For their racing campaign that year the brothers designed an unusual new  car with a streamlined boat like body. Its gasoline-fired boiler with a streamlined boat like body. Its gasoline-fired boiler, with a flue projecting through the top of the car was located behind the driver. The boiler had 1,476 tubes with 265 square feet of heating area to convert water to steam. At 800 pounds of pressure per square inch, the horizontal two-cylinder Stanley engine could produce 50 horsepower for a distance of ten miles.

Fred Marriott, one of the brother's longtime employees, drove the 1906 Stanley to victory in the Dewer Cup mile and the five-mile Open Championship. Marriott then entered the annals of automotive history by driving the Stanley to a new world land speed record. His speed of 127.56 miles per hour in the mile run and 121.57 miles per hour over a kilometer shattered the previous records by almost 20miles per hour.

In 1907 an even faster Stanley steamer appeared on the Florida sands. Called the Rocket. it looked like its predecessor. The similarity was only skin deep, however, for with a boiler that could sustain a pressure of 1,300 pounds per square inch, it represented the ultimate in early 20th-century steam technology.

Unfortunately, on its first attempt to set a new speed record, the car encountered a rough area in the sand and crashed. Marriott, who was behind the wheel, was injured and the car was destroyed. According to time recorded on F.E Stanley's stopwatch and measurements of the distance covered, Marriott would have reached a speed of 150 miles per hour, had he completed his run. Despite the crash. it was a remarkable achievement, but it spelled the end of the Stanley brother's racing careers. From then on they concentrated on building the steam-powered passenger cars for which they were so justly famed.

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The 1908 Benz finished second in the Grand Prix de France and was the first in a series of racing cars with outstanding performance.

Benzes achieved impressive results in the early years of automobile racing. Later, when karl Benz retired, the directors of the business decided in 1908 to commence a comprehensive program of racing competition.

Fritz Erle, who had scored many triumphs at the wheel of a Benz, was put in charge of the racing department. He had at his command two outstanding French drivers, Victor Hemery and Rene Hanriot, who went to work with an engineering division headed by Georg Diehl to create a new Grand Prix automobile. Louis de Groulart, one of the designers, got the lion's share of the credit for developing the large four-cylinder engine which made the 1908 Benz a competitor to be reckoned with.

The car these men designed and built was entirely traditional in its conception. But such attention was paid to each part that the 1908 Benz was able to deliver extremely high performance. The chassis, for example, never broke down once in 15 years of competition. The overhead valve engine was a marvel of precision and reliability, attaining 160 horsepower at 1500 rpm. Like most of the other great racing cars of the period, the 1908 Benz had a chain drive.

On may 19, 1908, the Benz received its competitive baptism on the occasion of one of the year's most difficult races. It was a starter in the 435-mile St Petersburg-Moscow race, which took place on roads regarded as the worst in the world. With Hemery at the wheel, the car finished first, averaging 51.4 mph.

But the decisive race, the Grand Prix of the French Automobile Club, was still to be run. Benz entered three cars, with Erle as the third driver. On the fourth lap of the ten-lap race, Hemery moved out in front. And soon the race became a close-fought duel between his Benz and a Mercedes which succeeded in taking a slight lead in the fifth lap. By the seventh lap Hemery was holding steadily 51 seconds behind ready for the final sprint to the finish line. On the ninth lap, a stupid accident occurred to jeopardize his chances for victory: a stone sent flying by a wheel broke his glasses, which forced him to stop for a medical examination. Even so he was able to start up again, but had to be content with second place. With Hanriot finishing in third place and Erle in seventh, the Benzes were the only three-car team to finish the whole race.

Many observers thought at the time that Hemery, with the second best time per lap and his excellent position in the race, deserved to win. But even though victory had eluded it, the 1908 Benz had made a superb showing which augured well for the future of Benz in competition.           

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Of all the events on the international calender of automobile racing, none has been more demanding of men and motorcars over the years than the 24 Hours of Le mans. And perhaps no running of that classic race for production cars was more difficult and dangerous than the very first-held on may and dangerous than the very first-held on may 26-27, 1923. The site for the race was a ten-mile circuit of open roads located just outside the city of Le mans, about 96 miles southwest of Paris.

Since the rules required all cars entered to be production models that anyone could purchase for street use, the sponsoring Automobile Club of the West insisted that each vehicle be equipped with such standard features as headlights, hood strap, spare wheel and horn. All cars entered also had to meet minimum performance standards. Three-liter cars, for example, had to be able to maintain an average speed of 31.8 miles per hour, while those with two-liter engines had to be able to average at least 30 miles per hour.

At first, French auto makers were reluctant to enter such a long endurance race. There was little to be gained and much prestige to be lost if their cars broke down or failed to finish the 24-hour event. Finally, however, 18 manufacturers, including one English and one Belgian firm,agreed to take part in the first 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The sponsors had scheduled the race for early spring in the hope of having fair weather, But when the 33 entries lined up for the start on may 26, a torrential rain was falling-and continued to fall throughout the entire race.

Undaunted the drivers set out over what was soon to become a muddy, rutted quagmire. Despite the foul weather, as many as 40,000 spectators braved the elements-and possible injury-to line the entire race course for the full 24 hours.

On through the long night the cars raced, their headlights flashing through the driving rain. Relief  drivers took over and were, in turn replaced by the starting drivers. At the end of the grueling 24 hours on may 27, the judges declared the winner to be No.9, a French built, three-liter Chenard-Walcker, which covered a distance of 1,325.62 miles at an average speed of just over 57 miles per hour.

Remarkably, the inaugural running of the 24 Hours of Le mans ended without a single serious accident. Even more remarkable, of the 33 cars that started the race, Only three failed to finish it.

Ironically, while the 24 Hours of Le Mans has become the world's greatest production car race, the winning car has faded from automotive history.

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In the long history of the automobile, no maker of motorcars-Henry Ford and Ettore Bugatti not excepted-displayed more genius than did the French automotive pioneer Gabriel Voisin.

During his amazing career, Voisin produced more than 27,000 automobiles, and it was said that no two of them were exactly alike. During the first world war, Aeroplanes G. Voisin turned out nearly 11,000 combat airplanes for the French armed forces. They were, incidentally, the first all-metal airplanes ever constructed.

Voisin's aircraft factory began tooling up for automobile production in June of 1918, even before the war in Europe had ended. And his expensive, radically designed cars were built until the outbreak of world war ll.

One of Voisin's proudest moments came in 1923. The company had planed  to enter a small six-cylinder car that produced a modest 75 horsepower in that year's  Touring Car Grand prix of France. But when the rules for the race were published, Voisin learned that no form of streamlining would be allowed. The volatile Voisin, whose cars were among the most rakish being built in Europe at a that time, was incensed at what he considered a direct and unfair attempt to keep him from competing in the event.

Reacting in typical fashion, Voisin entered his car instead in the Formula! Grand Prix, If he could not race against other touring cars, Voisin would pit his automobile against the finest pure racing cars in the world.

His impulsive decision left him only six months to create a Grand prix racing car. Working feverishly, Voisin drew on his experience as an airplane manufacturer to design a revolutionary body consisting of an ash framework covered by aluminum. It was the world's first Monocoque automobile body, and it weighed only 84 pounds. The  car itself was so low that its highest point was only three feet four inches above the ground. Enveloped by the monocoque. while its front wheels tracked 57 inches Voisin's car incorporated so many new concepts that it was dubbed the Laboratoire.

Although the car was extremely advanced in design and construction, its engine was more suited to the highway than the race track. Voisin used the dependable and smooth-running knight six-cylinder engine to power his Grand Prix racer while it performed well in everyday driving,it was no match for high-speed engines built exclusively for racing.

Voisin had no illusion about winning the 1923 Grand Prix, but of the 18 cars that started that year's race, 13 failed to finish. Among the finishers, however, was the Voisin driven by Lefebvre-which crossed the line in fifth place, a triumph of sorts for the plucky French designer.

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From the very inception of Grand Prix racing, every successive year brought continual design changes in the cars themselves. Many of the innovations  failed miserably.Some achieved limited success. And others significantly changed the trend of Grand Prix racing-car design.

In 1968 a number of Grand Prix cars, notably Brabhams and Ferraris, appeared at the starting line with rudimentary wings attached by struts over their engine bays. The angle of the wings created an airflow that forced the vehicles' noses to the roadway with dramatically increased pressure. The greater the vehicle's speed, the greater the pressure—and hence, the better the tires' grip on the road surface. This was achieved without adding any extra weight.

So effective was the new design that by the end of 1969 many cars appeared with wings so unwieldy that they actually interfered with stability. Therefore, regulations limiting the size and construction of wings were put into effect. By the mid¬1970s the wings were an integral part of Grand Prix car design.

In 1976, while researching a replacement for the obsolete but well-loved Type 72, Lotus designers Colin Chapman, Peter Wright and Tony Rudd decided that the wing concept could be taken even further: that air traveling under the car could be harnessed just as effectively as air flowing over it. On this assumption they designed a new wing system. The Type 78 featured somewhat lengthened wings that were incorporated into a skirt system. Airflow under the wings could not escape at the sides and was, therefore, forced under and behind the vehicle. This moving air created an improved downdraft, resulting in even greater efficiency in the car's ability to grip the track—the so-called "ground effect." The new design's success was astonishing, and only mid¬season engine troubles prevented the Lotus from winning the World Championship.

Despite the success of the Type 78, 1977 had merely been a development year. For 1978 an improved version, designated the Type 79, was unveiled. As expected, the new Lotus dominated the circuit, winning the World Championship for Lotus, Mario Andretti and teammate Ronnie Peterson, and establishing a new era of design: that of "ground effect" race cars
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In addition to the remarkable aerodynamics, the Type 79 boasted other advantages. It was powered by a proven fuel-injected Cosworth-Ford DFV engine, a 2,993-cubic-centimeter, 90-degree V-8 that developed 480 horsepower. The popular Hewland FG400 five-speed transmission was used as a load-bearing chassis member. The chassis itself weighed a remarkably scant 86 pounds and the entire car, race-ready, weighed no more than 1,268 pounds.

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The holder of several speed records, the 1910 "Blitzen Benz, "driven by Barney Oldfield, competed throughout the United states, and became a legend in the annals of American motorcar racing.

Early in 1909, victor Hemery, a Benz driver, obtained from his employer authorization to design and construct an automobile fast enough to break the world speed record, which Hemery had established at over 109 mph in 1905. Several cars had already gone faster, although their performance had not always been officially recognized.

To produce his meteor, Hemery modified the four-cylinder Grand Prix Benz, increasing the bore to bring the capacity up to 21.5 liters. In addition, he installed cast-iron pistons to boost the compression ratio. Thanks to these improvements, the motor developed 200 horsepower at 1,600 r.p.m.
 
This huge engine was mounted on a standard "Benz Grand Prix" chassis and the car was sent to Belgium for acceleration tests .There it broke the record for the standing kilometer.

Shortly afterward, on the banked speed track that had just been opened at Brooklands, England, Hermery launched his attack on the land speed record. On November 8, 1909, he set a new official record for the flying mile with a speed of 125.946 mph.

The Benz had given proof of its potential, and work began immediately on a body specially designed for attempts on speed records. With this new streamlined body and a slightly shorter wheelbase, the Benz left for the United States. It was to be driven  by Barney Oldfield at Daytona Beach, Florida. On march 16, 1910, with a speed of 132 mph, Oldfield shattered the record for the flying mile in one direction, which had been held until then by the stanley Steamer. As Oldfield did not achieve the same performance in both directions, his record was not officially recognized, but he repeated his feat on march 23 and received official recognition, being credited with 131.275mph for the flying mile.

After this success, Oldfield took the Benz across the United States, matching it, on state and county fairgrounds, against cars driven by other Benz drivers. In the course of this tour, Oldfield's car, which had originally been called "Lightning Benz," was renamed "Blitzen Benz"(Which means the same thing in German) by a team member.
      
And this powerful car had not finished breaking records. In 1911, with Bob Burman at the wheel, it reached 141.7 mph for the flying mile, an unofficial record since Burman traveled in one direction. This for its time, was a remarkable achievement, since the fastest plane could not achieve better than half that speed. Modified versions of this Benz raced successfully during the 1920s. And today a Blitzen model occupies a place of honor in the Daimler-Benz Museum.

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1900 Panhard et Levassor M4E

Before the advent of closed course racing, the early "horseless carriages" competed in round-trip races between cities. The first such race took place in France in 1895 over the dusty, rutted public roads between Paris and Bordeaux. Even though automobiles at that time were far from reliable, this historic race covered a distance of 732 miles, including the return trip to Paris, and the cars were expected to run nonstop both day and night.

Sponsored by one of France's largest daily newspapers Le Petit Journal, the race attracted 97 applicants and 46 valid entrants. Yet only 23 were able to gather at l'Arc de Triomphe in Paris for the procession to the starting line in Versailles. A number of these either broke down before the start or shortly thereafter, leaving only 20 oddly assorted vehicles in the competition. Among them were two Roger-Benzes, two Serpolets, three Peugots, four Panhard-Levassors, two De Dion-Bouton steam carriages, the Michelin brothers prototype car with pneumatic ties, a Jentand "electric" and Amand Bollee's massive steam omnibus La Nouvelle dating from 1880.

Early in the race, the steam-powered vehicles charged into the lead. But close on their heels was number five, a Panhard-Levassor driven by Emile Levassor himself. This advanced little two-seater (which could not officially win the race since the rules required four seats) was powered by a newly designed two-cylinder engine called the Phoenix. Although the "racing" version generated only 4.2 horsepower, this remarkable engine broke down only once and powered the Panhard-Levassor to an average speed  of 15 mph.

By the time Levassor reached Etampes, the first official checkpoint, he was in the lead. At Tours, about halfway to Bordeaux, he was an hour and a half out in front. Driving straight through the night, he arrived at Ruffec so far ahead of schedule that his relief crew had not yet arrived, and he was forced to continue to Bordeaux. He had been driving for more than 22 hours when he arrived there,  but he never left his seat during a four-minute pause for refueling. On his return through Ruffac, he was greeted by his waiting relief crew, but Levassor, determined to complete the race without assistance, waved them off. At Poitiers, when the ignition timing mechanism became jammed with dust, Levassor and his passenger made their only stop for repairs. Within 20 minutes they were on their way to Paris, where they finished almost five hours ahead of the second-place car.

Although Levassor, who was 52 years of age at the time, had been driving practically without a break for 48 hours and 48 minutes, he seemed none the worse for the wear. Later he made his winning Panhard-Levassor the basis for an improved production car that helped make his firm a leader in the early years of motoring.

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Cars entering the 1913 Grand Prix held at Amiens, France could not weigh more than 2,425 pounds and were allowed no more than 20 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers. Since this required a fuel economy of just over 14 miles per gallon, Grand prix cars with huge inefficient engines were unable to enter the race.

No manufacturer was better prepared for these restrictions than Peugeot, for in 1912 the firm had introduced a new four-cylinder engine that represented an important engineering breakthrough. This remarkable engine, which established the pattern for subsequent engines in the years in the years ahead, was the result of close co-operation between three top drivers and a Swiss engineer. The drivers-Georges Boillot, Jules Goux and Paolo zuccarelli-conceived many of the engine's unique features, and engineer Ernest Henry prepared the necessary drawings and contributed some ideas of his own.

The 7.6-liter engine they produced was far smaller than the massive engines then commonly used in Grand Prix cars. Yet it was so well designed that it could outperform engines twice its size. It ran at unusually high speeds and featured hemispherical combustion chambers and four valves per cylinder, operated by twin overhead camshafts. In 1913 the engine was reduced to 5.6 liters and improved for even better performance.In addition, the Peugeot itself was streamlined and weigh was reduced.

The 1913 French Grand Prix was held on an 19.65-mile circuit, and cars had to travel a distance of 580 miles. Since there was a series of tight corners on the circuit, competing cars required excellent handling, as well as speed and durability, to remain in contention.

Scheduled to start at five a.m, the race was delayed for half an hour until the morning fog cleared. Then, at intervals of one minute, the cars left the starting line. Peugeots, driven by Boillot and Goux were in the lead followed by a sunbeam. When Boillot had to make minor repairs, the sunbeam occupied second place, but at the half way mark a Delage was in the lead.

Then, When an accident slowed the Delage, Boillot went to the front and finished first with an average speed of 72.12 miles per hour. Two and a quarter minutes later, Goux crossed the finish line in second place well ahead of the third place sunbeam. It was the first time in racing history that cars of the same make had finished first and second in a Grand Prix race. This accomplishment demonstrated the superiority of Peugeot's advanced four-cylinder engine and contributed to the demise of the giant, slow-turning engines that had powered previous Grand Prix cars.           

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The 1923 two-liter Sunbeam, which became the first British racing car ever to win an Grand Prix, has been referred to as "the Fiat in green paint. "for some observers believed it shared many features with the 1922 Fiat Grand Prix racer. Actually any similarities originated with the man the sunbeam motor Company of Wolverhampton, England, hired to design its 1923 Bertarione had designed the highly successful Fiat type 804 Grand prix racer.

The 1923 sunbeam had a six-cylinder, in-line engine with a total displacement of 1,988 cubic centimeters. With two overhead camshafts operating two valves per cylinder, the engine produced 102 horsepower of 5,000 rpm. Drive was through a three-speed gearbox and an open final shaft, and the car had a maximum speed of just under 110 miles per hour.

After they were successfully tested at England's Brooklands circuit, four 1923 sunbeams were shipped across the channel. Then they were driven to the French Grand prix circuit at Tours under their own power.

The cars to beat at Tours were those same supercharged eight-cylinder Fiat Type 804s designed in 1922 by Bertarione. The Fiats were clearly faster than the Sunbeams, as they convincingly proved during the early stages of the race. But, one by one, the Italian cars dropped out of the running, their supercharges clogged with the dirt thrown up by the cars they passed along the way. As the Fiats fell by the wayside, a Sunbeam driven by Kenelm Lee Guiness became the first British car ever to lead a Grand Prix.

In the  end, a sunbeam driven by the famed Henry Segrave was first across the finish line, covering the 496-mile distance at an average speed of 75.3 miles per hour. Two other sunbeams finished in second and fourth places. Later in that same year, Albert Divo won the 248.5-mile Spanish Grand Prix in a two-liter Sunbeam. Divo s' victory turned out to be the last major Grand prix win for a British-built car for more than 30 years.

Sunbeam returned to Grand prix racing in 1924 with cars quite similar to the racers they entered during the 1923 season. A four-speed transmission had replaced the three-speed gearbox, and the cars were slightly longer and wider in wheelbase and track. They had also gained about 300 pounds in weight. The big improvement, however and raised top speed to 125 miles per hour.

Although they were competitive, the 1924 sunbeam were not winners, and the firm gradually lost interest in international racing. Segrave's victory at Tours remains Sunbeam's greatest moment in Grand Prix competition.

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  Louis Delage was born in France in 1874. He worked for the Peugeot Com pany as a draftsman before starting his  own automotive empire on a modest scale in 1905. Throughout 
the course of its history, the Delage Company concentrated on building luxurious, rather expensive, but usually very fast touring cars. Delage entered his cars in European racing  competitions and enjoyed considerable early success.

By 1926, the Grand Prix formula for racing automobiles had changed. Racing officials were disturbed at the increasing speed of race cars and decided to reduce the engine 
capacity from 2 liters to 1.5 liters. In order to continue his participation in racing, Delage instructed his designer, Albert Lory, to develop a car that would fit the new 1.5-liter ruling. The 
result was the 1927 Delage automobile, one of the most expensive and technically advanced machines of its time. In appearance, it was remarkable for its low overall height. Lory 
used an offset monoposto layout, the engine, transmission and differential being offset to the left. The driver sat very low on the right with the drive shaft extending alongside him at 
hip height. Lory also took advantage of improved road conditions by designing the new car for a ground clearance of only four inches.

There were innovations in the design of the en¬gine as well. The straight-eight-cylinder pow¬erplant yielded 170 horsepower at 8,000 revolutions per minute. In keeping with the 
standard operating procedure, the block and head were integral, but it was unusual in that all eight cylinders were cast in one piece. The engine had twin over¬head camshafts, each 
running in nine roller races, and the one-piece crankshaft ran in nine roller bearings. The engine used a total of more than 60 roller and ball bearings. One of the most extraordinary 
aspects of the inner workings of the car was that Lory managed to include 19 timing gears in the engine (and an additional four in the original 1926 supercharged layout), which was 
probably some sort of a record.

When the car first appeared in public in 1926, however, it had several defects. The most serious drawback was that the automobile generated unbearable cockpit temperatures 
because of the location of the exhaust system. Lory redesigned the car to correct this problem, and the 1927 Delage became invincible. During 1927, the Delage au¬tomobile won 
the French, Spanish, European and RAC Grands Prix.

Despite his outstanding record, Louis Delage withdrew from the racing scene at the end of 1927 and ceased all design and production of any additional Delage racing cars. His prize-winning 1927 Delage automobiles were eventually sold to private owners, some of whom continued to enter them in racing events.

 

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Harry Miller introduced his first racing engine in 1916, and for most of the next 22 years his engines and cars were to dominate American racing. Miller had entered the racing scene as a carburetor manufacturer with a small plant in California. His carburetor was well adapted for high-speed performance, and soon Miller and his employee Fred Offenhauser, who had joined Miller in 1913, began to work on racing engines. In 1920 Miller teamed up with Offenhauser and engineer Leo Goosen to develop a straight-eight engine with overhead valves, twin overhead camshafts and a displacement of 183 cubic inches. In 1922 a Duesenberg powered by this engine won the Indianapolis 500 and four other major American races as well. In 1923, in response to rule changes, Millers introduced a new 122-cubic-inch straight-eight engine and again won the 500. In addition, Miller-built cars captured six of the first seven places that year. Although Miller-built cars failed to win the 500 in 1924 and 1925, they placed second both years and several finished among the top ten.

Then in 1926 another rule change prompted the introduction of the Miller "91," which many still regard as the most beautiful racing car of all time. Although its 91-cubic-inch engine was considerably smaller, it was supercharged, and it reflected the expertise Miller had acquired during his many years if racing experience.

Even so, when the "91" made its debut during qualifying trails at Indianapolis, its performance was disappointing. Several "91s" were entered, and only one even approached the lap record established in 1924. However, Frank Lockhart, who had taken the wheel of a "91" for a few practice laps, was selected to substitute for one of the "91" drivers who became ill on the eve of the race. Although Lockhart started toward the rear of the pack, he drove with such elan that by the fourth lap he was in fourth place. At this point the inexperienced Lockhart wisely held back, content to let veteran drivers set the pace. Then, for one reason or another, the leaders were forced to drop out, and Lockhart found himself out in front of the entire field. Bad weather plagued Indianapolis that day, and after a rain delay, the race had to be stopped at the 400-mile mark. Lockhart, who had managed to retain a two-lap lead, was declared the winner, and Miller "91s" garnered nine out of the first ten placed. Only a Duesenberg, which finished fifth, was able to compete with the remarkable 1926 Miller.

After his victory in the 500, Lockhart, an expert mechanic, refined the Miller engine until it produced 285 horsepower at 8,000 revolutions per minute. In 1927 he drove the "91" to a new International Class F record in the flying mile. The average speed for both legs of his required two-way run was 164 miles per hour.

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Fabrica Italiana Automobili Torino, subsequently shortened to Fiat, was founded in 1899 near Turin, Italy. Two years later the firm's founder Giovanni Agnelli hired Giovanni Enrico, an engineer whose assignment was to build racing cars. He developed fiat's first four-cylinder engine and by 1902 fiats were so reliable that a 12-horsepower model was able to travel 1,331 miles in 57 hours without stopping. That same year Enrico made fiat a name to be reckoned with in international racing with his 24-horsepower  competition model. This car, actually a test bed for new engineering developments, became the first Italian car to participate in a major international automobile race.

In the years that followed, fiats competed regularly in Gordon Bennett Trophy races, taking second and third place in 1905. Then a fiat with the great racing driver Felice Nazzaro behind the wheel finished second in the 1906 Grand prix.

The stage was set for 1907, which turned out to be a year of triumph for both Fiat and Nazarro. The firm's racing cars had become increasingly powerful with each passing year. By 1907 fiat's four cylinder, overhead-valve engine had a capacity of 15,268 cubic centimeters and a slightly shorter stroke than the engine used in 1906.

Three fiats were entered in the 1907 Grand prix held in Dieppe, France. Although the weather had been bad July 2, the day of the race, dawned clear, and the first car; a fiat driven by Vincenzo Lancia, left the starting line shortly after six a.m. He wasn't in the lead for long, however, for one of the other fiats spend to the front where it remained for three laps, when mechanically difficulty forced it out of the race. But the plucky fiat drivers were not men to give up easily.

With the third fiat, driven by Nazzaro back in the field, Lancia found himself battling with a Lorraine-Dietrich for first place. After the fifth lap both cars stopped to refuel, and Lancia was the first to get back on the track. For 200 miles the two cars, driven with a skill and daring that bordered on abandon, dueled for the lead. Then on the eighth lap the fiat gradually lost ground as its engine began to misfire. The Lorraine-Dietrich was steadily pulling away when suddenly it also broke down.

Now Nazzaro, who had been driving more conservatively, took the lead and held it to the end. Fiat had won its first Grand prix, and Nazzaro began building a reputation that would eventually earn him a place among the greatest racing drivers in history.

By the end of the year Nazzaro had won not only the Grand prix but also went on to win the kaiser pries and the Targa Floria. And he won each of these races behind the wheel of a fiat, which was well on its way to becoming one of the great marques in auto racing.

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At six a.m on July 5 the start of the 1905 Gordon - Bennett Cup took place on the circuit of Auvergne, near Clermont-Ferrand, France. The cars crossed the starting line at intervals of four minutes. The race consisted of four laps over a closed circuit of 82.4 miles. The circuit was so tortuous that the longest straight stretch was scarcely more than 880 yards, Between the highest and lowest point, the gradient reached more than 2,970 feet so that the drivers had to face a dangerous ascent and difficult descent on every lap. Speed alone was not enough to win the race, for each car had to be able to be agile enough to negotiate sharp curves and climb precipitous inclines at racing speeds.

The first driver to start was Leon Thery at the wheel of a 1905 Brasier, a French car. The hopes of France essentially rested on this driver, for he was known as steady performer. They had led a Brasier to victory in the 1904 Gordon-Bennett Cup race, a success which had earned the marque a reputation for endurance. The 1905 Brasier resembled the 1904 model a great deal, its main difference being an increased cylinder capacity bringing its power from 80 to 95 horsepower. It had a three-speed gearbox, a cone-clutch, a lateral chain transmission and a low-tension magneto.

One hour, 41 minutes and seven seconds after crossing the starting line. Thery completed his first circuit, to be followed seven minutes later by another car. Thery noted with great astonishment that it was Vincenzo Lancia's Fiat, fourth car in the lineup, which had secured a comfortable lead in actual time elapsed. Then, one after the other, the competitors were faced with mechanical difficulties. The English Napier lost its gas tank, and an American Pope-Toledo would have had to give up because of a break in the oil system if the mechanic had not held the two parts together with his own hands.

On the third lap, the fiat was beginning to increase its lead when its motor jammed. Forced to stop, the car would not start again. Thus Thery  finished first with an average speed of 46.82 mph. He drove the race with such consistency that there was a difference of only eight minutes between his slowest and fastest lap.

The people of France took special satisfaction in this seccond consecutive French victory. However, the 1905 Gordon-Bennett Cup was the last race of its kind to be held by the Automobile Club of France, which began to investigate a new type of internatioanl competition: the Grand prix of the Automobile Club of France.

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The first American-built racing car to win the Indianapolis 500 Memorial Day Classic with an eight-cylinder, in-line engine was the 1921 Frontenac. The car was conceived and built by Louis Chevrolet, the Swiss-born racer-mechanic-builder whose name lives on in the car he created to Will C. Durant, founder of General Motors.

Chevrolet was a short-tempered, star-crossed genius who came to American in 1900 after a successful career building bicycles in France—bicycles he called Frontenacs. Following a succession of jobs as driver as driver and mechanic, Chevrolet was hired by Durant in 1907, and in 1911 the two men formed the Chevrolet Motor Company. During 1912, the first full year of production, their fledgling firm was an immediate success when nearly 3,000 Chevrolet's were sold.

But Chevrolet split with Durant over the future of the company and sold out to the auto magnate—a rash move that cost the unfortunate Chevrolet many millions of dollars.

Chevrolet formed the Frontenac Motor Corporation and completed his first racing car in 1916. On December 2 of that year, a Frontenac won its first race at the Uniontown Board Speedway in Pennsylvania, covering 112.5 miles at an average speed of 102 miles per hour. Chevrolet himself was behind the wheel during this event.

Over the next three years, Frontenac cars won seven more major races—with either Louis or his brother Gaston at the wheel—but not the Indianapolis 500.

In 1920 Louis designed and built seven four-cylinder racers while under contract to the Monroe Motor Company. Four of the identical cars were painted green and entered at Indianapolis as Monroes, while the other three burgundy-red cars were entered as Frontenacs. Remarkably, all seven cars qualified for the 500-mile race, and one of the Monroes—driven by Gaston—won with an average speed of 88.5 miles per hour. It was the first American-built racing car to achieve a victory in the Indianapolis 500 since 1912, the year after the great racing classic was inaugurated.

Then in 1921 Louis, with the help of engineer Cornelius W. van Ranst, built a brand new racer with an eight-cylinder, in-line engine of just under 3,000 cubic centimeter displacement. The double overhead-cam engine was fitted with four valves per cylinder and dual spark plugs, and its crankshaft turned on five man bearings.

Because of its long stroke-to-bore ratio (107 by 67 cubic centimeters) the car’s engine was “redlined” at just over 3,000 rpm. Despite this disadvantage, however, the Frontenac, driven by Tommy Milton, took the checkered victory flag with an average speed of just under 90 miles per hour. It was the first and only time a Frontenac ever won the Indianapolis 500.

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Whatever else they may be, the low-slung cars that today hurtle around the Indianapolis motor speedway at speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour are not automobiles suitable for highway travel. But in the decades just before and after the First world war, the cars that took part in what came to be known as the memorial Day Classic were, as often as not, racing versions of street machines. In fact, they could often be seen on every American street and highway, as well as along the lanes and boulevards of Europe.

Among the American makers often represented in the Indianapolis 500-mile race were many, such as Stutz and Mercer, that the average American could at least aspire to won. But there was another that only the privileged few could hope to possess-the Duesenberg.

Fred Duesenberg entered his rugged and powerful machines in the Indianapolis 500 six times in the mid-1920s and won three of them. The first win came in 1924 when Joe Boyer placed first in a Duesenberg with an average speed of just under 100 miles per hour. Pete De Paolo drove a Duesenberg to victory the following year at just over 101 miles per hour to set a new Indianapolis record. The last win, with George Souders behind the wheel, came in 1927-just ten years before the company went out of business.

Racing wins helped enhance the Duesenberg's reputation for speed, but it needed no competition to establish itself as the most luxurious automobile ever produced in the United States. Because of its name, many people thought the Duesenberg was German, but it was built in the same city Indianapolis in which it won racing fame.

The list of distinguished owners of Duesenbergs reads like a"who's who" of the world's  most affluent people from reigning monarchs to business tycoons to movie stars. And that is understandable, for the Duesenberg did not come cheaply. The factory itself built only engines and chassis for which it charged at least $8,500. For a complete car with custom coach work by such firms as Derham, LeBaron Murphy or Rollston (no two Duesenberg bodies were ever exactly alike), a buyer could expect to pay upwards of $18,000, an enormous sum in the Depression year of 1932.

Certainly the most famous and most desired of all off-track Duesenbergs was the model SJ, first announced in 1932. Its supercharged, 320-horsepower enameled engine could propel the 5,000-pound car at 104 miles per hour-in second gear. When it was announced to the public, company officials stated that the top speed of the SJ was "still to be determined".

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In automobile racing lore, the year 1912 could well be called the "year of the sunbeam". For that was the year in which three small, lightly powered sunbeam sports cars scored one of automobile racing's greatest triumphs.

Like many of the early motorcars, the very first prototype sunbeam was produced by a bicycle maker, in this case the Sunbeamland Cycle Factory of John Marston Ltd. at Wolverhamton, England. Marston was impressed with the possibilities of the motorcar and in 1899 ordered a production model built for public sale.

The car made its debut at London's Crystal palace Auto show in 1901 and proved an instant success, With several hundred units being produced and sold during the next two years. In 1902, the Marston firm, still operating as the sunbeamland cycle factory, began importing a four-cylinder, 12 horsepower French motorcar called the Brief-which the canny Mastron marketed in England as the Sunbeam.

Sunbeam's rising fortunes were given a decided boost in 1909 when the French engineer and designer Louis H.Coatalen joined the Wolverhamton works. Coatalen joined wolverhamton works. Coatalen was a firm believer in auto racing as a means of building sales, and quickly designed a series of fast touring sports cars for competition in hill climbs and reliability trials. The cars were powered by small, high-speed four-cylinder engines fitted to narrow racing type bodies.

It was with these cars at Dieppe, France, in 1912 that Sunbeam entered the annals of auto racing history. The Dieppe circuit had been chosen for the running of the 1912 French Grand Prix, a two-day event covering 956 miles.

Running concurrently with the Grand Prix was the coup de l'Auto, a race over the same distance for production sports cars Coatalen prepared five stripped-down sunbeam two-seaters for the Coup DE l'Auto, four to race and one in reserve. The rest of the field included some of the fastest voiturettes from both England and France.

The Grand Prix contingent was dominated by a huge, 7.6-liter French Peugeot and an even larger Italian Fiat boasting a gigantic 14-liter engine. By comparison, the Sunbeams were powered by engines of only three liters.

One Sunbeam dropped out early in the second day's running, but the other three finished the Coup de l'Auto in first, second and third places.

Astonishingly, they also finished third, fourth and fifth in the Grand prix competition! They were beaten to the wire only by the Peugeot, which averaged 67.32 miles per hour, The third-place sunbeam averaged 65.30 miles per hour. The amazing performance of the sunbeams established the firms as one of the world's top manufacturers of sports cars.

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The Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 500-mile automobile race held on May 30, 1914 was more than a disappointment to American auto builders and racing drivers—it was an outright embarrassment!

The annual 500-mile race at the already-famous Indiana autodrome was listed in the European racing press—though not in the European racing press—through not in the United States—as Le Grand Prix d’Amerique. In 1914, however, it could have been described as the Grand Prix of France—held in America, for French cars dominated the race. Not only did French-built Delâge racing cars take first and third first and third places in the 1914 running of the “500,” but French-built Peugeots finished second and fourth as well.

It remained for the indomitable American driver Barney Oldfield to salvage some of Uncle Sam’s automotive prestige by bringing his Stutz racer home in fifth place—more than 20 minutes after René Thomas had crossed the finish line in his winning Delâge. Another American car and driver—both of which would go on to achieve great fame in later years—fared even worse then Oldfied, Eddie Richenbacker and his Duesenberg finished the race in tenth place, a full hour behind Thomas.

In winning the 1914 Indianapolis 500, René Thomas and his riding mechanic, Robert Laly, averaged more than 82 miles per hour. They covered the 500 miles around the 2 ½ -mile track in 6 hours, 3 minutes and 45 seconds.

The car in which Thomas won at Indianapolis was one of two designed by Arthur Michelat for French auto-builder Louis Delâge in 1913 for Le Grand Prix de l’Automobile Club de France, held at Amiens on July 12 of that year. The two cars finished a respectable fourth and fifth in that race and went on to take first and second places in Le Grand Prix de France at Le Mans during the following month.

Designated as the Type Y Specials, the open two-seaters were entirely custom-built for racing. They were powered by four-cylinder engines developing 105 horsepower at a relatively slow 2,300 revolutions per minute. And Although the engines were fitted with ball-bearing crankshafts, their narrow bore of 105 millimeters (just over 4 inches) and long stroke of 180 millimeters (7 ¼ inches) marked them as somewhat old-fashioned, even by the standards of their day.

Today racing cars are either owned or subsidized by firms associated with the automobile industry, but when Grand Prix racing was in its infancy the expense of owning a racing car was often borne entirely by the driver. Thomas, for example, paid Louis Delâge 45,000 francs for his winning car. It was a most fortunate transaction, for it netted Thomas an important victory and brought Delâge prestige worth far more than the amount Thomas paid him.

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Despite their world-wide recognition,the cars of the Porsche Motor Works are relative newcomers to motor racing.The company was founded by Ferry Porsche, son of the preeminent German auto motive designer Ferdinand Porsche. The first Porsche car, the Type 356, was based on Volkswagen mechanics but featured slim, aerodynamic lines that made maximum use of the highly available Volkswagen components. The car quickly proved its mettle, winning the 1951 and 1952 Le Mans events for cars of 1,100-cubic-centimeters displacement, then topping this feat by winning the race for cars with a displacement of up to 1,500 cubic centimeters in 1952. From that time forth, Porsche racing cars consistently won top honors in virtually every event they entered.

For 1955 the Type 356 was upgraded, incorporating a 1,498-cubic-centimeter overhead-cam "Spyder" engine developing 100 horsepower. The new model, named Carrera, swept major races across the world and in 1962 was improved still further with a 1,966-cubic-centimeter power plant producing 130 horsepower.

In 1957 the company had entered Formula Two racing, winning its class in the German Grand Prix and placing well in a number of subsequent events. Over the next three years, Porsche Formula Two cars amassed several impressive victories, encouraging the racing division to challenge the Formula One field. Although Porsche enjoyed some success in Formula One racing, the effort and expense it entailed did not seem to be justified. Thus, in 1962 the company abandoned Formula One competition to devote more effort to the prototype and sports classes.

In 1969 the Federation Internationale de ('Auto¬mobile established new rules for the World Championship of Makes. Prototypes were limited to three-litre engines, but production sports ma¬chines were allowed to have engines displacing as many as five litres. At a cost of about $80,000 per car, Porsche managed to produce the required 25 units to enter their supreme achievement, the 917, as a production model. Porsche's eight-cylinder boxer engine was stretched to 12 cylinders and 4,494 cubic centimeters. Under the sleek body metal was a tubular space-frame made entirely of aluminum and weighing only 103 pounds. With a compression ratio of 10.5:1, the air-cooled dynamo developed 580 horsepower. During the initial season the 917K, still in development, did not perform particularly well, but by the end of the 1970 season it had improved enough to win the world championship. In fact, in the three years of competition from 1969 to 1971, Porsche 917s won 15 of the 24 championship races they entered. In 1972, with the addition of a turbo charger which increased the engine's power, the 917 continued its winning ways.

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Designed by Vittorio Jano, the Lancia D50 had been eagerly anticipated by the racing fraternity. Jano, the designer of the classic Alfa Romeo P2, did not disappoint his admirers, for the D50 incorporated many original features and advanced concepts.One such feature was side-mounted twin gasoline tanks slung between the wheels. This arrangement prevented changes in the fuel level from affecting the car's handling. The D50 was powered by a V-8 engine displacing 2,487 cubic centimeters and producing 260 horsepower at 8,000 revolutions per minute. The engine had four overhead cam shafts, two sparkplugs per cylinder and four downdraft carburetors. Weighing 1,470 pounds, the Lancia D50 had a wheelbase seven feet six inches long.

The chassis was of multi-tube construction, and the engine, which served as a chassis member, provided additional stiffening. Front suspension was by parallel wishbones of equal length, and the car had a de Dion rear suspension. Both front and back axles had transverse leaf springs.

The public's first glimpse of the Lancia D50 in competition came in 1954 when the great Alberto Ascari drove it in the Spanish Grand Prix. At Barcelona the Lancia had to retire because of clutch trouble, but up to this point it had led the field. The car took first in 1954 at the Mille Miglia. In 1955, again with Alberto Ascari at the wheel, the Lancia D50 took firsts at both Turin and Naples. The Naples race, run over a course of 60 laps in the sweltering summer heat of southern Italy, was a particularly grueling one. The course itself, a series of constant twists and turns, denied the drivers all but an occasional moment's letup. Many became so exhausted they had to be lifted out of their cockpits at the finish.

In spite of this victory, time was running out for Ascari. At Monaco he lost control when his brakes locked, plunging him into the sea. He was apparently unhurt, except for a facial injury, but a few days later, at Monza, he crashed during practice and was killed on the Vialone bend. Without a helmet he had been driving a Ferrari..

Lancia had been having financial problems, and the loss of Ascari was a major blow to the company. It immediately withdrew its cars from racing, although Castellotti was allowed to race as a private entrant in the Belgian Grand Prix.

After Lancia left the racing scene, Ferrari acquired its cars and equipment. The Jano-designed Lancia's history was a short one. Yet, the D50, with its ultra-light space frame and side-mounted gas tanks, had a profound and lasting influence on the future. Of course, this was not the end of the Lancia name. Lancia-Ferraris were raced in 1956 and 1957. And later the Lancia marque was again resumed. Latter-day Lancias, in fact, went on to win numerous international races all over the world.
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