trivia ?

[philman]

True British Car Facts

· The first car to swim the British Channel, a 1962 Amphicar, used a Triumph Herald engine.

· Mini creator Sir Alec Issigonis failed Mathematics three times in school.

· A spate of dead Minis in the early Sixties was traced back to an unusual source - a red feather duster. The Minis were coughing due to carburettors clogged by red hairs, the hairs were traced to a feather duster owned by one of the cleaning ladies on the production line.

· Currently, the most powerful car on the road is the 6-wheeled, Jameson-Merlin, powered by a 27 Litre, 1760 BHP Rolls Royce V12 Merlin engine, it weighs 2.65 tons and can travel 300 miles on its 60 gallon tank.

· For our Porsche friends: The Porsche 911 was originally badged as a 901 until a disagreement with Peugeot who were using the ' 0 ' in their model numbering.

 

[Banjo]

cool facts! Here's a couple for you.
The Triumph TR4 was the first car to feature standard in-dash vents (can you imagine a modern car without them).
And it also had the honor of the first "Surry top". Later used heavily by Porsche (they called it a Targa) and others.
The first "Navigation" system was installed in a Model "T" Ford. It consisted of a map wound between two spools that was drivin by the speedometer cable.

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Speaking of firsts and Triumphs -

The TR3 was the first production car to have front disk brakes standard (September, 1956).

 

[sammyb]

Peugeot actually had the marketing rights to ALL three number model designations with 0 in the middle...this required that the 901 be called the 911 -- although Porschephiles still call the first gen cars 901s. Later on, the 904, 906 and 908 race cars were produced, mostly because they were never really marketed.

Speaking of Surrey and Targa -- the Surrey Top was actually intended to be just the name for the soft part in the center, but became used as the name for the entire setup.

And for some reason, Americans believe that "T-Tops" on Corvettes, Camaros etc.. is derived from the center bracing. The name "T Top" just is short for "Targa Top"

As for some other firsts:
First production fuel injection: Mercedes 300SL
First air-cooled 12cyl passenger car engine: Franklin
First 3-point safety belts: Volvo
First front wheel drive car: Christie
First Front wheel drive production car: Tracta

 

[PC]

First production car with an aluminum double overhead cam, 4 valve per cylinder engine: Jensen Healey /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/england.gif


PC.

 

[sammyb]

[ QUOTE ]
First production car with an aluminum double overhead cam, 4 valve per cylinder engine: Jensen Healey /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

Are you sure about this? There were many multi-valve overhead cam engines back in the 1920s and 1930s (Duesenberg Straight 8, Hispano Suiza, Alfa etc...) many utilized alloys...Ferrari produced alloy OHC engines too.

I suppose this is something I'll have to research.

 

[78Z]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
First production car with an aluminum double overhead cam, 4 valve per cylinder engine: Jensen Healey /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

Are you sure about this? There were many multi-valve overhead cam engines back in the 1920s and 1930s (Duesenberg Straight 8, Hispano Suiza, Alfa etc...) many utilized alloys...Ferrari produced alloy OHC engines too.

I suppose this is something I'll have to research.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think it was the first mass produced one - of course that depends on your definition of mass production /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[waltesefalcon]

Duesenberg was mass produced.

 

[sammyb]

I believe only the sump on a Duesey Lycoming 8 was alloy. But Walter is right, the Duesey J/SJ/SSJ/JN was mass produced -- 518 chassis produced and 528 engines.

 

[PC]

[ QUOTE ]
...Are you sure about this? ... I suppose this is something I'll have to research.

[/ QUOTE ]

My understanding was that the JH was the first to combine all those elements in a production car. The elements were seen independently, there were plenty of alloy engines before, dohc was certainly around, multivalve engines were common in racing (Ferrari didn’t put them on the street until the eighties), etc.

Weren’t Duesies hand made and many (most?) delivered as rolling chassis to get custom coachwork? Even if they do qualify as production if only the Duesies' sump was Al alloy then the assertion about the JH would still be valid.


PC.

 

[sammyb]

PC,
You might very well be right...I can't think of anything yet that can specifically disprove it. I have seen a fair number of firsts that are considered fact to actually be fiction (like Cord L-29 being the first FWD production car.)

Duesies were handmade, but handmade doesn't equate to production vs. limited production. Most cars were handmade until the late 70s.

You are somewhat correct -- Duesies were actually delivered to coachmakers as a fully drivable chassis. Jay Leno has a chassis that he drives. All Duesies were tested on a test track before shipping to a coach maker. There were Duesies that came with standard bodies -- usually a sedan style from the factory.

 

[Keoke]

[ QUOTE ]
Speaking of firsts and Triumphs -

The TR3 was the first production car to have front disk brakes standard (September, 1956).

[/ QUOTE ]

Are we sure?, What about the English Lanchester produced between 1906-to-1914.?---Keoke

 

[Mickey Richaud]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Speaking of firsts and Triumphs -

The TR3 was the first production car to have front disk brakes standard (September, 1956).

[/ QUOTE ]

Are we sure?, What about the English Lanchester produced between 1906-to-1914.?---Keoke

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't know about that. I do know that Lanchester is credited with inventing disc brakes, but I was quoting Piggot in his Original TR book. What he said was that the TR3 was the first production car to come standard with them.

Mickey