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Alfa Romeo Nuvola
The Alfa Romeo Nuvola is a concept car with coupé body first shown by Alfa Romeo at the ''Mondial de l'Automobile'' Paris motor show in 1996. Nuvola literally means "cloud" in Italian, but also hints to the legendary Italian racing driver Tazio Nuvolari. The Nuvola has a front-mounted engine and four wheel drive. The prototype is currently on display at the Alfa Romeo Historical Museum in Arese, Italy. Concept and design This concept car was intended both as a future design manifesto and a technology demonstrator, the idea behind it being the rebirth of the coachbuilt automobile: Alfa Romeo would have supplied rolling chassis to be bodied by independent coachbuilders, and possibly sold through Alfa Romeo dealers. To achieve this stylistic flexibility the car was based on a modern space frame chassis with a separate body; it was designed to handle virtually any body style, from coupé to roadster to shooting brake. The Nuvola was penned by a group of young designers from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alfa Romeo Museum
Museo Storico Alfa Romeo (Alfa Romeo Historical Museum; subsequently called Museo Alfa Romeo - La macchina del tempo, literally ''Alfa Romeo Museum - The time machine'') is Alfa Romeo's official museum, located in Arese (Milan), and displaying a permanent collection of Alfa Romeo cars and engines. After being closed down in 2011, the museum reopened in June 2015. History The museum was officially inaugurated on 18 December 1976, and is located in the former Alfa Romeo Arese factory area. Production of cars ended in 2002 and engine production in 2006 in Arese factory complex. At the beginning of 2009 the museum was closed down a first time for renovations and opened in the end of the year, to celebrate Alfa Romeo's 100th birthday in 2010. It was closed once more in February 2011, reportedly for renovation work again. The renovation project was laid down at the end of 2013, and restoration work only started in Summer 2014. Centerpiece of the renewed structure are Alfa red project ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arese
Arese ( lmo, Ares ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, about northwest of Milan. Arese borders the following municipalities: Lainate, Garbagnate Milanese, Bollate, Rho, Milan. Arese was awarded the honorary title of city by presidential decree of 25 October 1985. Of particular interest in the historical centre is the Church of St Peter and Paul. Alfa Romeo Starting in 1960 Arese hosted the main seat of Alfa Romeo, partly in the territories of Lainate and Garbagnate Milanese. After three years of building work the Alfa Romeo Arese Plant began vehicle production in 1963, which would continue for decades, becoming the biggest production facility for Alfa Romeo. The factory became known simply as 'Arese' since most of the industrial area and its main entrance were in this municipality. Following a gradual decrease in production the factory ceased manufacturing in 2005. Today the factory is almost totally closed and a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant typically need an additional 11% chromium. Because of its high tensile strength and low cost, steel is used in buildings, infrastructure, tools, ships, trains, cars, machines, electrical appliances, weapons, and rockets. Iron is the base metal of steel. Depending on the temperature, it can take two crystalline forms (allotropic forms): body-centred cubic and face-centred cubic. The interaction of the allotropes of iron with the alloying elements, primarily carbon, gives steel and cast iron their range of unique properties. In pure iron, the crystal structure has relatively little resistance to the iron atoms slipping past one another, and so pure iron is quite ductile, or soft and easily formed. In steel, small amounts of carbon, other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polyester
Polyester is a category of polymers that contain the ester functional group in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include naturally occurring chemicals, such as in plants and insects, as well as synthetics such as polybutyrate. Natural polyesters and a few synthetic ones are biodegradable, but most synthetic polyesters are not. Synthetic polyesters are used extensively in clothing. Polyester fibers are sometimes spun together with natural fibers to produce a cloth with blended properties. Cotton-polyester blends can be strong, wrinkle- and tear-resistant, and reduce shrinking. Synthetic fibers using polyester have high water, wind and environmental resistance compared to plant-derived fibers. They are less Fireproofing, fire-resistant and can melt when ignited. Liquid crystalline polyesters are among the first industrially used liquid crystal polymers. They are use ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bumper (automobile)
A bumper is a structure attached to or integrated with the front and rear ends of a motor vehicle, to absorb impact in a minor collision, ideally minimizing repair costs. Stiff metal bumpers appeared on automobiles as early as 1904 that had a mainly ornamental function. Numerous developments, improvements in materials and technologies, as well as greater focus on functionality for protecting vehicle components and improving safety have changed bumpers over the years. Bumpers ideally minimize height mismatches between vehicles and protect pedestrians from injury. Regulatory measures have been enacted to reduce vehicle repair costs and, more recently, impact on pedestrians. History Bumpers were at first just rigid metal bars. George Albert Lyon invented the earliest car bumper. The first bumper appeared on a vehicle in 1897, and it was installed by Nesselsdorfer Wagenbau-Fabriksgesellschaft, a Czech carmaker. The construction of these bumpers was not reliable as they featured o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Automotive Lighting
The lighting system of a motor vehicle consists of lighting and signalling devices mounted to or integrated into the front, rear, sides, and in some cases the top of a motor vehicle. They illuminate the road ahead for the driver and increase the vehicle's visibility, allowing other drivers and pedestrians to see its presence, position, size, direction of travel, and its driver's intentions. Emergency vehicles usually have distinctive lighting equipment to warn drivers and indicate priority of movement in traffic. History Early road vehicles used fuelled lamps before the availability of electric lighting. The Ford Model T used carbide lamps for headlights and oil lamps for tail lights. It did not have all-electric lighting as a standard feature until several years after its introduction. Dynamos for automobile headlights were first fitted around 1908 and became commonplace in 1920s automobiles. Silent film star Florence Lawrence is often credited with designing the first " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Light-emitting Diode
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresponding to the energy of the photons) is determined by the energy required for electrons to cross the band gap of the semiconductor. White light is obtained by using multiple semiconductors or a layer of light-emitting phosphor on the semiconductor device. Appearing as practical electronic components in 1962, the earliest LEDs emitted low-intensity infrared (IR) light. Infrared LEDs are used in remote-control circuits, such as those used with a wide variety of consumer electronics. The first visible-light LEDs were of low intensity and limited to red. Early LEDs were often used as indicator lamps, replacing small incandescent bulbs, and in seven-segment displays. Later developments produced LEDs available in visible, ultraviolet (UV) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shooting Brake
Shooting brake (sometimes mis-identified as "shooting break") is a car body style which originated in the 1890s as a horse-drawn wagon used to transport shooting parties with their equipment and game. The first automotive shooting brakes were manufactured in the early 1900s in the United Kingdom. The vehicle style became popular in England during the 1920s and 1930s. They were produced by vehicle manufacturers or as conversions by coachbuilders. The term was used in Britain interchangeably with estate car from the 1930s but has not been in general use for many years and has been more or less superseded by the latter term. The term has evolved to describe cars combining elements of both station wagon (estate) and coupé body styles, with or without reference to the historical usage for shooting parties. A shooting brake is a subcategory of a station wagon, based on a coupé rather than a sedan. Being based on four-door coupés is why manufacturers call models such as the Merced ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roadster (automobile)
A roadster (also spider, spyder) is an open two-seat car with emphasis on sporting appearance or character. Initially an American term for a two-seat car with no weather protection, usage has spread internationally and has evolved to include two-seat convertibles. The roadster was also a style of racing car driven in United States Auto Club (USAC) Championship Racing, including the Indianapolis 500, in the 1950s and 1960s. This type of racing car was superseded by rear-mid-engine cars. Etymology The term "roadster" originates in the United States, where it was used in the 19th century to describe a horse suitable for travelling. By the end of the century, the definition had expanded to include bicycles and tricycles. In 1916, the United States Society of Automobile Engineers defined a roadster as: "an open car seating two or three. It may have additional seats on running boards or in rear deck." Since it has a single row of seats, the main seat for the driver and passenger w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chassis
A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart of a motor vehicle, on which the body is mounted; if the running gear such as wheels and transmission, and sometimes even the driver's seat, are included, then the assembly is described as a rolling chassis. Examples of use Vehicles In the case of vehicles, the term ''rolling chassis'' means the frame plus the "running gear" like engine, transmission, drive shaft, differential and suspension. An underbody (sometimes referred to as "coachwork"), which is usually not necessary for integrity of the structure, is built on the chassis to complete the vehicle. For commercial vehicles, a rolling chassis consists of an assembly of all the essential parts of a truck without the body to be ready for operation on the road. A car chassis wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coachbuilder
A coachbuilder or body-maker is someone who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles.Construction has always been a skilled trade requiring a relatively lightweight product with sufficient strength. The manufacture of necessarily fragile, but satisfactory wheels by a separate trade, a wheelwright, held together by iron or steel tyres, was always most critical. From about AD 1000 rough vehicle construction was carried out by a ''wainwright'', a wagon-builder. Later names include ''cartwright'' (a carpenter who makes carts, from 1587); ''coachwright''; and ''coachmaker'' (from 1599). Subtrades include ''wheelwright'', ''coachjoiner'', etc. The word ''coachbuilder'' first appeared in 1794. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2011 Coachwork is the body of an automobile, bus, horse-drawn carriage, or railway carriage. The word "coach" was derived from the Hungarian town of Kocs. Coachbuilt body is the British English name for the coachbuilder's product. ''Custom body'' is th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rolling Chassis
A rolling chassis is the chassis without bodywork of a motor vehicle ( car, truck, bus, or other vehicle), assembled with suspension and wheels. Heavy vehicles Separate chassis remain in use for almost all heavy vehicles ranging from pickup trucks to the biggest trucks and commercial passenger carrying vehicles. The rolling chassis is delivered to the commercial body maker, coachbuilder, or bulk transporter on its own wheels, under its own power. Automobiles Rolling chassis was a stage of manufacture of every vehicle. Mass produced cars were supplied complete from the factory, but luxury cars like Rolls-Royce were supplied as a chassis from the factory to several bespoke coachbuilders like J Gurney Nutting & Co who would supply a body to the customer's order (or build a car which was sold from their showroom). Automobile construction methods changed when unibody or monocoque combined chassis and body structures gradually replaced chassis. Restoration In restoration circl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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