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Citroën Traction Avant
The Citroën Traction Avant () is the world’s first unibody front-wheel-drive car. A range of mostly 4-door saloons and executive cars, were made with four or six-cylinder engines, produced by the French manufacturer Citroën from 1934 to 1957. Approximately 760,000 units were produced. Whilst front-wheel drive and independent suspension had been established in the mass market by Auto Union and subsequently others some years before, the Traction Avant pioneered mass-production of a crash resistant, unitary, monocoque body. Additionally, the car was also an early adopter of rack and pinion steering. Although the car's name emphasized its front-wheel drive power delivery ("Traction Avant" literally means “front traction”), the car stood out at least as much by its much lower profile and stance – made possible by the absence of a separate chassis under the car's unitary body – sharply distinguishing it visually from its contemporaries. History The Traction Avant, F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Citroën Traction Avant
The Citroën Traction Avant () is the world’s first unibody front-wheel-drive car. A range of mostly 4-door saloons and executive cars, were made with four or six-cylinder engines, produced by the French manufacturer Citroën from 1934 to 1957. Approximately 760,000 units were produced. Whilst front-wheel drive and independent suspension had been established in the mass market by Auto Union and subsequently others some years before, the Traction Avant pioneered mass-production of a crash resistant, unitary, monocoque body. Additionally, the car was also an early adopter of rack and pinion steering. Although the car's name emphasized its front-wheel drive power delivery ("Traction Avant" literally means “front traction”), the car stood out at least as much by its much lower profile and stance – made possible by the absence of a separate chassis under the car's unitary body – sharply distinguishing it visually from its contemporaries. History The Traction Avant, F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
E-segment
The E-segment is the 5th category of the European segments for passenger cars, synonymous with the term executive car. E-Segment is a niche in Europe (2-3% penetration in 2010s). As of 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, E-segment sales account for 2.7%, 2.7%, 2.3% and 2.1% market share in Europe respectively. Characteristics Most E-segment cars are sedans/saloons, however several models are also produced in other body styles such as wagons/estates and hatchbacks. European vs. American classification The terms E-segment or executive car do not have a one-to-one equivalent in the American car classification. However, if a modern E-segment sedan by a European brand is sold in the U.S., it falls into the category of both mid-size and full-size sedan, usually a mid-size luxury sedan. The American mid-size sedan classificationAlso, the American full-size sedan classification does not have any equivalent in the European classification with the exception of full-size luxury cars whic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Independent Suspension
Independent suspension is any automobile suspension system that allows each wheel on the same axle to move vertically (i.e. reacting to a bump on the road) independently of the others. This is contrasted with a beam axle or deDion axle system in which the wheels are linked. "Independent" refers to the motion or path of movement of the wheels or suspension. It is common for the left and right sides of the suspension to be connected with anti-roll bars or other such mechanisms. The anti-roll bar ties the left and right suspension spring rates together but does not tie their motion together. Most modern vehicles have independent front suspension (IFS). Many vehicles also have an independent rear suspension (IRS). IRS, as the name implies, has the rear wheels independently sprung. A fully independent suspension has an independent suspension on all wheels. Some early independent systems used swing axles, but modern systems use Chapman or MacPherson struts, trailing arms, multilink, or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Front-wheel Drive
Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement generally found in rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive vehicles. Location of engine and transmission By far the most common layout for a front-wheel drive car is with the engine and transmission at the front of the car, mounted transversely. Other layouts of front-wheel drive that have been occasionally produced are a front-engine mounted longitudinally, a mid-engine layout and a rear-engine layout. History Prior to 1900 Experiments with front-wheel drive cars date to the early days of the automobile. The world's first self-propelled vehicle, Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot's 1769/1770 "fardier à vapeur", was a front-wheel driven three-wheeled steam-tractor. It then took at least a century, for the first e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Executive Car
Executive car is a British term for a large car which is equivalent to the European E-segment and American full-size classifications. Executive cars are larger than compact executive cars (and the non-luxury equivalent mid-size cars), and smaller than luxury saloons / full-size luxury sedans. The term has also been adopted by Euro NCAP, a European organization founded to test for car safety. Background The term was coined in the 1960s to describe cars targeted at successful professionals and middle-to-senior managers. It was used by businesses as an incentive for employees in senior roles and to exploit Britain and Europe's tax schemes as a company owned vehicle. Early executive cars typically offered engines with displacements of , compared with for an equivalent sized—but less luxurious—"large family car". Prior to the 1990s, executive cars were typically sedans, however in recent years they have also been produced in other body styles, such as estates ( station wag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saloon (automobile)
A sedan or saloon (British English) is a passenger car in a three-box configuration with separate compartments for an engine, passengers, and cargo. The first recorded use of the word "sedan" in reference to an automobile body occurred in 1912. The name derives from the 17th-century litter known as a sedan chair, a one-person enclosed box with windows and carried by porters. Variations of the sedan style include the close-coupled sedan, club sedan, convertible sedan, fastback sedan, hardtop sedan, notchback sedan, and sedanet/sedanette. Definition A sedan () is a car with a closed body (i.e. a fixed metal roof) with the engine, passengers, and cargo in separate compartments. This broad definition does not differentiate sedans from various other car body styles, but in practice, the typical characteristics of sedans are: * a B-pillar (between the front and rear windows) that supports the roof * two rows of seats * a three-box design with the engine at the front and the car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
André Lefèbvre
André Lefèbvre (19 August 1894 – 4 May 1964) was a French automobile engineer. André René Lefèbvre was born in Louvres, France (North of Paris, Val d'Oise). He began his career as an aviation engineer working for Voisin, then later for Renault and Citroën. He was also a racing driver and racing car designer. After studying at Supaéro he began to work for Gabriel Voisin in March 1916. Voisin placed Lefebvre in charge of his Laboratoire where he worked on aviation projects until the end of World War I, and then automobiles. He is particularly noted for creating the Voisin C6 Laboratoire, which was a racing car prepared for the 1923 French Grand Prix. When Voisin ran into business problems in 1931, Lefèbvre was recommended to Louis Renault. Renault was persuaded to recruit Lefèbvre by François Lehideux, himself a senior executive within the company (who was also married to the daughter of Renault's brother). Lefèbvre remained with Renault only until 1933, when h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flaminio Bertoni
Flaminio Bertoni ( Masnago, Italy, 10 January 1903 – Paris, France, 7 February 1964) was an Italian automobile designer from the years preceding World War II until his death in 1964. Before his work in industrial design, Bertoni was a sculptor. Working at Citroën for decades, Bertoni designed the Traction Avant (1934), 2CV, the H van, the DS, and the Ami 6. The DS was often exhibited at industrial design showcases, such as the 1957 Milan Triennale Exposition, and inspired French coach builder Henri Chapron Henri Chapron (30 December 1886 - 14 May 1978) was a prominent French automobile coachbuilder. His carrosserie, created in 1919, was located in the Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret. Chapron was born in Nouan-le-Fuzelier (Sologne), and began his c ..., who produced coupé and cabriolet versions of the DS. The province of Varese dedicated a museum to his memory. It opened in May 2007. File:Tractionfrtractionades.JPG, Citroën Traction Avant File:Citroen 2cv 1949 06011 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Straight-six Engine
The straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine balance, resulting in fewer vibrations than other designs of six or less cylinders. Until the mid-20th century, the straight-six layout was the most common design for engines with six cylinders. However, V6 engines became more common from the 1960s and by the 2000s most straight-six engines had been replaced by V6 engines. An exception to this trend is BMW which has produced automotive straight-six engines from 1933 to the present day. Characteristics In terms of packaging, straight-six engines are almost always narrower than a V6 engine or V8 engine, but longer than straight-four engines, V6s, and most V8s. Straight-six engines are typically produced in displacements ranging from , however engines ranging in size from the Benelli 750 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Straight-4
A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the exceptions of the flat-four engines produced by Subaru and Porsche) and the layout is also very common in motorcycles and other machinery. Therefore the term "four-cylinder engine" is usually synonymous with straight-four engines. When a straight-four engine is installed at an inclined angle (instead of with the cylinders oriented vertically), it is sometimes called a slant-four. Between 2005 and 2008, the proportion of new vehicles sold in the United States with four-cylinder engines rose from 30% to 47%. By the 2020 model year, the share for light-duty vehicles had risen to 59%. Design A four-stroke straight-four engine always has a cylinder on its power stroke, unlike engines with fewer cylinders where there is no power stroke occu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hatchback
A hatchback is a car body configuration with a rear door that swings upward to provide access to a cargo area. Hatchbacks may feature fold-down second row seating, where the interior can be reconfigured to prioritize passenger or cargo volume. Hatchbacks may feature two- or three-box design. While early examples of the body configuration can be traced to the 1930s, the Merriam-Webster dictionary dates the term itself to 1970. The hatchback body style has been marketed worldwide on cars ranging in size from superminis to small family cars, as well as executive cars and some sports cars. They are a primary component on a sport utility vehicle. Characteristics The distinguishing feature of a hatchback is a rear door that opens upwards and is hinged at roof level (as opposed to the boot/trunk lid of a saloon/sedan, which is hinged below the rear window). Most hatchbacks use a two-box design body style, where the cargo area ( trunk/boot) and passenger areas are a single ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convertible (car)
A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving experience, with the ability to provide a roof when required. A potential drawback of convertibles is their reduced structural rigidity (requiring significant engineering and modification to counteract the effects of removing a car's roof). The majority of convertible roofs are of a folding construction framework with the actual top made from cloth or other fabric. Other types of convertible roofs include retractable hardtops (often constructed from metal or plastic) and detachable hardtops (where a metal or plastic roof is manually removed and often stored in the trunk). Terminology Other terms for convertibles include cabriolet, cabrio, drop top, drophead coupé, open two-seater, open top, rag top, soft top, spider, and spyder. Consistenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
