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Grand Tourers
A grand tourer (GT) is a type of car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving, due to a combination of performance and luxury attributes. The most common format is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-door coupé with either a two-seat or a 2+2 arrangement. Grand tourers are most often the coupé derivative of luxury saloons or sedans. The term is a near-calque from the Italian language phrase ''gran turismo'' which became popular in the English language from the 1950s, evolving from fast touring cars and streamlined closed sports cars during the 1930s. Origin in Europe The grand touring car concept originated in Europe in the early 1950s, especially with the 1951 introduction of the Lancia Aurelia B20 GT, and features notable luminaries of Italian automotive history such as Vittorio Jano, Enzo Ferrari and Johnny Lurani. Motorsports became important in the evolution of the grand touring concept, and grand touring entries are important in endurance sports- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lancia Aurelia
The Lancia Aurelia is a car produced by Italian manufacturer Lancia from 1950 to the summer of 1958. It is noted for using one of the first series-production V6 engines. Several body styles were offered: 4-door saloon, 2-door GT coupé (B20), 2-door spider/convertible (B24), and a chassis to be custom bodied by external coachbuilders. Establishing a post-war Lancia tradition, the car was named after a Roman road: the Via Aurelia, leading from Rome to Pisa. Specifications The Aurelia was designed under the direction of engineer Vittorio Jano. Its engine, one of the first production V6 engines, a 60° design developed by Francesco de Virgilio, who was between 1943 and 1948 a Lancia engineer, and who worked under Jano. During production, capacity grew from 1.8 L to 2.5 L. Prototype engines used a bore and stroke of 68 mm x 72 mm for 1,569 cc; these were tested between 1946 and 1948. It was an all-alloy pushrod design with a single camsha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motorsport
Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two-wheeled motorised vehicles under the banner of motorcycle racing, and includes off-road racing such as motocross. Four- (or more) wheeled motorsport competition is globally governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA); and the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) governs two-wheeled competition. Likewise, the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) governs powerboat racing while the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) governs air sports, including aeroplane racing. All vehicles that participate in motorsports must adhere to the regulations that are set out by the respective global governing body. History In 1894, a French newspaper organised a race from Paris to Rouen and back, starting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luigi Chinetti
Luigi Chinetti (July 17, 1901 – August 17, 1994) was an Italian-born racecar driver, who emigrated to the United States during World War II. He drove in 12 consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans races, taking three outright wins there and taking two more at the Spa 24 Hours race. Chinetti owned the North American Racing Team, which successfully ran privateer Ferraris in sports car and Formula One races. For many years he was the exclusive American importer of Ferrari automobiles to the United States. Biography Chinetti was born in Jerago con Orago, a little north of Milan. The son of a gunsmith, he apprenticed in his father's workshop where he earned a lathe operator's certificate at age 12 and qualified as a mechanic at age 14. In 1917, at age 16, he went to work for Alfa Romeo as a mechanic, where he met another young hire named Enzo Ferrari. The rise to power of Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party in his native country prompted a move to Paris where he worked for Alfa Romeo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berlinetta
A berlinetta (from it, berlinetta; ) is a sports coupé, typically with two seats but also including 2+2 cars. The original meaning for ''berlinetta'' in Italian is “little saloon”. Introduced in the 1930s, the term was popularised by Ferrari in the 1950s. Maserati, Opel, Alfa Romeo, and other European car manufacturers have also used the Berlinetta label. In America, Chevrolet also produced a version of the Chevrolet Camaro (second generation), Camaro called the Berlinetta, from 1979 to 1986. The Berlinetta model was marketed as having a luxury focus, through interior features and softer suspension. Berlinette Berlinette is the French name for a Berlinetta, which is defined as a sporty, low-profile two-door type of automobile body style closely related to the coupé A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing sea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in 1940, and produced its first Ferrari-badged car in 1947. Fiat S.p.A. acquired 50% of Ferrari in 1969 and expanded its stake to 90% in 1988. In October 2014, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) announced its intentions to separate Ferrari S.p.A. from FCA; as of the announcement FCA owned 90% of Ferrari. The separation began in October 2015 with a restructuring that established Ferrari N.V. (a company incorporated in the Netherlands) as the new holding company of the Ferrari S.p.A. group, and the subsequent sale by FCA of 10% of the shares in an IPO and concurrent listing of common shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Through the remaining steps of the separation, FCA's interest in Ferrari's business was distributed to shareholders of FCA, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jaguar XK120
The Jaguar XK120 is a sports car manufactured by Jaguar between 1948 and 1954. It was Jaguar's first sports car since SS 100 production ended in 1939. The XK120 is a highly desirable model. In 2016, Bonhams sold a matching numbers left-hand-drive alloy-bodied roadster - one of only 184 - for $396,000 (£302,566). This marks the highest price achieved for an XK120 at auction so far. History The XK120 was launched in open two-seater or (US) roadster form at the 1948 London Motor Show as a testbed and show car for the new Jaguar XK engine designed by Jaguar Chief Engineer William Heynes. The display car was the first prototype, chassis number 660001. It looked almost identical to the production cars except that the straight outer pillars of its windscreen were curved on the production version. The sports car caused a sensation, which persuaded Jaguar founder and Chairman William Lyons to put it into production. Beginning in 1948, the first 242 cars wore wood-framed open 2-seate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Max Hoffman
Maximilian Edwin Hoffman (12 November 1904 in Vienna, Austria – 9 August 1981), was an Austrian-born, New York-based importer of luxury European automobiles into the United States during the 1950s. Known equally for his acumen and influence, Hoffman was instrumental in development and refinement of several iconic luxury sports cars, including the Mercedes-Benz 300SL ''Gullwing'', Porsche 356 ''Speedster'', and V-8 powered BMW 507 roadster. Hoffman's contributions to both automobile development and sports car racing earned him induction into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2003. Both his home in Rye, New York, and Park Avenue Jaguar showroom in Manhattan were designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Career Hoffman's dealers made requests through him, both for existing models and new types they thought their customers would purchase in the booming post-war American market. The most famous result of Hoffman's suggestions is the Mercedes-Benz 300SL "gullwing". More ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jet Set
In journalism, jet set is a term for an international social group of wealthy people who travel the world to participate in social activities unavailable to ordinary people. The term, which replaced "café society", came from the lifestyle of travelling from one stylish or exotic place to another via jet plane. The term "jet set" is attributed to Igor Cassini, a reporter for the '' New York Journal-American'', who wrote under the pen name "Cholly Knickerbocker". Jet passenger service in the 1950s was marketed primarily to the upper class, but its introduction eventually resulted in a substantial democratization of air travel. Although the term "jet set" can still be found in common parlance, its literal meaning of those who travel by jet is no longer applicable as such. History BOAC inaugurated the world's first commercial scheduled jet service on 2 May 1952, using the de Havilland Comet, followed by the introduction of the Comet 4 in 1958 after a series of accidents in 1953– ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Post–World War II Economic Expansion
The post–World War II economic expansion, also known as the postwar economic boom or the Golden Age of Capitalism, was a broad period of worldwide economic expansion beginning after World War II and ending with the 1973–1975 recession. The United States, the Soviet Union and Western European and East Asian countries in particular experienced unusually high and sustained growth, together with full employment. Contrary to early predictions, this high growth also included many countries that had been devastated by the war, such as Japan (Japanese economic miracle), West Germany and Austria (Wirtschaftswunder), South Korea (Miracle on the Han River), Belgium ( Belgian economic miracle), France (Trente Glorieuses), Italy (Italian economic miracle) and Greece (Greek economic miracle). Even countries that were relatively unaffected by the war such as Sweden (Record years) experienced considerable economic growth. The boom established the conditions for a larger series of global ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chrysler 300 Letter Series
The Chrysler 300 "letter series" are high-performance personal luxury cars that were built by Chrysler in the U.S. from 1955 to 1965 and were a sub-model from the Chrysler New Yorker. After the initial year, which was named C-300 for its standard FirePower V8, the 1956 cars were designated 300B. Successive model years were given the next letter of the alphabet as a suffix (skipping "i"), reaching the 300L by 1965, after which the model sequence was discontinued while the "300" remained. At its introduction it was advertised as "America's Most Powerful Car". The 300 "letter series" cars were among the vehicles built by Chrysler after World War II that focused on performance, and thus can be considered the beginning of the muscle car, though full-sized and more expensive. Chrysler had a long history of producing race car products going back to the Chrysler Six that was entered in the 1925 24 Hours of Le Mans, 1928 24 Hours of Le Mans, 1929 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the Chrys ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
V8 Engine
A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and used in cars and speedboats but primarily aircraft; while the American 1914–1935 ''Cadillac L-Head'' engine is considered the first road going V8 engine to be mass produced in significant quantities. The popularity of V8 engines in cars was greatly increased following the 1932 introduction of the ''Ford Flathead V8''. In the early 21st century, use of V8 engines in passenger vehicles declined as automobile manufacturers opted for more fuel efficient, lower capacity engines, or hybrid and electric drivetrains. Design V-angle The majority of V8 engines use a V-angle (the angle between the two banks of cylinders) of 90 degrees. This angle results in good engine balance, which results in low vibrations; however, the downside is a larg ... [...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] |
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