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Gull-wing Door
In the automotive industry, a gull-wing door, also known as a falcon-wing door or an up-door, is a car door that is hinged at the roof rather than the side, as pioneered by Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, first as a race car in 1952 ( W194), and then as a production sports car in 1954. Opening upwards, the doors evoke the image of a seagull's wings. In French, they are (butterfly doors). The papillon door was designed by Jean Bugatti for the 1939 Type 64, 14 years before Mercedes-Benz produced its similar, famous 300 SL gullwing door. The papillon door is a precursor to the gullwing door, and is slightly different in its architecture, but is often overlooked when discussing gull-wing design. Conventional car doors are typically hinged at the front-facing edge of the door, with the door swinging outward horizontally. Apart from the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL of the mid-1950s, Mercedes-Benz SLS and the experimental Mercedes-Benz C111 of the early 1970s, the best-known examples of road-cars w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe 34
Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijiangshan Islands: The Chinese Communist People's Liberation Army seizes the islands from the Republic of China (Taiwan). * January 22 – In the United States, The Pentagon announces a plan to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), armed with nuclear weapons. * January 23 – The Sutton Coldfield rail crash kills 17, near Birmingham, England. * January 25 – The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union announces the end of the war between the USSR and Germany, which began during World War II in 1941. * January 28 – The United States Congress authorizes President Dwight D. Eisenhower to use force to protect Formosa from the People's Republic of China. February * February 10 – The United States Seventh Fle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torsion Bar
A torsion bar suspension, also known as a torsion spring suspension, is any vehicle suspension that uses a torsion bar as its main weight-bearing spring. One end of a long metal bar is attached firmly to the vehicle chassis; the opposite end terminates in a lever, the torsion key, mounted perpendicular to the bar, that is attached to a suspension arm, a spindle, or the axle. Vertical motion of the wheel causes the bar to twist around its axis and is resisted by the bar's torsion resistance. The effective spring rate of the bar is determined by its length, cross section, shape, material, and manufacturing process. Usage Torsion bar suspensions are used on combat vehicles and tanks like the T-72, Leopard 1, Leopard 2, M26 Pershing, M18 Hellcat, M48 Patton, M60 Patton and the M1 Abrams (many tanks from World War II used this suspension), and on modern trucks and SUVs from Ford, Chrysler, GM, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Nissan, Isuzu, LuAZ, and Toyota. Class 8 truck manufacturer Kenworth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mercedes-Benz 300SL
The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (chassis code W 198) is a two-seat sports car which was produced by Mercedes-Benz as a gullwinged coupe (1954–1957) and roadster (1957–1963).Werner Oswald: ''Mercedes-Benz Personenwagen 1945–1985''. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, , S. 46 u. 70. It was based on the company's 1952 racer, the W194, with mechanical direct fuel injection which boosted power almost 50 percent in its three-liter overhead camshaft straight-six engine. Capable of reaching a top speed of up to , it was a sports car racing champion and the fastest production car of its time. Max Hoffman, Mercedes-Benz's United States importer at the time, inspired the 300 SL and saw an American market for such a car. The company introduced the 300 SL in February 1954 at the International Motor Sports Show in New York City (instead of Europe) to get it into US buyers' hands sooner. SL is the short form for "super-light" in German (super-leicht)Benjamin Bessinger: Mercedes-Konzernarchiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melkus RS 2000
Melkus was a marque of single seat racing cars and sport cars founded by the race driver Heinz Melkus in Dresden in East Germany. The company existed from 1959 to 1986, and then from 2009 to 2012. The cars originally used engines from Wartburgs and many of the other parts came from Wartburgs and Trabants. The racing cars competed in Formula 3, Formula Junior and Formula Ford. The 2009 to 2012 models used engines from Toyota and Volkswagen. The only road car the company produced from 1959 to 1986 was the Melkus RS 1000. It was a sleek sports car powered by a tuned mid-mounted Wartburg 3-cylinder 2-stroke engine. Most of the cars used the 992 cc version, but some of the later cars had the 1200 cc version. It had gullwing doors. 101 cars were made. The company stopped making cars in 1986. In the early 1990s, Heinz Melkus and his family started running a BMW dealership in Dresden. In December 2006, Melkus Engineering--a German company owned by Peter Melkus, son of Heinz Melkus- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melkus RS 1000
Melkus RS 1000 is a sports car produced by Melkus. It is powered by a tuned, mid-mounted 3-cylinder 2-stroke 992 cm3 engine, similar to the one in the Wartburg 353, and features gull-wing doors. 101 cars were made between 1969 and 1979 in the Dresden factory. Technical description The RS 1000 has a traditional ladder frame and features a body-on-frame design. Being a racecar, it has a roll bar integrated into the windscreen frame and an addition roll bar installed behind the driver's seat. The RS 1000 has independent front and rear suspension, coil springs, stabilisers and drum brakes. The gearbox is a 5-speed manual; the clutch is the same as in the Barkas B 1000. A specially-tuned version of the water-cooled, two-stroke 992 cm3 AWE353/1 Wartburg engine is used. Unlike the standard, single-carb Wartburg engine, it has three carburettors, as well as a higher compression ratio. This engine produces at 4500 min−1 and gives a maximum torque of 118 N·m (87 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isdera
Isdera AG or ''Ingenieurbüro für Styling, Design und Racing'' (English: Engineering Company for Styling, Design and Racing) is a privately run German specialty automaker and design service provider based in Saarwellingen, with a design studio in Munich and a design subsidiary in Shanghai, China. The company was founded and formerly based in Leonberg, Germany. Each high-performance sports car is hand-built by a small team of craftsmen, and the only way to purchase a brand new Isdera was to call the CEO directly. Each vehicle is custom built for its original buyer, and a waiting period of twelve months is to be expected. History Eberhard Schulz in order to seek a job at one of the automotive companies of Germany built his own car in the garage of his home in 1969 called the Erator GTE. He drove the car to Porsche's and Mercedes-Benz's headquarters and was subsequently offered a job at Porsche in the design department in 1970. In 1978, Schultz left Porsche and joined the b&b comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hofstetter Turbo
The Hofstetter Turbo is a Brazilian car created in the 1980s by Mario Richard Hofstetter. In 1980 Hofstetter pulled out his drawing paper and started to draw a prototype of the car. Mario Hofstetter made this car at this time because the Brazilian government was very strict and didn't allow many imports into Brazil. In 1982 he started to put the mid-engined car together with some other workers, and began the Hofstetter company in 1984. Mario Hofstetter only was able to sell 18 cars throughout (1986–1991). Performance The Turbo featured a fiberglass body with gull-wing doors that was reportedly inspired by the Alfa Romeo Carabo concept car. The interior was upholstered in leather and featured an early digital dash. Early models of the Turbo were powered by a 1.8 L Inline-four engine from the Volkswagen Passat which was then equipped with a Garrett turbocharger and coupled to a 4-speed manual gearbox. These engines reportedly produced 140 hp (104.4 kW) at 5,000 rpm, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gumpert Apollo
The Gumpert Apollo was a sports car produced by German automotive manufacturer Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur GmbH in Altenburg. Gumpert filed for bankruptcy in August 2013, thereby ending the production of the Apollo. History In 2000, Roland Gumpert proposed a new generation of sports cars. One of the primary criteria for this car was that it be street-legal yet ready for the racetrack. He returned to Germany at the end of 2001, after over three years in China where he was the head of sales and marketing responsible for the development of the dealer network of the Audi- VW joint enterprise there. Subsequently, automobile designer Roland Mayer asked him if he would assist in building a prototype sports car. Audi approved Gumpert's involvement in this project, on the condition that, if they did eventually develop a new sports car, it would not be a prototype, but a series product. The company, located in Altenburg, Germany was founded in 2004 under the name GMG Sportwagenmanufakt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
De Tomaso Mangusta
The De Tomaso Mangusta is a sports car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer De Tomaso between 1967 and 1971. It was succeeded by the De Tomaso Pantera. History The Mangusta replaced the Vallelunga model, on which its chassis was based.Lawrence, Mike (1997). ''A to Z of Sports Cars 1945-1990''. Bay View Books Ltd. The word "mangusta" is Italian for "mongoose", an animal that can kill cobras. It was rumored that the car was so named in retaliation to a failed deal between De Tomaso and Carroll Shelby. Alejandro de Tomaso offered to help Carroll Shelby to build a new Can-Am The Canadian-American Challenge Cup, or Can-Am, was an Sports Car Club of America, SCCA/Canadian Auto Sport Clubs, CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1987. History Can-Am started out as a race series for group 7 sports racers with two r ... race car at the end of 1964 when Shelby found that the AC Cobra, Shelby Cobra would not be able to compete there. De Tomaso was planning to develop a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bristol Fighter (automobile)
The Bristol Fighter is a sports car produced by Bristol Cars in small numbers from 2004 until the company suspended manufacturing in 2011. It is generally classed as a supercar. The coupé body, which features gullwing doors, was designed by former Brabham Formula One engineer Max Boxstrom and gives the car a Cd of 0.28. The car uses a front-mounted V10 engine, based on the engine in the Dodge Viper and the Dodge Ram SRT-10 pick up (it was originally based on the Chrysler LA engine), but modified by Bristol to produce at 5,600 rpm and of torque at 4,200 rpm. This is in keeping with Bristol's use of Chrysler engines since 1961. In the more powerful Fighter S, the engine is tuned to produce 628 hp (660 hp at high speed using the ram air effect). The car's weight is . The car has a six-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmission, and is rear-wheel drive. It can achieve the sprint in 4.0 seconds (claimed), and enjoys a power-to-weight ratio of . The car has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Autozam AZ-1
The Autozam AZ-1, known by the framecode PG6SA, is a mid-engined kei-class sports car, designed and manufactured by Mazda under its Autozam brand. Suzuki provided the engine as well as the inspiration for the design. Manufactured from October 1992 to October 1994, the AZ-1 was noted for its gullwing doors. Power came from the same Suzuki-sourced 657 cc turbocharged engine used by the Suzuki Alto that produced at 6,500 rpm and at 4,000 rpm. Suzuki later produced its own badge engineered version named the Suzuki Cara (PG6SS). History Pre-production Suzuki prototypes The proposal for the AZ-1 goes as far back as 1985 when Suzuki created the Suzuki RS/1 as a mid-engine sports car project for volume production. Suzuki's design for the Tokyo Motor Show was more than just a design exercise, they designed a fully functional car with a front/rear weight distribution of 45:55, powered by a modified 1.3-liter G13B engine borrowed from the Cultus GTi. This was follow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aston Martin Valkyrie
The Aston Martin Valkyrie (also known by its code-names as AM-RB 001 and Nebula) is a limited production hybrid sports car collaboratively built by British automobile manufacturers Aston Martin, Red Bull Racing Advanced Technologies and several others. The sports car is a product of collaboration between Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing to develop a track-oriented car entirely usable and enjoyable as a road car, conceived by Adrian Newey, Dr Andy Palmer, Christian Horner and Simon Spoule. The car's makers claim the title of fastest street-legal car in the world for it. Adrian Newey, Red Bull Racing's Chief Technical Officer and the world's most successful F1 designer aided in the design of the car. Its main competitors are the Mercedes-AMG ONE and the Gordon Murray Automotive T.50. The start of the 2019 Formula One British Grand Prix, the car made a lap of the Silverstone circuit for the first time. Aston Martin also announced a spider variant; only 85 will be produced. P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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