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Austin Metro
The Metro is a supermini car, later a city car that was produced from 1980 to 1998, first by British Leyland (BL) and later by the Rover Group. It was launched in 1980 as the Austin Mini Metro (styled AUSTIN miniMETRO). The Mini Metro was intended to complement and eventually replace the original British Motor Corporation, BMC Mini, and was developed under the codename LC8. The MG Cars, MG version of the Metro was named "Car of The Year" 1983 by ''What Car?'' magazine, and later once more, as the Rover (marque), Rover Metro, in 1991. During its 18-year lifespan, the Metro wore many names: Austin Metro, MG Metro and Rover Metro. It was rebadged as the Rover 100 (full name: "Rover 100 series") in December 1994. There was also a van version, known as the Morris Metro, and later, the Metrovan. At the time of its launch, the Metro was sold under the Austin Motor Company, Austin brand, and from 1982 MG (car), MG versions became available. During 1987, the badge lost the Austin name, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Leyland
British Leyland was a British automotive engineering and manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formed in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partly nationalised in 1975, when the British government created a holding company called British Leyland, later renamed BL in 1978. It incorporated much of the British-owned motor vehicle industry, which in 1968 had a 40% share of the UK car market, with its history going back to 1895. Despite containing profitable marques such as Jaguar Cars, Jaguar, Rover (marque), Rover, and Land Rover, as well as the best-selling Mini, BLMC had a troubled history, leading to its eventual collapse in 1975 and subsequent part-nationalisation. After much restructuring and divestment of subsidiary companies, BL was renamed the Rover Group in 1986, becoming a subsidiary of British Aerospace from 1988 to 1994, then was subsequently bought by BMW. The fina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rover 200
The Rover 200 Series, and later the Rover 25, are a series of small family cars that were produced by former British manufacturer Rover (marque), Rover from 1984 until 2005. There have been three distinct generations of the Rover 200. The first generation was a four-door saloon car based on the Honda Ballade. The second generation was available in three or five-door hatchback forms, as well a coupé and cabriolet (in relatively small numbers). Its sister model, the Honda Concerto was built on the same production line in Rover's Longbridge factory. The final generation was developed independently by Rover on the automotive platform, platform of its predecessor, and was available as a three or five-door hatchback. Just before BMW's sale of Rover in 2000, and following a facelift, the model was renamed and sold as the Rover 25, and the MG ZR was based on the Rover 25 with mechanical changes to the suspension. Production ceased in 2005 when MG Rover went into Administration (insolve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Car Body Configurations
The configuration of a car body is typically determined by the layout of the engine, passenger and luggage compartments, which can be shared or separately articulated. A key design feature is the car's roof-supporting pillars, designated from front to rear of the car as A-pillar, B-pillar, C-pillar and D-pillar. Common car body configurations are one-box (e.g., a van/minivan/MPV), two-box (e.g., a hatchback/SUV) and three-box (e.g., a sedan/saloon) designs. One-box design A one-box design, also called a ''monospace'', ''mono-box'' or ''monovolume'' configuration—approximates in shape a single volume comprising engine, cabin and cargo areas, in part by locating the base of a vehicle's A-pillars further forward. One-box designs include light commercial vehicles, minivans, MPVs and mini MPVs. Passenger cars with a one-box design include the 1984 Renault Espace, 1992 Renault Twingo I, 2008 Tata Nano, 2005 Toyota Aygo/ Citroën C1/Peugeot 107 and 1997 Mercedes-Benz A-Clas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hillman Imp
The Hillman Imp is a small economy car that was made by the Rootes Group and its successor Chrysler Europe from 1963 until 1976. Revealed on 3 May 1963, after much advance publicity, it was the first British mass-produced car with the engine block and cylinder head cast in aluminium. This unorthodox small/light car was designed for the Rootes Group by Michael Parkes (who later became a Formula One driver) and Tim Fry. It was manufactured at the purpose-built Linwood plant in Scotland. As well as the Hillman marque, there was a series of variations, including an estate car (the Husky), a van and a coupé. The Imp enjoyed modest success in both club and international rallying. Rootes introduced a homologation special called the Rally Imp in 1964. It featured many modifications over the standard model, the most important of which was an engine enlarged to 998 cc. Notable successes for this model include the 1965 Tulip Rally in which the works Imps of Rosemary Smith and "Tiny" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harris Mann
Harris William Mann (27 April 1938 – 14 August 2023) was a British car designer. He took over from Roy Haynes (designer), Roy Haynes as chief stylist at British Leyland in 1970. Biography Harris Mann was born in London on 27 April 1938, and attended engineering school in City of Westminster, Westminster. His automotive design career started with the bus and coach building firm Duple Coachbuilders, Duple, followed by a short time working in the U.S. with Raymond Loewy, Loewy Consultancy. After a brief spell of National service#United Kingdom, National Service back in the UK, Mann worked for Commer, and then for Ford of Britain, Ford. Cars on which Mann was involved at Ford included the first Ford Escort (Europe), Escort and the Ford Capri, Capri. His boss at Ford, Roy Haynes (designer), Roy Haynes, persuaded Mann to go with him when, in 1967, he moved to British Motor Corporation, BMC to lead the design studio at Cowley, Oxfordshire, Cowley. Mann worked alongside Haynes o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Bache
David Ernest Bache (14 June 1925 – 26 November 1994) was a German-born English automobile designer. For much of his career he worked with Rover Company, Rover. Early life Bache was born in Mannheim, Germany, the son of Aston Villa and England footballer Joe Bache who was coaching in Mannheim following his retirement. Towards the end of World War II David joined the Austin Motor Company as an engineering apprentice. When he had finished his apprenticeship he moved to Austin's design office.Obituary, David Bache. ''The Times'', Monday, 26 December 1994; p. 15; Issue 65147 Career Austin In the Austin design office Bache worked under Dick Burzi, recruited from Lancia by Austin in 1929. One of his first jobs was to design the dashboard of the Austin A30. Rover In 1954 Bache moved to Rover Company, Rover in Solihull, becoming Rover's first ever stylist; the term 'stylist' was used at the time to differentiate the role from that of design engineer. His first task was to update the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Automatic Transmission
An automatic transmission (AT) or automatic gearbox is a multi-speed transmission (mechanics), transmission used in motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving conditions. The 1904 Sturtevant "horseless carriage gearbox" is often considered to be the first true automatic transmission. The first mass-produced automatic transmission is the General Motors ''Hydramatic'' two-speed hydraulic automatic, which was introduced in 1939. Automatic transmissions are especially prevalent in vehicular drivetrains, particularly those subject to intense mechanical acceleration and frequent idle/transient operating conditions; commonly commercial/passenger/utility vehicles, such as buses and waste collection vehicles. Prevalence Vehicles with internal combustion engines, unlike electric vehicles, require the engine to operate in a narrow range of rates of rotation, requiring a gearbox, operated manually or automatically, to drive t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AP Automatic Transmission
The AP automatic transmission is a 4-speed automatic transmission unit developed by Automotive Products and the British Motor Corporation specifically for use in the Mini. It was unique in that not only was it one of the first transverse mounted automatic transmission units tailored for front wheel drive, it was one of the smallest in order to be used in the transmission-in-sump installation beneath the A-series engine used in the Mini, and later the 1100/1300 ranges. Another novel feature was that the transmission was designed to use the engine's lubricating oil, rather than conventional automatic transmission fluid (ATF). The units were manufactured in a BMC plant in Kings Norton, Birmingham which supplied complete powertrain packages (the unit required a unique engine variant) to the Longbridge and Cowley assembly plants. Around the early 70s, the transmission received revisions with the new pre-oiler pump that prevented the 3-4 engine surge between shifts, and the quiet e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manual Transmission
A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canadian English, Canada, British English, the United Kingdom and American English, the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle Transmission (mechanical device), transmission system where gear changes require the driver to manually select the gears by operating a gear stick and clutch (which is usually a foot pedal for cars or a hand lever for motorcycles). Early automobiles used ''sliding-mesh'' manual transmissions with up to three forward gear ratios. Since the 1950s, ''constant-mesh'' manual transmissions have become increasingly commonplace, and the number of forward ratios has increased to 5-speed and 6-speed manual transmissions for current vehicles. The alternative to a manual transmission is an automatic transmission. Common types of automatic transmissions are the Automatic transmission#Hydraulic automatic transmissions, hydraulic automatic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turbocharger
In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. Turbochargers are distinguished from superchargers in that a turbocharger is powered by the kinetic energy of the exhaust gases, whereas a is mechanically powered (usually by a belt from the engine's crankshaft). However, up until the mid-20th century, a turbocharger was called a "turbosupercharger" and was considered a type of supercharger. History Prior to the inv ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Straight-four Engine
A straight-four engine (also referred to as an inline-four engine) is a four-cylinder Reciprocating engine, piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The 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-4 engine, 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BMC A-Series Engine
The Austin Motor Company A-series is a British small straight-4 car, automobile engine. Launched in 1951 with the Austin A30, production lasted until 2000 in the Mini. It used a cast-iron block and cylinder head, and a steel crankshaft with three main bearings. The camshaft ran in the cylinder block, driven by a single-row chain for most applications, and with tappets sliding in the block, accessible through pressed steel side covers for most applications, and with overhead valves operated through rockers. The cylinder blocks are not interchangeable between versions intended for conventional end-on mounted gearboxes and the 'in-sump' transaxle used on British Motor Corporation/British Leyland front wheel drive models such as the Mini. The cylinder head for the overhead-valve version of the A-series engine was designed by Weslake, Harry Weslake – a cylinder head specialist famed for his involvement in SS (Jaguar Cars, Jaguar) engines and several Formula One-title winning en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
