Posts Tagged car
Delahaye Classic French Motor Cars
Posted by admin in Classic Cars on July 14, 2011
The origins of Delahaye as a foreign French auto maker and manufacturer lie in a firm set up as long ago remarkably, as 1845 to produce of all things brick-making machinery obviously not automobiles or even horse and buggy transportation equipment.
Emile Delahaye was at first a railway engineer who designed rolling stock for French as well as Belgium railroads. Yet he produced his first car of German Daimler type in 1895, and two years later he moved his company from Tours to Paris, settling down to a variety of engineering projects.
The first of the shaft-driven cars arrived in 1907 and a V6 project (again a remarkable feat this early on in automobile history) in 1912. During the “Great War” – World War 1- the company itself produced a variety and range of items for the war effort. including vast quantities of rifles, stationary engines, gun parts and aircraft components. Yet after the war the company settled down to build somehow dull yet dependable and reliable cars (not always the case in the early day of the automotive industry). However at this point in the company’s history these were noted to be usually of a rather backward design and designs.
It was necessary to modernize the car line in a big way and manner and with the current range selling rather badly in very limited and restricted sales numbers the new design and designs were first shown publicly in 1933 at the Paris Auto Show. Not only did it have a light chassis layout, with independent front suspension, but there was a choice of 3.3 liter, six-cylinder engine or a related 2.1-liter “four” backed by the Cotal electro-magnetic gear box or alternatively a synchromesh change to choice. The short cut was made possible without what was considered at the time “enormous investment” because these engines and motors were directly developed from units already in production for the company’s commercial vehicles. Not only this but for the first time in years, the Delahaye car had coachwork with what might be called “eye appeal”, “eye candy” and later with the advent of American auto producer, General Motors, “styling”. Read the rest of this entry »
Thinking About Transportation From Different Points Of View
Posted by admin in Classic Cars on July 14, 2011
It’s really all about getting from point A to Point B. Back when travel was arduous and dangerous people kept their Point A and Point B close together. Some people never traveled farther than a mile or two from home in their entire lives.
Nowadays there are trains, buses, boats and airplanes that will take you anywhere you want to go. Of course you have to share the space with a lot of other people that you don’t know and might not like. And you have to travel on somebody else’s schedule. And if you are flying you have to go through the security check stations which can, at the least, be a nuisance.
Most people would rather travel by car when they can. Leave when want, stop when you want, arrive when you arrive. People love cars. That’s why there are so many of them. You see them everywhere. You see them advertised everywhere.
Of course there are problems with cars and pollution and the cost of fuel. Those problems are being addressed as manufacturers invent new and better models that use electricity and other alternatives fuels. In the meantime, however, if you want to get where you want to go you need a car that runs now.
People talk about buying other people’s problems. But in fact you can pay for an awful lot of repairs on a used car for what a new vehicle will cost you. Unless your career depends on impressing people with your wealthy appearance you would be smart to shop the second-hand market.
When you buy a second-hand car you are making at least two people happy. The seller wants to sell the car and he will be happy for the money. He will be helping you to be happy if he has cared for the car well and kept a record of its service and maintenance. Read the rest of this entry »