Alfa Romeo Tipo 158 Alfetta, 1938

Alfa Romeo Tipo 158 Alfetta, 1938

The Alfa Romeo 158/159, also known as the Alfetta (Little Alfa in Italian), is one of the most successful racing cars ever produced. The Alfa Romeo 158 and its derivative, the 159, took 47 wins from 54 Grands Prix entered. It was originally developed for the pre-World War II voiturette formula (1937) and has a 1.5 litre straight-8 supercharged engine. Following World War II, the car was eligible for the new Formula One introduced in 1947. In the hands of drivers such as Nino Farina, Juan-Manuel Fangio and Luigi Fagioli, it dominated the first two seasons of the Formula One World Championship.

The first version of this successful racing car, the Alfa Romeo 158, was made during 1937/1938. The main responsibility for engineering was given to Gioacchino Colombo.

The car's name refers to its 1.5 litre engine and eight cylinders. The voiturette class was for racing cars with 1.5 litre engines, standing in the same relation to the top 'Grand Prix' formula (usually for 3 litre engines) as the GP2 series does to Formula One today. Alfa's 3 litre racing cars in 1938 and 1939 were the Tipo 308, 312 and 316.

The Alfa Romeo 158 debuted with the works Alfa Corse team at the Coppa Ciano Junior in August 1938 at Livorno, Italy, where Emilio Villoresi took the car's first victory. At that time the 1479 cc engine produced around 200 bhp (150 kW) at 7000 rpm. with the help of a single-stage Roots blower. More success came at the Coppa Acerbo, Coppa Ciano and Tripoli Grand Prix in May 1940. Soon World War II stopped development of the car for six years. After the war the engine was developed further to push out 254 bhp (189 kW) in 1946.

In 1947, the Alfetta became eligible for the newly-created Formula One. The new rules allowed 1500 cc supercharged and 4500 cc naturally aspirated engines. The Alfa Romeo 158 was modified again, this time to produce over 300 bhp (220 kW) and was denoted as Alfa Romeo Tipo 158/47. The car made a tragic debut in the 1948 Swiss Grand Prix where Achille Varzi lost control of his car and was killed. Another loss for the team came in practice for the 1949 Buenos Aires Grand Prix, where Jean-Pierre Wimille was killed in an accident (driving with Simca-Gordini).

The car won every race in which it competed during 1950; it was incredible that a car which had originated in 1938 was so victorious. The Alfa Romeo team included talented drivers such as Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio, the latter of whom later won the World Drivers' Championship five times.

At the end of the 1950 season, a further updated version known as the Alfa Romeo 159 was produced.

VW Beetle

VW Beetle, 1938

The Volkswagen Type 1, more commonly known as the Beetle, Fusca, Coccinelle, Vocho, Bug, Volky or Käfer (German), is a compact car, produced by Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003. Although the names "Beetle" and "Bug" were quickly adopted by the public, it was not until August of 1967 that VW began using the name in marketing materials. It had previously been known only as either the "Type I" or as the 1200 (twelve-hundred), 1300 (thirteen-hundred) or 1500 (fifteen-hundred), which had been the names under which the vehicle was marketed in Europe prior to 1967; the numbers denoted the vehicle's engine size in cubic centimetres. In 1998, many years after the original model had been dropped from the lineup in most of the world (it continued in Mexico and a handful of other countries until 2003) VW introduced a "New Beetle" (built on a Volkswagen Golf platform), bearing a strong resemblance to the original.

In the international poll for the award of the world's most influential car of the twentieth century the Beetle came fourth after the Ford Model T, the Mini and the Citroën DS.

"The People's Car"
The origins of the car date back to 1925, when Béla Barényi submitted his concepts to the Maschinenbauanstant Wien. Further influences came from the 1931 Tatra T97, and the 1931

The military Beetle
Prototypes of the Kdf-Wagen appeared from 1935 onwards — the first prototypes were produced by Daimler-Benz in Stuttgart, Germany. The car already had its distinctive round shape and its air-cooled, flat-four, rear-mounted engine. However, the factory had only produced a handful of cars by the time war started in 1939. Consequently, the first volume-produced versions of the car's chassis were military vehicles, the Jeep-like Kübelwagen Typ 82 (approx. 52,000 built) and the amphibious Schwimmwagen Typ 166 (approx. 14,000 built).

The car was designed to be as simple as possible mechanically, so that there was less to go wrong; the aircooled 985 cc 25 hp (19 kW) motors proved especially effective in actions of the German Afrika Korps in North Africa's desert heat. This was due to the built-in fan-cooling and the superior performance of the flat-four engine configuration. The innovative suspension design used compact torsion beams instead of coil or leaf springs.

A handful of civilian-specific Beetles were produced, primarily for the Nazi elite, in the years 1940–1945, but production figures were small. In response to gasoline shortages, a few wartime "Holzbrenner" Beetles were fueled by wood pyrolysis gas producers under the hood. In addition to the Kübelwagen, Schwimmwagen, and a handful of others, the factory managed another wartime vehicle:

The Kommandeurwagen; a Beetle body mounted on the 4WD Kübelwagen chassis. A total of 669 Kommandeurwagens were produced until 1945, when all production was halted due to heavy damage sustained in Allied air raids on the factory. Much of the essential equipment had already been moved to underground bunkers for protection, allowing production to resume quickly once hostilities had ended.

Post-war conflicts
Much of the Beetle's design was inspired by the advanced Tatra cars of Hans Ledwinka, particularly the T97. This also had a streamlined body and a rear-mounted 4 cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine. Tatra launched a lawsuit, but this was stopped when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia. The matter was re-opened after WW2 and in 1961 Volkswagen paid Tatra 3,000,000 Deutsche Marks in compensation. These damages meant that Volkswagen had little money for the development of new models and the Beetle's production life was necessarily extended.

The Volkswagen company owes its postwar existence largely to British army officer Major Ivan Hirst (1916–2000). After the war, Hirst was ordered to take control of the heavily bombed factory, which the Americans had captured. His first task was to remove the unexploded bomb which had fallen through the roof and lodged itself between some pieces of irreplaceable production equipment; if the bomb had exploded, the Beetle's fate would have been sealed. Hirst persuaded the British military to order 20,000 of the cars, and by 1946 the factory was producing 1,000 cars a month. The car and its town changed their Nazi-era names to Volkswagen (people's car) and Wolfsburg, respectively. The first 1,785 Beetles were made in a factory near Wolfsburg, Germany in 1945.

Production boom
Production of the Type 1 grew dramatically over the years, with the one-millionth car coming off the assembly line by 1954. The Beetle had superior performance in its category with a top speed of 115km/h (72mph) and 0-100km/h (0-60mph) in 27.5 seconds on 31mpg for the standard 25kW (34hp) engine. This was far superior to the Renault 4CV and Morris Minor and even competitive with more modern small cars like the Mini. The engine fired up immediately without a choke and could only be heard in the car when idling. It had excellent road-handling for a small car. It was economical to maintain and, for many, a joy to drive. However, the opinion of some in the United States was not as flattering. Henry Ford II once described the car as 'A little shit box' out of frustration that it was the top-selling foreign car in the US market. During the 1960s and early 1970s, innovative advertising campaigns and a glowing reputation for reliability and sturdiness helped production figures to surpass the levels of the previous record holder, the Ford Model T, when Beetle No. 15,007,034 was produced on February 17, 1972. By 1973 total production was over 16 million, and by 2002 there had been over 21 million produced.

Beetle derivatives
While production of the standard Beetle continued, a Type 1 variant called the Super Beetle, produced from model year 1971 to 1979, offered MacPherson strut front suspension, better turning radius, and more space in the front luggage compartment. The Super Beetle was improved in 1973 to include a padded dashboard and a curved windshield.

The Super Beetle (VW 1302 and 1303 series, also called Type 113) is not the only Type 1 variant; other VWs under the Type 1 nomenclature include the Karmann Ghia and the VW 181 utility vehicle, not to mention the Brasilia and the Australian Country Buggy (locally produced in Australia using VW parts).Small fractions of people now call it the weevil.

Sales decrease
Faced with stiff competition from more modern designs — in particular Japanese economy cars in the North American market and superminis in Europe — sales began dropping off in the mid 1970s. There had been several unsuccessful attempts to replace the Beetle throughout the 1960s; the Type 3, Type 4, and the NSU-based K70 were all failures. Finally, production lines at Wolfsburg switched to the new watercooled, front-engined, front wheel drive Golf in 1974 (sold in North America as the Rabbit), a car unlike its predecessor in most significant ways.

Beetle production continued in smaller numbers at other German factories until 1978, but mainstream production shifted to Brazil and Mexico. The last Beetle was produced in Puebla, Mexico, in mid-2003. The final batch of 3,000 Beetles were sold as 2004 models and badged as the Última Edición, with whitewall tires, a host of previously-discontinued chrome trim, and the choice of two special paint colors taken from the New Beetle. Production in Brazil ended in 1986, then restarted in 1993 and continued until 1996. Volkswagen sold Beetles in the United States until 1978 (the Beetle convertible a.k.a. Cabriolet was sold until January 1980) and in Europe until 1985.

Pop culture
Like its competitors the Mini and the Citroën 2CV, the Beetle has been regarded as something of a "cult" car since its 1960s association with the hippie movement; and the obvious attributes of its unique and quirky design. Much like their Type 2 counterparts, Beetles were psychedelically painted and considered an art car ancestor. One of the logos used by the Houston Art Car Klub incorporated a Beetle with a cowboy hat.

From 1968 to 2005, a pearl white 1963 fabric sunroof Beetle with racing number "53" and red, white, and blue stripes named "Herbie" played a starring role in The Love Bug series of Disney comedy films. A yellow Wunderkäfer, called DuDu, appeared in a series of German films for children. Also made famous is the Autobot Bumblebee, a canary yellow Beetle in the toy, comic and cartoon line The Transformers. The Throttlebot, Legends and Generation 2 toy line versions of Bumblebee also transformed from robot to VW Beetle, though the Throttlebot-type was called Goldbug as it was a golden 1975 Super Beetle. (Note, too, that the G2 toy was painted anodized gold in colour.) In other countries, 'Bumblebee the Beetle' has been released in various colours.

The Beetle has appeared in Hollywood in many other instances, albeit brief. For instance, the opening shot of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980) featured a yellow Volkswagen Beetle. The sci-fi thriller The Arrival (1996) featured a few Mexican Beetles in the film — one scene in the film features Charlie Sheen hiding in the notorioulsy tight trunk.

During the early 1970s, the Beetle was used for advertisements where graphic art ads were decaled on newly-sold Volkswagens. A marketing consultant (Charlie E. Bird) in the Los Angeles area came up with the "Beetleboard" concept. Both standard and Super Beetles were used, until the original Beetle ceased production in Europe in 1978. This trend was resurrected after the New Beetle entered production (source — The Beetle Book).The Volkswagen Beetle has built a large fan base among off-road types in the form of the Baja Bug. Today, there are many online clubs and communities that keep Beetle aficionadoes on touch. Even the sighting of a Volkswagen Beetle is cause for violent fun in the car-sighting game known as "Slug-Bug" or Punch Buggy.

Ford Club Coupe 454, 1938

Ford Club Coupe 454, 1938

Ford Club Coupe 454, 1938 

Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 Mille Miglia, 1938

Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 Mille Miglia, 1938

The Alfa Romeo 6C name was used on road, race and sports cars made between 1925-1954 by Alfa Romeo. 6C refers to a straight 6 engine. Bodies to these cars were made by coachbuilders such as James Young, Zagato, Touring, Castagna, and Pininfarina. Starting from 1933 there was also a 6C version with a factory Alfa body, built in Portello.

The Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 (2309 cc) was designed by Vittorio Jano as a cheaper alternative to the Alfa Romeo 8C.

Buick Yjob Concept, 1938

Buick Yjob Concept, 1938

 

Buick Yjob Concept, 1938

Volks Wagen Beetle, 1938

Volks Wagen Beetle, 1938

 

The Volkswagen Type 1, more commonly known as the Beetle, Fusca, Coccinelle, Vocho, Bug, Volky or Käfer (German), is a compact car, produced by Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003. Although the names "Beetle" and "Bug" were quickly adopted by the public, it was not until August of 1967 that VW began using the name in marketing materials. It had previously been known only as either the "Type I" or as the 1200 (twelve-hundred), 1300 (thirteen-hundred) or 1500 (fifteen-hundred), which had been the names under which the vehicle was marketed in Europe prior to 1967; the numbers denoted the vehicle's engine size in cubic centimetres. In 1998, many years after the original model had been dropped from the lineup in most of the world (it continued in Mexico and a handful of other countries until 2003) VW introduced a "New Beetle" (built on a Volkswagen Golf platform), bearing a strong resemblance to the original.

In the international poll for the award of the world's most influential car of the twentieth century the Beetle came fourth after the Ford Model T, the Mini and the Citroën DS.

"The People's Car"
The origins of the car date back to 1925, when Béla Barényi submitted his concepts to the Maschinenbauanstant Wien. Further influences came from the 1931 Tatra T97, and the 1931 Porsche Typ 12.

In 1933 Adolf Hitler met with Ferdinand Porsche to discuss the development of a "Volks-Wagen" ("People Car"), a basic vehicle that should be capable of transporting two adults and three children at a speed of 100 km/h (62 mph), and which should cost no more than a 990 reichsmark (at an average income of 32RM/week).

Advertisement from ca. 1936 says "Five mark a week you must put aside - If in your own car you want to ride!"

Ferdinand Porsche formulated the original parameters of the Beetle several years before it was commissioned. However its production only became financially viable when it was backed by the Third Reich.

The Type 1's mechanics and chassis were shared with several German military vehicles of the period, including the Kübelwagen ("bucket car", later adapted for civil use as the Type 181 or "Thing"), used by both the German military and the SS, and the amphibious Schwimmwagen, built in small numbers
Ferdinand's career continued on to designing an iconic supercar of the 21st century - Porsche.

The military Beetle
Prototypes of the Kdf-Wagen appeared from 1935 onwards — the first prototypes were produced by Daimler-Benz in Stuttgart, Germany. The car already had its distinctive round shape and its air-cooled, flat-four, rear-mounted engine. However, the factory had only produced a handful of cars by the time war started in 1939. Consequently, the first volume-produced versions of the car's chassis were military vehicles, the Jeep-like Kübelwagen Typ 82 (approx. 52,000 built) and the amphibious Schwimmwagen Typ 166 (approx. 14,000 built).

The car was designed to be as simple as possible mechanically, so that there was less to go wrong; the aircooled 985 cc 25 hp (19 kW) motors proved especially effective in actions of the German Afrika Korps in North Africa's desert heat. This was due to the built-in fan-cooling and the superior performance of the flat-four engine configuration. The innovative suspension design used compact torsion beams instead of coil or leaf springs.

A handful of civilian-specific Beetles were produced, primarily for the Nazi elite, in the years 1940–1945, but production figures were small. In response to gasoline shortages, a few wartime "Holzbrenner" Beetles were fueled by wood pyrolysis gas producers under the hood. 

In addition to the Kübelwagen, Schwimmwagen, and a handful of others, the factory managed another wartime vehicle:
the Kommandeurwagen; a Beetle body mounted on the 4WD Kübelwagen chassis. A total of 669 Kommandeurwagens were produced until 1945, when all production was halted due to heavy damage sustained in Allied air raids on the factory. Much of the essential equipment had already been moved to underground bunkers for protection, allowing production to resume quickly once hostilities had ended.

Post-war conflicts
Much of the Beetle's design was inspired by the advanced Tatra cars of Hans Ledwinka, particularly the T97. This also had a streamlined body and a rear-mounted 4 cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine. Tatra launched a lawsuit, but this was stopped when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia. The matter was re-opened after WW2 and in 1961 Volkswagen paid Tatra 3,000,000 Deutsche Marks in compensation. These damages meant that Volkswagen had little money for the development of new models and the Beetle's production life was necessarily extended.

The Volkswagen company owes its postwar existence largely to British army officer Major Ivan Hirst (1916–2000). After the war, Hirst was ordered to take control of the heavily bombed factory, which the Americans had captured. His first task was to remove the unexploded bomb which had fallen through the roof and lodged itself between some pieces of irreplaceable production equipment; if the bomb had exploded, the Beetle's fate would have been sealed. Hirst persuaded the British military to order 20,000 of the cars, and by 1946 the factory was producing 1,000 cars a month. The car and its town changed their Nazi-era names to Volkswagen (people's car) and Wolfsburg, respectively. The first 1,785 Beetles were made in a factory near Wolfsburg, Germany in 1945.

Production boom
Production of the Type 1 grew dramatically over the years, with the one-millionth car coming off the assembly line by 1954. The Beetle had superior performance in its category with a top speed of 115km/h (72mph) and 0-100km/h (0-60mph) in 27.5 seconds on 31mpg for the standard 25kW (34hp) engine. This was far superior to the Renault 4CV and Morris Minor and even competitive with more modern small cars like the Mini. The engine fired up immediately without a choke and could only be heard in the car when idling. It had excellent road-handling for a small car. It was economical to maintain and, for many, a joy to drive. However, the opinion of some in the United States was not as flattering. Henry Ford II once described the car as 'A little shit box' out of frustration that it was the top-selling foreign car in the US market. During the 1960s and early 1970s, innovative advertising campaigns and a glowing reputation for reliability and sturdiness helped production figures to surpass the levels of the previous record holder, the Ford Model T, when Beetle No. 15,007,034 was produced on February 17, 1972. By 1973 total production was over 16 million, and by 2002 there had been over 21 million produced.

Beetle derivatives
While production of the standard Beetle continued, a Type 1 variant called the Super Beetle, produced from model year 1971 to 1979, offered MacPherson strut front suspension, better turning radius, and more space in the front luggage compartment. The Super Beetle was improved in 1973 to include a padded dashboard and a curved windshield.

The Super Beetle (VW 1302 and 1303 series, also called Type 113) is not the only Type 1 variant; other VWs under the Type 1 nomenclature include the Karmann Ghia and the VW 181 utility vehicle, not to mention the Brasilia and the Australian Country Buggy (locally produced in Australia using VW parts).Small fractions of people now call it the weevil.

Sales decrease
Faced with stiff competition from more modern designs — in particular Japanese economy cars in the North American market and superminis in Europe — sales began dropping off in the mid 1970s. There had been several unsuccessful attempts to replace the Beetle throughout the 1960s; the Type 3, Type 4, and the NSU-based K70 were all failures. Finally, production lines at Wolfsburg switched to the new watercooled, front-engined, front wheel drive Golf in 1974 (sold in North America as the Rabbit), a car unlike its predecessor in most significant ways.

Beetle production continued in smaller numbers at other German factories until 1978, but mainstream production shifted to Brazil and Mexico. The last Beetle was produced in Puebla, Mexico, in mid-2003. The final batch of 3,000 Beetles were sold as 2004 models and badged as the Última Edición, with whitewall tires, a host of previously-discontinued chrome trim, and the choice of two special paint colors taken from the New Beetle. Production in Brazil ended in 1986, then restarted in 1993 and continued until 1996. Volkswagen sold Beetles in the United States until 1978 (the Beetle convertible a.k.a. Cabriolet was sold until January 1980) and in Europe until 1985.

Pop culture
Like its competitors the Mini and the Citroën 2CV, the Beetle has been regarded as something of a "cult" car since its 1960s association with the hippie movement; and the obvious attributes of its unique and quirky design. Much like their Type 2 counterparts, Beetles were psychedelically painted and considered an art car ancestor. One of the logos used by the Houston Art Car Klub incorporated a Beetle with a cowboy hat.

From 1968 to 2005, a pearl white 1963 fabric sunroof Beetle with racing number "53" and red, white, and blue stripes named "Herbie" played a starring role in The Love Bug series of Disney comedy films. A yellow Wunderkäfer, called DuDu, appeared in a series of German films for children. Also made famous is the Autobot Bumblebee, a canary yellow Beetle in the toy, comic and cartoon line The Transformers. The Throttlebot, Legends and Generation 2 toy line versions of Bumblebee also transformed from robot to VW Beetle, though the Throttlebot-type was called Goldbug as it was a golden 1975 Super Beetle. (Note, too, that the G2 toy was painted anodized gold in colour.) In other countries, 'Bumblebee the Beetle' has been released in various colours.

The Beetle has appeared in Hollywood in many other instances, albeit brief. For instance, the opening shot of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980) featured a yellow Volkswagen Beetle. The sci-fi thriller The Arrival (1996) featured a few Mexican Beetles in the film — one scene in the film features Charlie Sheen hiding in the notorioulsy tight trunk.

Opel Kadett Roadster, 1938

Opel Kadett Roadster, 1938

<Click thumbnails to enlarge>

 

Opel is one of the most tradition-rich brands in the industry. Over so many years, some developments are forgotten along the way and reappear again much later down the road. As the company prepares the start of the 10th compact class generation with the new Opel Astra, pictures of an unfamiliar Opel roadster were discovered in an old data base. Opel classic car experts' research shows that Opel engineers built the prototype of a two-seat convertible in 1938, evidently based on the first Opel compact class generation, the Opel Kadett from the 1930's. The name of the car is noted on the pictures that were found: Opel Kadett Two-Seat "Strolch", which means vagabond.

The chic, charming roadster never made it to series production. The old minutes from a management meeting indicate that this project wasn't pursued due to a scarcity of steel before WWII and to relatively low numbers of units in this segment. But evidently Opel was already well prepared for the market launch, as evidenced by a brochure found in old archive records. Ready for printing, the brochure proudly presented the technical details of the Strolch powertrain: 1.1 liter displacement, 23 hp, three-speed transmission, maximum speed 98 km/h. But prototypes of the roadster were not included.

The Opel classic experts were so fascinated by the 3.62-meter long study that they came up with the idea of producing the Strolch 70 years after its was initially developed. In this way they could also demonstrate that even back during the first compact class generation, Opel engineers put a tremendous amount of imagination and passion into their work on new models.

A normal Opel Kadett from 1938 in the classic car collection that has served as a source for spare parts is to be used as the basis. The technology specialists in the classic team immediately started in on their new project. Particularly challenging were the design of the aerodynamic rear and work on other body parts that were not part of the Opel Kadett series. Building the folding fabric top without detailed plans required a lot of imagination and technical skills, especially because the only reference materials were the old pictures.

But the engineers managed to elicit even some of the old pictures' secrets. In order to determine the color of the old prototype, the historical black-white pictures were put through a precise greyscale analysis. This showed that the original Strolch was a bright red.

Dodge Airflow Tanker Truck, 1938

Dodge Airflow Tanker Truck, 1938

Dodge Airflow Tanker Truck, 1938

Citroen Traction Avant 11B Cabrio, 1938

Citroen Traction Avant 11B Cabrio, 1938

Click the picture to enlarge >>

 

The Citroën Traction Avant was an automobile produced by the French manufacturer Citroën.

The Traction Avant, designed by André Lefèbvre and Flaminio Bertoni in late 1933 / early 1934, was the first front wheel drive car in large scale production. Cord had built front wheel drive vehicles a few years earlier in limited quantities at high prices.

The car introduced the use of an arc-welded monocoque frame, where other cars of the era were based on a frame onto which the body ("coachwork") was built. Monocoque construction results in a lighter vehicle, and is now used for virtually all car construction, although body-on-frame construction is still suitable for larger vehicles such as trucks.

The method of construction was viewed with great suspicion in many quarters, with doubts about its strength. A type of crash test was developed, taking the form of driving the car off a cliff, to illustrate its great inherent resilience.

The novel design made the car seem very low-slung relative to its contemporaries — the Traction Avant always possessed a unique look, which went from appearing rakish in 1934 to familiar and somewhat old fashioned by 1955.

The suspension was very advanced for the car's era. The front wheels were independently sprung, using a torsion bar and wishbone suspension arrangement, where most contemporaries used live axle and cart-type leaf spring designs. The rear suspension was a simple steel beam axle and Panhard rod with unequal trailing arms, to allow the two torsion bars to run parallel to each other, across the car's width.

Since it was considerably lighter than "conventional" designs of the era, it was capable of 100 km/h (62 mph), very fast for the era, and using only 10 litres of gasoline per 100 km (24 mpg).

The original models were a small saloon with a 1303 cc engine. This model was called the 7A, which was succeeded in June 1934 by the 7B and 7C with higher powered engines of 1529 and 1628 cc respectively. Later models were the 11, which had a four-cylinder 1911 cc engine, and the 15, which had a 2867 cc six-cylinder engine. The numbers refer to the French fiscal tax horsepower rating CV (thus the 11 was an 11CV, the 15 was 15 CV). The 11 was built in two versions, the 11L ("légère", or "light"), which was the same size as the 7CV, and the normal model 11, which had a longer wheelbase

Citroën planned two variants that never entered production, since there was not enough funding available to develop them, except as running prototype vehicles. One was an automatic transmission-equipped model and the other was a 22CV model with a large V8 engine.

In addition to the 4-door body, the car was also produced as a 2-door coupé with a rumble seat, as a convertible and as an extended length model with three rows of seats. There was even a hatchback-type Commerciale variant, in 1939, well ahead of its time, in which the tailgate was in two halves, the lower of which carried the spare wheel with the upper opening up to roof level. A one-piece top-hinged tailgate was introduced when the Commerciale resumed production in 1954 after being suspended during World War II.

The Traction Avant used a longitudinal, front wheel drive layout, with the transmission ahead of the differential and front axle, and the engine behind it, resulting in a very favorable location for the center of gravity of the vehicle, aiding the car's advanced handling characteristics. This layout was later carried forward to the Citroën DS and Citroën SM. The gear change was set in the dashboard, with the lever protruding through a vertical, H-shaped gate. Because this vertical orientation could have resulted in the car dropping out of gear when the lever was in the upper positions (i.e. second or reverse gears), the gear shift mechanism was locked when the mechanical clutch was engaged and released when the clutch pedal was depressed. The result of this layout, along with pendant pedals, umbrella-type handbrake control and front bench seats, was a very spacious interior, with a flat and unobstructed floor.

Left-hand drive versions were built in Paris, France and Forest, Belgium, and right-hand drive cars were built in Slough, United Kingdom. The Slough verson of the 11L was called the Light Fifteen and the long wheelbase 11 was called the Big Fifteen. This confusing terminology referred to the British fiscal tax rating of the time, which was higher than the French, so the 11CV engine was 15HP in England. The 15CV model was called "Big Six" in reference to its 6 cylinder engine. They were equipped with the leather seats and wooden dashboards popular in the UK, had a 12-volt electrical system and were distinguished by a different radiator grille and different bumpers (fenders). Some models also had a sliding sunroof.

Impact on Citroën

The development costs of the Traction Avant were very high and Citroën declared bankruptcy in 1934. The largest creditor was Michelin, who then owned Citroën from 1934 until 1976. Under Michelin, Citroën was run as a research laboratory, a test bed for their radial tires and new automotive technologies.

In 1954 Citroën's experiments with hydropneumatic technology produced its first result, the "15H"—a variant of the 6-cylinder model 15 with a self-leveling, height-adjustable rear suspension, a field trial for the revolutionary DS released the following year.

Production of the Traction Avant ended in July 1957; over 23 years, 759,111 were built, including 26,400 assembled in Slough (GB), 31,750 assembled in Forest (Belgium) and 1,823 assembled at Köln in Germany. The total reflects the production stoppage during World War II.

Alfa Romeo Tipo 158 Alfetta, 1938

Alfa Romeo Tipo 158 Alfetta, 1938

The Alfa Romeo 158/159, also known as the Alfetta (Little Alfa in Italian), is one of the most successful racing cars ever produced. The Alfa Romeo 158 and its derivative, the 159, took 47 wins from 54 Grands Prix entered. It was originally developed for the pre-World War II voiturette formula (1937) and has a 1.5 litre straight-8 supercharged engine.
Following World War II, the car was eligible for the new Formula One introduced in 1947. In the hands of drivers such as Nino Farina, Juan-Manuel Fangio and Luigi Fagioli, it dominated the first two seasons of the Formula One World Championship.

The first version of this successful racing car, the Alfa Romeo 158, was made during 1937/1938. The main responsibility for engineering was given to Gioacchino Colombo.

The car's name refers to its 1.5 litre engine and eight cylinders. The voiturette class was for racing cars with 1.5 litre engines, standing in the same relation to the top 'Grand Prix' formula (usually for 3 litre engines) as the GP2 series does to Formula One today. Alfa's 3 litre racing cars in 1938 and 1939 were the Tipo 308, 312 and 316.

The Alfa Romeo 158 debuted with the works Alfa Corse team at the Coppa Ciano Junior in August 1938 at Livorno, Italy, where Emilio Villoresi took the car's first victory. At that time the 1479 cc engine produced around 200 bhp (150 kW) at 7000 rpm. with the help of a single-stage Roots blower. More success came at the Coppa Acerbo, Coppa Ciano and Tripoli Grand Prix in May 1940. Soon World War II stopped development of the car for six years. After the war the engine was developed further to push out 254 bhp (189 kW) in 1946.

In 1947, the Alfetta became eligible for the newly-created Formula One. The new rules allowed 1500 cc supercharged and 4500 cc naturally aspirated engines. The Alfa Romeo 158 was modified again, this time to produce over 300 bhp (220 kW) and was denoted as Alfa Romeo Tipo 158/47. The car made a tragic debut in the 1948 Swiss Grand Prix where Achille Varzi lost control of his car and was killed. Another loss for the team came in practice for the 1949 Buenos Aires Grand Prix, where Jean-Pierre Wimille was killed in an accident (driving with Simca-Gordini).

The car won every race in which it competed during 1950; it was incredible that a car which had originated in 1938 was so victorious. The Alfa Romeo team included talented drivers such as Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio, the latter of whom later won the World Drivers' Championship five times.

At the end of the 1950 season, a further updated version known as the Alfa Romeo 159 was produced.

Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 Mille Miglia, 1938

Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 Mille Miglia, 1938

The Alfa Romeo 6C name was used on road, race and sports cars made between 1925-1954 by Alfa Romeo. 6C refers to a straight 6 engine.

Bodies to these cars were made by coachbuilders such as James Young, Zagato, Touring, Castagna, and Pininfarina.
Starting from 1933 there was also a 6C version with a factory Alfa body, built in Portello.

The Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 (2309 cc) was designed by Vittorio Jano as a cheaper alternative to the Alfa Romeo 8C.

Opel Kadett Roadster

Opel Kadett Roadster 1938

With an automotive history spanning 110 years, Opel is one of the most tradition-rich brands in the industry. Over so many years, some developments are forgotten along the way and reappear again much later down the road. As the company prepares the start of the 10th compact class generation with the new Opel Astra, pictures of an unfamiliar Opel roadster were discovered in an old data base. Opel classic car experts' research shows that Opel engineers built the prototype of a two-seat convertible in 1938, evidently based on the first Opel compact class generation, the Opel Kadett from the 1930's. The name of the car is noted on the pictures that were found: Opel Kadett Two-Seat "Strolch", which means vagabond.

The chic, charming roadster never made it to series production. The old minutes from a management meeting indicate that this project wasn't pursued due to a scarcity of steel before WWII and to relatively low numbers of units in this segment. But evidently Opel was already well prepared for the market launch, as evidenced by a brochure found in old archive records. Ready for printing, the brochure proudly presented the technical details of the Strolch powertrain: 1.1 liter displacement, 23 hp, three-speed transmission, maximum speed 98 km/h. But prototypes of the roadster were not included.

The Opel classic experts were so fascinated by the 3.62-meter long study that they came up with the idea of producing the Strolch 70 years after its was initially developed. In this way they could also demonstrate that even back during the first compact class generation, Opel engineers put a tremendous amount of imagination and passion into their work on new models.

A normal Opel Kadett from 1938 in the classic car collection that has served as a source for spare parts is to be used as the basis. The technology specialists in the classic team immediately started in on their new project. Particularly challenging were the design of the aerodynamic rear and work on other body parts that were not part of the Opel Kadett series. Building the folding fabric top without detailed plans required a lot of imagination and technical skills, especially because the only reference materials were the old pictures.

But the engineers managed to elicit even some of the old pictures' secrets. In order to determine the color of the old prototype, the historical black-white pictures were put through a precise greyscale analysis. This showed that the original Strolch was a bright red.

Buick YJob Concept

Buick YJob Concept 1938

Buick YJob Concept 1938

Citroen Traction Avant 11B Cabrio

Citroen Traction Avant 11B Cabrio 1938

The Citroën Traction Avant was an automobile produced by the French manufacturer Citroën. About 760,000 units were manufactured from 1934 to 1957.

The Traction Avant, designed by André Lefèbvre and Flaminio Bertoni in late 1933 / early 1934, was the first front wheel drive car in large scale production. Cord had built front wheel drive vehicles a few years earlier in limited quantities at high prices.

The car introduced the use of an arc-welded monocoque frame, where other cars of the era were based on a frame onto which the body ("coachwork") was built. Monocoque construction results in a lighter vehicle, and is now used for virtually all car construction, although body-on-frame construction is still suitable for larger vehicles such as trucks.

This method of construction was viewed with great suspicion in many quarters, with doubts about its strength. A type of crash test was developed, taking the form of driving the car off a cliff, to illustrate its great inherent resilience.

The novel design made the car seem very low-slung relative to its contemporaries — the Traction Avant always possessed a unique look, which went from appearing rakish in 1934 to familiar and somewhat old fashioned by 1955.

The suspension was very advanced for the car's era. The front wheels were independently sprung, using a torsion bar and wishbone suspension arrangement, where most contemporaries used live axle and cart-type leaf spring designs. The rear suspension was a simple steel beam axle and Panhard rod with unequal trailing arms, to allow the two torsion bars to run parallel to each other, across the car's width.

Since it was considerably lighter than "conventional" designs of the era, it was capable of 100 km/h (62 mph), very fast for the era, and using only 10 litres of gasoline per 100 km (24 mpg).
The original models were a small saloon with a 1303 cc engine. This model was called the 7A, which was succeeded in June 1934 by the 7B and 7C with higher powered engines of 1529 and 1628 cc respectively. Later models were the 11, which had a four-cylinder 1911 cc engine, and the 15, which had a 2867 cc six-cylinder engine. The numbers refer to the French fiscal tax horsepower rating CV (thus the 11 was an 11CV, the 15 was 15 CV). The 11 was built in two versions, the 11L ("légère", or "light"), which was the same size as the 7CV, and the normal model 11, which had a longer wheelbase.

Citroën planned two variants that never entered production, since there was not enough funding available to develop them, except as running prototype vehicles. One was an automatic transmission-equipped model and the other was a 22CV model with a large V8 engine.

In addition to the 4-door body, the car was also produced as a 2-door coupé with a rumble seat, as a convertible and as an extended length model with three rows of seats. There was even a hatchback-type Commerciale variant, in 1939, well ahead of its time, in which the tailgate was in two halves, the lower of which carried the spare wheel with the upper opening up to roof level. A one-piece top-hinged tailgate was introduced when the Commerciale resumed production in 1954 after being suspended during World War II.

The Traction Avant used a longitudinal, front wheel drive layout, with the transmission ahead of the differential and front axle, and the engine behind it, resulting in a very favorable location for the center of gravity of the vehicle, aiding the car's advanced handling characteristics. This layout was later carried forward to the Citroën DS and Citroën SM. The gear change was set in the dashboard, with the lever protruding through a vertical, H-shaped gate. Because this vertical orientation could have resulted in the car dropping out of gear when the lever was in the upper positions (i.e. second or reverse gears), the gear shift mechanism was locked when the mechanical clutch was engaged and released when the clutch pedal was depressed. The result of this layout, along with pendant pedals, umbrella-type handbrake control and front bench seats, was a very spacious interior, with a flat and unobstructed floor.

The left-hand drive versions were built in Paris, France and Forest, Belgium, and right-hand drive cars were built in Slough, United Kingdom. The Slough verson of the 11L was called the Light Fifteen and the long wheelbase 11 was called the Big Fifteen. This confusing terminology referred to the British fiscal tax rating of the time, which was higher than the French, so the 11CV engine was 15HP in England. The 15CV model was called "Big Six" in reference to its 6 cylinder engine. They were equipped with the leather seats and wooden dashboards popular in the UK, had a 12-volt electrical system and were distinguished by a different radiator grille and different bumpers (fenders). Some models also had a sliding sunroof.

Impact on Citroën
The development costs of the Traction Avant were very high and Citroën declared bankruptcy in 1934. The largest creditor was Michelin, who then owned Citroën from 1934 until 1976. Under Michelin, Citroën was run as a research laboratory, a test bed for their radial tires and new automotive technologies.

In 1954 Citroën's experiments with hydropneumatic technology produced its first result, the "15H"—a variant of the 6-cylinder model 15 with a self-leveling, height-adjustable rear suspension, a field trial for the revolutionary DS released the following year.

Production of the Traction Avant ended in July 1957; over 23 years, 759,111 were built, including 26,400 assembled in Slough (GB), 31,750 assembled in Forest (Belgium) and 1,823 assembled at Köln in Germany. The total reflects the production stoppage during World War II.

Dodge Airflow Tanker Truck

Dodge Airflow Tanker Truck 1938

Dodge Airflow Tanker Truck 1938