Volvo 780 (1985-1987)
Manufacturer : Volvo
Productions : 1985-1987
Source : netcarshow.com
In March 1985, Volvo Car Corporation showed the result of yet another cooperation in the field of luxury between Sweden and Italy, the Volvo 780, designed and built by Bertone in Turin. The event took place on the Volvo Cars stand at the 1985 Geneva Motor Show.
Exclusive Volvo coupes made in smaller series as top models have been around since the early 1960s. Volvo realised early the importance of expanding into new market segments with the help of such cars, hereby making more customers interested in the less exclusive models.
That worked with the 1800 series which stayed in production for almost thirteen years – with close to 48,000 cars sold, and it was also the case with the top model of the 240/260 series, the 262C.
The 262C was designed and built in Italy by Carrozzeria Bertone and came to the market in 1977. When the next generation of Volvo cars, the 760/740 were launched in the beginning of the 1980s, it did not take long before Volvo repeated the strategy; two saloon/estates were followed by a very exclusive coupe.
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Tags 1985-1987, Volvo |
Manufacturer : Lotus
Productions : 1965
Engine : 1470 cc engine and a 4-speed gearbox
Source : netcarshow.com
The Lotus Europa or Lotus Europe, a two door mid-engined GT coupé built by Lotus Cars from 1966 to 1975.
The original Lotus Europa used Lotus founder Colin Chapman’s minimalist steel backbone chassis that was first used in the Lotus Elan, while also relying on its fibreglass moulded body for structural strength. The Europa was the first mass-produced mid-engine road car and was based on a prototype built to compete for Henry Ford II’s contract to build a Le Mans race car in the early 1960s.
The Lotus Europa was designed and built to be an embodiment of Chapman’s oft-stated philosophy of automotive design: “Simplify, then add lightness.”
The 4-wheel independent suspension was typical of Chapman’s thinking; the rear suspension consisted of two relatively large trailing arms, one lower locating link per side, and the axles were used as upper locating links; very similar to Formula racing car designs of that era. Aside from the doors, bonnet (hood), and trunk (boot), the body was cast as a single unit of fibreglass.
The car’s handling prompted automotive writers to describe the Europa as the nearest thing to a Formula car for the road.
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Manufacturer : Citroen
Productions : 1934-1957
Engine : V8 engine 1303 cc
Source : netcarshow.com
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.
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Manufacturer : Alfa Romeo
Productions : 1925-1954
Engine : 6C refers to a straight 6 engine
Source : netcarshow.com
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.
In the mid-1920s, Alfa Romeo RL was considered too large and heavy, so a new development began. The Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 was introduced in 1925 at Milan, production started 1927, with the P2 Grand Prix car as starting point. Engine capacity was now 1487 cc, against the Alfa Romeo P2′s 1987 cc, while supercharging was dropped. First versions were bodied by Young and Touring.
Manufacturer : Jaguar
Productions : 1936-1940
Source : netcarshow.com
The SS 100 is a British 2 seat sports car built between 1936 and 1940 by SS Cars Ltd of Coventry, England. The last one is thought to have been delivered in 1941. In 1936 the name Jaguar was given to a new saloon car and from then on to all the cars. Following World War II, due to the connotations then attached to the initials SS, the company was renamed Jaguar.
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Manufacturer : Jaguar
Productions : 1954-1957
Engine : initially 3.4L and eventually uprated to 3.8 litres in the late fifties
Source : netcarshow.com
The Jaguar D-Type, like its predecessor the C-Type, was a factory-built race car. Although it shared the basic straight-6 XK engine design (initially 3.4L and eventually uprated to 3.8 litres in the late fifties) with the C-Type, the majority of the car was radically different. Perhaps its most ground-breaking innovation was the introduction of a monocoque chassis, which not only introduced aircraft-style engineering to competition car design, but also an aeronautical understanding of aerodynamic efficiency. The Jaguar D-Type was introduced purely for competition, but after Jaguar withdrew from racing, the company offered the remaining, unfinished chassis as the roadgoing Jaguar XK SS, by making changes to the racers: adding an extra seat, another door, a full-width windshield and primitive folding top, as concessions to practicality. However, on the evening of 12 February 1957, a fire broke out at the Browns Lane plant destroying nine of the twenty five cars that had already been completed or in semi-completion. Production is thought to have included 53 customer D-Types, 18 factory team cars, and 16 XKSS versions.
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Manufacturer : Aston Martin
Productions : 1957
Engine : dohc I-6, 2922 cc, 162 bhp @ 5500 rpm
Transmission : 4-speed manual
Source : netcarshow.com
Aston Martin DB Mark III was launched at the Geneva Show in March 1957 and was available only for export until it was shown at the London Motor Show in October that same year. Aston Martin DB Mark III was the final development of the cars based on Claude Hill’s chassis and the Lagonda six-cylinder twin overhead camshaft engine. It remained in production for circa nine months after the Aston Martin DB4 was introduced. Some 310 cars were exported to the USA.
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Manufacturer : Mazda
Productions : 1989
Engine : front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, layout and 4-wheel independent double wishbone suspension
Transmission : automatic transmission is available as an option
Source : netcarshow.com
The Mazda MX-5 is a popular sports car built by Mazda in Hiroshima, Japan, since 1989. It is known as MX-5 Miata (or popularly just Miata) in North America, MX-5 in Oceania and Europe, and Roadster (under the Eunos marque until 1996) in Japan. The MX-5 is one of the world’s best-selling sports cars, with 748,904 cars sold until the end of 2005. Beginning with the third-generation 2006 model, Mazda consolidated worldwide (excluding Japan) marketing using the MX-5 name, though enthusiasts in the USA (and the company itself) still refer to it as Miata, a name that means “reward” in Old High German.
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Mazda MX-5 Miata Roadster (1989)
Manufacturer : Mazda
Productions : 1989
Engine : BP-4W engine remained at 1.8 L
Transmission : 5-speed manual
Source : netcarshow.com
The Mazda MX-5 is a popular sports car built by Mazda in Hiroshima, Japan, since 1989. It is known as MX-5 Miata (or popularly just Miata) in North America, MX-5 in Oceania and Europe, and Roadster (under the Eunos marque until 1996) in Japan. The MX-5 is one of the world’s best-selling sports cars, with 748,904 cars sold until the end of 2005. Beginning with the third-generation 2006 model, Mazda consolidated worldwide (excluding Japan) marketing using the MX-5 name, though enthusiasts in the USA (and the company itself) still refer to it as Miata, a name that means “reward” in Old High German.
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Manufacturer : Holden
Productions : 1970
Source : netcarshow.com
The Holden Torana GTR-X Concept was designed during the era of the LC series Torana, and was seriously considered for production in the early 1970s. The GTR-X had a wedge-shaped fibreglass body featuring a hatchback rear access, and the prototype cars had LC Torana GTR XU-1 mechanical components.
The Holden Torana GTR-X Concept looks similar to iconic sports cars of the 1970s, such as the Ferrari 308 GT4, Lotus Esprit and the Mazda RX-7. It weighed in at 1,043 kg (2,299 lb) and has a top speed of 210 km/h (130 mph). The Torana GTR-X in production would have been the first Holden car to be factory fitted with four wheel disc brakes.
When Holden released a promotional brochure about the GTR-X, they said – “Its long, sleek hood is accentuated by a low wedge-shaped grille. The body line sweeps up at the rear to an elevated tail light assembly. Simplicity is the keynote. It is achieved by concealed headlights, sharp windshield rake, recessed parking and turning lights, and flush petrol filler access and door handles. Front and rear bumpers assume the contour of the body. To identify the car, the GTR-X identification is contained within a crisp black and orange stripe running parallel to the rocker panel”.
The Torana GTR-X was highly developed by Holden from concept, and even though brochures, photography and promotional films were produced to show how serious they were in putting the car into production, the company was ultimately unable to justify the high cost of committing itself to production given the size of the Australian population in those days.
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