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Nov 23, 2010 17:22:51 GMT
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One of the very first cars to have all round disc brakes fitted, back in the early 60's! for all-round discs you wanted one of these babies Some firsts: 1910s Lancia Theta: first production car to feature a complete electrical system as standard. 1920s Lancia Lambda: first production car with monocoque body construction. 1940s Lancia Ardea: first production car with a five-speed gearbox. 1950s Lancia Aurelia: first production car with a V6 engine. 1970s Lancia Beta: first production car to drop engine onto the road.
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'86 Alfa 6i, '83 Alfa 33 QO, '86 Honda Aerodeck
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Nov 23, 2010 17:37:18 GMT
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1970s Lancia Beta: first production car to drop engine onto the road. ;D My dad poked holes in the crossmember of a six-month-old example of a Lancia Beta - with a pencil. I wonder why they got a bit of a reputation? Re: Skoda's die casting: it's worth remembering that Skoda were a heavy industry company that also made cars - a little like Mitsubishi today - so it wouldn't have been invented for use in cars. More recently (since the late 80s), they have concentrated on transport, with the heavy industried being sold off. The Power division still makes steam turbines etc.
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Nov 23, 2010 17:38:24 GMT
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I'd love to know at what speed that actually starts working, and what quantity of downforce it generates. I'm calling marketing BS on that until data comes to fore. You can generate downforce by tying a Christmas tree to your bumper too. To be fair, that makes sense aerodynamically, and I bet it works a lot more effectively than the diffuser on a Ferrari F430 without showing off about it.
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Nov 23, 2010 18:58:56 GMT
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I'd love to know at what speed that actually starts working, and what quantity of downforce it generates. I'm calling marketing BS on that until data comes to fore. You can generate downforce by tying a Christmas tree to your bumper too. To be fair, that makes sense aerodynamically, and I bet it works a lot more effectively than the diffuser on a Ferrari F430 without showing off about it. Unfortunately when I sold my Z1, I also sold my complete collection of magazine reviews, test drives, articles etc.... One magazine (IIRC 'Car' Magazine circa 1990) put two Z1's head to head. One with the original factory aerofoil silencer and one with an aftermarket twin can system (conventional longitudinal silencer each side) to see if the silencer really did have any effect. Three laps of a circuit each (somewhere in Germany IIRC) and the same driver. The results were negligable at medium speeds but very noticable at 'circuit' speeds where the factory car was able to take fast corners a lot better than the other car. The non-standard car was reported to be very twitchy on various parts of the circuit compared to the 'planted' factory car which was able to lap faster by quite a few seconds. I'd love to have the article to show you Norm, but alas I don't have it any more. It was a really interesting read into how the whole undertray/dynamics of the car were lost due to one element being changed and how effective the hidden aero aids proved to be in an era where most cars wore massive spoilers.
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Nov 23, 2010 19:18:13 GMT
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^^Have you checked the decoupage on the office walls, mate? ;D
I remain skeptical. But open to the idea that there might be some "there" there. Thanks!
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Team Blitz Ford Capri parts worldwide: Restoration, Road, or Race. Used, Repro, and NOS, ranging from scabby to perfect. Itching your Capri jones since 1979! Buy, sell, trade. www.teamblitz.com blitz@teamblitz.com
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Nov 23, 2010 19:40:30 GMT
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If it is the case that the exhaust does make that much difference, I wonder what the insurance implications of an aftermarket exhaust would be?
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camper damper
Part of things
Another car bites the dust
Posts: 606
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Nov 23, 2010 20:07:58 GMT
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Ford transit MK1 first van that felt like a car to driver still going strong to this day
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Nov 23, 2010 21:04:29 GMT
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one car that has to be way ahead of time
THE DELOREAN DMC 12 stainless steel body gull wing doors unpainted body with all body panels bolting off easy and replace with no paint probs/matching great idea's
also the austin princess had seat belt warning light 1st i also had a hls with built in shaver in glove box that was sort cool not sure if it was standerd like
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Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,521
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Nov 23, 2010 21:09:47 GMT
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THE DELOREAN DMC 12 stainless steel body gull wing doors unpainted body with all body panels bolting off easy and replace with no paint probs/matching great idea's Stainless Steel '36 Ford
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Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
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Nov 23, 2010 22:01:23 GMT
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^^But not series produced.
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Team Blitz Ford Capri parts worldwide: Restoration, Road, or Race. Used, Repro, and NOS, ranging from scabby to perfect. Itching your Capri jones since 1979! Buy, sell, trade. www.teamblitz.com blitz@teamblitz.com
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Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,521
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Nov 23, 2010 22:12:49 GMT
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^^But not series produced. No, fair enough. I seem to remember reading that it was done at the end of the production and knackered the body dies in no time.
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Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
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Nov 23, 2010 22:15:11 GMT
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I heard the same. At Carlisle one year, Allegheny had 4 or 5 of their stainless experimentals on display together. The other big thing with them was the sheer additional weight. The tires were like 12 ply! LOL
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Team Blitz Ford Capri parts worldwide: Restoration, Road, or Race. Used, Repro, and NOS, ranging from scabby to perfect. Itching your Capri jones since 1979! Buy, sell, trade. www.teamblitz.com blitz@teamblitz.com
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dbdb
Part of things
Posts: 821
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Nov 24, 2010 15:54:57 GMT
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first saloon with a galvanized body .... best aerodynamics back in the days ... It is an interesting one, the Audi 100. For me it is a car whose success and image were built on marketing rather than breaking siginficant new ground with engineering. "Vorsprung durch technik" had an incredible impact on buyers which does make it a car ahead of its time. I'm not sure how much of the hype stacks up in reality. The headline drag coefficient of 0.30 only applies to the entry level 1.8 litre cars; everything else has a cd of 0.32 - though they still have 0.30 on the windows! This is little better than the Citroën GS of 1970 (0.31) or various Saabs over the years from the 92 of 1949 - also 0.30. Daddy of them all is the Tatra T77 with a cd of 0.21 and that was in the mid 1930s! Of course that cd number only measures the car's aerodynamic smoothness and is only half the story of a cars penetration through the air! Equally important is the frontal area and here the Audi looks less convincing. Its frontal area of 22.05sqft is nothing special and similar to that of a Jaguar XJ40, which is a much larger car. Thus the Audi is less aerodynamic than it might first appear. The Audi was certainly one of the first cars to use galvanised panels, but I did think the first was the Porsche 928. I could be wrong though! Ah! First saloon - not first car! Yes, I'm sure it was and this was an important step forward in quality. Wasn't the first car to use a hot dipped aglvanising process fot the entire body, rather than weld together galvanised panels the Renault Espace? Or have I just imagined that!! ;D
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Last Edit: Nov 24, 2010 15:59:04 GMT by dbdb
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dbdb
Part of things
Posts: 821
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Nov 24, 2010 16:04:35 GMT
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First in-car office? Perhaps the Jensen Interceptor "Director" with a typewriter, dictation machine, a filing system, air call radio and a television. Didn't really go anywhere, this one...
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Citroen CX. The two things that immediately come to mind are the rear screen that curves the 'wrong way' and the single spoke steering wheel designed to allow better visibility of the interesting display. Not sure if it's an 'ahead of its time' thing, but I do think the little plastic clip on the driver's A pillar of the Volvo 740 was an excellent little thing, meant you never had to stick a pay-and-display ticket to your window. Another weirdly specific thing is the Toyota MR2 rear spoiler, cleverly designed to put the word Toyota onto the rear screen. Mind you, I suppose that could be argued that it was more of its time than ahead (surprisingly, couldn't find a picture of this bit).
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VW polo Mk2 formel E had the fuel saving "engine cut out" when you stopped in traffic and put it into neutral (put it in gear and it starts again).
Which is another one that BMW seemed to be marketing recently as "state of the art".
Not sure if VW were the first though.
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I've been told that the Renault R5 was the first to introduce a bonded in windscreen?
The De Lorean had, IIRC, GRP shell with stainless steel planking, it's not a 'real' stainless steel shell, technically.
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ThePollitt
Posted a lot
Fix up, look... at that car on eBay!
Posts: 4,696
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The De Lorean had, IIRC, GRP shell with stainless steel planking, it's not a 'real' stainless steel shell, technically. That would go some way toward explaining this then... Chris
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fd victor had a bonded screen duno if that was first but def before R5
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theres more to life than mpg & to much power is just enough.
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