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Pontiac Bonneville
The Pontiac Bonneville is a model line of full-size or mid-size FR (until 1987) or FF cars manufactured and marketed by Pontiac from 1957 until 2005. The Bonneville (marketed as the Parisienne in Canada until 1981), and its platform partner, the Grand Ville, are some of the largest Pontiacs ever built; in station wagon body styles they reached just over long, and at and more were also some of the heaviest cars produced at the time. The Bonneville nameplate was introduced as a limited production performance convertible during the 1957 model year, its name taken from the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah — an early site of US auto racing and numerous world's land speed record records, itself named after U.S. Army officer Benjamin Bonneville. Origin The Bonneville name first appeared in 1954 on a pair of bubble-topped GM Motorama concept cars called the Bonneville Special, sharing an appearance with the Chevrolet Corvette. It was also the beginning of a new tradi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pontiac Grand Ville
The Pontiac Grand Ville is a full-size car that was a sub-series trim package for the Pontiac Bonneville from 1971 to 1975, which had served as Pontiac's top-trim model since 1958 while remaining below the top level Pontiac Grand Prix. The Bonneville name remained but was now downgraded, and in effect replaced the Pontiac Executive. The Grand Ville and Bonneville shared a number of trim and design elements that distinguished them from the Catalina, and the 1971-72 Grand Villes were built on a stretched-wheelbase version of the GM "B" platform that nevertheless had identical interior dimensions to all other full-size Pontiacs. In addition to more luxurious interior trimmings, the Grand Ville had distinctive chrome trim at the front and rear to set it apart from the rest of the Pontiac line. Between 1971 and 1974 Grand Ville hardtops featured more upright "formal" C-pillar and backlight treatments that were similar to those found on contemporary GM "C" platform cars ( Oldsmobile ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pontiac Bonneville Special
The Pontiac Bonneville Special is a concept car unveiled at the General Motors Motorama in 1954, the first two-seat sports car prototype the division had ever produced. Conceived by designer Harley J. Earl and hand-built by Homer C. LaGassey Jr. and Paul Gilland, the Special is a grand touring sport coupé that incorporated innovative styling like a Plexiglas vehicle canopy, canopy with Gull-wing door, gull-wing windows on a sleek fiberglass body. The name "Bonneville" was meant to convey high performance, inspired by a trip Earl had taken to Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah to observe speed trials there. It was the first GM vehicle to carry the name, subsequently given to the Division's full-size performance car, the Pontiac Bonneville, Bonneville, which carried it for 47 years. Two "Special" Prototype#Automobile and automobile racing, prototypes, one painted metallic bronze and one Emerald (color), emerald green, were built in order to unveil them simultaneously at the Grand Ballr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bonneville Salt Flats
The Bonneville Salt Flats are a densely packed salt pan in Tooele County in northwestern Utah, United States. A remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, it is the largest of many salt flats west of the Great Salt Lake. It is public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management and is known for land speed records at the Bonneville Speedway. The Flats is open to the public. The Flats are about 12 miles (19 km) long and 5 miles (8 km) wide, with a crust almost 5 ft (1.5m) thick at the center and less than one inch (2.5 cm) towards the edges. It is estimated to hold 147 million tons of salt, about 90% of which is common table salt. History Geologist Grove Karl Gilbert named the area after Benjamin Bonneville, a U.S. Army officer who explored the Intermountain West in the 1830s. In 1907, Bill Rishel and two local businessmen tested the suitability of the salt for driving by taking a Pierce-Arrow onto its surface. A railway line across the Flats was comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French (language)
French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-Romance, a descendant of the Latin spoken in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien) largely supplanted. It was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul and by the Germanic Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, it was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia, and numerous French-based creole languages, most notably Haitian Creole, were established. A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is an official language in 26 countries, as well as one of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chevrolet Corvette (C1)
The Chevrolet Corvette (C1) is the first generation of the Chevrolet Corvette, Corvette sports car produced by Chevrolet. It was introduced late in the 1953 model year and produced through 1962. This generation is commonly called the "solid-axle" generation, as an Independent suspension, independent rear suspension did not appear until the 1963 Sting Ray. The Corvette was rushed into production for its debut model year to capitalize on the enthusiastic public reaction to the concept car, concept vehicle. However, expectations for the new model were largely unfulfilled. Reviews were mixed, and sales fell far short of expectations through the car's early years. The program was nearly canceled by General Motors, but decided to make necessary improvements because Ford was developing a two-seater that became the Thunderbird. History Origins As head of GM's Styling Section, Harley Earl was an avid sports car fan. He recognized that GIs returning after serving overseas in the years fol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concept Car
A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle or show vehicle) is a car made to showcase new styling or new technology. Concept cars are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not be produced. General Motors designer Harley Earl is generally credited with inventing the concept car, and did much to popularize it through its traveling Motorama shows of the 1950s. Concept cars never go into production directly. In modern times, all would have to undergo many changes before the design is finalized for the sake of practicality, safety, regulatory compliance, and cost. A "production-intent" prototype, as opposed to a concept vehicle, serves this purpose. Design Concept cars are often radical in engine or design. Some use non-traditional, exotic, or expensive materials, ranging from paper to carbon fiber to refined alloys. Others have unique layouts, such as gullwing doors, three or five (or more) wheels, or sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General Motors Motorama
The General Motors Motorama was an auto show staged by GM from 1949 to 1961. These automobile extravaganzas were designed to whet public appetite and boost automobile sales with displays of fancy concept cars and other special or halo models. Motorama grew out of Alfred P. Sloan's yearly industrial luncheons at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, beginning in 1931. They were almost invariably held in conjunction with the New York Auto Show, that for many years was held traditionally in the first week of January. History 1949 After World War II, the first show, "Transportation Unlimited Autorama", was staged again at the Waldorf Astoria, in January 1949. Between the New York City venue and the Boston extension, nearly 600,000 people saw the show. Seven "special" Cadillacs were exhibited including, inter alia, a '' Series 61'' coupe and a '' Series 62'' sedan that were standard except for a special paint finish; also shown were The Caribbean, the Embassy, and the Fleetwood Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special
Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head office of IBM. * January 10 – BOAC Flight 781, a de Havilland Comet jet plane, disintegrates in mid-air due to metal fatigue, and crashes in the Mediterranean near Elba; all 35 people on board are killed. * January 12 – 1954 Blons avalanches, Avalanches in Austria kill more than 200. * January 15 – Mau Mau rebellion, Mau Mau leader Waruhiu Itote is captured in Kenya. * January 17 – In Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia, Milovan Đilas, one of the leading members of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, is relieved of his duties. * January 20 – The US-based National Negro Network is established, with 46 member radio stations. * January 21 – The first nuclear-powered submarine, the , is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hydramatic
Hydramatic (also known as Hydra-Matic) is an automatic transmission developed by General Motors Corporation's Oldsmobile Division, the ''Hydramatic'' was the first mass-produced fully automatic transmission developed for passenger automobile use. The Hydra-Matic transmission was introduced by Oldsmobile in 1939 model, one year before Cadillac accepted it for their 1940 model year. History During the 1930s, automakers sought to reduce or eliminate the need to shift gears. At the time, synchronized gear shifting was still a novelty (and confined to higher gears in most cases), and shifting a manual gearbox required more effort than most drivers cared to exert. The exception here was Cadillac's break-through synchromesh fully synchronized manual transmission, designed by Cadillac engineer Earl A. Thompson and introduced in the autumn of 1928. Cadillac, under Thompson, began working on a 'shiftless' transmission in 1932, and a new department within Cadillac Engineering was creat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pontiac V8 Engine
The Pontiac V8 engine is a family of overhead valve 90° V8 engines manufactured by the Pontiac (automobile), Pontiac Division of General Motors Corporation between 1955 and 1981. The engines feature a cast-iron block and head and two valves per cylinder. Engine block and cylinder heads were cast at Saginaw Metal Casting Operations then assembled at Tonawanda Engine before delivery to Pontiac Assembly for installation. Initially marketed as a , it went on to be manufactured in displacements between and in carbureted, fuel injected, and turbocharged versions. In the 1960s the popular version, which had helped establish the Pontiac GTO as a premier muscle car, was cut in half to produce an unusual, high-torque inline four economy engine, the Pontiac Trophy 4 engine, Trophy 4. Unusual for a major automaker, Pontiac did not have the customary "small-block" and "big-block" engine families common to other GM divisions, Ford, and Chrysler. Effectively, production Pontiac V8 blocks we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GM A Platform (1936)
The GM A platform (commonly called A-body) was a rear wheel drive automobile platform designation used by General Motors from 1925 until 1959, and again from 1964 to 1981. In 1982, GM introduced a new front wheel drive A platform, and existing intermediate rear wheel drive products were redesignated as G-bodies. 1926-1959 The earliest GM A-bodied based cars shared a common chassis with the Chevrolet Superior, with Pontiac Six replacing Oakland starting in 1926. Oldsmobile also used the A-body for the 1938–48 Series 60. All Chevrolets produced during this period, to include the Chevrolet Master and the Chevrolet Deluxe, and all 1936-39 Pontiacs, the 1940 Pontiac Special, the 1941 Pontiac Deluxe Torpedo and all Pontiac Torpedoes produced from 1942 through 1948 were A-bodies. From 1949 to 1957, only Chevrolets (150, 210, Bel Air, Del Ray) and Pontiacs (Chieftain, Star Chief, Super Chief) were built on the A-body. These cars were moved to the new B Body shared with som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convertible (car)
A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary across eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving experience, with the ability to provide a roof when required. A potential drawback of convertibles is their reduced structural rigidity (requiring significant engineering and modification to counteract the side effects of almost completely removing a car's roof). The majority of convertible roofs are of a folding construction framework with the actual top made from cloth or other fabric. Other types of convertible roofs include retractable hardtops (often constructed from metal or plastic) and detachable hardtops (where a metal or plastic roof is manually removed and often stored in the trunk). Terminology Other terms for convertibles include cabriolet, cabrio, drop top, drophead coupé, open two-seater, open top, rag top, soft top, spid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
