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Renault 4CV
The Renault 4CV (, as if spelled ''quat'chevaux'') is a car produced by the French company Renault from August 1947 through July 1961. It is a four-door economy car with its engine mounted in the rear and driving the rear wheels. It was the first French car to sell over a million units, and was superseded by the Dauphine. The 4CV was of monocoque construction, in length with front suicide doors. CV is the abbreviation of ''chevaux-vapeur'', the French equivalent to "horsepower" as a unit of power. The name 4CV thus refers to the car's tax horsepower. Conception and development The 4CV was originally conceived and designed covertly by Renault engineers during the World War II German occupation of France, when the manufacturer was under strict orders to design and produce only commercial and military vehicles. Between 1941 and 1944 Renault was placed under the technical directorship of a francophile engineer, Wilhelm von Urach (between 1927 and 1940 employed by Daimler Ben ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renault
Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company currently produces a range of cars and vans. It has manufactured trucks, tractors, tanks, buses/coaches, aircraft and aircraft engines, as well as autorail vehicles. Headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris, the Renault group is made up of the namesake Renault marque along with subsidiaries Automobiles Alpine, Alpine, Automobile Dacia, Dacia from Romania, and Mobilize (marque), Mobilize. It is part of Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance (previously Renault–Nissan Alliance) since 1999. The French state and Nissan each own a 15% share of the company. Renault also has other subsidiaries such as RCI Banque (automotive financing), Renault Retail Group (automotive distribution), and Motrio (automotive parts). Renault has various joint ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renault Billancourt Engine
The Billancourt engine was an automotive engine designed by Renault for the Renault 4CV, used subsequently until 1985. It later received the internal code "B", for Billancourt. The "sport" version is called Ventoux engine. History The engine is liquid-cooled, with four cylinders in line. It is also characterised by its three main bearing design and its piston stroke of . It has a cast-iron block, aluminium cylinder head and uses a lateral camshaft to operate overhead valves, which also operated the fan belt on its other end. In June 1940, Louis Renault appointed Fernand Picard, who became deputy technical director in the automobile engine department. During World War II, he participated in the study of a small car: the future 4CV. Its engine was ready in 1942 and a year later, it first turned a wheel. Renault replaced this engine with the Cléon-Fonte engine, a completely new design. This engine designed by Fernand Picard was produced from 1947 to 1985, in displacements ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wilhelm Von Urach
Prince Wilhelm of Urach, Count of Württemberg (27 September 1897 – 8 August 1957) was a German prince and member of the House of Urach, a morganatic branch of the Royal House of the Kingdom of Württemberg), and a senior automotive production engineer. Life and career Wilhelm Albert Karl Anton Paul Gero Maria, Fürst von Urach, Graf von Württemberg, was born in Stuttgart as the eldest son of Wilhelm Karl, 2nd Duke of Urach and his first wife, Amalie, Duchess in Bavaria. On leaving his Stuttgart preparatory school, he moved on, in 1908, to the Karls-Gymnasium, a secondary school, passing his Abitur (school leaving examination) in 1914. As was customary for members of royal houses, Wilhelm then began military service, entering the 1st Württemberg Field Artillery Regiment No. 13 (''Feldartillerie-Regiment „König Karl“ (1. Württembergisches) Nr. 13'') in the summer of 1914. He was named a ''Leutnant'' in the regiment on 8 July 1914 and, with the beginning of the First ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military History Of France During World War II
From 1939 to 1940, the French Third Republic was at war with Nazi Germany. In 1940, the German forces defeated the French in the Battle of France. The Germans occupied the north and west of French territory and a collaborationist régime under Philippe Pétain established itself in Vichy. General Charles de Gaulle established a government in exile in London and competed with Vichy France to position himself as the legitimate French government, for control of the French overseas empire and receiving help from French allies. He eventually managed to enlist the support of some French African colonies and later succeeded in bringing together the disparate '' maquis'', colonial regiments, legionnaires, expatriate fighters, and Communist snipers under the Free French Forces in the Allied chain of command. In 1944, after the Allies had landed in Normandy and the southern front moved from North Africa across the Mediterranean into Italy and Provence, these forces routed the German Army, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tax Horsepower
The tax horsepower or taxable horsepower was an early system by which taxation rates for automobiles were reckoned in some European countries such as the UK, Belgium, Germany, France and Italy; some US states like Illinois charged license plate purchase and renewal fees for passenger automobiles based on taxable horsepower. The tax horsepower rating was computed not from actual engine power but by a mathematical formula based on cylinder dimensions. At the beginning of the twentieth century, tax power was reasonably close to real power; as the internal combustion engine developed, real power became larger than nominal taxable power by a factor of ten or more. Britain The so-called RAC horsepower rating was devised in 1910 by the RAC at the invitation of the British government. The formula is: : \frac where: : D is the diameter (or bore) of the cylinder in inches, : n is the number of cylinders The formula was calculated from total piston surface area (i.e., "bore" only). The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suicide Door
A suicide door is an Car door, automobile door hinged at its rear rather than the front. Such doors were originally used on Horse-drawn vehicle, horse-drawn carriages but are rarely found on modern vehicles, primarily because they are less safe than front-hinged doors. If the vehicle were moving and the rear-hinged door opened, aerodynamic drag would force the door open, and the person would have to lean out of the vehicle to reach the handle to close it. As seat belts were not commonly used at that time, the person could easily fall out of the car and into traffic, hence the name "suicide door". Another risk was from a car speeding past the parked car in the same direction. A front-hinged door would tend to be ripped off the parked car, but someone partly outside it might escape injury if they were not directly in the path of the speeding car. In contrast, a rear-hinged door would be forced shut, striking the person. Initially standard on many models, later they became popul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monocoque
Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, a true monocoque carries both tensile and compressive forces within the skin and can be recognised by the absence of a load-carrying internal frame. Few metal aircraft other than those with milled skins can strictly be regarded as pure monocoques, as they use a metal shell or sheeting reinforced with frames riveted to the skin, but most wooden aircraft are described as monocoques, even though they also incorporate frames. By contrast, a semi-monocoque is a hybrid combining a tensile stressed skin and a compressive structure made up of longerons and ribs or frames. Other semi-monocoques, not to be confused with true monocoques, include vehicle unibodies, which tend to be composites, and inflatable shells or balloon tanks, both of whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rear-wheel Drive
Rear-wheel drive (RWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the rear wheels only. Until the late 20th century, rear-wheel drive was the most common configuration for cars. Most rear-wheel drive vehicles feature a longitudinally-mounted engine at the front of the car. Layout The most common layout for a rear-wheel drive car is with the engine and transmission at the front of the car, mounted longitudinally. Other layouts of rear-wheel drive cars include front-mid engine, rear-mid engine, and rear-engine. Some manufacturers, such as Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Porsche (944, 924, 928) and Chevrolet (C5, C6, and C7 Corvettes), place the engine at the front of the car and the transmission at the rear of the car, in order to provide a more balanced weight distribution. This configuration is often referred to as a transaxle since the transmission and axle are one unit. History 1890s to 1960s Many of the cars built in the 19th cent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rear-engine Design
In automobile design, a rear-engine design layout places the engine at the rear of the vehicle. The center of gravity of the engine itself is behind the rear axle. This is not to be confused with the center of gravity of the whole vehicle, as an imbalance of such proportions would make it impossible to keep the front wheels on the ground. Rear-engined vehicles almost always have a rear-wheel drive car layout, but some are four wheel drive. This layout has the following features: *Packaging: since there is no need for a transmission tunnel, the floor can be flat. *Rear traction: having the engine located over the driven wheels increases downward pressure, which is helpful for grip on loose surfaces, although can be prone to oversteer. *Simplicity of manufacture: the engine is near the driven wheels, and the transmission can be merged with the differential to save space. This layout was once popular in small, inexpensive cars and light commercial vehicles. Today most car makers have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Economy Car
Economy car is a term mostly used in the United States for cars designed for low-cost purchase and operation. Typical economy cars are small (compact car, compact or subcompact car, subcompact), lightweight, and inexpensive to both produce and purchase. Stringent design constraints generally force economy car manufacturers to be inventive. Many innovations in automobile design were originally developed for economy cars, such as the Ford Model T and the Austin Mini. Definition The precise definition of what constitutes an economy car has varied with time and place, based on the conditions prevailing at the time, such as fuel prices, disposable income of buyers, and cultural mores. It typically refers to a car that is designed to be small and lightweight to offer low-cost operation. In any given decade globally, there has generally been some rough consensus on what constituted the minimum necessary requirements for a highway-worthy car, constituting ''the'' most economical car poss ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renault 4
The Renault 4, or R4 in short (and 4L, pronounced "Quatrelle" in French ), is an economy car built by the French company Renault from 1961 to 1994. Although the Renault 4 was first marketed as a short estate or wagon, its minimal rear overhang, and its top-hinged, single-piece tail-gate made it the world's first mass-produced hatchback car, as well as the first time Renault had used a front-wheel-drive layout in a family car. A bare-bones, entry-level Renault 3, or R3 was also offered in 1961/1962. The car was launched at a time when several decades of economic stagnation were giving way to growing prosperity and surging car ownership in France. The first million cars were produced by 1 February 1966, less than four and a half years after launch; eventually over eight million were built, making the Renault 4 a commercial success because of the timing of its introduction and the merits of its design. Inearly 2020, the 33-year production run of the Renault 4 was co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renault Dauphine
The Renault Dauphine () is a rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive four-door economy car, economy sedan (car), sedan with three-box styling, manufactured and marketed by Renault from 1956 to 1967 across a single generation. Along with such cars as the Citroën 2CV, Volkswagen Type 1, Volkswagen Beetle, Morris Minor, Mini and Fiat 600, the Dauphine pioneered the modern European economy car. More than two million Dauphines were manufactured, many under licence by other manufacturers outside of France. Renault marketed numerous variants of the Dauphine, including a luxury version, the ''Renault Ondine''; a decontented version, the ''Dauphine Teimoso'' (Brazil, 1965); sporting versions marketed as the ''Dauphine Gordini'' and the ''Ondine Gordini'', and the ''1093'' factory racing model; as well as a prominent derivative, the ''Renault Caravelle, Caravelle/Floride'', a Dauphine-based two-door coupé and convertible. Conception As Louis Renault (industrialist), Louis Renault's successor, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
