AS S1 and AS S2 were two twin models of
passenger cars manufactured by
Towarzystwo Budowy Samochodów AS
Towarzystwo Budowy Samochodów AS was an automobile and mechanical parts manufacturer based in Warsaw, Second Polish Republic, Poland, that operated from 1924 to 1939.
History
The company was founded in 1924 by Warsaw-based businessman Jan Ł ...
in
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
from 1927 to 1930. The two models differed with their
engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...
s and existed in 4 versions of
car body style
There are many types of car body styles. They vary depending on intended use, market position, location, and the era they were made.
Current styles
Buggy (automobile), Buggy
Lightweight off-road vehicle with sparse bodywork. Originally tw ...
:
taxi
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...
landaulet,
convertible
A convertible or cabriolet () is a Car, 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 drivin ...
,
limousine
A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment which can be operated mechanically by hand or by a button electronically. A luxu ...
and
panel van
A panel van, also known as a delivery van (United Kingdom), blind van, car-derived van or sedan delivery (United States), is a small cargo vehicle with a passenger car chassis, typically with a single front bench seat and no side windows behind ...
.
History
The car was designed and assembled by
Towarzystwo Budowy Samochodów AS
Towarzystwo Budowy Samochodów AS was an automobile and mechanical parts manufacturer based in Warsaw, Second Polish Republic, Poland, that operated from 1924 to 1939.
History
The company was founded in 1924 by Warsaw-based businessman Jan Ł ...
in
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
, in the Warszawskie Autowarsztaty factory at 64
Złota Street. The
chassis
A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of a manufactured object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...
for the car was designed by Aleksander Liberman, with first prototypes being made on 4 January 1927. On 27 March 1927, the final version was manufactured in
Fabryka Powozów Braci Węgrzeckich located in
Szydłowiec, Poland.
After a few months of road tests, the car had been allowed to be sold. It was manufactured in 4
car body styles:
taxi
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...
landaulet,
convertible
A convertible or cabriolet () is a Car, 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 drivin ...
,
limousine
A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment which can be operated mechanically by hand or by a button electronically. A luxu ...
and
panel van
A panel van, also known as a delivery van (United Kingdom), blind van, car-derived van or sedan delivery (United States), is a small cargo vehicle with a passenger car chassis, typically with a single front bench seat and no side windows behind ...
. The taxi landaulet version was the most popular, having around 100 cars being made, while the other version had around 50 cars made for each one. The customers could have also ordered only the chassis, paying a lower price.
The car was manufactured in 2 versions, with different
engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...
s: S1 and S2. S1 used engine manufactured by
Chapuis-Dornier
Chapuis-Dornier was a French manufacturer of proprietary engines for automobiles from 1904 to 1928 in Puteaux near Paris. Between 1919 and 1921 it displayed a prototype automobile, but it was never volume produced.Linz, Schrader: ''Die große Autom ...
while S2, by
CIME. The first models of the car also used the engine made by
Ruby
Ruby is a pinkish-red-to-blood-red-colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapph ...
. All engines, as well as the
gearbox
A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (who founded Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication/r ...
were imported from
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. The rest of the elements of the car were manufactured in Poland.
The car manufacturing company was awarded the silver medal for its AS cars at the 1929
Polish General Exhibition in
Poznań
Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...
. Its cars also arouse interest at the exhibition. AS was mostly praised for its noiseless, non-resistive, and precise way of closing its doors. The car stopped being manufactured in 1930, due to the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
.
There were around 150 AS cars manufactured. They were made in 3 series, the first two countings respectively 60 and 80 cars. The third series was planned to count 100 cars, however, only a small number of cars that series has been manufactured.
There is no AS car left. It is known that one of the cars, has been used in the barricade at the
Wilcza Street, during the
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...
in 1944. One AS car, and probably the last of that model to survive the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, was used as a taxi in Warsaw, until the first half of the 1950s.
Specifications
The car was available in two versions with different
engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...
s: S1 and S2. AS S1 had
straight-four flathead Chapuis-Dornier
Chapuis-Dornier was a French manufacturer of proprietary engines for automobiles from 1904 to 1928 in Puteaux near Paris. Between 1919 and 1921 it displayed a prototype automobile, but it was never volume produced.Linz, Schrader: ''Die große Autom ...
engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...
with 17 kW power and a capacity of 990 cm
3. The AS S2 had a straight-four
overhead valve
An overhead valve engine, abbreviated (OHV) and sometimes called a pushrod engine, is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with flathead (or "sidevalve") engines, where the v ...
CIME engine with 24 kW power and a capacity of 1203 cm
3 24 KW power. The car was manufactured in 4
car body styles:
taxi
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...
landaulet,
convertible
A convertible or cabriolet () is a Car, 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 drivin ...
,
limousine
A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment which can be operated mechanically by hand or by a button electronically. A luxu ...
and
panel van
A panel van, also known as a delivery van (United Kingdom), blind van, car-derived van or sedan delivery (United States), is a small cargo vehicle with a passenger car chassis, typically with a single front bench seat and no side windows behind ...
.
Gallery
AS_S1_S2_illustration_taxi_landaulet.jpg, Illustration of the taxi
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...
landaulet verrsion of AS S1 or AS S2 from the late 1920s.
File:AS S1 S2 landaulet side.png, The taxi
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...
landaulet version of AS S1 or AS S2. Photographed in the Royal Baths Park
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family or royalty
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal ...
, in the late 1920s.
AS_S1_S2_convertible.png, The illustration of the convertible
A convertible or cabriolet () is a Car, 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 drivin ...
version of AS S1 or AS S2 from the late 1920s.
AS_S1_S2_limousine.png, The illustration of the limousine
A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment which can be operated mechanically by hand or by a button electronically. A luxu ...
version of AS S1 or AS S2 from the late 1920s.
File:0002TUWYRTVX1BKX-C122-F4.jpg, The panel van
A panel van, also known as a delivery van (United Kingdom), blind van, car-derived van or sedan delivery (United States), is a small cargo vehicle with a passenger car chassis, typically with a single front bench seat and no side windows behind ...
version of AS S1 or AS S2 in the late 1920s.
External links
*
References
{{reflist
1920s cars
1930s cars
Cars introduced in 1927
1927 establishments in Poland
1930 disestablishments in Poland
Cars of Poland
Convertibles
Limousines
Vans
Taxi vehicles
First car made by manufacturer
Cars discontinued in 1930