The Malaxa was a car designed and built in 1945 in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, as the national machine industry had to convert its wartime output to civilian items. This model was designed by a team headed by engineer Petre I. Carp, of "Nicolae Malaxa Studies Society". Few prototypes were built in various aircraft factories in Romania ( IAR Brașov, ASAM Cotroceni etc.), with the financial support of

Nicolae Malaxa Nicolae Malaxa ( – 1965) was a Romanian engineer and industrialist. Biography Born in a family of Greeks, Greek origin in Huși, Malaxa studied engineering in Iași (at the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, University of Iași) and Karlsruhe ...

– hence the car's

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

. The final number of cars produced in Romania is unclear. The production was stopped when the

Soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...

decided to move the production line in the Soviet Union, allegedly after a high-ranking official from Moscow had a ride with the car in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

.About Malaxa

Description

Malaxa had an

air-cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. Air-cooled designs are far simpler than their liquid-cooled ...

3-cylinder 2-strokes rear

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating engine, reciprocating type internal combustion engine, internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinder (engine), cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. ...

, rear wheel drive (

RR layout RR, Rr or rr may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''RR'' (film), a 2007 experimental film by James Benning * Red Ribbon Army, a fictional army in the ''Dragon Ball'' series * Ruff Ryders Entertainment, a record label and East Coast rap coll ...

), and was capable of developing 30-35

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. The top speed was 105-120 km/h and the gas mileage was 10 L/100 km. 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 ...

had four speeds with auto-blocking special differential and hydraulic

gear stick A gear stick (rarely spelled ''gearstick''), gear lever (both UK English), gearshift or shifter (both U.S. English), more formally known as a transmission lever, is a metal lever attached to the transmission of an automobile. The term ''gear s ...

. 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 ...

was tubular. Wheels had a dual hydraulic and rubber suspension. The body had a steel tubes skeleton, covered with steel, aluminum and wood panels. It was fixed on the chassis through four "saddles" and had a special vertical stabilizer. ''Malaxa'' offered a high level of comfort, and could carry five persons with four suitcases in all.

Further developments

The producers intended to adapt the model for a small, 1-ton truck and a small 20

two-seated car intended for middle-class families, who would have cost approximately 100000 lei of 1938.

References

Bibliography

* ''Primul automobil românesc'' in "România aeriană", XX, nr. 1 from January 1946, p. 25. * Brebenel A., Vochin D., ''Din istoria automobilului'', 2nd edition, Editura Sport-Turism, București, 1976. Cars introduced in 1945 Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Rear-engined vehicles Radial engines Cars of Romania Cars discontinued in 1945 {{Classicpow-auto-stub