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The History of the 4 Wheel Drive
The four wheel drive was born at the beginning of the last century, developed by a succession of visionaries, that started with a Wisconsin blacksmith and continued with such men as Harry Armenius Miller and Harry Ferguson. They never would have believed their development would prove to be the most popular "school" transport a century later. More >> |
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The History of Amphibious Vehicles
The first attempt at an amphibian was the Orukter Amphibolos, built in 1805 by Oliver Evans, then living in Philadelphia. It was a steam carriage only by courtesy, even though Evans, an amazingly prolific inventor, had filed America's first 'motor car' patent in 1792. More >> |
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The History of Australian Motoring, by W. H. Lober
Ingenuity was alwayt the hallmark of success. To cope with rejection from the fledgling Australian Motor Industry, the message was clear, for Bill Lober. He would have to start his career overseas. Lober's story is from 1907 to 1947. Looking Back On Forty Years of Motoring by W. H. Lober. More >> |
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The History of the Automobile
To begin talking about our forefathers
search for a mode of transport to replace the horse
would necessitate traveling back in time over 300 years.
Inventions (or what perhaps could be better described
as contraptions) utilizing wind power and even elaborate
clockwork gearing were all tried, up to the advent of
steam power. More >> |
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The History of the Automobile and Automotive Industry before World War 1
You only have to turn the hands of the clock back a few centuries to find a time when the notion of a carriage without a horse was unthinkable. While most believe today that the Cugnot's 1770 "Fardier" was the very first car, we should instead thank one Richard Trevithick, a British inventor who wondered if the clip-clop of horses' hooves could be replaced by the chugging of a steam engine. More >> |
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The History of the Automobile and Automotive Industry Between The Wars
The Hispano-Suiza was a remarkable car, its advanced engine being based on one built for an aeroplane during the war. Their 1925 Boulogne model was the outstanding car of the middle twenties. A superb six cylinder engine with a capacity of eight litres gave it a top speed of 110 mph. It was years ahead of its time. More >> |
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The History of the Automobile and Automotive Industry After World War 2
The apocalopse of war did little to help the struggling automobile manufacturers, many of whom had struggled to survive through the depression years of the 1930's only to find demand for their products disappear overnight. And in what we believe at Unique Cars and Parts to be a cruel twist of fate, it seemed the phrase "To The Victor The Spoils" did not apply to the British automotive industry. More >> |
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The History of the Bantam Blitz Buggy - The First Jeep
BMW, as a marque, is mentioned relatively late in the course of automotive history. The first automobile bearing the blue and white trademark spinning airscrew didn't appear until 1928. Nevertheless, after 50 years the Bavarian firm was able to look back upon a well-founded, world-wide reputation. More >> |
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The History of the B.R.M. - British Racing Motors
THE B.R.M. is the hottest news in racing since Germany dominated the speed scene in the Thirties. As a machine it is in a class by itself, some of its more interesting specifications being: 16 cylinders, two overhead cams per block, bore and stroke about an inch and a quarter each , 400 bhp at 12,000 rpm, bhp to weight ratio of about 1:4. And just as unique as its design is the way it has been produced. More >> |
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The History of BMW Planes, Aviation and Motorcycles
BMW, as a marque, is mentioned relatively late in the course of automotive history. The first automobile bearing the blue and white trademark spinning airscrew didn't appear until 1928. Nevertheless, after 50 years the Bavarian firm was able to look back upon a well-founded, world-wide reputation. More >> |
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The History of BMW Automobiles
The automotive history of BMW commences at a rather late date; specifically, on the 14th November, 1928, the time at which the "Bayeerische Motoren-Werke AG" aquired the "Dixi-Werke" from the "Gothaer Waggonfabrik AG" (Gotha Railway Car Factory). The subsidiary Dixi Works had been founded in 1896 at Eisenach, Thuringia, and had originally been called "Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach". More >> |
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The History of BMW Motorbikes
The most interesting aspect of early BMW motorcycle development were the machines destined for attempts at the world's absolute high-speed records for motorcycles. Ernst Henne, who had raced motorcycles very successsfully in the 1920s, was the one responsible for convincing the BMW management to undertake the record attempts. More >> |
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The History of Chrysler
Australia
Between 1962 and 1978 Chrysler Australia
had released 13 models, the VJ of 1973 being the biggest
seller, with 90,865 units built. The least successful
model was the final design, the CM, selling only 16,005
units in three years. The high point was arguably the
release of the fastest accelerating Australian production
car ever made, the awesome E-49 Charger. More >> |
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The History of Connolly Leather
For over a century Connolly Bros. was synonymous with the quality leather used in the very best of British marques, including Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin and Jaguar. Founded by brothers Samuel Frederick and John Connolly in Euston Road in 1878. Each had been left £1,000, which they had put into what is believed to have been the first "while-you-wait" shoe repair company, a fact which annoyed their conventional competitors. More >> |
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The History of Corgi Cars
Lets be honest - most visitors to this site will have, at one time or other, owned or at least played with a Corgi car. What set them apart was the fantastic degree of accuracy that won them places on display shelves and executives' desks, while retaining designed-in strength to combat juvenile tantrums. After all, Alec Issigonis never had to anticipate his Minis being flung at a wall in rage, when he pored over the initial designs of the car. More >> |
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The History of the Diesel Engine
For many years the diesel engine has been the forstay of the trucking industry, and has also found application in the taxi and commercial-vehicle fields. Unique Cars and Parts takes a look at some of the early developments of the Diesel engine which has, for many years, enjoyed healthy sales in Europe and is now making major inroads into the Australian car landscape. More >> |
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The History of Ensign Racing
For a completely new racing-car manufacturer to make the transition from Formula Three to Formula One within the space of three seasons was little short of remarkable. Not only did the small Ensign team do this, but by early 1974 they were showing signs of being competitive in the highest form of single-seater racing. More >> |
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The History of ERA - The English Racing Automobile Company
In the early 1930s, British motor racing was, as far as international events were concerned, in the doldrums. Indeed, the cars built for Brooklands were so specialised that they could hardly hope to be competitive with the leading Continental racing machines. It was a situation which did not please Humphrey Cook, a wealthy amateur who had started racing at Brooklands with a 100 hp Isotta Fraschini in the summer of 1914. More >> |
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The History of the Ford Escort RS Rally Sport
Since Ford first imported a limited number of RS2000 Escorts into Australia there had been speculation that this was a prelude to the blue oval backing motorsport again. Of course by then the 2nd generation "European look" Escort had become a real succcess story, and the addition of the RS2000 was targeting a very select group of Australian enthusiasts. More >> |
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The History of the Four Wheel Drive Pictorial
The first four wheel drive car was built in 1903, but it wasn't until the early 1980's that the concept again found favour in series production, and even then only one major manufacturer had enough faith in the concept to make it an integral part of the range, other than for off-road use. That company was Audi, which offered two Quattro models. More >> |
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The History of the Gran Turismo
The term "GT" has become incredibly confused over the last few decades, being attached to anything from a relatively inexpensive volume production-based sedan, to a certain type of racing car. The real meaning of the designation, which derives from the fast, luxury cars of the past - the "Grand Tourers" like Rolls-Royce, Hispano-Suiza, Isotta-Fraschini, Bugatti and so on - is a high performance car that provides comfort and a good range. More >> |
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The History of Holden
In 1856 James Alexander Holden established a leather and saddlery business on the corner of King William and Rundle Streets in Adelaide, South Australia. in 1885 it combined with the carriage builder Henry Adolf Frost to became the famous "Holden and Frost". In 1910 Holden & Frost began trimming motor vehicles and in 1914 they built their first one off car body for an imported Lancia chassis. More >> |
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The History of the Internal Combustion Engine
Austria, France and Germany have each claimed to be the originators of the motor vehicle, but there is considerable doubt as to the validity of some of these claims. The probable sequence of events is as follows. At the Great Exhibition of 1851, in London, Etienne Lenoir produced a specification for an engine to run on petroleum vapour and air. This was patented in i860 and an actual engine was exhibited in Paris in 1862. More >> |
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The History of Jaguars Racing Career
Right from the earliest days of the SS1, the company had appreciated the prestige value of competition successes, and even though their early efforts (such as in the 1933 Alpine Trial) met with little success, it was not long before SS cars, either factory-backed or in private hands, were hitting the headlines of the motoring magazines. More >> |
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The History of the Paris Madrid Road Race - From Paris to Oblivian
In 1903 a group of some 216 brave but foolhardy drivers gathered in the park at Versailles, near Paris, to the start of the most frightening and disastrous event in the entire history of European road racing. This was the famous Paris to Madrid race, which started on the morning of May 24, 1903, and ended dramatically that same night in Bordeaux, having left in its wake at least 50 dead and 100 injured. More >> |
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The History of Porsche
Ferdinand Porsche was the third child of the tinsmith Anton Porsche and his wife Anna. His parents house was in a bohemian village Maffersdorf close to Reichenberg. His father was a firm believer in a strict Victorian upbringing and obedience was the order of the day for all 5 children. After the unexpected death of his brother Ferdinand Porsche's future career was virtually decided - he too should become a tinsmith and one day take over the family business. More >> |
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The History of the Speedway Era
The Speedway Era was launched with the opening of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909; construction had begun the previous year. The speedway concept was a simple and logical adaptation of the typical, well-built horse racing plant to the needs of the automobile. Others were quick to pick up Carl Fisher's idea. In the spring of 1909 Asa G. Chandler and Ed Durant began the construction of a two-mile oval at Atlanta. More >> |
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The History of the Sports Car
Most classic car enthusiasts will know the feeling of freedom and exhiliration on offer when driving a open-top sports car. So popular has the "topless" genre of automobile become these days that nearly all manufacturers have a convertible or two in their model lineup. But many of these, sadly, represent little of the glorious past ancestory to which they aspire. So lets take a moment to look back on the development of the sports car over the years. More >> |
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The History of Swallow Sidecars
The first Swallow body was designed around the Austin Seven, and appeared at the end of 1926, and the following year the wider base for the company's operations was indicated by a change in name to the Swallow Sidecar and Coach building Company. By 1929 cars were forming the bulk of the company's business, and in 1931 there was a further change in the company's title, to the Swallow Coachbuilding Company. More >> |
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The History of the V8 Engine
The question of who built the very first V8 engine remains, like much of motoring history, the subject of conjecture. What is irrefutable is that, in 1902, Leon Levavasseur took out a patent on a light but quite powerful gasoline injected V8 engine. He called it the 'Antoinette' after the young daughter of his financial backer. From 1904 he installed this engine in a number of competition speedboats and early aircraft. More >> |
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The History of Voiturette Racing
Leon Bollee registered the name voiturette for his little sporting tricar of 1895; but the term was so easily memorable that it soon became used for any light car. However, the first voiturette class to appear in motor racing was true to the term's origins, as it was composed entirely of Bollees. It happened in the 1896 Paris-Marseilles contest, in which class C was for any vehicle which was not a motor car nor a motor cycle - and this meant Bollees. More >> |
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The History of Volkswagen
The
origins of Volkswagen date back to 1930s Nazi
Germany, and the project to build the car
that would become known as the Beetle. Hitler's
desire that almost anybody should be able
to afford a car coincided with a proposal
by car designer Ferdinand Porsche (1875-1952). More >> |
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