Aniruddha's Blog

Formerly known as Lanchester Engine Co, this company was formed in the year 1899 December, it was formed by Frederick Lanchester and his brother Franck Lanchester. Although the first Lanchester to drive on the streets was a five seater chain driven 5.h.p air cooled petrol engine. The assets of the company were 20 British and ten foreign patents. In the year 1900 the Lanchester Engine Co purchased a part of a “Royal small arms factory”, only to be present at the Paris Auto show, with a car that had an 8.h.p engine that had forced air cooling. In the year 1901 the first 10/12 .h.p cars were on the road. The famous Lanchester 10 The Lanchester 10 was announced on September 1932, the design of its four cylinder was shared with the Daimler. The Ten was the smallest Lanchester ever produced but it was sold in large numbers. The Lanchester Ten saloon was produced by Daimler, and had the famous fluid flywheel pre-selective gearbox. (This provided a stepping st...

Being a great fan of the big V8 engines, I cannot not write about the Oldsmobile, an American automobile manufacturer. Oldsmobile dates back to 1879, founded by a man named Ransom Olds. In that year he sold a grand total of 4 cars, while the gasoline powered engine manufacturing was a success. Things changed in the year 1899, a man named Samuel L. Smith took over Oldsmobile car production. Production started in the year 1901, all was going well when a massive fire broke out on March 1 st 1901. One car amongst his concept cars that made it through the fire was the “curve dash.” The curve dash was powered by a single cylinder 4 horsepower motor and the cost of the entire car was $650. In 1908 Oldsmobile was acquired by General Motors. The Oldsmobile Aerotech that used a 2.3 L quad 4 cylinder motor  produced 900hp, although some sources claim that it produced close to 750-800hp. This car was no joke! It consisted of a full carbon fibre shell and an Indy ...

THE ISO RIVOLTA DAYTONA. The Daytona was manufactured by the famous 'Isothermos' who manufactured refrigerator units till World War 2. The company later on reopened in 1948, but now they were manufacturing motorcycles, e Furetto (1948), 'Isoscooter (1950),' Isocarro (1951), 'Isomoto (1954) and' Isosport (1953). The last Iso motorcycle was presented as the Iso 500 in 1961. Isomotos were known as expensive, but durable and well-built. In 1950s Isetta was known for building the famous bubble car, which went on to become one of the bestselling microcars during 1950s and 1960s.   The Daytona. This car was a revolution in the cars brochure it said “new concept of high-performance motoring”. The Daytona followed the ISO Grifo which was designed by Giotto Bizzarrini as both a race and road-going car. By 1965, Bizzarrini and Rivolta parted ways, but Renzo wanted to continue making race cars and contest Le Mans. He persiste d with the Rivolta chass...

  The Trabant is a car that was produced in East Germany, Trabant meaning “companion” Trabant was also an astronomical term for a natural satellite. The Trabant VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau factory in Saxony on 7 November 1957. It had a small air cooled two stroke engine it had a transversely- mounted engine and was front wheel drive when most of the cars were either rear wheel drive or, many had rear mounted engine. The engine was a 500 cc engine derived from a pre-war Dampf-Kraft-Wagen, (DKW), DKW was an auto union went defunct in 1969. The production was finally ceased in 1991, there were more than three million Trabant’s that have been sold, with the last generation which had an engine from a VW. The cars body consisted of monocoque shell made of steel and outer body made from Duroplast, a phenol-based material with an organic filling that was devised as a response to the DDR’s steel shortages. The car had an interior that looked as empty as a dese...

  In the 1950’s there was a car manufacturer named Nash, which is now never heard of and is a very rare car. The story of Nash cars began with Thomas Jeffery, who left Great Britain at the age of 17, settling in Chicago. He built telescopes and patent models, then created a new bicycle with a cheap, strong frame (made by brazing flared tubing). The bike, named “Rambler,” was quickly became the second bestselling bicycle in the country. Jeffery then invented the “clincher” tire (in 1882), selling the rights to Dunlop, which called it the “pneumatic tire.” It became the basis for all modern day tires, to this day. The company has seen many great technologies being added for each car. Thomas Jeffery was one of the few automobile manufacturers to use a production line for its cars. Thomas Jeffery died in 1910, and his son took over. The company came out with the Quad, an early four wheel drive vehicle developed for the army. In 1916, though, Thomas Jeffery sold the company t...