Panhard
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A Panhard-Levassor was the first automobile to be introduced in Japan, in 1898 |
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Panhard repair manual cover showing PL 17 |
Panhard is a French motor vehicle manufacturer, who now specializes in light tactical and military vehicles. It was formed by the acquisition of Panhard by
Auverland in 2005. Panhard had been under
PSA ownership for 40 years. The combined company now uses the Panhard name.
Panhard was originally
Panhard et Levassor and was established as a car manufacturing concern in about 1890. Benz and Daimler, both of Germany, produced pilot models before this time, and Benz was in production by about 1888 with his three-wheeler. Emile Roger of Paris obtained a license to produce this car, and ended up producing more than Benz, due to the ready acceptance of automobiles by the French. Daimler began producing cars in small series about 1890/1891.
From
1968 on it has only made
armored vehicles - the civilian branch was absorbed by
Citroën in 1965. In
2004, Panhard lost a competition to another manufacturer of military vehicles,
Auverland, for the choice of the future
PVP of the French Army. This allowed Auverland to purchase Panhard in
2005, which was at that time a subsidiary of
PSA Peugeot Citroën. However, the notoriety of the Panhard being higher, it was decided that the company would take the name Panhard and that the PVP designed by Auverland would bear a Panhard badge.
The company was founded when
René Panhard and
Emile Levassor decided to move from making woodworking machines to automobiles. Their first car used a
Daimler engine and was offered in 1890.
Daimler's Stahlradwagen prototypes of 1889 inspired Levassor to manufacture cars. He obtained a licence to produce Daimler's engine from a friend who already had this licence: a Belgain called Sarazin. Upon Sarazin's death in 1887, Sarazin's wife married Levassor, and the deal was cemented. Daimler and Levassor became fast friends, and shared improvements with one another.
These first vehicles set many modern standards, but each was a one-off design. They used a
clutch pedal to operate a chain-driven
gearbox. The vehicle also featured a front-mounted
radiator. A 1895 Panhard is credited with the first modern
transmission.
The company's
Systeme Panhard consisted of four wheels, a
front-mounted engine with
rear wheel drive, and a sliding-gear transmission. This was to become the standard layout for automobiles for most of the next century.
Panhard shared their Daimler engine license with
Armand Peugeot, who formed his own company,
Peugeot, in 1891. It would not be incorrect to say that Benz, Daimler, Panhard et Levassor, and Peugeot were the four concerns responsible for initiating series production of cars. It was a wonderful example of Franco-German cooperation.
Arthur Krebs succeeded to Levassor as Panhard-Levassor's General Manager from
1897 to
1916. He turned the Panhard-Levassor Company into one of the largest and profitable manufacturer of automobiles before WWI.
Panhards won numerous races from
1895 to
1903. Panhard developed the
Panhard rod, which became used in many other types of automobiles as well.
From
1925 the motors used the
Knight Engine technology of using
sleeve valves. That year a 4.8 litres got the world record for the hour fastest run at an average of 185.51 km/h.
After
World War II it produced light cars such as the
Dyna X,
Dyna Z,
PL 17,
24 CT and
24 BT. The company managed to get around a
steel-saving government regulation forbidding new car models by making the bodies and several other components out of
aluminum, which of course helped the performance. The Dyna X and the Dyna Z 1 had an aluminum body. The later Dyna Z and the PL 17 bodies were made in steel. The bodies had smooth rounded forms which made the cars stand out in any post-war parking lot. The 24 CT was a beautiful 2+2 seater; the 24 BT with a longer wheelbase had enough space for four persons. The Panhard based
Deutsch Bonnets dominated the "Index of Performance" class at
Le Mans and other small-engine racing classes. The last Panhard car was built in
1967.
Since Panhard was a world leader in
fuel efficiency, its disappearance just before the
energy crisises of the
1970s was particularly ironic. The marketing failure of fuel efficient cars in the
1950s and
1960s surely led to both the demise of Panhard and the beginning of these shortages. It is an example of how the crisis could have been avoided if governments and investors had foreseen it.
*
List of automotive superlatives*
List of automobile manufacturers*
The 1916 St Chamond tank*
Panhard Official website*
Early history of Panhard and Levassor*
Category at ODP*
Panhard cars at Citroenet*
D.B. Panhard racing cars memorial
