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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Panhard

Fiats, Panhards, Pegaso, now Simca: The Stinkwheel Story

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By Pete Vack and David Beare

From the Archives: It is fitting that exactly five years ago we published this interesting bio about David Beare just as his latest book, The Simca Story, 51 years of cars 1933-1984, is now in print and available. This great little history of Simca will be reviewed shortly.-Ed.

First the name; we have to explain the name for those of us unfamiliar with British jargon. “The name Stinkwheel derives from 1930’s slang amongst motorcyclists for small-capacity, feeble two-stoke powered cyclemotors and autocycles which buzzed noisily but slowly around in a cloud of blue oily smoke- a stinkwheel,” writes Beare. His first two books were histories of such cyclemotors- “The Stinkwheel Sagas.” Thus came the name of the publishing company, which is at the very least, unforgettable. How Stinkwheel went from cyclemotors to Hispano Suiza is another good question. [Read more…] about Fiats, Panhards, Pegaso, now Simca: The Stinkwheel Story

A French Day at Brooklands P1

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1926 Bugatti Type 37 GP, and the Brooklands Watch Company’s ‘Little Car Company’ baby Bugatti Type 35. The Type 37 was originally owned by Mr Smith, the chief engineer at Lever Brothers who, during the 1930s, carried out a very well-engineered conversion of the engine to twin magneto ignition.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

August 13, 2023. Popped up to Brooklands in Surrey last Sunday for Brooklands French Car Day.  I think it was a new event, it was certainly new to me. So said the website, ” French legends from our Collection will be on display around the Motoring Village, from all-conquering Bugattis to veteran Peugeots, Malcolm Campbell’s Lorraine Dietrich ‘Vieux Charles III’ to the British Grand Prix winning Delage; you will be able to get close to these amazing machines.”

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Bionier Part 3: The Dyna Gets Real

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By Gijsbert-Paul Berk

From the VeloceToday Archives, April 2014

Since the mid-thirties, when he had developed the body of the Dynamic, Bionier had been interested in aerodynamics. He loved to watch birds in the air and fish in aquaria. Their movements and shapes fascinated him. During the war years he had studied and even made some scale models to determine how the postwar Panhards should look.

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Louis Bionier and the Dyna Panhard

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‘Like in an airplane.. the Dyna will make you free from the harshness of the ground and its resonances’ is a free translation of the text in this Panhard publicity folder.

By Gijsbert-Paul Berk

From the VeloceToday Archives, March 2014

In Part 1 of his look at Panhard’s remarkable Louis Bionier, Gijsbert-Paul Berk described how Bionier designed the Panoramic and Dynamic Panhards in the 1930s. In Part 2, we learn how the post-war Dyna X was developed.

Was the Panhard Dyna an automotive cuckoo’s egg?

There are some mysteries concerning the origin of the postwar Panhard Dyna. Was it designed by Jean-Albert Grégoire (as some French experts claim on Wikipedia) or by the duo Louis Delagarde, Louis Bionier at Panhard & Levassor? The story of the gestation of this interesting car was extensively described in the review by Peter Vack of the book ‘Panhard, the flat twin cars 1945-1967’ by David Beare on VeloceToday of 8 August 2013 but if you want to refresh your memory we must take you back to the prewar years.

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Louis Bionier Part 1

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Panhard-Dynamic by artist Alexis Kow.

From the VeloceToday Archives, March 2014

Who is Louis Bionier? Gijsbert-Paul Berk explains the great French engineer

It is well known that Panhard et Levassor, founded in 1886, was one of the French pioneers as manufacturers of automobiles. Panhard et Levassor constructed their first ‘motorcar’ in 1891. Many are familiar with the names of the great designers that shaped the coachwork of French automobiles in the years before and just after WWII. Still, it would not be surprising if only a few can place Louis Bionier and his work.

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Dyna Panhard Racers

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By David Beare

From the VeloceToday Archives, November 2013

It is unlikely that Louis Delagarde, the designer of Panhard’s flat-twin engine, could have foreseen the scale of competition successes his diminutive power-unit would achieve when he began work at his drawing-board during the dark days of World War II.

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CD and the Last Racing Panhard

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By Pete Vack
From the VeloceToday archives, February 2009

When you read the letters CD in terms of aerodynamics, it is usually assumed that they stand for “Coefficient of aerodynamics”, Cd, or Cx as some would have it. Others would have it differently, for the letters CD also stand for Charles Deutsch, whose lifelong ambition to create efficient race cars has been largely overlooked and yet is so important. [Read more…] about CD and the Last Racing Panhard

The Brighton Run, 2015

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1899 single cylinder Brown Quadricycle of Mr David Oakley.

Brown Brother of London offered Tricycles and a light steam car. However as they did not have any manufactures premises, they offered the American Whitney as the Brown Whitney and also some cars made by Star. This Quadricycle, entered by Mr. David Oakley, hails from 1899 and is powered by a 2.25 cylinder engine.

Story and Photos by Jonathan Sharp

November 1st, 2015
The sun came out and it was lovely and warm in Brighton today. Not the usual weather for the London to Brighton Run. It is November but this year there was a blazing sun and I needed a sun blocker. My first memory of the event is watching the cars pass from the side windows of my father’s Austin 1300 whilst parked on the A23 just outside of Brighton; it was usually raining. Sunday the 1st November, 2015 will go down in the weather history books as being the hottest November day in Great Britain for 70 years. [Read more…] about The Brighton Run, 2015

Louis Bionier, French Designer, Part 3

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1948 Panhard Dynavia.

By Gijsbert-Paul Berk

Read Part 1

Read Part 2

Since the mid-thirties, when he had developed the body of the Dynamic, Bionier had been interested in aerodynamics. He loved to watch birds in the air and fish in aquaria. Their movements and shapes fascinated him. During the war years he had studied and even made some scale models to determine how the postwar Panhards should look. [Read more…] about Louis Bionier, French Designer, Part 3

Louis Bionier, French Designer, Part 2

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‘Like in an airplane.. the Dyna will make you free from the harshness of the ground and its resonances’ is a free translation of the text in this Panhard publicity folder.

By Gijsbert-Paul Berk

Read Part 1

In Part 1 of his look at Panhard’s remarkable Louis Bionier, Gijsbert-Paul Berk described how Bionier designed the Panoramic and Dynamic Panhards in the 1930s. In Part 2, we learn how the post-war Dyna X was developed.

Was the Panhard Dyna an automotive cuckoo’s egg?

There are some mysteries concerning the origin of the postwar Panhard Dyna.Was it designed by Jean-Albert Grégoire (as some French experts claim on Wikipedia) or by the duo Louis Delagarde, Louis Bionier at Panhard & Levassor? The story of the gestation of this interesting car was extensively described in the review by Peter Vack of the book ‘Panhard, the flat twin cars 1945-1967’ by David Beare on VeloceToday of 8 August 2013 but if you want to refresh your memory we must take you back to the prewar years. [Read more…] about Louis Bionier, French Designer, Part 2

Louis Bionier, French Designer Part 1

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Panhard-Dynamic by artist Alexis Kow.

Who is Louis Bionier? Gijsbert-Paul Berk explains the great French engineer

It is well known that Panhard et Levassor, founded in 1886, was one of the French pioneers as manufacturers of automobiles. Panhard et Levassor constructed their first ‘motorcar’ in 1891. Many are familiar with the names of the great designers that shaped the coachwork of French automobiles in the years before and just after WWII. Still, it would not be surprising if only a few can place Louis Bionier and his work. [Read more…] about Louis Bionier, French Designer Part 1

Panhard Dyna Racers

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By David Beare

From the VeloceToday Archives, November 2013

It is unlikely that Louis Delagarde, the designer of Panhard’s flat-twin engine, could have foreseen the scale of competition successes his diminutive power-unit would achieve when he began work at his drawing-board during the dark days of World War II.

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