The backbone chassis was probably the easiest chassis to draw, however it was a major departure from tradition. It is similar to a ladder chassis in that the body and associated mechanical components are bolted to it. The main difference is shown in the naming of the chassis - a ladder chassis looks like a ladder and a backbone chassis looks like a …. backbone! Rover were … [Read more...]
Transaxles
A transaxle is the combination of a differential and gearbox in one unit. What this does is to reduce the packaging of the components into one unit rather than two. So in effect it is a transmission axle or "transaxle". In a traditional rear drive car, the engine is at the front with the gearbox connected at the rear of the block converting the power delivery through a prop … [Read more...]
Auto Italia 2017
A few weeks ago I headed down to Canberra for Auto Italia 2107. This was my fourth visit over the years having been down for 2013, 2015 and 2016. Each year there are two interesting points about the day. The first is that there is usually a "headline" marque - this year it was Ferrari for their 70th anniversary. The second point is that it brings out some of the rarer machines … [Read more...]
Innocenti
This weeks history article is about Innocenti who built cars under licence and were the makers of the famous Lambretta scooter. Ferdinando Innocenti set up his company in 1922 to make steel tubing. During the Second World War, his factory was flattened in a bombing raid. After the war, in an attempt to rebuild his company, Innocenti saw a market for a cheap transport method … [Read more...]
De Tomaso
The De Tomaso brand was an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Modena – the home of Italian sports cars. Alejandro De Tomaso was Argentinean of Italian heritage and it is rumoured that he did a runner from Argentina after being implicated in a plot to overthrow Juan Peron, the President at that time. His father was a politician and his mother’s family managed a huge … [Read more...]
