Before penning this I consulted Simon about this story on the demise of the Citroën oleopneumatic suspension system.
He reminded me that the matter had come up a year ago and indeed I had myself imagined that the current Citroën C5 would be the last hydraulic Citroën. What prompted me to think it was news was that TTAC reported it yesterday. And they got the story from… Continue reading “Is This News?”
Obviously if Bruno Sacco is involved, a design decision is not trivial. Under scrutiny here is the decision to make the lower edge of the 1991 Mercedes S-class sideglass sag by a very small amount.
What effect did it achieve and would the car be better off without it? Here are four photos to show the effect of a straight lower window line. Obviously this sag is a deliberate choice. By removing it we can see what effect it was supposed to have. I think.
We trace a direct descendant.
In 1922, against great opposition from his board, Herbert Austin introduced his Seven into a market dominated by the rudimentary cyclecars that had sprung up in the wake of the First World War. The Seven was a proper small car and, unlike other ‘people’s cars’, it had no radical and untried solutions.
It used a small 4 cylinder, front mounted engine, taking drive through a clutch and gearbox to a rear axle. The solid axle was suspended on elliptic springs but, because everything was so light, the springs did not need to Continue reading “Theme : Evolution – Or Metamorphosis?”
Driven To Write 