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Post by wolves3012 on Sept 6, 2006 17:02:08 GMT -5
John, Citroen/Citron and lemon. Can you imagine those doors opening accidentally while on the highway? Or are they air brakes? Mickey. As an aside, Andre Citroen's father was Dutch and had the name Limonman (Lemon man?). When he moved to France he took a more french-sounding name and Citroen was a deliberate corruption of the french word citron - lemon.
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PeterW
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Member has Passed
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Post by PeterW on Sept 7, 2006 18:24:48 GMT -5
Wolves 3012 wrote:
Sorry, going to have to disagree. There is an age-old myth that Morgans have or had a wooden chassis, strengthened by very innacurate reporting in the magazine Auto Express last year. But it just ain't true!
Morgans have always had a metal chassis, tubular steel on early three-wheelers and steel channel on the four-wheelers except for the new Aero Eight which has an aluminium chassis. The bodies, however, have been framed in ash since the early days, and still are.
I think the confusion arose because the Morgan company use of the word 'frame' to mean the body frame. Some people use the word frame to mean the chassis frame.
I quote from the Morgan Company's website:
"The Morgan car has always been built around an ash-frame, and a steel chassis. The new Aero 8 also has an ash frame. This gives unique strength, flexibility and surprisingly, research showed that the frame made the car safer on impact tests."
The only car I can recall with a wooden chassis (apart from a few veteran cars from the 1890s and early 1900s where the chassis was ash with steel flitch plates) was the Marcos.
PeterW
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Post by John Parry on Sept 9, 2006 13:43:23 GMT -5
Love 'em or loath 'em Wolves - if you own one you belong to the former category, but of course you know that. Got to admit though - they keep going, and seem to have unlimited carrying capacity despite the engine size.
Regards - John
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Post by wolves3012 on Sept 15, 2006 17:51:21 GMT -5
Wolves 3012 wrote: Sorry, going to have to disagree. There is an age-old myth that Morgans have or had a wooden chassis, strengthened by very innacurate reporting in the magazine Auto Express last year. But it just ain't true! Morgans have always had a metal chassis, tubular steel on early three-wheelers and steel channel on the four-wheelers except for the new Aero Eight which has an aluminium chassis. The bodies, however, have been framed in ash since the early days, and still are. I think the confusion arose because the Morgan company use of the word 'frame' to mean the body frame. Some people use the word frame to mean the chassis frame. I quote from the Morgan Company's website: "The Morgan car has always been built around an ash-frame, and a steel chassis. The new Aero 8 also has an ash frame. This gives unique strength, flexibility and surprisingly, research showed that the frame made the car safer on impact tests." The only car I can recall with a wooden chassis (apart from a few veteran cars from the 1890s and early 1900s where the chassis was ash with steel flitch plates) was the Marcos. PeterW I'll stand correction on that then, I was quoting what I've read rather than first-hand knowledge. I guess a wooden chassis might give the MOT test man some problems!
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Post by wolves3012 on Sept 15, 2006 18:02:27 GMT -5
Love 'em or loath 'em Wolves - if you own one you belong to the former category, but of course you know that. Got to admit though - they keep going, and seem to have unlimited carrying capacity despite the engine size. Regards - John I won't deny the bias of being an owner, just pointing out that those who knock are rarely former owners or people with any real knowledge of the design engineering. Rant finished :-) Yes they do keep going, with some TLC, and the carrying-capacity is indeed beyond what anyone can believe! I once stripped a chassis-failure one and carried the entire car, bar the bodyshell and chassis, home in mine! That's 4 wheels, 4 doors, 4 wings, 2 axles, 1 bonnet (hood), 1 bootlid (trunk), all the suspension, all the glass and the engine and gearbox. Didn't go overly fast with all the weight, mind you!
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Post by Just Plain Curt on Sept 15, 2006 18:51:19 GMT -5
Actually it's sort of reminiscent of the early VW Beetle, Austin Mini, Trabant and several other early autos,Ford's Model T included. They were built to be affordable to the masses and as such were hugely successful. Later most went on to be cult favourites and have their loyal following to this day. Of course, this is from the faithful owner of a...AHEM Rambler.
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Post by wolves3012 on Sept 17, 2006 17:17:53 GMT -5
Actually it's sort of reminiscent of the early VW Beetle, Austin Mini, Trabant and several other early autos,Ford's Model T included. They were built to be affordable to the masses and as such were hugely successful. Later most went on to be cult favourites and have their loyal following to this day. Of course, this is from the faithful owner of a...AHEM Rambler. All fine vehicles in their own way. I used to own a Beetle too, I guess I have a taste for cars with character rather than the more modern "Euroboxes", where they are all designed by the same computer programs from the same inputs and your final choice comes down largely to which one comes in the colour you like best. Pardon my ignorance, since the name "Rambler" rings some chimes in the furthest depths of my so-called memory - what's a Rambler?
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Post by kiev4a on Sept 17, 2006 21:13:01 GMT -5
Nash Rambler was a small American sedan built in the 1050s. My sister and her husband had a Rambler American (somewhere in the 1955-58 period, I think). It was small for that period--sort of a mid-size sedan. There was a smaller Nash, the Metropolitan--actually an American body on an English Austin chassis. Nash folded its tent in the mid 1960s, although variants were produced in some countries until the '80s, I believe. There was a joke at the time that Nash owners always had another Nash in the backyard for parts. Nash Rambler 1955 Nash Metropolitian 1955
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Post by herron on Sept 17, 2006 22:54:15 GMT -5
Wow...I have not seen a picture of a Nash Metropolitan (or thought about one, for that matter) in decades! I can still recall my neighbor, Mr. Doten, bringing home his prized new Metroplitan -- turquoise and white, just like Wayne's second picture -- and proudly showing it off to my father! I remember thinking it was neat...because it was so small I was already big enough to drive it! American Motors bought Nash, and built cars with the Rambler nameplate until about 1969. There's even a Rambler Collectors Page for devotees!
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Post by Just Plain Curt on Sept 18, 2006 8:26:04 GMT -5
How soon they forget. AMC bought Rambler in I believe 1969 and that was it for the Rambler name. Most folks remember the Nash Metropolitan but Rambler at one time was one of the big three (for a short while) and the American, Classic and Ambassador were the top sellers. Muscle cars were the Rogue, Hurst SC/Rambler and the " Machine". After that came the Javelin, Javelin SST and the AMX. My first was a '63 Rambler Classic with 327 (yep, 327 Rambler motor) and a Hurst shifter on the floor. Bought it from a guy who bracket raced it in Edmonton. My current Rambler is more the family grocery getter they were known for: 1966 Rambler Classic 550 232 cu. in. six cylinder, column shift three speed standard, rubber floor mats and radio delete panel instead of a radio. Nothin' but the best fer this kid, LOL.
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Post by Just Plain Curt on Sept 18, 2006 8:28:52 GMT -5
Whoops, completely forgot the forerunner of the AMX, the Rambler Marlin that carried the Rambler name into the muscle car wars of the sixties. Sorry Marlin owners.
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mickeyobe
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Posts: 7,280
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Post by mickeyobe on Sept 18, 2006 11:18:38 GMT -5
I used to own a Nash Metropolitan. It was coral and white. Two seats up front and a tiny, unpadded seat in the back that just suited my 2 & 4 year olds. The three speed gear shift was on the steering column like an American car. My wife loved it for shopping and I loved driving it instead of our monstrous Dodge 4 door. As I was never an automobile DIY'r it eventually got too expensive for a young family to maintain.
Mickey
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Post by John Parry on Sept 18, 2006 14:13:24 GMT -5
Ha - looked at the second photo Wayne and spang! - Metropolitan. Classic body shape - I was just a youngster but I wanted one. There used to be an owner up our street - 1958-9?? I've seen two since. Still want one!
Regards - John
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Post by GeneW on Sept 18, 2006 15:20:18 GMT -5
Those Nash photos sure brought back a bunch of memories. I used to see the Nash Ramblers and a few Metros as I was growing up. There were still Hudson Ramblers around too, and even DeSotos. Yes, and Studebakers. The Rambler American seemed to be the car of choice for retirees who would leave the MidWest to winter in Arizona. 'Snow birds' we used to call them. Every time you'd hit a traffic snarl on the highways, there was *always* a Rambler American with two white-haired people in the front doing 50 in a 75 zone... Gene
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Post by herron on Sept 18, 2006 15:33:24 GMT -5
How soon indeed! I've been involved in several automotive histories over the years. Worked with "Automobile Quarterly" founder L. Scott Bailey on the production of "GM: The First 75 Years" in 1983. Learned a lot about some of the "former" GM folks who established their own marques. One was Charles Nash. Nash is really an old nameplate, as far as automobiles go. Charles Nash was the president of General Motors, but he left in 1919 with the intention of taking over Packard Motorcar. When that deal fell through, he bought the Jeffery Company instead, and renamed it Nash Motors. Much later, Nash Motors actually merged with Hudson (in 1954) to become American Motors (so my original comment about AMC buying Nash was incorrect). Shortly after the merger, George Romney became CEO of AMC. He pinned the future of the company on an expanded Rambler line, and began the process of phasing out the Nash and Hudson nameplates. They were gone by the end of the 1957 model year (Romney himself would leave AMC in 1962 to run for, and win, election as the governor of Michigan, my home state). From 1958 to 1965, Rambler was the only marque sold by AMC. Under the tenure of Roy Abernethy, who succeeded Romney, the Rambler name was gradually phased out. It was discontinued entirely by 1969. In 1971, American Motors acquired Kaiser Jeep and its Toledo, Ohio based manufacturing facilities. In the early 1980s, AMC entered into a partnership with Renault, which was looking for an entrée into the American market (shades of the GM-Nissan-Renault stuff in the headlines here lately!). AMC was ultimately acquired by Chrysler Corporation in 1987. All that, and US$3.50 will get you a Starbucks latte! I would try to get the subject back to cameras, but I just fried my brain remembering all that car stuff!
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