The Brass Era is an American term for the early period of automotive manufacturing, named for the prominent brass fittings used during this time for such features as lights and radiators . It is generally considered to encompass 1896 through 1915, a time when cars were often referred to as horseless carriages .
41-583: The Metz Company was a pioneer brass era automobile maker established by Charles Herman Metz in Waltham, Massachusetts , from 1909 to 1922. C. H. Metz began in business in 1886 making bicycle parts, and in 1893 formed the Waltham Manufacturing Company with Herbert L. Thompson, Elmer G. Howe and Frank L. Howe. Later the firm developed designs for motorized vehicles. Metz departed his company over disagreements of company direction in 1901. He became
82-513: A Prest-O-Lite -type acetylene generator for the headlights . It was billed as "gearless", having a friction drive mechanism, and priced at $ 475, equivalent to $ 14,643 in 2023. Advertisements claimed to be the "winner of the Glidden Tour ", due to all 3 of the participating Metz cars receiving a perfect score. In 1914 Metz had a Speedster model added at a price of $ 500. In 1915, Model 22 became Model 25 with an improved 25-hp engine on
123-511: A 108-inch wheelbase. In 1917 Metz added 3 types of light trucks to their car production, but business was curtailed in 1918 due to the World War . The Factory was turned over to war work, but post-war road-blocks caused Metz to never collect $ 130,000 due from the government. In 1919 Metz fielded a larger car called the Metz Master 6, with a six-cylinder 45-hp engine. This 120-inch wheelbase car, with
164-583: A dealer-supplied model "T" Ford. In 1910, the two-cylinder 10-hp Metz was increased to 12-hp. Built on a 81-inch wheelbase , complete runabouts or special delivery body cars were produced into 1912. In 1913, Metz introduced the Model 22, a two-seat roadster or torpedo bodied car, with an en-bloc 22½ hp (17 kW) four-cylinder water-cooled engine. The Metz 22 had a 90-inch wheelbase with Bosch magneto , full- elliptic springs front and rear, artillery wheels with Goodrich clincher tires, and featured
205-753: A price range from $ 1,895 to $ 2,895 for an enclosed sedan, did not sell well. The post-war depression caused a dire financial condition and Metz was taken over by the Waltham National Bank. They reorganized the company and renamed it the Motor Manufacturers Incorporated of Waltham. The Metz Master 6 was renamed the Waltham Six, which sold for $ 2,450 and was produced in 1922 only. This restructuring attempt failed, and Charles Metz filed for Bankruptcy in August 1922. Brass era Elsewhere in
246-510: A year earlier. Publicity of the time indicated the "S" stood for "Voitures surbaissées" (cars having an "underslung" chassis, ) but, clearly captivated by the power of alliteration, added that "S" also indicated cars that were "...souples, supérieures, stables, spacieuses, silencieuses, sans soupapes (i.e., using valveless cylinders)...". Four of the five Panhards exhibited featured increasingly lavish and pricey 6-cylinder engined cars, their engine sizes ranging from 2.35-litres to 3.5-litres. There
287-562: The 1896 Paris–Marseille–Paris race, Levassor was fatally injured due to a crash while trying to avoid hitting a dog, and died in Paris the following year. Arthur Krebs succeeded Levassor as General Manager in 1897, and held the job until 1916. He turned the Panhard et Levassor Company into one of the largest and most profitable manufacturers of automobiles before World War I . Panhards won numerous races from 1895 to 1903. Panhard et Levassor developed
328-605: The Arnold in 1898, though Robert Bosch , 1903, tends to get the credit), independent suspension (actually conceived by Bollée in 1873), and four- wheel brakes (by the Arrol-Johnston Company of Scotland in 1909). Leaf springs were widely used for suspension , though many other systems were still in use. Transmissions and throttle controls were widely adopted, allowing a variety of cruising speeds, though vehicles generally still had discrete speed settings, rather than
369-623: The Panhard rod , which came to be used in many other types of automobiles as well. From 1910 Panhard worked to develop engines without conventional valves, using under license the sleeve valve technology that had been patented by the American Charles Yale Knight . Between 1910 and 1924 the Panhard & Levassor catalogue listed plenty of models with conventional valve engines, but these were offered alongside cars powered by sleeve valve power units. Following various detailed improvements to
410-427: The war . The new Panhard 16CV "Six" came with a 3445cc engine and sat on a 3,540 mm (139.4 in) wheelbase. At the show it was priced, in bare chassis form, at 58,000 francs. Of the nine models displayed for the 1927 model year, seven featured four-cylinder engines, ranging in capacity from 1480cc (10CV) to 4845cc (20CV), and in price from 31,000 francs to 75,000 francs (all in bare chassis form). Also on show
451-664: The 10HP Panhard Type X19, which used a 4-cylinder 2,140 cc (131 cu in) engine. This was followed three months later by three more 4-cylinder models which will have been familiar to any customers whose memories pre-dated the war , but they now incorporated upgraded electrics and a number of other modifications. For the 15th Paris Motor Show , in October 1919, Panhard were displaying four models, all with four cylinder engines, as follows: By 1925, all Panhard's cars were powered by Knight sleeve valve engines that used steel sleeves . The steel sleeves were thinner and lighter than
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#1733086159604492-505: The 1894 Paris–Rouen Rally , Alfred Vacheron equipped his 4 hp (3 kW) Panhard with a steering wheel , believed to be one of the earliest employments of the principle. In 1891, the company built its first all-Levassor design, a "state of the art" model: the Système Panhard consisted of four wheels, a front-mounted engine with rear wheel drive , and a crude sliding-gear transmission, sold at 3500 franc s. (It would remain
533-524: The 24BT being a version of the same with a longer wheelbase and space for four. For a period after the war, the Panhard-based Monopole racing cars received unofficial support from Panhard (as did DB and other clients such as Robert Chancel), using it to good effect in winning the "Index of Performance" class at Le Mans in 1950, 1951, and 1952. In 1953, Panhard moved on to a more direct involvement with Chancel, which however came to an end after
574-535: The Brass Era were larger, more expensive luxury vehicles, such as those built by Packard, Peerless, Pierce-Arrow, Cadillac, and other premium manufacturers. 1915, the agreed-upon cutoff of the Brass Era, was the final year the Ford Model T was available with brass fitments. At this point the style had also begun to be considered outdated, and by the 1920s few if any vehicles continued to employ brass in their designs. In
615-401: The automobile was invented a few years before the start of the Brass Era, the 20 years that make up this era represent the beginning of the automotive industry. It was a period of small-scale manufacturing, experimental designs, and alternative power systems. The middle of this period saw the introduction of Panhard et Levassor's Système Panhard , a front-engine, rear-drive design that became
656-466: The bodies and several other components out of aluminum. Thus the Dyna X and early Dyna Z series 1 had aluminum bodies. Unfortunately, cost calculations by Jean Panhard, the inheriting son and managing director of the firm, failed to account for the extra cost of aluminum vs steel. His calculations were made for the sheet metal panel area actually utilized per body shell, and did not account for the scrap of each of
697-474: The cast iron ones that had been fitted in Panhard sleeve valve engines since 1910, and this already gave rise to an improved friction coefficient permitting engines to run at higher speeds. To reduce further the risk of engines jamming, the outer sleeves, which are less thermally stressed than the inner sleeves, were coated on their inner sides with an anti-friction material, employing a patented technique with which Panhard engineers had been working since 1923. This
738-469: The civilian branch was absorbed by Citroën, and the marque was retired. From 1968 Panhard only made armored vehicles. 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, then a subsidiary of PSA Peugeot Citroën , in 2005. However, the fame of Panhard being greater, it
779-473: The company was renamed Panhard (without "Levassor"), and produced light cars such as the Dyna X , Dyna Z , PL 17 , 24 CT and 24 BT . The company had long noted the weight advantages of aluminum, and this as well as postwar government steel rationing (designed to limit new car models to ensure an orderly return to production at the major firms), encouraged the firm to proceed with the expensive alternative of making
820-421: The completeness of the present record, and in order to aid future scholars and research workers, I should like to give the list of American automobiles current thirty years ago [i.e., 1917]: A great many more names, including Brush , Duryea , Alco , Speedwell , and Waverly , had already disappeared from the scene by 1917. Panhard Panhard was a French motor vehicle manufacturer that began as one of
861-408: The country, just as hundreds of locomotive plants had sprung up in the early days of railroading. In both instances, however, the great majority faded out of the picture once the industry had become firmly established. As late as 1917, there were 127 different makes of American automobiles on the market, as compared with little more than a dozen in 1947 [i.e. at the time of this writing]. For the sake of
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#1733086159604902-601: The deadly 1955 Le Mans . In the latter half of the 1950s and the early 1960s, the Deutsch Bonnet racers ("DB Panhard") picked up this mantle and went on to dominate the "Index of Performance" as well as other small-engine racing classes. The last Panhard passenger car was built in 1967. After assembling 2CV panel trucks for Citroën to utilize capacity during falling sales, and raising operating cash by selling ownership progressively to Citroën, respectively to its mother company Michelin (full control as of 1965), in autumn of 1967
943-411: The early part of this period, steam-car development had advanced, making steam cars some of the fastest road vehicles of their day. Electric cars also held a market share throughout the era. Development of automotive technology was rapid, due in part to hundreds of small manufacturers competing to gain the world's attention. Key developments included the electric ignition system (by dynamotor on
984-529: The entire range of automobiles available to the mass market in the United States. This list included: Fred H. Colvin , who covered the American automotive industry for many years as a journalist and editor of trade journals, wrote in his memoir (1947) about his experiences: I have already indicated how the early "craze" for horseless carriages caused automobile plants to spring up like mushroom growths all over
1025-454: The first known kit automobile on the installment plan, known as the Metz Plan. The buyer would buy 14 groups or packages of parts for $ 27 which would be put together with the plans and tools supplied, for a total price of $ 378, (equivalent to $ 12,818 in 2023). A factory-assembled automobile could be bought for $ 475. The plan was in effect until 1911 when it became impractical to compete with
1066-405: The first makers of automobiles . It was a manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its final incarnation, now owned by Renault Trucks Defense , was formed by the acquisition of Panhard by Auverland in 2005, and then by Renault in 2012. In 2018 Renault Trucks Defense, ACMAT and Panhard combined under a single brand, Arquus . Panhard was originally called Panhard et Levassor , and
1107-474: The industry standard for decades. Through this period, electric, gasoline, and steam propulsion power were the powertrains of choice, though gas-powered internal combustion engines were dominant by the end of this period. Various body styles were also in vogue at the time, including the high-wheel motor buggy (resembling the horse buggy of before 1900), runabouts , tonneaus , and other more expensive closed bodies. The vehicles most closely associated with
1148-506: The infinitely variable system familiar in cars of later eras. Safety glass also made its debut, patented by John Wood in England in 1905, but would not become standard equipment until 1926 on a Rickenbacker . Angle steel took over from armored wood as the frame material of choice, and in 1912, Hupp pioneered the use of all-steel bodies, joined in 1914 by Dodge . In January, 1904, Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly magazine catalogued
1189-466: The sleeve valve engined Panhard 20HP. General Joffre himself used two 35HP Panhard Type X35s with massive 4-cylinder 7,360 cc (449 cu in) engines for his personal transport, and these were frequently to be seen by Parisians carrying military leaders between the front-line and the Élysée Palace . Following the return to peace in 1918, Panhard resumed passenger car production in March 1919 with
1230-554: The sleeve valve technology by Panhard's own engineering department, from 1924 till 1940 all Panhard cars used sleeve valve engines . Under the presidency of Raymond Poincaré , which ran from 1913 till 1920, Panhard & Levassor's 18CV and 20CV models were the official presidential cars. During the war Panhard, like other leading automobile producers, concentrated on war production, including large numbers of military trucks, V12-cylinder aero-engines, gun components, and large 75 and 105 diameter shells. The military were also keen on
1271-555: The stamping dies. The air-cooled flat-twin engine of the Dyna was used by Georges Irat for his "Voiture du Bled" (VdB) off-road vehicle, built in Morocco in small numbers in the early 1950s. Drawing inspiration from the Panhard Dynavia concept, the styling of the Dyna Z was distinctively smooth and rounded, with an emphasis on aerodynamics and an overall minimalist design. The 24CT was a later (from summer 1963 on) stylish 2+2 seater;
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1312-486: The stampings making up the shell. Once in production, a re-examination showed a cost of 55,700fr for aluminum shells and only 15,600fr for steel. The use of aluminum had pushed the firm close to bankruptcy, and a hurried engineering job returned the firm to steel. Thus, the later Dyna Z (from mid September 1955) and the successor PL 17 bodies were steel, and the major stampings retained the heavier gauge intended for durability with aluminum, so as to avoid complete replacement of
1353-549: The standard until Cadillac introduced synchromesh in 1928.) This was to become the standard layout for automobiles for most of the next century. The same year, Panhard et Levassor shared their Daimler engine license with bicycle maker Armand Peugeot , who formed his own car company. In 1895, 1,205 cc (74 cu in) Panhard et Levassor vehicles finished first and second in the Paris–Bordeaux–Paris race, one piloted solo by Levassor, for 48¾hr. However, during
1394-557: The technical editor of the Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal . Waltham Manufacturing Co. was in financial difficulties and in 1908 C. H. Metz took back control. He reorganized as the Metz Company in 1909. Metz inherited a large stock of automobile parts for the 10-hp runabout designed by William H. Little . Although Metz was not the first to offer a kit car (Dyke and Sears predated Metz with do-it-your-self high-wheelers), Metz did offer
1435-424: The world, this period would be considered by antique car enthusiasts to consist of the veteran (pre-1904), and Edwardian eras, although these terms are really not meaningful outside the former British Empire. Early automakers turned to brass for their vehicles for both its looks and function. It held up well against tarnishing and bad weather, but required regular polishing to maintain its appearance. Though
1476-455: Was also an 8-cylinder 5.1 L (310 cu in) Panhard Type X67 on display, with a generous 3,590 mm (141.3 in) wheelbase and listed, even in bare chassis form, at 85,000 francs. Panhard et Levassor's last pre-war car was the unusually styled monocoque Dynamic series, first introduced in 1936. Panhard et Levassor also produced railbuses, including some for the metre gauge Chemin de fer du Finistère . After World War II
1517-575: Was an example of the 8-cylinder 6350cc (35CV) "Huit" model which Panhard had offered since 1921 and which at the 1926 show was priced by the manufacturer in bare chassis form at 99,000 francs. When Panhard presented their 1931 line-up at the Paris Motor Show in October 1930, their last two four-cylinder models had been withdrawn, along with the 10CV six-cylinder Type X59. Instead they concentrated on their "S-series" cars, designated " Panhard CS " and "Panhard DS" according to engine size, and introduced
1558-452: Was decided to retain the name; the PVP designed by Auverland would bear a Panhard badge. In October 2012, Renault Trucks Defense , division of Swedish Volvo Group since 2001, finalized the acquisition of Panhard for 62.5 million euros. Today the only use of the name Panhard is in the Panhard rod (also called Panhard bar), a suspension link invented by Panhard that provides lateral location of
1599-566: Was established as an automobile manufacturing concern by René Panhard , Émile Levassor , and Belgian lawyer Edouard Sarazin in 1887. Panhard et Levassor sold their first automobile in 1890, based on a Daimler engine license. Levassor obtained his licence from Paris lawyer Edouard Sarazin, a friend and representative of Gottlieb Daimler 's interests in France. Following Sarazin's 1887 death, Daimler commissioned Sarazin's widow Louise to carry on her late husband's agency. The Panhard et Levassor license
1640-415: Was finalised by Louise, who married Levassor in 1890. Daimler and Levassor became 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 . An 1895 Panhard et Levassor is credited with the first modern transmission . For
1681-427: Was one of several improvements applied by Panhard engineers to the basic Knight sleeve-valve engine concept. In 1925 a 4,800 cc (290 cu in) model set the world record for the fastest hour run, an average of 185.51 km/h (115.26 mph). A surprise appeared on the Panhard stand at the 20th Paris Motor Show in October 1926, in the shape of the manufacturer's first six-cylinder model since before