Panhard PL 17

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The Panhard PL17 was a motor car made by the French manufacturer Panhard from 1959 until 1965.

Presented on June 29, 1959 as successor to the Panhard Dyna Z, the PL 17 was a development of the older car, but with an even more streamlined body than its predecessor.

[edit] Model name

The model's name was derived from "PL" for "Panhard et Lavassor" (the original full name of the company), with the "17" coming from 5 CV (fiscal horses, in the French power rating system) plus 6 for the car's six seats, plus 6 for the car's economy — 6 litres per 100 km (47 mpg).

From the 1964 model year, the letters PL were dropped; this approximately coincided with the takeover of the passenger car part of the company by Citroën.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Technical specifications

The car continued to use the engines of the Dyna Z, both of 851 cc. The standard one gave 42 hp SAE, the "Tigre" gave 50 hp SAE. Engines were twin-cylinder air cooled "boxer" types, mounted unusually by the gearbox at the rear and by the two exhausts at the front! From model year 1964 (July 1963) engines decreased in size to 848 cc, but performance went up to 50 hp, resp. 60 hp (SAE).

The front wheels were driven through a four speed gearbox with column shift, and synchromesh on the upper three gears.

The standard car weighed approximately 805 kg, the Tigre 830. This light weight combined with the car's streamlining (with a co-efficient of drag said to be 0.26)^{[citation needed]} gave top speeds of 130 km/h (80+ mph) and 145 km/h (90+ mph) for the Tigre.

Suspension at the front by two transverse leafsprings, at the back by three torsion bars each side.

It was possible to remove the back bench to enlarge the already considerable luggage space to 527 litres (over 18 cubic feet). This space was available from model year 1964, when the spare wheel was moved from beneath the luggage space to under the bonnet, where it fitted around the air filter. This was possible because the wheels have no centre — that is formed by the finned aluminium brakedrums.

[edit] Demise

In 1965 Citroën ceased production of the car. The 24 model carried the name for two years more, and from then only military transport was made under the Panhard name, by the division not owned by Citroën.