Panhard Dyna X

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Panhard Dyna X
Panhard Dyna 110 / 120 / 130
Manufacturer Société des Anciens Etablissements Panhard et Levassor[1]
Production 1948 - 1954
47,049 built[2]
Successor Panhard Dyna Z
Class Subcompact car
Body style(s) 4 door saloon
3 door estate
2 door cabriolet
Light Van
Layout Front engine, front-wheel drive
Engine(s) 610 cc - 851 cc
Flat-twin
Transmission(s) 4-speed manual
Column mounted control
Wheelbase 2130 mm (83.9 in)
Length 3820 mm (150.4 in)
Width 1440 mm (56.7 in)
Curb weight 550 kg (1213 lb)−615 kg (1356 lb)
Designer Jean Albert Grégoire
A fourgonette / light van Dyna X was also offered.
A fourgonette / light van Dyna X was also offered.

The Panhard Dyna X was a light-weight compact saloon car designed by the visionary engineer Jean Albert Grégoire and first exhibited as the AFG (Aluminium Français Grégoire) Dyna at the Paris Motor Show in 1946.

Mindful of the precarious economical condition of France in the aftermath of war, and aware of government enthusiasm for expanding the strategically important aluminium industry, the Panhard company, which had been known in the 1930s an a manufacturer of expensive six and eight cylinder sedans, purchased the rights to build the little car. The Dyna was made production ready and was emerging in commercial quantities from Panhard's Ivry plant by 1948: it set the pattern for Panhard passenger cars until the firm abandoned automobile production in 1967.

The car was also known as the Dyna 110, the Dyna 120 and the Dyna 130. The numbers in these names represented the progressively increasing maximum speeds, as engine power and size increased during the production run.

The Dyna X saloon was replaced by the larger Panhard Dyna Z in 1954, although some of the sporting derivatives continued in production for a few more years.


Contents

[edit] The Body

Grégoire had during the 1920s and 1930s become known for his expertise in two particular areas of automobile construction, these being light weight bodies and front wheel drive. The AFG Dyna, planned under difficult circumstances in occupied France, had an all steel tubular frame chassis, to which was attached a light weight aluminium four door superstructure. The style of the saloon was modern and aerodynamic. The compact engine and the lack of a radiator permitted a wind cheating front design on which the headlights perched like frogs' eyes, between the wings and bonnet line.

Alternative bodies included the two door cabriolet and a 3 door estate version. A ‘Fourgonette’ light van version was also offered.

The chassis and engine of the Dyna turned up in the Panhard Dyna Junior sports car of 1951 and were also a popular basis for low volume light weight sports cars produced by specialist manufacturers.


[edit] The Engine

The Dyna X’s low profile engine was characteristically idiosyncratic. The two cylinder front mounted boxer unit was air-cooled. At launch in 1946 the 610 cc unit delivered a claimed maximum output of 24 hp (17.6 kW) at 4000 rpm, which by 1949 had increased to 28 hp at 5000 rpm. The car’s aluminium body gave it an excellent power to weight ratio and in this form a maximum speed of 110 km/h (68 mph). The Dyna X made a considerable impression in the touring car championships of the late 1940s. The car was also noted for its frugal fuel consumption.

Engine displacement was increased in 1950 to 745 cc, and to 851 cc in 1952, by which time claimed output had increased to 40 hp (29 kW) in the Dyna 130, named for its 130 km/h (81 mph) top speed.

[edit] Running gear

The gearbox was a four speed unit controlled using a column mounted lever. Power was transmitted to the front wheels, front wheel drive having been a specialty and an enthusiasm of Grégoire for many years.

[edit] Commercial

Commercially the Dyna X got off to a hesitant start when compared to the Renault 4CV which appeared around the same time and which would head the French auto sales charts for much of the 1950s, and the Citroen 2CV which also caught the mood of the market. Critically, both Renault and Citroen were able to support their sales with a far more extensive national network of dealers and service outlets than that established by Panhard. Sources differ as to the number of Dynas produced: according to a conservative source, by 1954 a respectable 47,049 Dyna X’s had been built [2], including 33,093 of the four door saloons.

[edit] Sources and further reading

  1. ^ Georgano, G.N. (1968). The Complete Encyclopaedia of Motorcars 1885 - 1968. London: Ebury Press. 
  2. ^ a b Gloor, Roger (1. Auflage 2007). Alle Autos der 50er Jahre 1945 - 1960. Stuttgart: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 978-3-613-02808-1.