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Originally Posted by V-16 ID:353 is a late fifties (57-59) (Panhard) DB-HBR 5
A little information about this rare car made between 195-61 (approx 600 odd were made).
Before the world war, sports and race car builders, Deutsche and Bonnet (DB) were already making specials using Citroen running gear. After the war they continued to do so and in 1949 started to use Panhard mechanicals to build small, single seater Formula-3 racing cars but later on sports car s followed.. Db cars were fast and reliable and won major races like the Le Mans ans the Mille Miglia. Deutsch and Bonnet took to building this sports car with a twin cylinder air cooled Panhard engine. Initially it was 851cc/58bhp and later 954cc/70bhp. Their full names were dropped to avoid post war anti German feelings. Its called the DB HBR 5 based on the manufacturers number and the fact that it won almost every sports car race (H class) around the globe. The 1960 model was called the Super Rallye which had more trims and the more powerful engine.
In 1961 Bonnet wanted to change to using Renault engines whilst Deutsche preferred to remain with the Panhard engines resulting in thier split. The first time they met after the split was in 1962 at the Le Mans where one of the Deutsche made Panhard powered cars won the 701-850cc class and was 16th overall and the Bonnet made Renault engined car won the 851-1000 cc class coming 17th overall. Speaks volumes about these two engineers. |
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Originally Posted by islero Wow! Nice one there Ram, had us all puzzled for a bit. |
Well caught, Gogi! Didn't expect anything less from you.
ID:353 is indeed a
1958 Deutsch et Bonnet HBR5 851 sports coupe.
These cars were made at D&B's factory at Champigny-sur-Marne, a suburb of Paris 12.5 km southeast of the center of Paris.
About the unusual engine
It had a Panhard, all-aluminium "Dual Super" horizontally opposed, air cooled 851 cc flat-twin engine.
The engine had hydraulic tappets for silent operation and special dual ignition system (4 spark-plugs)
The engine breathed through a Zenith 38 NDIX carburettor and put out 56 bhp @ 5700 rpm.
An optional LeMans cylinders kit (class H modified), enhanced the displacement to 750 cc.
The 750 cc combo had two Zenith 38 NDIX carburettors, one per cylinder !
Here's a pic of the twin carb 750 cc Le Mans engine.
The engine was mounted longitudinally in front and drove the front wheels via Deutsch et Bonnet special U-joints.
The unusual engine had an unusual sound that led some people to think it was a two stroke.
Vibrations were smoothed by soft engine mounts, although this made the clutch difficult for an inexperienced driver to operate smoothly.
The engine normally operated at high rpm so all four gears were tall.
The engine's unusual dual purpose aircooling system
Air cooling was by a dual-purpose radial-flow turbine fan bolted to the crankshaft. A fully enveloping aluminium cooling shroud fed off this radial flow fan. Warm air exiting the cooling shroud could be directed, by cable-operated vanes, over the exhaust manifold to the car's cabin for heating and defrosting the windshield and cabin!