An American Bespoke Supercar - The Panoz Esperante GT
e0eHere's one of the modern breed of American fast cars - the Panoz Esperante GT, which combines the traditional V-8 with some modern technology. And the engine is not bad either.
The Panoz has an interesting construction. It consists of the center section of a Ford Mustang underbody and aluminum extrusions. This is fairly light and rigid, and less expensive to produce than carbon fiber.
With its modern/trad lines, the Esperante is a great-looking two seater convertible. There are two roadsters, the Esperante and Esperante GT, which is lighter. There is also the supercharged GT-LM coupe or convertible, which has improved aerodynamics. All the cars share the same basic lines and layout, with a 'coke bottle' side line, and with fenders that project forward of the main grille. The headlamps fit flush with the fenders.
Power comes for various versions of Ford 4.6 liter V-8, 32-valve engine. In the Esperante and GT this engine develops a healthy 305 bhp at 5,800 rpm, with maximum torque of 320 lb ft (434 Nm) at 4,200 rpm. This is actually about the same as you get in the current Mustang, so for the GT-LM more power is added with the aid of a supercharger. This pushes the power up to 420 bhp at 6,000 rpm and torque to 390 lb ft (530 Nm) at 3,500 rpm, which give the GT-LM the grunt to hold its own with the Corvette and other supercars. Surprisingly, this version uses the cast iron block to give more durability.
Six-speed manual on GT-LM only
You get a five-speed manual box as standard with a four-speed automatic as an option, but the GT-LM gets a six-speed box, which is almost obligatory with that sort of performance.
At the front and rear are sub-frames to carry the suspension and the axle gears. Tubular double wishbone suspension is used front and rear, the geometry being modelled on that of racing cars. However, the GT-LM is closer still to race car suspension of the works cars. Gas-filled dampers and coil springs are used, while there is a tubular anti-roll bar at the front only.
Despite the twin front airbags, ABS, traction control and a limited slip diff, none of the Esperantes is overweight, with the GT weighing in at 3,197 lb (1,450 kg) and the GT-LM weighing 3,384 lb (1,536 kg), which competes with the Corvette at 3,245 lb, and the new Jaguar XK at 3,513 lb.
The Panoz Esperantes are good-looking supercars at reasonable prices and with plenty of performance. Of course, the supercharged engine in the GT-LM has plenty of scope for more power if that's what you want - 500 bhp is definitely available.
John Hartley is editor of http://www.fast-autos.com, an online magazine devoted to fast cars and supercars. He has written from many of the world's top auto magazines, and has written many books about cars and the auto industry, including 'Suspension and Steering Q&A' and 'The Electronics Revolution in the Motor Industry'.
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Vauxhall Cars History
1093Vauxhall cars (the company is known as Vauxhall Motors) was born in UK and it became a very well known car company. Vauxhall Motors is a company subsidiary of General Motors- the worlds largest automaker.
The company was founded by Wilson Alexander in 1856 in a beautiful London city that gives the company name- Vauxhall. Initially, the company name was Alex Wilson and Company, then Vauxhall Iron Works and it was specialize in building pumps and marine engines.
First Vauxhall car was built in 1903. It was a 5 hp model, using a tiller, 2 forward gears and no reverse gear. Interesting, dont you think? Beginning with this model, the car was designed in many other versions and then were available for sale.
When things start working, the company decided to increase its production and moved almost entire production to Luton in 1905. The company was selling cars under Vauxhall Iron Works brand. This stopped in 1907, when theyve decided to call the company Vauxhall Motors, a name kept over the years, till our days. The company was characterized by its sport models until the 1st World War and then designed only austere models.
Vauxhall Motors was bought by General Motors in 1925 for 2.5 million $. And from that year Vauxhall was influenced by American cars and with Ford (that was Vauxhalls main competitor) influenced the style of European car manufacturers.
During the 2nd World War car production was suspended because Vauxhall was needed to work on the Churchill tanks which was designed and assembled at Luton in almost 1 year. There were built over 5,600 Churchill tanks.
After the war, car production resumed but models were designed as a more mass-market product leading to expansion of the company. In the 60s Vauxhall acquired a reputation for making rust-prone models and that was very bad for it. Although the corrosion protection built into models the reputation dogged the company until the 80s.
From the 70s, many of company models were designed and built in partnership with Opel in Germany (Adam Opel GmbH- known as Opel is an automobile manufacturer based in Germany). Models like Chevette, Cavalier and Carlton were basically restyled versions of the Kadett, Ascona and Rekord. The Viceroy was a simply new version of Opel Commodore imported from Germany.
And that was the beginning for the Opelisation of Vauxhall. General Motors policy was that Vauxhall to be rebadged Opels, designed and developed in Russelsheim with much less help from Luton.
In 70s and 80s General Motors sold duplicate cars: Opel and Vauxhall alongside each other. General Motors Europe then began to standardize model names across both brands in early 90s. Almost all Vaxhalls models now have the same names as those of Opel (the exception is VX220 sold by Opel as Speedstar).
The Luton plant closed in 2000, but production still continues at the plant in Ellesmere Port. Despite already meeting efficiency targets, Vauxhall has been told to further improve its productivity.
Nowadays Vauxhall and Opel still reside together making the same cars but selling them to different markets.
So remember if you buy an Opel it's a Vauxhall and vice versa.
More information at this URL http://www.carsandtuning.org/cars/vauxhall/ about Vauxhall tuning and news.
Tudor Mateescu is a writer at http://www.carsandtuning.org/ cars and tuning blog.
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