Pic-A-Day (32) Albert Mach Fine Art.

1905 Panhard et Levassor Tourer

https://sites.google.com/site/ourautomotiveheritage2014/what-is-a-g...

This was seen at the Owls Head Transportation Museum in Maine.

http://owlshead.org/

Panhard and Panhard et Levassor built automobiles from 1891 to 1967. In the early years of auto racing Panhards were dominant.

Panhards were among the first to have the engine in the front, a true chassis frame and a four-speed and reverse transmission in an aluminum case.

Specifications: Custom King of Belgium tourer by Demarest & Co., New York; engine six-cylinder, water-cooled; displacement 11 liters, 40 hp.

Wikipeadia said:

Panhard was originally called Panhard et Levassor, and was established as a car manufacturing concern by René Panhard and Émile Levassor in 1887.

The Early Years

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 was finalised by Louise, who married Levassor in 1890. Daimler and Levassor became fast 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 the 1894 Paris–Rouen Rally, Alfred Vacheron equipped his 4 horsepower (3.0 kW; 4.1 PS) 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 Systeme Panhard consisted of four wheels, a front-mounted engine with rear wheel drive, and a crude sliding-gear transmission, sold at 3500 francs. (It would remain 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. (Right now in Jan. 2015 the beautiful 1913 Peugeot from Seal Cove Auto Museum is side by side with this Panhard!)

In 1895, 1,205 cc (74 cu in) Panhard et Levassors finished first and second in the Paris–Bordeaux–Paris race, one piloted solo by Levassor, for 48¾hr. 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 manufacturer of automobiles before World War I.

Panhards won numerous races from 1895 to 1903. Panhard et Levassor developed the Panhard rod, which became 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 the sleeve valve technology by Panhard's own engineering department, from 1924 till 1940 all Panhard cars used sleeve valve engines.

On October 12 of 1895 The first Auto arrived at Portugal, a Panhard & Levasseur, imported from France by the fourth count of Avilez.

In its way to S.Tiago de Cacém, in the zone of Palmela about 35 km south of Lisbon occurred the first automobile accident known in Portugal. The car ran over a donkey. The count had to pay the donkey owner and there is still a race today commemorating the event and the passage of the first auto.