Vehicle Description
1957 Panhard Dyna Z� Aluminum body construction (last year for the
aluminum) 850cc flat air-cooled, two-cylinder engine 42HP
Four-speed column-mounted manual transmission Light blue exterior
with blue and white interior Front-wheel drive and four-wheel drum
brakes Center-mounted fog light Previously part of the famous
Blackhawk Collection� Rare US Market car distributed by French
Motors in LA California� The French have always been known for
doing things differently; for asking why not when others ask why
and MotoeXotica Classic Cars has a rolling example of this thought
process with a rarely seen 1957 Panhard Dyna Z. The car's paint and
trim are in overall very good order. The windows are clear and
crack-free while the lights, including the center-mounted foglight,
are haze-free and in one piece. This car rides on Michelin 145R40
tires surrounding 16-inch steel wheels with full moon wheel covers.
The car's aluminum bodywork is solid and straight, the trunk is in
good order with a full-sized spare tire, the engine bay is tidy and
the bumpers fit well to the car's body overall. Under the car's
clamshell hood is a .9L, flat, air-cooled, two-cylinder engine. It
featured a concentric torsion bar valve springs on roller bearings,
hollow aluminum push rods with hardened steel tips, roller main
bearings and big end rod bearings of "Panhard Patent" design with
an additional set of smaller rollers carrying the roller cage
(separator); non-removable�cylinder heads, removable steel cylinder
liners. The cylinder "jugs" pulled off the crankcase and pistons
like those of Volkswagen air-cooled engines. Soft engine mounts to
smooth the engine's roughness, a radial flow fan bolted to
crankshaft, full cooling shroud, aluminum structure and cooling
fins. Herringbone timing gears, steel pinion and a "Celcon"
phenolic gear running with slight interference fit, permissible due
to the flexibility of the Celcon. The 850cc engine is connected to
a cable-operated four-speed manual cast aluminum case transaxle
with second and third synchromesh, transfer gears and second, third
and fourth of "herringbone" design with a column shift. Unlike most
front-wheel drive inline engine transaxles, the Panhard gearbox is
between the engine and the final drive. The final drive spiral
bevel gear is on a primary shaft, then a step-down to differential
gear through helical (not herringbone) pinion and gear. The drive
shafts concentric tubes with rubber in the space between the inner
and outer tubes and cardan ("universal") joint at the inner end
next to the transaxle, double cardan constant velocity joint at the
outer end at the wheel. The car stops via four-wheel drum brakes.
Inside, the original blue and white bench seats that can hold six
average-sized people are in overall good shape but show some wear
from age. The benefit of front-wheel drive is obvious in the car's
roomy interior, no center hump needed for a driveshaft as on a
rear-drive vehicle. The carpet is fair while the headliner is in
good overall condition but has some blemishes. The car's futuristic
instrument panel is in good order, as is the two-spoke steering
wheel. The car's shift lever is column-mounted, eliminating the
need for a floor-mounted shifter and free space for a front center
passenger. The inner door panels, mirror glass and shift lever are
in good shape. �There is a blemish on the passenger side between
the doors. In 1955, Citro�n had taken a 25 percent holding in
Panhard's automobile business and during the next two years the
national dealership networks of the two businesses were integrated.
This gave Citroen and Panhard dealers expanded market coverage,
incorporating now a�small car, a medium-sized saloon and a�large
car range. It gave the Panhard Dyna Z, during its final years in
production, a level of market access that�its predecessor�had never
enjoyed and sales benefitted. The�more streamlined Dyna Z replaced
the Dyna X in 1954. Like its predecessors, the Dyna X and
the�Panhard Dynavia�concept that influenced its design, the Dyna
Z's body was originally aluminum with steel tube subframes front
and rear joined by steel plate reinforcements in the sills. The
decision to use aluminum sheeting for car bodies had been taken at
a time when a sudden drop-off in demand for fighter planes had left
the producers with a glut of the metal but in subsequent years the
relative cost advantage of sheet steel had increased steadily. In
summer 1954, the cost penalty of persisting with aluminum bodywork
had become financially insupportable and in fall 1955 the latest
Dyna Type "Z1" had steel bodywork (doors, trunk and hood were still
in aluminum though). This car is currently located at our facility
in St. Louis, Missouri. Current mileage on the odometer shows
38,746 kilometers or 24,076 miles. It is sold as is, where is, on a
clean and clear, mileage exempt title. GET OUT AND DRIVE!!! Click
here for our YouTube video! VIN: 1038497 Note: Please see full
terms and conditions listed below that pertain to the purchase of
any said vehicle, thank you.
