PANHARD Car PDF Manuals

There're 2 PANHARD et LEVASSOR car manuals PDF above on the page.

The French company Panhard & Levassor is deservedly called the first automaker in history.

It was founded by René Panard and Emile Levassor back in 1887, and in 1891, three years before Karl Benz, it began mass production of self-propelled carriages with gasoline engines.

Panhard and Levassor came up with the idea of placing the motor and radiator in front, combined with a sliding gear gearbox and a driven rear axle.

This layout, called the "Panhard system", remained dominant for at least 80 years, until it was replaced by a front-wheel drive layout.

Among other inventions of Panhard & Levassor, one should mention the steering wheel and the dependent rear suspension with the so-called. "Panhard thrust".

Early Panhard & Levassor cars won the first races organized in France.

This made them popular among the French elite, but at the beginning of the 20th century, when France was the leading country in the automotive industry, Panhard & Levassor had many competitors.

To distinguish its products in the market, the company used silent Knight engines with spool valves from 1910, and from 1924 to 1940 they were put on all cars of this brand.

In the 30s. The Panoramique model brought fame to the company, equipped with a flat three-piece windshield set at an angle.

It was followed by an even more innovative Dynamic series with an aerodynamic monocoque body and a centrally located steering wheel, but it was too expensive to be in demand.

After the WW2, Panhard (the name Levassor disappeared from its name) was forced to abandon the production of luxury cars and switch to modest subcompacts.

It bought from Gregoire the project of a front-wheel drive car with a 610 cm3 boxer 2-cylinder engine and an aluminum body.

This model, known as the Panhard Dyna X, was produced from 1947 to 1954, but was not as popular as the Renault 4CV or Citroen 2CV due to its high cost.

On its basis, subsequent production cars Dyna Z (1954-1959), PL17 (1959-1965) and Panhard 24 (1964-1967), as well as sports cars of the D-B brand (Deutsch et Bonnet) and Panhard CD, which won in their class in Le Mans.

However, over time, Panhard sales began to decline, and the company did not have the resources to modernize the line.

In 1955, Citroen bought out a 25% stake in Panhard, and 10 years later absorbed this brand completely.

The last Panhard came off the production line in 1967. Today, Panhard is a manufacturer of wheeled armored vehicles for the French army.