Pellandini Cars

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The Pellandini Cars Pty Ltd. was an Australian automobile manufacturer in the 1970s. From 1970 to 1978, the Englishman Peter Pellandine founded Kit Cars in Cherry Gardens (South Australia) .

history

First, a curvaceous mid-engine coupé with gullwing doors was built, which was powered by a four-cylinder in - line engine from the Mini with a displacement of 1098 cm³ or 1275 cm³. The car was equipped with 10 "aluminum rims on the front axle and 12" aluminum rims on the rear axle. The body and the integrated chassis were made of GRP . The suspension points for the chassis and engine were individually laminated into the chassis when the corresponding parts were assembled. The seats were part of the chassis and therefore not adjustable. Instead, the pedals were adjusted to the driver. The steering was also screwed onto the GRP chassis. The car weighed 480 kg and accelerated from 0-100 km / h in 5 seconds. It had a one-piece, front-hinged front hood, which, in addition to the fenders, also contained the radiator and the spare wheel.

In 1974 Pellandine also offered a roadster version , but this turned out to be less popular. A total of seven coupes were sold. Some of these vehicles still exist today, but most of them were destroyed in racing accidents.

In 1978 Pellandini Cars was disbanded as Pellandine returned to the UK . There he built two more models in his new company Pelland Engineering . Both had a GRP monocoque chassis and a mid-engine.

Pellandini Steam Cat

The steam car

The Pellandini Sports was the basis for Pellandini's first steam car , the Steam Cat . It had the same monocoque chassis and was driven by a steam engine with two double-acting cylinders that delivered 40 bhp (29 kW). This steam engine was installed at the rear and the condenser formed a rear wing. Pellandine's design was based on a South Australian government project aimed at building a practical steam car. This steam car is now in the National Motor Museum in Birdwood (South Australia) to see

In 1977 the Pellandini Steam Cat Mark II was created. It had a steam engine with three double-acting cylinders in the shape of a broad arrow. This machine was built into a tubular frame chassis and covered with a Kevlar body. The car weighed only 475 kg. It was straightforward, robust and reliable. The steam engine offered a high torque of 1,500 Nm at 0 speed and accelerated the car from 0-100 km / h in under 8 seconds.

Pellandine wanted to break the world speed record for steam-powered land vehicles, which stood at 205.45 km / h. He tried this several times, but was repeatedly thrown back by technical problems. The last attempt - already in the UK - was in 1991. This was followed by the historic cars at Christie's sold and can in Lakeland Motor Museum in Holker Hall in Cark in the county of Cumbria be visited.

In the 1990s Pellandine came back to Australia to further develop the steam car. The last version is the Mark IV.

literature

  • Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 , Pellandine chapter.
  • George Nick Georgano (Editor-in-Chief): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. Volume 3: P – Z. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , p. 1205. (English)
  • GN Georgano: Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars 1885 to present. 1982.

Web links

Commons : Pellandini  - collection of images, videos and audio files