A 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC which was recently sold for more than $30m, making it the world’s most expensive car has just gone on display in Los Angeles.
The car was a model derived from Bugatti’s prototype “Aerolithe Electron Coupe” and only three were ever built, the model on display is actually the first one ever produced.
Built in 1936 the cars first owner was Lord Victor Rothschild of London, who ordered the vehicle in a light blue, with a dark blue interior. After three years the car was returned to Bugatti to have a supercharger fitted after this it was sold onto its second owner Bob Oliver from Los Angeles.
The third owner of the car paid a then world record price of around $59,000 for the vehicle in 1971 and spent years trying to restore the car to its original specification.
In 2003 the car made its debut at the Pebble Beach motorshow winning the prestigious award of ‘Best In Show’.
The vehicles current owner is unknown as the deal was brokered through Gooding & Company.
Classic car parts can be difficult to get hold of and the best option is sometimes to use part finder services such as ClassicPartFinder who will search dealers nationwide for the part that you need. All you need to do is fill in a simple request form online.
The Carburettor is a part in your car which blends the fuel and in your engine. Although not all cars use a carburettor to mix the fuel, alot of American cars and high performance cars do. the carburettor is also referred to in short as the ‘Carb’ in parts of the world.
The meaning of carburettor comes from the word carbon. By increasing the hydrocarbon content of a fuel, it becomes more volatile and resulting in an increase of energy output.
If you are looking to replace your carburettor or looking for a replacement engine for your van or car, you should consider simple using a replacement vehicle engine. Used engines tend to be much cheaper than reconditioned engines and much cheaper than new. This is not down to the age or reliability of the parts but the fact that most dealers charge a marked up price to sell new geneuine manufacturers parts. In many cases prices can be more than 400% of the price of buying a used part. In addition to saving money, by using used parts, you are doing a service to the environment: You are recycling and preventing parts from ending up in landfill. Finding used engine parts is easy too. It is as easy and simple as filling in a form.
We have all seen the Mercedes 300SL and how good it looks, especially when the doors are up. Gull wings doors were of course pioneered by Mercedes in 1952 on the 300sl which was then a race car. Later turned into a road legal version in 1954.
But are those car doors practical? Are there any real advantages to them?
Although they have never been a regular feature today of most modern cars there are a few other examples of models with gull wing doors. The French tried to make it their own thing by calling them seagull doors and featured them on some of their vehicles. Other than that the best too examples of gull wings are the Bricklin SV-1 from the 1970s and the DeLorean DMC-12 Incidentally the DeLorean was made world famous by its appearance in the movie Back to the Future.
Gull doors can be more than just an aesthetic affection, they can be immensely practical. By design they can be used in urban environments where parking is tight. If engineered and balanced correctly they take little effort to open. It is also a lot easier to get in and out of a vehicle with gull wing doors,
One safety concern however was that if the car rolled over then the occupants would not be able to get out. The DeLorean, featured a windscreen that could be kicked out if necessary.
So there are advantages to having gull wing doors other than good looks. However all vehicle body parts are important, especially when we need replacement vehicle body parts. Used car doors are popular since often using a used car part locator service a consumer can find the exact colour replacement car door for his vehicle. Nevertheless respraying processes are now much more advanced and low cost. Having a used car door resprayed is still many times cheaper than buying a new replacement car door direct from an authorised dealer or direct from the car manufacturer.
Camshafts are an important part of your engine. They are used to operate the poppet valves that control the air/fuel mixture being put into the cylinders. Camshafts are cylindrical rods with cams running along their length. A cam is basically shaped like a slice of an egg so that when they rotate they press against they valve causing it to open.
Camshaft: In operation.
Camshafts tend to made out of a few materials. The most common is chilled Iron castings. This is generally used for high volume production. They tend to have a greater resistance to ware than other materials. This is because the camshaft lobes have been chilled resulting in the material developing harder properties. Another material used for Camshafts is Billet Steel. This material is used where a more high quality, refined camshaft is required. This method is generally more expensive than other methods due to it being a time consuming process to produce. As a result, this method and material is only used in low volume production.
Finding used camshafts need not be difficult. In addition to used camshafts being easy to find, they also tend to be considerably cheaper than direct manufacturers parts. Used parts are also good for the environment as they are a form of recycling.
