Home Citroėnėt home

Site search powered by FreeFind
Do NOT include 'Citroen' in your search terms

 

1948 Panhard Dynavia prototype

02.jpg
06.jpg
04.jpg

During the war Bionier developed an interest in aerodynamics. Having observed the shapes and movements of birds and fish he built scale models of a streamlined 7-passenger car.
Following the introduction of the Dyna, Bionier built a concept car to explore how aerodynamics could be applied to a full-sized vehicle. This car was the Panhard Dynavia.
Built on the Dyna chassis and powered by Panhard's 610 cc two-cylinder boxer engine, the engine drove the front wheels through a four-speed manual transmission. Suspension was independent on all four wheels and steering was by rack-and-pinion. Drum brakes were fitted front and rear.
The 2-door bodywork was made of Duralinox, an aluminium/magnesium alloy. The Dynavia had a drag coefficient of just 0.26.
At 650 kg the Dynavia was heavier than the equivalent Dyna but had a higher top speed - 131 km/hr on only 28 bhp thanks to its superior aerodynamics.
The Dynavia was shown at the 1948 Paris Auto Salon. Two cars were built and one was permanently loaned to the Musée National de l'Automobile in Mulhouse. The second car was provided to a Panhard dealer in Grenoble and then sold to a private individual in Switzerland but was involved in a crash and was scrapped.
The benefits of its aerodynamic shape encouraged Paul Panhard to give Bionier approval to design an aerodynamic body for the forthcoming Panhard Dyna Z.

08.jpg
07.jpg
05.jpg
03.jpg

© 2014 Citroėnėt