Clément-Panhard

Clément-Panhard is an automobile designed in 1898 by Arthur Constantin Krebs, manager of Panhard & Levassor co, from his 1896 patent of a car fitted with an electromagnetic gearbox, whose licence was acquired by Émile Levassor.

When Adolphe Clément as chairman of the Board of Directors of Panhard-Levassor and project leader, saw the factory could not meet the production requirements for circa 500 units of that new model, he undertook manufacture under licence at his factory in Levallois-Perret under the name of Voiture Clément-Panhard (VCP).

The model was launched in December 1898 on the first Paris Motor Show where 300 orders were received. Production ran at least until 1902.

The 1896 A. C. Krebs system car
The 1896 Krebs system car (, GB189619774A) introduced several new features in the car design.

"since we know that three points are enough to determine a plane." "To these sides [of the frame of the car] I fix or suspend at three points provided with pivoted joints, the motor mechanism which is thereby placed out of the influence of the deformations to which the frame of the car is liable to be subjected during the motion."
 * The three point suspension system generalized (engine and chassis)

"I had imagined this arrangement to avoid the brutal shocks that the gears undergo when changing gear, a solution that seemed barbaric to me."
 * The electromagnetic constant mesh gear box

"For the purpose of operating the electro-magnetic clutch, I employ a commutator arranged preferably under the handle bar and adapted to be operated in such a manner as to establish, according to five different positions, the electrical connections that correspond respectively to: rest; forward movement at low speed; forward movement at medium speed; forward movement at high speed; and movement in the rearward direction."
 * The speed shifting at the steering device

"Upon the turntable of the fore-carriage is fixed a toothed sector in which engages a pinion mounted on the upper turntable and whose axle carries a toothed wheel situated in a box connected by two tubes to the box of the car. A second toothed wheel mounted on the steering spindle is connected to the first one by means of a chain passing through these two tubes. Elastic rods, consisting for example of coiled springs, are substituted for the links of the chain in the straightportions of the said tuges. By this means the chain is always taut and the springs neutralize the vibrations transmitted to the chain by the jolting of the fore-carriage and so prevent the said vibrations from being transmitted to the steering spindle."
 * The damped steering and the rack and pinion steering gear

"To ensure the stability of direction by the means of a special arrangement of the fore-carriage, that is to say, to re-establish automatically the parallélism of the two axles of the vehicle when there is no tendency to keep them in any other direction, or after a temporary effort has caused them to diverge from said parallélism; ... The axle of the fore-carriage is situated behind the projection of the axis of the pivot pin in order to ensure the stability of direction above referred to [of a quantity which can vary from 1/7 to 1/8 of the distance which separates the points of contact of the two front wheels with the ground]."
 * The forward (positive) caster angle on the steering axis

"You would kindly give us permission to use your wheel hub system for which, since you say it is very good, it might be worth patenting."
 * The metallic wheel hub system, Levassor to Krebs:

"The car of Commander Krebs, resulting from very personal and new ideas, has a particular and original aspect. We will add that this aspect is very satisfying and more elegant than any car that we have been allowed to see so far."
 * Aesthetic

The 1898 Voiture Clément-Panhard (VCP) model
In 1896 A. C. Krebs intended to design a car system simple, reliable, aesthetic and secure for beginners. The 1898 Clément-Panhard car inherited the 1896 Krebs patent features, and got new ones.

This principle is identical, although the front axle is simpler. With the central pivot axle the intention of A. C. Krebs is double:
 * The three point suspension system generalized (engine and chassis)

"One may wonder why this arrangement, generally considered defective for high-speed cars, was adopted for this cart. This is due to the fact that the manufacturer had above all in view to establish a car of a moderate price, essentially maneuverable, able to make turns on the spot and never having to exceed the speed of 30 kilometers per hour. Under these conditions the steering by rigid axle was perfectly admissible." The electromagnetic gearbox is replaced by a mechanical gearbox on the same principle of gears always in mesh.
 * Make the front axle independent of the chassis so as to keep the chassis in a horizontal position even in the event that one of the steering wheels is lifted by an object in its path:
 * Apply the caster angle principle (see below).
 * The mechanical constant mesh gear box

The speed shifting is now located on the right side of the car.
 * The speed shifting at the steering device

This steering principle is identical, although the rack and pinion system is simpler.
 * The damped steering and the rack and pinion steering gear

This steering principle is identical : "The swivel pin extending up from the front, axle for carrying the front end of the vehicle body, is connected to the axle spring by a bracket pivoted horizontally to the spring, and the swivel pin is slightly inclined backward at its upper end so that a downward extension of its axial line will pass at a slight angle in front of the wheel axle. By this arrangement when the front axle has been turned more or less out of its position parallel with the rear axle for lateral steering or turning, and is then released, it will, automatically move-back into the parallel position."
 * The forward (positive) caster angle on the steering axis

A. C. Krebs generalizes his metallic wheel hub system to the entire Panhard & Levassor range.
 * The metallic wheel hub system

"It's a small Duke Clément-Panhard of 3 hp. A low, open, two-seater car, engine in the back, well made to show off, with a lady by its side."
 * Aesthetic Mr. de Nève said of his VCP in 1950:

The Levassor cone clutch improved by A. C. Krebs (see patent above).
 * The Krebs cone clutch

A. C. Krebs introduce the engine regulation on admission, instead of the exhaust (see patent above).
 * Engine regulation on admission


 * 1899 – The constant level carburetor (FR295792).
 * 1900 – The water circulation pump (FR300040).

Engine
Krebs developed the engine specifically for this vehicle. It is a single cylinder four-stroke engine with originally a bore of 90 mm, a stroke of 120 mm and a displacement of 763cc.

There is no accelerator pedal. The engine always gives its maximum power. At that time the accelerator pedal disengaged the regulator, which was not desirable for a public of beginners. The electric ignition will add a lot of smoothness to the ride (see below).

The engine body is cooled with air, the cylinder head with water. The ignition system consists originally of a burner and hot tube. With the jet carburetor, the engine runs on both petroleum and gasoline. It has 3.5 hp. In the vehicles from 1901, the engine has an output of 4.5 hp and more.

The engine is housed in the rear, standing with a slight backward tilt. The gearbox is a mechanical version of the constant mesh electromagnetic gearbox from A. C. Krebs' 1896 patent. A reverse gear was available from 1899.

Chassis and body
Steel tubing was welded for the chassis, allowing it to be kept light yet strong. The suspension consists of a front transverse leaf spring, which accommodates the vertical steering pin and rotates with the complete front axle when steering, and a pair of longitudinally arranged elliptic springs on the rear axle.

At first there was only a two-seater body as Phaeton. In 1900 variants were added that had a narrow rear-facing seat, making it a three-seater in a vis-à-vis arrangement.

The vehicle weighs 350 kg and 30 km/h is the maximum speed. The first bodies were made of the aluminum alloy called "Partinium".

Steering
The driver sits on the right and steers using a steering wheel. Instead of Ackermann steering A. C. Krebs chose center-pivot steering operated by a gear wheel at the lower end of the steering column and a rack. The device worked satisfactorily on this light and lightly motorized car.

Production
Estimates are from around 500 to around 600 vehicles produced. The first production car was given the engine number 101. Production may have officially ended in 1902, but it cannot be ruled out that a few more copies were made from existing parts by 1903.

Stirling Motor Carriages of Scotland manufactured about 200 vehicles ans sold them in many countries (see below).

New VCP 1901 models
In 1901, new features were introduced in the VCPs:

"The ignition advance lever makes it possible to obtain all the speeds between two speeds of the gear change by suitably varying the engine speed."
 * Both hot tube and electric ignition (from 1900):
 * A. C. Krebs irreversible worm gear steering and Ackermann system.
 * Front suspension with two tweezer springs.
 * Detachable gearbox locks

The Stirlingmotor VCP models
From 1901 John Stirling buys Clément-Panhard chassis to sell them in many countries with his own bodies.

To prove the robustness of the Clément-Panhards, in July 1901 John Stirling broke the record for crossing the United Kingdom from John-O'-Groat's to Land's End in 59 hours and 15 minutes.

The Clément autocycle with removable motor
1901 - At the autoshow, Clément presented an engine set that could be fitted to any bicycle. This engine is derived from the Krebs engine for the Clément-Panhard Car and is dependent on the Panhard & Levassor patents.

Technological analogies between the VCP (1898) and the FORD N (1906)
It should be noted the many similarities in principle between the Clément-Panhard car of 1898 (see above) and the Ford model N of 1906, forerunner of the Ford model T:
 * Intended for the general public;
 * Solid and safe;
 * Generalization of the suspension by 3 points and triangulations;
 * Transverse spring on the front axle, so the VCP waddles as does the Ford T;
 * A quasi-automatic gearbox etc.

Also the use of vanadium steel by Ford comes from a Panhard & Levassor racing car that crashed during a race in America.

The surviving and famous VCP cars
According to a website specializing in this model, 17 vehicles still exist.

Documentation

 * Bernard Vermeylen: Panhard & Levassor: Entre tradition et modernité. E-T-A-I, Boulogne-Billancourt 2005, ISBN 2-7268-9406-2.