User:Charles01/sandboxDelageD4

The Delage D4 was a 4-cylinder compact luxury car in the 8CV car tax band produced by the manufacturer between 1933 and 1934.

La D4 era un'autovettura di fascia media prodotta tra il 1933 ed il 1934 dalla Casa automobilistica francese Delage.

The car
With the D4 the manufacturer returned to a market sector that it had neglected ever since ending production of the "Type AM" in 1921. A strategy of broadening the range downwards was understandable in the context of a French car market that failed to rebound from the economic depression in the way experienced in Britain and Germany. (French automobile production only returned to its 1928 level in 1938..

Con la D4, la Casa di Levallois intendeva rispolverare una fascia di mercato trascurata da troppotempo, vale a dire quella della vetture intorno al litro e mezzo. Era infatti dal 1921, con l'uscita di produzione della Type AM, che nel listino Delage mancava una vettura di fascia analoga.

Launched in October 1933 at the 27th Paris Motor Show, the D4 was positioned at the lower end of the Delage range, below the 2-litre D6-11 which had been introduced the previous year initially to complement and then effectively to replace the manufacturer's DS. The D4 was therefore part of a broader change in focus by Delage away from the larger cars, reflecting a more general switch towards middle-class cars in the overall French auto-market during the first five or so years of the 1930s.

La D4 andò pertanto ad inserirsi alla base della gamma, subito sotto la DS con motore da 2.5 litri. Il resto della gamma era composto nel 1933 da altri due modelli: la D6 con motori da 2.7 e 3 litri e la D8, con motore da 4.1 litri.

The D4 sat on a 2800 mm wheelbase, and was designed to incorporate the maximum possible level of component commonality with other Delage models. It was nevertheless fitted with the manufacturer's only four cylinder engine, an overhead valve unit of 1480cc (8CV). The maximum listed output was 40 hp, produced at 4,200 rpm. Performance would have varied according to the body type selected and driving conditions, but a value of "approximately 100 km/h (63 mph)" was quoted.

La D4 era costruita sul telaio da 2837 mm utilizzato anche per altri modelli della Casa (NOT ACCORDING TO MY SOURCE...). Era equipaggiata da un 4 cilindri da 1481 cm³ di cilindrata, in grado di erogare una potenza massima di 40 CV a 4200 giri/min. La velocità massima era di circa 100 km/h.

The car could be ordered in bare chassis form, permitting customers to make their own arrangements with bespoke coach builders for clothing the chassis. That reflected normal practice among more traditional auto-makers, especially in respect of larger cars. Nevertheless, the catalogue given out at the Motor Show listed six "standard" body types from which customers could also choose. These included 2-door and 4-door saloon/sedan bodies as well as a coupe, a four seater cabriolet and a two seater "roadster" style cabriolet.

Commercial
The arrival of the D4 coincided with a renewed interest in the 8CV (8HP) class by what were already becoming France's "Big-3" automakers, with the introduction that same year of the new "all-steel" bodied Renault Monaquatre and Peugeot 301. "All-steel" car bodies were transforming the economics of automobile manufacturing, polarizing the market between automakers with access to the funds necessary to invest in heavy steel presses and dies and the second tier automakers. Once the capital cost of the steel presses had been found, the unit cost of production was much lower with "all-steel" bodied cars than with the traditional labour intensive timber frame car bodies, but the economics only worked where the volume of cars produced was sufficient to cover the initial capital cost.

Delage did not have the dealer/service network across France necessary for a volume automaker, and it is unlikely that the production processes for the D4 were as cost-effective as those for its competitors in the now hotly contested 8CV class. In price terms the Delage found itself undercut by Peugeot, Citroen and Renault. It's higher power output claim might have implied a performance advantage, but even allowing for the somewhat approximate nature of manufacturers' performance data at this time, the D4 was not strikingly faster than the 8CV models from the volume manufacturers: the Delage D4 was marginally the heavier than the volume, manufacturer's rival products, presumably reflecting a more conservative production processes.

The D4 did, for a time, boost Delage sales, but the effect proved short-lived. In 1934 production came to an end.

In ogni caso, la D4 non ottenne un gran successo di vendite, poiché la concorrenza si era fatta spietata in un settore dove la Delage mancava da anni e nel quale aveva perso molto del suo peso. Il pubblico le preferì vetture come la Peugeot 301, che difati fu venduta più a lungo e in quantità nettamente superiori.

Pertanto la D4 fu pensionata prematuramente nel 1934.

Comparative data - the Delage D4 and its rivals from the volume auto-makers
(PS) at rpm: || style="text-align:center;"|40 kW (55 PS) 4,500|| style="text-align:center;"|44 kW (60 PS) 4,300 || style="text-align:center;"|49 kW (67 PS) 4,400 || style="text-align:center;"|74 kW (100 PS) 4,600 at rpm: || style="text-align:center;"|106 Nm 2,000 - 2,600|| style="text-align:center;"|120 Nm 1,800 - 2,400 || style="text-align:center;"|125 Nm 2,200 - 2,900 || style="text-align:center;"|181 Nm 2,400 from side camshaft (OHV)
 * - style="background:#eee;"
 * Bore x Stroke: || style="text-align:center;"|80 x 74 mm || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|85 x 74 mm|| style="text-align:center;"|85 x 76.5 mm
 * - style="background:#eee;"
 * Max power
 * - style="background:#eee;"
 * Max. torque
 * - style="background:#eee;"
 * Compression ratio: || colspan="2"  style="text-align:center;"|7.25 : 1|| style="text-align:center;"|8.0 : 1||  style="text-align:center;"|8.2 : 1
 * - style="background:#eee;"
 * Fuel feed: || colspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|Opel downdraft carburetor (license Carter) with 36 mm Ø
 * - style="background:#eee;"
 * Valve gear: || colspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|Hanging valves driven using pushrods and rocker arms
 * - style="background:#eee;"
 * Cooling: || colspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|Water, incorporating pump and thermostat
 * - style="background:#eee;"
 * Transmission: || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|3–speed or 4-speed manual, Column or floor mounted stick shift|| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|4–speed manual, Column or floor mounted stick shift
 * - style="background:#eee;"
 * Front suspension: || colspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|Double wishbone suspension incorporating balljoint, coil springs and hydraulic shock absorbers
 * - style="background:#eee;"
 * Rear suspension: || colspan="4" style="text-align:center;"| Beam axle with semi-elliptical leaf springs (with an extra leaf on the CarAVan) and hydraulic shock absorbers
 * - style="background:#eee;"
 * Brakes: || colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"| hydraulically powered drum brakes, Ø 200 mm (CarAVan rear Ø 230 mm)|| colspan="1" style="text-align:center;"| hydraulically powered discs at front, Ø 230 mm drums at rear
 * - style="background:#eee;"
 * Body construction: || colspan="4" style="text-align:center;"| Steel bodied (chassisless) monocoque
 * - style="background:#eee;"
 * Track front/back: || colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|1321/1276 mm|| colspan="1" style="text-align:center;"|1325/1279 mm
 * - style="background:#eee;"
 * Wheelbase: || colspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|2639 mm
 * - style="background:#eee;"
 * Length: || colspan="4" style="text-align:center;"| 4512 mm
 * - style="background:#eee;"
 * Unladen weight: || colspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|970–1135 kg
 * - style="background:#eee;"
 * Top speed: || style="text-align:center;"|130 km/h (81 mph)|| colspan="1" style="text-align:center;"|135 km/h (84 mph)|| style="text-align:center;"|140–144 km/h (87 - 89 mph)|| style="text-align:center;"|163–168 km/h (101 - 104 mph)
 * - style="background:#eee;"
 * 0–100 km/h: || style="text-align:center;"|23 - 25 s || colspan="1" style="text-align:center;"|21 – 22 s || style="text-align:center;"|17 – 18 s|| style="text-align:center;"|13 – 14 s
 * - style="background:#eee;"
 * Fuel consumption (Liter/100 km): || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|10.0 - 10.5 Liter Normal || colspan="1" style="text-align:center;"|10.0 Liter Super || style="text-align:center;"|12.0 Liter Super
 * }