I followed your collective advice and bought the 22 volume car encyclopedia today. It's in excellent shape and is chock full of information. For example, did you know that AC (as in, AC Cobra) stands for "Auto-Carrier"? I'm working my way from the beginning. The first entry in Volume 1 (the letter A) is Finnish rally driver Rauno Aaltonen. Now that's comprehensive.
The "aerodynamics" section in this 1974 reference book has a cool chart showing the Cd of some contemporary cars. I'm kinda shocked that the E-Type is more of a brick than a VW microbus.
That's a surprise indeed. But is a graphic example of why aerodynamics is not an easy thing to master.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure I've seen those drawings before in an Spanish collection that was sold in Chile. I have some numbers but couldn't find them. Does yours say if its a US edition of an European original? I suppose it is since most of those cars are European.
Viva: The book says Orbis Publishing, Limited 1974; Quattroroute/Domus, Milan 1972; and Columbia House, New York.
ReplyDeletePretty amazing that the Citroen DS is .31 CD. That is a superb number even now. Surprisingly the Porsche is even lower.
ReplyDelete"I'm kinda shocked that the E-Type is more of a brick than a VW microbus."
ReplyDeleteIt is not. The Microbus has much more drag.
cD is not how much drag it has. You also need to know the frontal area.