Panhard CD
| Panhard CD | |
|---|---|
Panhard CD
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| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Panhard |
| Production | 179 |
| Model years | 1962 - 1965 |
| Assembly | France |
| Designer | Charles Deutsch |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Grand Tourer |
| Body style | Coupé |
| Layout | Front-engine, front-wheel drive |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 848 cc (51.7 cu in) air-cooled ohv boxer twin |
| Transmission | 4-speed manual |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 2,250 mm (88.6 in) |
| Length | 4,060 mm (159.8 in) |
| Width | 1,600 mm (63.0 in) |
| Height | 1,185 mm (46.7 in) |
| Kerb weight | 580 kg (1,279 lb) |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | DB HBR 5 |
| Successor | None |
The Panhard CD is a car designed by Charles Deutsch and built by Panhard from 1963 to 1965. The CD was named for Deutsch and is considered a continuation of the line of Panhard-powered vehicles built by Deutsch-Bonnet. The car was the production version of the CD Dyna that raced at Le Mans in June 1962.
At the end of 1961 the partnership between French engineer and aerodynamicist Charles Deutsch and his longtime collaborator René Bonnet ended. Shortly afterwards venerable French automaker Panhard approached Deutsch to design a successor to his DB HBR 5 for the 1962 24 Hours of Le Mans. While this would be Deutsch's first solo project, he had already designed cars with Panhard components, and a detailed drawing of a car that anticipated the CD Dyna, and may have been a planned HBR 6, dates from as early as October 19, 1960.
Panhard gave approval for work to start on the car at the end of January 1962, and factory manager Etienne de Valance began to build a team of drivers.
Five cars were built; one prototype with a body of hand-hammered steel and four more with bodywork in glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) by Chappe et Gessalin. A tubular steel space-frame was considered but the car would instead get a steel backbone chassis. The first car, chassis number 101, was finished in just 70 days. The next four cars were given designations 102 through 105.
The car was variously called the CD-Panhard coach, the Panhard et Levassor CD Le Mans and the CD-Panhard Dyna Coupé, but in the results of the 1962 24 Heures du Mans it is listed as the CD Dyna.
The design of the body was handled by Deutsch and aerodynamicist Lucien Romani along with his protégé Marcel Hubert.
The engines were Panhard's air-cooled boxer twins tuned by Deutsch and Société Moteur Moderne. Power was boosted by means of enlarged valves, a higher-lift camshaft and two Zenith down-draught carburetors. While the first engine built had also been enlarged to 954 cc the Le Mans cars would all have a smaller 702 cc engine. The car's transaxle was from the Panhard PL 17.
The coupé first appeared at the Le Mans test days in April 1962, where the car was registered in the class for prototypes with engines of up to 850 cc (51.9 cu in). Drivers Pierre Lelong and Bernard Boyer posted the 20th and 21st best times of the day.
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