The Panhard Dyna Z is a lightweight motor car produced by Panhard of France from 1954 to 1959. It was first presented to the press at a Paris restaurant named "Les Ambassadeurs" on 17 June 1953 and went into production the following year. In 1959 it was replaced by the Panhard PL 17.
Background
Panhard was one of the world's oldest auto manufacturers and since 1945 had become known for producing economical cars. Panhard, like Citroën, considered itself a leader, not a follower of automotive trends, and the Dyna Z featured an impressive array of unusual engineering choices.
In 1955 Citroën had taken a 25% holding in Panhard's automobile business and during the next two years the national dealership networks of the two businesses were integrated. This gave Citroen and Panhard dealers an expanded market coverage, incorporating now a small car, a medium-sized saloon and a large car range. It gave the Panhard Dyna Z, during its final years in production, a level of market access that its predecessor had never enjoyed. Sales benefited.
Model development
The Dyna X was replaced by the more streamlined Dyna Z in 1954. This was later developed into the similar PL 17, launched in 1959, in an attempt to conform to the styles of the time.
Like its predecessor the Dyna X and the Panhard Dynavia concept that influenced its design, the Dyna Z's body was originally aluminium with steel tube subframes front and rear joined by steel plate reinforcements in the sills. The decision to use aluminium sheeting for car bodies had been taken at a time when a sudden drop off in demand for fighter planes had left the producers with a glut of the metal, but in subsequent years the relative cost advantage of sheet steel had increased steadily. Other sources emphasize an underlying error with the original costings for the model which had taken no account of the off-cuts from the aluminium coils after the blanks for the body panels had been cut from them. Jean Panhard's explanation to a sympathetic interviewer concludes with the observation that "nobody wanted to buy offcuts except at a ridiculously low price, this difference was our profit margin." In Summer 1954 the cost penalty of persisting with aluminium bodywork had become financially unsustainable, and from September 1955 the Dynas Type "Z1" switched to steel bodywork, even though the door shells, trunk/boot and hood/bonnet were at this stage still made of aluminium. The switch to a sheet-steel body shell, attributed to "various setbacks" ("nombreuses déboires") with the aluminium body of the earlier Type Z1, imposed an instant weight penalty of 123 Kg and had to be accompanied by a substantial redesign of the front suspension and a change to the shock absorbers, though cost savings were too late to avoid the need for Panhard to sign their ultimately suicidal refinancing "agreement" with Citroën in April 1955.
By 1958, only the bumpers, the fuel tank, the engine cooling shroud and most of the engine and transaxle cases were aluminium, but the weight was still quite low for a relatively comfortable six-seater saloon, when compared with narrower competitor models from Peugeot and Simca. Its unusual and very modern design gave it a unique combination of space, ride comfort, performance and fuel economy at a very competitive price. But reliability suffered and fuel prices were not high enough, even in France, for people to put energy efficiency first. The car also suffered from some engine and wind noise. The Tiger version had a racing inspired engine and a full cooling shroud.
Source: Wikipedia
Reply With Quote