For those who think the American racing scene is all about thundering V8s, here is another part of the story.
In 1952 John Porter and Dean Banks took a French Panhard Dyna chassis and reconstructed it to what became the Aardvark, which is still active in historic racing.
The Panhard Dyna was fitted with a 750cc air-cooled flat twin engine, that in standard trim already produced a hefty 38 bhp, (12 more than the contemporary VW 1100 cc Beetle got from 4 cylinders). It was still a simple pushrod engine, but it managed to rev up to 6000 with ease. The engine was put in front of the transaxle and powered the front wheels. Later versions of the engine found their way in the various DBs and larger Panhards, but that’s another story.
Porter and Banks stiffened and lowered the frame, a process which also required new exhaust manifold in order to maintain a minimal ground clearance. In the process the engine output increased to about 42 BHP.
New alloy and fiberglass body panels were designed, and with a total weight of less than 500 kg, the car became a hoot to drive and did surprise many a larger car in the process.
Porter had purposely designed the Aardvark to get some racing experience, which he duly obtained, and about 3 years later he replaced the Aardvark with a Porsche 550.
The influence of the Aardvark is probably more significant than Porter had anticipated, because in 1954 Bill Devin launched his first cars, also based on the Panhard engine. Rather than leaving the engine alone like Porter did, he offered more elaborate versions, and it was the OHC version of this little motor that became the first one fitted with a belt driven overhead cam. (The honours for having achieved this first normally go to the German Glas factory, but they came 10 years later….)
Today the Aardvark still enjoys the crowds with its characteristic sound and it is shown here during the 2005 and 2006 Monterey Historics.
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Originally Posted by ribatejo69
lol
