QUICK QUIZ / CROSSWORD
Clues across
7. Fine-looking but short-lived (1930–’31) US front-wheel-drive car, powered by a Continental 5.5-litre straight-eight motor: fewer than 100 were built, but its handsome looks have given it classic status (6) 8. US ex racing driver who remodelled the Uk-built six-cylinder AC Ace into the legendary mid-1960s V8 Cobra sports car (6) 10. UK engine maker; its products powered three different makes to be pre-war winners of the Tourist Trophy, 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the Monte Carlo Rally (7) 11. Early US automaker, active 1909–’10. Soon ousted from his own company, his name remained prominent through Harry Jewett’s management of the business, which was later swallowed up by the Graham Brothers in 1928 (5) 12. Brand name of the Standard Oil company, giant US oil producer now trading as Exxonmobil (4) 13. UK Ford V8 saloon (1947–’51) based on the pre-war US Ford V8 Model 62 (5) 17. New Zealand and Australian abbreviated name for a shooting brake or combination vansaloon (see also 24 across) (5) 18. Abbreviation for Britain’s biggest car company from 1968 to 1975, soon after the Bmc/leyland merger (1,1,1,1) 22. ----- axle suspension was a primitive form of independent suspension, usually at the rear of a car (5) 23. Respected Belgian car maker, 1906–’49, taking over two other great Belgian names, Excelsior and Minerva, on the way. (7) 24. The UK name for 17 across, also used in other countries (6) 25. First part of name of French coachbuilders, derided in the UK with the nickname ‘Phony and Flashy’! (6)
Clues down
1. Top upmarket model in the various Holden ranges from 1962 to 1980 (7) 2. This valve lets spent gas out of the cylinder in the fourth stroke of the Otto four-stroke cycle (7) 3. Triangular part in a Wankel motor that rotates in a specially shaped housing (5) 4. French coachbuilder noted mainly for special bodies on big Citroëns (7) 5. Daimler and its associated companies used this ----- flywheel as a successful form of semi-auto transmission (5) 6. This sports model Lea-francis won the 1928 Tourist Trophy — its engine made by 10 across! (5) 9. Designer of the Morris Minor and the Mini, two enduring British small-car classics (9) 14. Fine Australian mechanic / engine builder, its twin-cam designs (based on the Holden Grey motor and Ford Cortina four-cylinder) scored many racing successes powering Mildren, Lotus, and Elfin cars (7) 15. French aviation company that briefly made motorbikes and cycle cars in the early 1920s (7) 16. Sturdy but basic Skoda small car of the 1950s, with its name reputedly derived from it being the company’s eighth major car design (7) 19. Strong US car (though it sounds very English) favoured by Australian ‘Wizard’ Smith for early 1920s city-to-city drives — younger readers may recall it as a type name for Ford UK’S successful V4 and V6 engines from 1966 on (5) 20. Italian small production builder of mainly Fiat-based sporting vehicles, active from 1948 to 1975, though the company had been around since 1926 selling tuning gear (5) 21. Pedigree small car from Lancia built from 1953 to 1963, replacing the Ardea and itself replaced by the Fulvia (5). Answers to last month’s crossword, No. 296 Across 7. Amaroo 8. Suzuki 10. Raleigh 11. Lucas 12. Avon 13. Velam 17. Gipsy 18. Viva 22. Kombi 23. Invicta 24. Rekord 25. Anziel Down 1. Davrian 2. Railton 3. Mobil 4. Pullman 5. Buick 6. Fissa 9. Wheelspin 14. Riviera 15. Circlip 16. La Salle 19. Ikara 20. Smoke 21. Avant