Stoewer

Written by Administrator    Monday, 01 September 2008

Stoewer Car : Stoewer Year : 1912 Engine : 4 cylinders in line Bore and stroke :78×118 mm Cylinder capacity : 2247 cc Gears : 4 forward Brake horse power :  22 Maximum speed : 50 mph Wheelbase : 9 ft 8 ins (2.9 m)   Suspension : front: semi-elliptic leaf- springs  ;rear : ¾ elliptic leaf- springs       Stoewer began to produce motorized vehicles in 1899 which makes it one of the earliest German car firms. From tricycles with single cylinder De Dion engines, the Stoewer brothers, Emil and Mernhard, moved on to cars with 4 and 6-cylinder engines (they were amongst the first in Germany to use the latter layout). The 4 cylinders of the 1912 machine illustrated here had a L cylinder head, side valves and a multi-plate clutch. The brake pedal acted on the transmission and the hand brake on rear wheel drum brakes.     After concentrating on airplane engine production during the First World War, Stoewer resumed car construction with a range of new models. However, they now had to produce smaller machines, though the company continued to sound out the luxury car market with 8-cylinder models. In 1930 Bernard Stoewer designed the highly successful V5. This was the first cheap German car with front-wheel drive and independent suspension. In 1931 and 1932 more than 2,000 were produced. From then on Stoewer restricted itself almost entirely to front-wheel drive cars. It ceased car production at the out =break of the Second World War and concentrated on supplying components to other manufacturers.