[boothboy]

Originally Posted by farna

Here's a good one: What car had an electric starter built into the flywheel, so the flywheel could function as a motor for starting and a generator when the engine is running? Make and year!!

I'm having trouble understanding this. Does this vehicle use a starter motor to turn the flywheel attached to the crankshaft and once the engine is running the flywheel becomes the armature for the generator? I'm having trouble understanding the part where the flywheel is part of the starter .
I know of a older vehicle that uses the flywheel as a " armature" In the electrical system.
BB

[farna]

That's pretty much it -- the flywheel is the armature, or the armature coils are attached directly to the flywheel. Big hint: pre WWII. Of course everyone probably guessed that it must be something old...

[boothboy]

How about the good old Ford Model T? It used it's flywheel as a armature.
BB

[farna]

You've got me searching to find that thing now! That's not the starter OR generator, that's the magneto! Model T Ford Electrical System. Thought you might have found something I didn't know about (I didn't know the magneto was made like that either though).

Okay, another hint. I said it wasn't AMC specific, and technically that's correct, but it is from one of AMC's predecessor companies... there are only three...

[farna]

You've got me searching to find that thing now! That's not the starter OR generator, that's the magneto! Model T Ford Electrical System. Thought you might have found something I didn't know about (I didn't know the magneto was made like that either though).

Okay, another hint. I said it wasn't AMC specific, and technically that's correct, but it is from one of AMC's predecessor companies... there are only three...

[boothboy]

Originally Posted by farna

Here's a good one: What car had an electric starter built into the flywheel, so the flywheel could function as a motor for starting and a generator when the engine is running? Make and year!!

1913 Rambler! One year after Cadillac introduced the electric starter.
Here's how it worked The flywheel was wired to become a armature. The field coils were attached to the back of the engine.
24V was applied to the motor propelling the auto to approximately 5mph where the engine was fired and the car moved under its own power . A switch was thrown and the starter be came a generator. The system had a voltage regulator to keep it from over charging! !913! Pretty neat! I got to fess up. I had to hunt for this one!
BB

[farna]

That's it! I thought that one might be a bit too hard... It was only used in the 1913 Rambler, the car was renamed Jeffery for 1914. In 1918 Nash designed a completely new motor, they used the Jeffery stuff from the 1916 buy-out (Charles Nash bought Jeffery) until the new 1918 Nash models were introduced.

The floor is yours!

[boothboy]

What is this car?

[MARTINSR]

An AMX concept car.

Brian

[boothboy]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

An AMX concept car.

Brian

Might be. What's it's name?
BB

[MARTINSR]

Now you are going to make me google it! Ok, AMX3. Funny thing is the door handles were a dead give away but I did remember the car also, but without the door handles I wouldn't have made the connection.

Brian

[boothboy]

Yes it's AMC's AMX3, but you can't really call it a concept car. It actually went into production. They slated 30 of them but only 5 were compleated. Fed reg's killed them. Bumpers and such. Mid engine 390, 4 speed transaxle, Italian bodied and built in Turin. Beautiiful car. If only! This is a VERY interesting site. Don't miss it! AMX390 AMX/3

BB

[MARTINSR]

What an interesting read, I didn't know there were more than one made and knowing that five people out there own these cars, that is simply mind blowing, I had no idea. Very cool stuff there BB.

Brian

[496CHEVY3100]

I think 1919 people were afraid pistons would wear on sides so it was 1 year only

[farna]

It wasn't federal regs that really killed the AMX/3 (they did have an impact on escalating development costs), it was Ford selling the DeTomaso Pantera. AMC wasn't expecting to sell but a few (30 is probably the right number) a year, but when Ford started selling the Pantera, a very similar car, for several thousand less than AMC could sell the AMX/3 even at a break-even price (which is all they ever intended), the project was cancelled. They didn't think they could sell even 25-30 a year with competition from the much lower priced Pantera. They were probably right -- there wasn't a bit "supercar" market, still isn't. Ford had the advantage of not having to foot any of the development bill for the Pantera. DeTomaso had already done everything, they were just buying motors from Ford. Don't know which had the idea to offer the cars in the US through Ford dealers, but it certainly was a good marketing move for DeTomaso.

It was discovered that Bizzarini, the Italian firm that built the prototypes (there really were no production cars, only six hand built protos) assembled another 3-4 cars and I think they called them the "Sabre". These were assembled from left-over and hand fabricated parts. I haven't found anything on them yet...