Car : Panhard-Levassor X 17SS
Year : 1912
Engine : 4 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke : 80×130 mm
Cylinder capacity : 2614 cc
Gears : 4 forward
Brake horse power :-
Maximum speed : -
Wheelbase : –
Suspension : front : semi-elliptic leaf- springs ;
rear : elliptic leaf- springs consisting of two semi-elliptic ones, the upper being a
cantilever leaf- springs
If it had not been absorbed by Citroën in 1965 and had its name totally suppressed, Panhard would have shared with Renault and Peugeot the record for being the oldest car companies still in business. The company was founded in 1889 but its origins go back to 1845 with a company for the manufacture of wood-working machines in Paris. In 1867 Réné Panhard joined, and in 1872 a school fellow of his, Emile Levassor, joined the company as well. 
The founder of the company, Perin, died but Panhard and Levassor continued together and they received the commission to build in France an engine designed by Gottlieb Daimler. In 1889 Panhard and Levassor began to design and manufacture cars.
The X17SS was one of the most up-to-date vehicles produced by the firm. It had a sleeve-valve engine under licence from Knight; this was a vertical twin block with fitted and flat cylinder heads and it was fed by a Panhard constant adjustment carburetor. It had magneto ignition, shaft drive, pressure lubrication and water cooling and an oil bath clutch. The Knight sleeve engine of four cylinder in 1911, and used on all their cars up to 1939.
Panhard-Levassor X 17SS
