Panhard Dyna Z - Driving Impressions

Driving Impressions

The aluminum gas tank typically leaked where the sender unit for the fuel gauge was attached. It lifted the outside rear wheel, on hard cornering with the trunk empty, like a Citroën 2CV or a six-cylinder Porsche going backward, in spite of the downward slope of the front suspension leaves. This must have been caused by the weight distribution and spring rates. (The rear needed stiffness to support full load.) The suspension dealt with large bumps and dips wonderfully. The handling was very good, in spite of the wheel lifting. The steering was quick and light (without power assist). The passengers and driver tended to slide around on the plastic bench seats, with no seat belts, in spite of the patterning of the plastic. The heater worked very well (unlike that of a better-known air-cooled car that burned more gasoline). Double clutching was necessary for a smooth shift into 4th gear, but this was done at leisure because 3rd was quite high. Reverse was hard to find. The soft engine mounts made the clutch difficult for an inexperienced driver to operate smoothly. The unusual engine had an unusual sound that led some people to think it was a two-stroke. Light bulbs burned out often, giving the impression that the company had gone too far in cutting costs. The brake lights also served as backup lights, so it could be started without the key in reverse with the brake on. It had no steering wheel lock but, in the U. S., its unusual controls appeared to make it almost theft proof. As an extra precaution, one could disconnect the battery with a pull knob on the steering column, labeled with a two letter French abbreviation. Similarly to 21st-century cars, the turn signals, head lights, parking lights, high beams and two-tone horn were all controlled by the same lever. This made them all easy to find, but one could confuse the turn signal and high beam motions. Lubrication required a more versatile lift than was available in many gas stations, at that time. It was always cited as the example of car aerodynamics (though the Kamm principle was not yet used).