161-540: The Maserati MC12 ( Tipo M144S ) is a limited production two-seater sports car produced by Italian car maker Maserati from 2004 to 2005, to allow a racing variant to compete in the FIA GT Championship . The car entered production in 2004, with 25 cars produced. A further 25 were produced in 2005 after the FIA changed the rules and reduced the maximum length allowed. The second batch of 25 are 150mm shorter than
322-619: A dry sump system, with a compression ratio of 11.2:1. These combine to provide a maximum torque of 652 N⋅m (481 lb⋅ft) at 5,500 rpm and a maximum power of 630 PS (621 hp; 463 kW) at 7,500 rpm. The redline rpm is indicated at 7,500—despite being safe up to 7,700—whereas the Enzo has its redline at 8,000 rpm. The Maserati MC12 can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.8 seconds (though Motor Trend Magazine managed 3.7 seconds) and on to 200 km/h (124 mph) in 9.9 seconds. It can complete
483-481: A master clock and slave clocks . Where an AC electrical supply of stable frequency is available, timekeeping can be maintained very reliably by using a synchronous motor , essentially counting the cycles. The supply current alternates with an accurate frequency of 50 hertz in many countries, and 60 hertz in others. While the frequency may vary slightly during the day as the load changes, generators are designed to maintain an accurate number of cycles over
644-403: A roll bar to provide additional strength, comfort and safety. Double wishbone suspension with push-rod-operated coil springs provide stability and dampers smooth the ride for the passengers. The front of the car can be raised for speed bumps and hills by pressing a button that extends the front suspension. There are two modes for the chassis' tuning which can also be changed with a button in
805-400: A "particularly elaborate example" of a water clock. Pope Sylvester II introduced clocks to northern and western Europe around 1000 AD. The first known geared clock was invented by the great mathematician, physicist, and engineer Archimedes during the 3rd century BC. Archimedes created his astronomical clock, which was also a cuckoo clock with birds singing and moving every hour. It is
966-570: A 'great horloge'. Over the next 30 years, there were mentions of clocks at a number of ecclesiastical institutions in England, Italy, and France. In 1322, a new clock was installed in Norwich , an expensive replacement for an earlier clock installed in 1273. This had a large (2 metre) astronomical dial with automata and bells. The costs of the installation included the full-time employment of two clockkeepers for two years. An elaborate water clock,
1127-580: A Nitrous-ized Civic". He also complimented the ASR's level of intervention, commenting that it "lets the fun factor get reasonably high before kicking in". In 2004 Maserati completed three MC12 GT1 race cars intended for the FIA GT GT1 class. The AF Corse factory-backed squad debuted the race at Imola , yet the FIA did not allow the MC12 to score points due to its debated homologation. Even with this setback,
1288-478: A Scottish clockmaker, patented the electric clock in 1840. The electric clock's mainspring is wound either with an electric motor or with an electromagnet and armature. In 1841, he first patented the electromagnetic pendulum. By the end of the nineteenth century, the advent of the dry cell battery made it feasible to use electric power in clocks. Spring or weight driven clocks that use electricity, either alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC), to rewind
1449-532: A chain that turns a gear in the mechanism. Another Greek clock probably constructed at the time of Alexander was in Gaza, as described by Procopius. The Gaza clock was probably a Meteoroskopeion, i.e., a building showing celestial phenomena and the time. It had a pointer for the time and some automations similar to the Archimedes clock. There were 12 doors opening one every hour, with Hercules performing his labors,
1610-399: A controversial choice for a "purist" sports car. The Elan sold poorly and was discontinued after three years. The 1996 Lotus Elise , a mid-engined, rear-wheel drive roadster, was much more successful and remained in production until 2021. Roadsters enjoyed a resurgence in the mid-1990s, including the 1989-present Mazda MX-5 , the 1995-2002 BMW Z3 (succeeded by the 2002-2016 BMW Z4 ),
1771-401: A day, so the clock may be a fraction of a second slow or fast at any time, but will be perfectly accurate over a long time. The rotor of the motor rotates at a speed that is related to the alternation frequency. Appropriate gearing converts this rotation speed to the correct ones for the hands of the analog clock. Time in these cases is measured in several ways, such as by counting the cycles of
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#17327908659501932-409: A definition. Insurance companies have also attempted to use mathematical formulae to categorise sports cars, often charging more for insurance due to the inherent risk of performance driving. There is no fixed distinction between sports cars and other categories of performance cars, such as muscle cars and grand tourers , with some cars being members of several categories. Traditionally,
2093-400: A few seconds over trillions of years. Atomic clocks were first theorized by Lord Kelvin in 1879. In the 1930s the development of magnetic resonance created practical method for doing this. A prototype ammonia maser device was built in 1949 at the U.S. National Bureau of Standards (NBS, now NIST ). Although it was less accurate than existing quartz clocks , it served to demonstrate
2254-416: A fire at the abbey of St Edmundsbury (now Bury St Edmunds ), the monks "ran to the clock" to fetch water, indicating that their water clock had a reservoir large enough to help extinguish the occasional fire. The word clock (via Medieval Latin clocca from Old Irish clocc , both meaning 'bell'), which gradually supersedes "horologe", suggests that it was the sound of bells that also characterized
2415-544: A full-width rear wing instead of the smaller wing used by Maserati Corse and teams in FIA GT, although the wing was not as tall. IMSA also allowed Doran to score points in the American Le Mans Series championships. The MC12 Versione Corse is a variant of the MC12 intended for racetrack use. In contrast to the race version of the MC12, of which street-legal versions were produced for homologation purposes,
2576-431: A higher top speed at 350 km/h (217 mph), 20 km/h (12 mph) more than the MC12. The MC12 was developed to signal Maserati's return to racing after 37 years. The road version was produced to homologate the race version. One requirement for participation in the FIA GT is the production of at least 25 road cars. Three GT1 race cars were entered into the FIA GT with great success. Maserati began racing
2737-498: A kind of early clocktower . The Greek and Roman civilizations advanced water clock design with improved accuracy. These advances were passed on through Byzantine and Islamic times, eventually making their way back to Europe. Independently, the Chinese developed their own advanced water clocks ( 水鐘 ) by 725 AD, passing their ideas on to Korea and Japan. Some water clock designs were developed independently, and some knowledge
2898-639: A lap time of 1:18.9 around the Top Gear track—0.1 seconds faster than his lap in the Enzo Ferrari. Host Jeremy Clarkson also drove it, comparing it to the Maserati Biturbo , a car he disliked. Clarkson criticised the car greatly, pointing out that, unlike the Enzo , it lacks a rear window. Despite his criticisms, he complimented the smooth ride. Motor Trend Magazine reviewer Frank Markus had
3059-401: A large astrolabe-type dial, showing the sun, the moon's age, phase, and node, a star map, and possibly the planets. In addition, it had a wheel of fortune and an indicator of the state of the tide at London Bridge . Bells rang every hour, the number of strokes indicating the time. Dondi's clock was a seven-sided construction, 1 metre high, with dials showing the time of day, including minutes,
3220-403: A more accurate clock: This has the dual function of keeping the oscillator running by giving it 'pushes' to replace the energy lost to friction , and converting its vibrations into a series of pulses that serve to measure the time. In mechanical clocks, the low Q of the balance wheel or pendulum oscillator made them very sensitive to the disturbing effect of the impulses of the escapement, so
3381-434: A more positive opinion. Despite initial skepticism he said, "It turns out that the Enzo makes a more comfortable and attractive road car when made over as a butch Maserati racer in street couture". Markus complimented the stability of braking and the handling ability of the MC12, especially the drifting allowed by the traction control when cornering, commenting that "There's none of the knife-edged limit handling we criticised in
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#17327908659503542-578: A new problem: how to keep the clock movement running at a constant rate as the spring ran down. This resulted in the invention of the stackfreed and the fusee in the 15th century, and many other innovations, down to the invention of the modern going barrel in 1760. Early clock dials did not indicate minutes and seconds. A clock with a dial indicating minutes was illustrated in a 1475 manuscript by Paulus Almanus, and some 15th-century clocks in Germany indicated minutes and seconds. An early record of
3703-406: A numeric representation of time. Two numbering systems are in use: 12-hour time notation and 24-hour notation. Most digital clocks use electronic mechanisms and LCD , LED , or VFD displays. For the blind and for use over telephones, speaking clocks state the time audibly in words. There are also clocks for the blind that have displays that can be read by touch. The word clock derives from
3864-419: A particular frequency. This object can be a pendulum , a balance wheel , a tuning fork , a quartz crystal , or the vibration of electrons in atoms as they emit microwaves , the last of which is so precise that it serves as the definition of the second . Clocks have different ways of displaying the time. Analog clocks indicate time with a traditional clock face and moving hands. Digital clocks display
4025-554: A pendulum, which would be virtually useless on a rocking ship. In 1714, the British government offered large financial rewards to the value of 20,000 pounds for anyone who could determine longitude accurately. John Harrison , who dedicated his life to improving the accuracy of his clocks, later received considerable sums under the Longitude Act. In 1735, Harrison built his first chronometer, which he steadily improved on over
4186-488: A precisely constant frequency. The advantage of a harmonic oscillator over other forms of oscillator is that it employs resonance to vibrate at a precise natural resonant frequency or "beat" dependent only on its physical characteristics, and resists vibrating at other rates. The possible precision achievable by a harmonic oscillator is measured by a parameter called its Q , or quality factor, which increases (other things being equal) with its resonant frequency. This
4347-399: A pressed-steel chassis, a gated 4-speed transmission, pushrod-actuated overhead inlet valves , a honeycomb radiator, low-tension magneto ignition , a long wheelbase, a low center of mass and a very effective suspension system. The overall result was a "safe and well-balanced machine" with a higher performance than any other contemporary production car. At the 1903 Gordon Bennett Cup ,
4508-427: A production Simplex 60 hp was entered only due to a specially-built 90 hp racing car being destroyed in a fire; the 60 hp famously went on to win the race. The 1910 Austro-Daimler 27/80 is another early sports car which had success in motor racing. The 27/80 was designed by Ferdinand Porsche , who drove the car to victory in the 1910 Prince Henry Tour motor race. The Vauxhall and Austro-Daimler —like
4669-419: A rear-mounted, six-speed automated manual . The gearbox is the same as the Enzo's transmission (tuned to different gear ratios) but renamed "Maserati Cambiocorsa". It provides a shift time of just 150 milliseconds and is mechanical with a 215 mm (8.5 in) twin-plate dry clutch . The MC12's chassis is a monocoque made of carbon and nomex , with an aluminium sub-chassis at the front and rear. It has
4830-414: A result, the rear spoiler is 2 m (79 in) wide but only 30 mm (1.2 in) thick, the underside of the car is smooth, and the rear bumper has diffusers to take advantage of ground effect . Air is sucked into the engine compartment through the air scoop ; its positioning on top of the cabin makes the car taller than the Enzo. The exterior is available only in the white-and-blue colour scheme,
4991-738: A second per lap in the corners due to its poorer aerodynamics. In 2004 the Maserati MC12s were unable to compete in series backed by the ACO , such as the Le Mans Endurance Series (LMES) in Europe and the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) because they exceeded both the length and width restrictions for their class. The car's nose was shortened by 201 mm (7.9 in) to attempt to comply with regulations, but
Maserati MC12 - Misplaced Pages Continue
5152-517: A seconds hand on a clock dates back to about 1560 on a clock now in the Fremersdorf collection. During the 15th and 16th centuries, clockmaking flourished, particularly in the metalworking towns of Nuremberg and Augsburg , and in Blois , France. Some of the more basic table clocks have only one time-keeping hand, with the dial between the hour markers being divided into four equal parts making
5313-471: A seven-sided brass or iron framework resting on 7 decorative paw-shaped feet. The lower section provided a 24-hour dial and a large calendar drum, showing the fixed feasts of the church, the movable feasts, and the position in the zodiac of the moon's ascending node. The upper section contained 7 dials, each about 30 cm in diameter, showing the positional data for the Primum Mobile , Venus, Mercury,
5474-556: A slight power increase, a butterfly intake exhaust system and adjustable road suspension system. Only twelve MC12 Versione Corses were sold to selected customers, each of whom paid €1 million (US$ 1.47 million) for the privilege. Another three vehicles were produced for testing and publicity purposes. The Versione Corse shares its engine with the MC12 GT1; the powerplant produces 755 PS (555 kW; 745 hp) at 8,000 rpm, 122 PS (90 kW; 120 hp) more than
5635-466: A standing (from stationary) 402 metres ( 1 ⁄ 4 mi) in 11.3 seconds with a terminal speed of 200 km/h (124 mph) or a standing kilometre in 20.1 seconds. The maximum speed of the Maserati MC12 is 330 km/h (205 mph). Another change on the engine compared with the Enzo was the use of gears to drive the camshafts instead of chains. Power is fed to the wheels through
5796-579: A sundial. While never reaching the level of accuracy of a modern timepiece, the water clock was the most accurate and commonly used timekeeping device for millennia until it was replaced by the more accurate pendulum clock in 17th-century Europe. Islamic civilization is credited with further advancing the accuracy of clocks through elaborate engineering. In 797 (or possibly 801), the Abbasid caliph of Baghdad , Harun al-Rashid , presented Charlemagne with an Asian elephant named Abul-Abbas together with
5957-459: A synthetic material which was found to be "too expensive for the fashion industry". The centre console features the characteristic Maserati oval analogue clock and a blue ignition button, but it has been criticised for lacking a radio , car stereo or a place to install an aftermarket sound system. The body of the car, made entirely of carbon fibre , underwent extensive wind tunnel testing to achieve maximum downforce across all surfaces. As
6118-700: A tribute to the America Camoradi racing team that drove the Maserati Tipo Birdcages in the early 1960s. Bespoke colour schemes are available by paying an extra amount. The car is noted for the awkwardness that results from its size; very long and wider than a Hummer H2 . This, combined with the lack of a rear window, can make parking the MC12 challenging. The MC12 sports a 232 kg (511 lb), 5,998 cc (366.0 cu in) Enzo Ferrari-derived longitudinally-mounted 65° V12 engine . Each cylinder has 4 valves , lubricated via
6279-537: A very similar body shape to the MC12, but there are several key differences, most notably the rear spoiler . Andrea Bertolini served as the chief test driver throughout development, although some testing was done by Michael Schumacher , who frequently tested the MCC at the Fiorano Circuit . During the development process, the MCC name was set aside after Maserati established the car's official name, MC12. The car
6440-652: A way of mass-producing clocks by using interchangeable parts . Aaron Lufkin Dennison started a factory in 1851 in Massachusetts that also used interchangeable parts, and by 1861 was running a successful enterprise incorporated as the Waltham Watch Company . In 1815, the English scientist Francis Ronalds published the first electric clock powered by dry pile batteries. Alexander Bain ,
6601-538: A well-constructed sundial can measure local solar time with reasonable accuracy, within a minute or two. Sundials continued to be used to monitor the performance of clocks until the 1830s, when the use of the telegraph and trains standardized time and time zones between cities. Many devices can be used to mark the passage of time without respect to reference time (time of day, hours, minutes, etc.) and can be useful for measuring duration or intervals. Examples of such duration timers are candle clocks , incense clocks , and
Maserati MC12 - Misplaced Pages Continue
6762-421: A working model of the solar system. Simple clocks intended mainly for notification were installed in towers and did not always require faces or hands. They would have announced the canonical hours or intervals between set times of prayer. Canonical hours varied in length as the times of sunrise and sunset shifted. The more sophisticated astronomical clocks would have had moving dials or hands and would have shown
6923-424: Is 41% front and 59% rear. At speed, however, the downforce provided by the rear spoiler affects this to the extent that at 200 km/h (125 mph) the downforce is 34% front and 66% rear. Even though the car is designed as a homologation vehicle and is a modification of a racing car, the interior is intended to be luxurious. The interior is a mix of gel-coated carbon fibre , blue leather and silver "Brightex",
7084-549: Is a concept car developed by automobile manufacturer Maserati and designed by Pininfarina . It was first introduced at the 2005 Geneva Auto Show and was based on the MC12's chassis. It draws inspiration from the Maserati Tipo 61 Birdcage of the 1960s and was made as a celebration of Pininfarina's 75th anniversary . Sports car A sports car is a type of car that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling , acceleration, top speed,
7245-452: Is an iconic sports car of the early 1960s, due to its attractive styling and claimed top speed of 241 km/h (150 mph). The E-type was produced for 14 years and was initially powered by a six-cylinder engine, followed by a V12 engine for the final generation. In 1962, the MG B introduced a new era of affordable lightweight four-cylinder roadsters. The MG B used a unibody construction and
7406-577: Is based heavily on the Enzo Ferrari , using a slightly modified version of the Ferrari F140 V12 engine , the same gearbox (but given the unique name of "Maserati Cambiocorsa") and the same chassis and track (length of axle between the wheels). The windshield is the only externally visible component shared with the Enzo; the MC12 has a unique body which is wider, longer and slightly taller. The increased size creates greater downforce across
7567-431: Is considered to be the world's oldest surviving mechanical clock that strikes the hours. Clockmakers developed their art in various ways. Building smaller clocks was a technical challenge, as was improving accuracy and reliability. Clocks could be impressive showpieces to demonstrate skilled craftsmanship, or less expensive, mass-produced items for domestic use. The escapement in particular was an important factor affecting
7728-454: Is hard to drive, overpriced and too large. Other criticisms include the lack of a trunk , rear window, spare tire and radio, and the way the car's engine was limited or "drugged". Former driver for Vitaphone Racing Team, Andrea Bertolini , the chief test driver throughout the development , said the car, "reacts well and is very reliable in its reactions." The Top Gear television series acquired an MC12, and test driver The Stig achieved
7889-406: Is notable for using a three-seat layout, where the front row consists of a centrally-located driver's seat. The location of the engine and driven wheels significantly influence the handling characteristics of a car and are therefore crucial in the design of a sports car. Traditionally, most sports cars have used rear-wheel drive with the engine either located at the front ( FR layout ) or in
8050-441: Is referred to as clockwork ; the term is used by extension for a similar mechanism not used in a timepiece. The electric clock was patented in 1840, and electronic clocks were introduced in the 20th century, becoming widespread with the development of small battery-powered semiconductor devices . The timekeeping element in every modern clock is a harmonic oscillator , a physical object ( resonator ) that vibrates or oscillates at
8211-459: Is why there has been a long-term trend toward higher frequency oscillators in clocks. Balance wheels and pendulums always include a means of adjusting the rate of the timepiece. Quartz timepieces sometimes include a rate screw that adjusts a capacitor for that purpose. Atomic clocks are primary standards , and their rate cannot be adjusted. Some clocks rely for their accuracy on an external oscillator; that is, they are automatically synchronized to
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#17327908659508372-584: The 24 Hours of Le Mans , but the MC12 was finally allowed to race. The ACO stood by their ruling on the car by forbidding it from entering other Le Mans series. The lone MC12 would be campaigned under the Maserati Corse banner, but run by the American Risi Competizione team. The 2005 American Le Mans Series season was not as successful for the team, with the team scoring no wins. In the final race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca ,
8533-608: The Artuqid king of Diyar-Bakr, Nasir al-Din , made numerous clocks of all shapes and sizes. The most reputed clocks included the elephant , scribe, and castle clocks , some of which have been successfully reconstructed. As well as telling the time, these grand clocks were symbols of the status, grandeur, and wealth of the Urtuq State. Knowledge of these mercury escapements may have spread through Europe with translations of Arabic and Spanish texts. The word horologia (from
8694-520: The Audi RS 2 Avant . Ford Europe withdrew from the sports car market at the end of 1986 when the Capri was discontinued after a production run of nearly two decades. There was no direct successor, as Ford was concentrating on higher-performance versions of its hatchback and saloon models at the time. In 1989, a new generation of Lotus Elan roadster was released which used a front-wheel drive layout,
8855-541: The BMW 303 , Citroën Traction Avant and Fiat 508 — offered similar handling and comfort to the more expensive sports cars. Powerful, reliable, and economical (although softly suspended) American saloons began to be imported to Europe in significant numbers. Sports car ownership was increased through models such as the Austin 7 and Wolseley Hornet six , however many of these sports cars did not offer any performance upgrades over
9016-623: The Bentley Speed Six (1928-1930), with the former famously described by Bugatti's founder as "the fastest lorry in the world". Between the Great Depression and the World War II the pre-war era was a period of decline in importance for sports car manufacturers, although the period was not devoid of advances, for example streamlining . Cheap, light-weight family sedans with independent front suspension— such as
9177-520: The Jensen FF became the first sports car to use all-wheel drive . The Ford Capri is a 2+2 coupe that was produced from 1968 to 1986 and intended to be a smaller European equivalent of the Ford Mustang. A main rival to the Capri was Opel Manta , which was produced from 1970 to 1988. The 1973-1978 Lancia Stratos was a mid-engined two-seat coupe that was powered by a Ferrari V6 engine. This
9338-641: The Le Mans winning outfit Team Goh was intending to race a Maserati MC12 in the Super GT series in Japan . However, the team was forced to withdraw because of driver problems ( Jan Magnussen falling ill suddenly and returning to Denmark) and disappointing lap times at the Suzuka Circuit during testing. While the car was faster than its Super GT prototype rivals down the straights, it was losing more than
9499-499: The Republic of China (Taiwan)'s National Museum of Natural Science , Taichung city. This full-scale, fully functional replica, approximately 12 meters (39 feet) in height, was constructed from Su Song's original descriptions and mechanical drawings. The Chinese escapement spread west and was the source for Western escapement technology. In the 12th century, Al-Jazari , an engineer from Mesopotamia (lived 1136–1206) who worked for
9660-419: The anchor escapement , an improvement over Huygens' crown escapement. Clement also introduced the pendulum suspension spring in 1671. The concentric minute hand was added to the clock by Daniel Quare , a London clockmaker and others, and the second hand was first introduced. In 1675, Huygens and Robert Hooke invented the spiral balance spring , or the hairspring, designed to control the oscillating speed of
9821-415: The balance wheel . This crucial advance finally made accurate pocket watches possible. The great English clockmaker Thomas Tompion , was one of the first to use this mechanism successfully in his pocket watches , and he adopted the minute hand which, after a variety of designs were trialled, eventually stabilised into the modern-day configuration. The rack and snail striking mechanism for striking clocks ,
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#17327908659509982-447: The hourglass . Both the candle clock and the incense clock work on the same principle, wherein the consumption of resources is more or less constant, allowing reasonably precise and repeatable estimates of time passages. In the hourglass, fine sand pouring through a tiny hole at a constant rate indicates an arbitrary, predetermined passage of time. The resource is not consumed, but re-used. Water clocks, along with sundials, are possibly
10143-406: The millennia . Some predecessors to the modern clock may be considered "clocks" that are based on movement in nature: A sundial shows the time by displaying the position of a shadow on a flat surface. There is a range of duration timers, a well-known example being the hourglass . Water clocks , along with sundials, are possibly the oldest time-measuring instruments. A major advance occurred with
10304-511: The "constant-level tank". The main driving shaft of iron, with its cylindrical necks supported on iron crescent-shaped bearings, ended in a pinion, which engaged a gear wheel at the lower end of the main vertical transmission shaft. This great astronomical hydromechanical clock tower was about ten metres high (about 30 feet), featured a clock escapement , and was indirectly powered by a rotating wheel either with falling water or liquid mercury . A full-sized working replica of Su Song's clock exists in
10465-583: The "thrill of driving" or are marketed "using the excitement of speed and the glamour of the (race)track" However, other people have more specific definitions, such as "must be a two-seater or a 2+2 seater" or a car with two seats only. In the United Kingdom, early recorded usage of the "sports car" was in The Times newspaper in 1919. The first known use of the term in the United States
10626-459: The 'Cosmic Engine', was invented by Su Song , a Chinese polymath , designed and constructed in China in 1092. This great astronomical hydromechanical clock tower was about ten metres high (about 30 feet) and was indirectly powered by a rotating wheel with falling water and liquid mercury , which turned an armillary sphere capable of calculating complex astronomical problems. In Europe, there were
10787-410: The 15th century. During the 15th and 16th centuries, clockmaking flourished. The next development in accuracy occurred after 1656 with the invention of the pendulum clock by Christiaan Huygens . A major stimulus to improving the accuracy and reliability of clocks was the importance of precise time-keeping for navigation. The mechanism of a timepiece with a series of gears driven by a spring or weights
10948-512: The 17th and 18th centuries, but maintained a system of production that was geared towards high quality products for the elite. Although there was an attempt to modernise clock manufacture with mass-production techniques and the application of duplicating tools and machinery by the British Watch Company in 1843, it was in the United States that this system took off. In 1816, Eli Terry and some other Connecticut clockmakers developed
11109-403: The 1905 Isotta Fraschini Tipo D, the 1906 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost , the 1908 Delage , the 1910 Bugatti Type 13 , and the 1912 DFP 12/15 . Early motor racing events included the 1903 Paris–Madrid race , the 1905-1907 Herkomer Trophy, the 1908-1911 Prince Henry Tour and the 1911–present Monte Carlo Rally . The Prince Henry Tours (which were similar to modern car rallies) were among
11270-495: The 1921 Coppa Florio . Another approach— such as that used by Morris Garages— was to convert touring cars into sports cars. The first 24 Hours of Le Mans race for sports cars was held in 1923, although the two-seat sports cars only competed in the smallest class, with the majority of cars entered being four-seat fast touring cars. "This race, together with the Tourist Trophy Series of Races , organised after
11431-404: The 1948 Ferrari 166 S . A new concept altogether was the modern Gran Turismo class from Italy, which was in effect unknown before the war: sustained high-speed motoring from relatively modest engine size and compact closed or berlinetta coachwork. The 1947 Maserati A6 1500 two-seat berlinetta was the first production model from Maserati. In Germany, the motor industry was devastated by
11592-499: The 1980 Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft and Giro d'Italia automobilistico marathon. The Montecarlo was a basis for the silhouette racing car , Lancia Rally 037 . In the 1970s, turbocharging began to be adopted by sports cars, such as the BMW 2002 Turbo in 1973, the first Porsche 911 Turbo in 1975, and the Saab 99 Turbo in 1978. Turbocharging became increasingly popular in the 1980s, from relatively affordable coupes such as
11753-452: The 1980–1986 Renault Fuego and 1992–1996 Rover 220 Coupé Turbo , to expensive supercars such as the 1984-1987 Ferrari 288 GTO and 1987-1992 Ferrari F40 . In the late 1980s and early 1990s, several manufacturers developed supercars that competed for production car top speed records . These cars included the 1986–1993 Porsche 959 , 1991–1995 Bugatti EB 110 , 1992–1994 Jaguar XJ220 and 1993–998 McLaren F1 . The 1980-1995 Audi Quattro
11914-506: The 1990s, all-wheel drive has become more common in sports cars. All-wheel drive offers better acceleration and favorable handling characteristics (especially in slippery conditions), but is often heavier and more mechanically complex than traditional layouts. Examples of all-wheel drive sports cars are the Lamborghini Huracan , Bugatti Veyron , and Nissan GT-R . Rear engine layouts are not typical for sports cars, with
12075-439: The 1995-2002 MG F , the 1996–present Porsche Boxster and the 1998–present Audi TT . Analog clock A clock or chronometer is a device that measures and displays time . The clock is one of the oldest human inventions , meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day , the lunar month , and the year . Devices operating on several physical processes have been used over
12236-476: The AC supply, vibration of a tuning fork , the behaviour of quartz crystals, or the quantum vibrations of atoms. Electronic circuits divide these high-frequency oscillations to slower ones that drive the time display. The piezoelectric properties of crystalline quartz were discovered by Jacques and Pierre Curie in 1880. The first crystal oscillator was invented in 1917 by Alexander M. Nicholson , after which
12397-544: The Drivers' Championship. Fellow Vitaphone drivers Miguel Ramos and Christian Montanari tied for sixth, while Playteam's Andrea Bertolini and Andrea Piccini were just behind. For 2008, Vitaphone Racing returned with a pair of MC12s for drivers Andrea Bertolini , Michael Bartels , and Miguel Ramos , as well as newcomer Alexandre Negrão . The season ended with another Teams' Championship for Vitaphone Racing (122.5 points) and Drivers' Championship for Bertolini and Bartels. In
12558-709: The FIA GT Manufacturers Cup with 239 points: almost double the score of next competitor ( Ferrari with 125 points). The two teams that entered MC12s into the FIA GT, Vitaphone Racing and JMB Racing , finished first and second respectively in the Team Cup, with Vitaphone winning by a considerable margin. Four of the MC12 drivers were in the running to win the FIA GT Drivers' Title at the Bahrain International Circuit at
12719-586: The GT1 class after qualifying competitively. The only other race entered was Round 11 at Road Atlanta for the Petit Le Mans where the team failed to finish following an accident, but were still classified second in class. Doran's Maserati however had qualified on the class pole. The team selected Michelin tires instead of the Pirellis originally used by Maserati Corse in 2005, and was also allowed to race with
12880-678: The GT1 division under Scuderia Playteam and Racing Box, with the teams placing first and third overall respectively. The cars were re-entered in 2006, with Scuderia Playteam again securing overall victory and Racing Box coming second. From 2007, GT1 cars are not permitted in the championship, and Scuderia Playteam moved to the FIA GT Championship. Racing Box also participated in the non-championship 6 Hours of Vallelunga twice, winning in 2005 with Michele Rugolo , Leonardo Maddelena, and Davide Mastracci, then again in 2006 with Pedro Lamy , Marco Cioci, and Piergiuseppe Perazzini. In 2006,
13041-524: The Greek ὥρα —'hour', and λέγειν —'to tell') was used to describe early mechanical clocks, but the use of this word (still used in several Romance languages ) for all timekeepers conceals the true nature of the mechanisms. For example, there is a record that in 1176, Sens Cathedral in France installed an ' horologe ', but the mechanism used is unknown. According to Jocelyn de Brakelond , in 1198, during
13202-537: The Lion at one o'clock, etc., and at night a lamp becomes visible every hour, with 12 windows opening to show the time. The Tang dynasty Buddhist monk Yi Xing along with government official Liang Lingzan made the escapement in 723 (or 725) to the workings of a water-powered armillary sphere and clock drive , which was the world's first clockwork escapement. The Song dynasty polymath and genius Su Song (1020–1101) incorporated it into his monumental innovation of
13363-550: The MC12 Corse is intended for private use, albeit restricted to the track, as the Corse's modifications make it illegal to drive on the road. The Versione Corse was developed directly from the MC12 GT1, which won the 2005 FIA GT Manufacturers Cup. The car was released in mid-2006, "in response to the customer demand to own the MC12 racing car and fueled by the growth in track days, where owners can drive their cars at high speeds in
13524-521: The MC12 in the FIA GT toward the end of the 2004 season, winning the race held at the Zhuhai International Circuit . The racing MC12s were entered into the American Le Mans Series races in 2005 but exceeded the size restrictions and consequently paid weight penalties due to excess range. Under the direction of Giorgio Ascanelli, Maserati began development of an FIA GT -eligible race car. This car, which would eventually be named
13685-446: The MC12 was clipped by a competitor, causing damage that resulted in a lengthy pit stop . After resuming the race, a loss of traction caused by cold tires made the car hit a curb, which broke the radiator and took the MC12 out of the race. In August 2007, Fredy Lienhard and Didier Theys announced their preparation of a former FIA GT MC12 for use in the American Le Mans Series. The car made its debut at Road America , finishing 3rd in
13846-420: The MC12's body in addition to the downforce created by the two-metre spoiler. The MC12 is a two-door coupé with a targa top roof, although the detached roof cannot be stored in the car. The mid-rear layout (engine between the axles but behind the cabin) keeps the centre of gravity in the middle of the car, which increases stability and improves the car's cornering ability. The standing weight distribution
14007-438: The MC12, was initially called the "MCC" ("Maserati Corse Competizione") and was to be developed simultaneously with a road-going version, called the "MCS" ("Maserati Corse Stradale"). Frank Stephenson , Director of Ferrari-Maserati Concept Design and Development at the time, did the majority of the body styling, but the initial shape was developed during wind tunnel testing from an idea presented by Giorgetto Giugiaro . The MCC has
14168-468: The Mercedes Simplex 60 hp— were production fast touring cars. The 1912 Hispano-Suiza Alfonso XIII is also considered one of the earliest sports cars, as it was a "purpose built, high performance, two-seater production automobile". The model was named after King Alfonso XIII of Spain , a patron of the car's chief designer and an enthusiast for the marque. Other early sports cars include
14329-591: The Sun in the sky changes over the course of each day, reflecting the rotation of the Earth. Shadows cast by stationary objects move correspondingly, so their positions can be used to indicate the time of day. A sundial shows the time by displaying the position of a shadow on a (usually) flat surface that has markings that correspond to the hours. Sundials can be horizontal, vertical, or in other orientations. Sundials were widely used in ancient times . With knowledge of latitude,
14490-426: The astronomical clock tower of Kaifeng in 1088. His astronomical clock and rotating armillary sphere still relied on the use of either flowing water during the spring, summer, and autumn seasons or liquid mercury during the freezing temperatures of winter (i.e., hydraulics ). In Su Song's waterwheel linkwork device, the action of the escapement's arrest and release was achieved by gravity exerted periodically as
14651-444: The cabin: "sport", the standard setting, and "race", which features less of the " Bosch ASR" (anti-slip regulation) traction control , faster shifts and stiffer suspension. The MC12 has 485 mm (19 in) wheels with a width of 230 mm (9 in) at the front and 330 mm (13 in) at the rear. The tyres are " Pirelli P Zero Corsa" with codes of 245/35 ZR 19 for the front tyres and 345/35 ZR 19 for
14812-479: The car appeared during the next year or two, all conforming to the same basic design and earning for themselves a reputation second to none for fast and reliable travel. The 60-h.p. cars were announced late in 1902. The cars were possessed of a very real performance superior to anything else which could be bought at the time... and the model achieved an almost invincible position among the fast cars of its day. The Sports Car: Development and Design The basis for
14973-580: The clock's accuracy, so many different mechanisms were tried. Spring-driven clocks appeared during the 15th century, although they are often erroneously credited to Nuremberg watchmaker Peter Henlein (or Henle, or Hele) around 1511. The earliest existing spring driven clock is the chamber clock given to Phillip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, around 1430, now in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum . Spring power presented clockmakers with
15134-547: The clocks constructed by Richard of Wallingford in Albans by 1336, and by Giovanni de Dondi in Padua from 1348 to 1364. They no longer exist, but detailed descriptions of their design and construction survive, and modern reproductions have been made. They illustrate how quickly the theory of the mechanical clock had been translated into practical constructions, and also that one of the many impulses to their development had been
15295-565: The clocks readable to the nearest 15 minutes. Other clocks were exhibitions of craftsmanship and skill, incorporating astronomical indicators and musical movements. The cross-beat escapement was invented in 1584 by Jost Bürgi , who also developed the remontoire . Bürgi's clocks were a great improvement in accuracy as they were correct to within a minute a day. These clocks helped the 16th-century astronomer Tycho Brahe to observe astronomical events with much greater precision than before. The next development in accuracy occurred after 1656 with
15456-637: The concept. The first accurate atomic clock, a caesium standard based on a certain transition of the caesium-133 atom, was built by Louis Essen in 1955 at the National Physical Laboratory in the UK. Calibration of the caesium standard atomic clock was carried out by the use of the astronomical time scale ephemeris time (ET). As of 2013, the most stable atomic clocks are ytterbium clocks, which are stable to within less than two parts in 1 quintillion ( 2 × 10 ). The invention of
15617-469: The continuous flow of liquid-filled containers of a limited size. In a single line of evolution, Su Song's clock therefore united the concepts of the clepsydra and the mechanical clock into one device run by mechanics and hydraulics. In his memorial, Su Song wrote about this concept: According to your servant's opinion there have been many systems and designs for astronomical instruments during past dynasties all differing from one another in minor respects. But
15778-471: The desire of astronomers to investigate celestial phenomena. The Astrarium of Giovanni Dondi dell'Orologio was a complex astronomical clock built between 1348 and 1364 in Padua , Italy, by the doctor and clock-maker Giovanni Dondi dell'Orologio . The Astrarium had seven faces and 107 moving gears; it showed the positions of the sun, the moon and the five planets then known, as well as religious feast days. The astrarium stood about 1 metre high, and consisted of
15939-411: The development of performance cars such as the 1910 Vauxhall Prince Henry , 1910 Sunbeam 12/16 , 1910 Talbot 25 hp , 1910 Straker-Squire 15 hp and 1913 Star 15.9 hp . Following the halt in sports car production caused by World War I , Europe returned to manufacturing automobiles from around 1920. It was around this time that the term 'Sports Car' began to appear in the motor catalogues, although
16100-399: The earlier armillary sphere created by Zhang Sixun (976 AD), who also employed the escapement mechanism and used liquid mercury instead of water in the waterwheel of his astronomical clock tower. The mechanical clockworks for Su Song's astronomical tower featured a great driving-wheel that was 11 feet in diameter, carrying 36 scoops, into each of which water was poured at a uniform rate from
16261-563: The earliest dates are less certain. Some authors, however, write about water clocks appearing as early as 4000 BC in these regions of the world. The Macedonian astronomer Andronicus of Cyrrhus supervised the construction of the Tower of the Winds in Athens in the 1st century BC, which housed a large clepsydra inside as well as multiple prominent sundials outside, allowing it to function as
16422-400: The early 1920s, the cost to produce a racing car was not significantly higher than a road car, therefore several manufacturers used the design from the current year's racing car for the next year's sports car. For example, the 1921 Ballot 2LS based on the racing car that finished third at the 1921 French Grand Prix. The Benz 28/95PS was also a successful racing car, with victories including
16583-472: The energy it loses to friction , and converts its oscillations into a series of pulses. The pulses are then counted by some type of counter , and the number of counts is converted into convenient units, usually seconds, minutes, hours, etc. Finally some kind of indicator displays the result in human readable form. The timekeeping element in every modern clock is a harmonic oscillator , a physical object ( resonator ) that vibrates or oscillates repetitively at
16744-421: The escapement had a great effect on the accuracy of the clock, and many escapement designs were tried. The higher Q of resonators in electronic clocks makes them relatively insensitive to the disturbing effects of the drive power, so the driving oscillator circuit is a much less critical component. This counts the pulses and adds them up to get traditional time units of seconds, minutes, hours, etc. It usually has
16905-463: The exact origin of the name is not known. The decade that followed became known as the vintage era and featured rapid technical advances over the preceding Brass Era cars . Engine performance benefited from the abandonment of " tax horsepower " (where vehicles were taxed based on bore and number of cylinders, rather than actual power output) and the introduction of leaded fuel , which increased power by allowing for higher compression ratios . In
17066-472: The first supercars . Other significant European models of the 1960s and 1970s which might be considered supercars today are the Ferrari 250 GTO (1962-1964), Ferrari 250 GT Lusso (1963-1964), Ferrari 275 GTB/4 (1966-1968), Maserati Ghibli (1967-1973), Ferrari Daytona (1968-1973), Dino 246 (1969-1974), De Tomaso Pantera (1971-1993), Ferrari 308 GTB (1975-1980) and BMW M1 (1978-1981). In 1966,
17227-528: The first World War by the R.A.C. , appealed to the public imagination and offered to the manufacturers of the more sporting cars an excellent opportunity for boosting sales of their products." The classic Italian road races— the Targa Florio , and the Mille Miglia (first held in 1927)— also captured the public's imagination. By 1925, the higher profits available for four-seater cars resulted in
17388-459: The first carillon clock as it plays music simultaneously with a person blinking his eyes, surprised by the singing birds. The Archimedes clock works with a system of four weights, counterweights, and strings regulated by a system of floats in a water container with siphons that regulate the automatic continuation of the clock. The principles of this type of clock are described by the mathematician and physicist Hero, who says that some of them work with
17549-547: The first quartz crystal oscillator was built by Walter G. Cady in 1921. In 1927 the first quartz clock was built by Warren Marrison and J.W. Horton at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Canada. The following decades saw the development of quartz clocks as precision time measurement devices in laboratory settings—the bulky and delicate counting electronics, built with vacuum tubes at the time, limited their practical use elsewhere. The National Bureau of Standards (now NIST ) based
17710-580: The fourth round, the team entered a third car under the name of Vitaphone Racing Team DHL, driven by Matteo Bobbi and Alessandro Pier Guidi , achieving good results: despite being only a one-car team, with a partial season involvement, they ended the Teams' Championship in fourth position (32 points), scoring a victory in the last round. With the inauguration of the FIA GT1 World Championship in 2010, Maserati continued their commitment to
17871-441: The invention of the pendulum clock . Galileo had the idea to use a swinging bob to regulate the motion of a time-telling device earlier in the 17th century. Christiaan Huygens , however, is usually credited as the inventor. He determined the mathematical formula that related pendulum length to time (about 99.4 cm or 39.1 inches for the one second movement) and had the first pendulum-driven clock made. The first model clock
18032-565: The invention of the verge escapement , which made possible the first mechanical clocks around 1300 in Europe, which kept time with oscillating timekeepers like balance wheels . Traditionally, in horology (the study of timekeeping), the term clock was used for a striking clock , while a clock that did not strike the hours audibly was called a timepiece . This distinction is not generally made any longer. Watches and other timepieces that can be carried on one's person are usually not referred to as clocks. Spring-driven clocks appeared during
18193-573: The late 1920s were AC Cars , Alfa Romeo , Alvis , Amilcar , Bignan and Samson, Chenard-Walcker , Delage , Hispano-Suiza , Hotchkiss , Mercedes-Benz and Nazzaro . Two cars from the Vintage Era that would influence sports cars for many years were the Austin Seven and MG M-type "Midget". Successful sports cars from Bentley during this era were the Bentley 3 Litre (1921-1929) and
18354-616: The manufacturers cup went to Aston Martin. Vitaphone Racing again won the GT1 Teams' Championship in the 2007 season on 115 points, followed by fellow MC12 team Scuderia Playteam on 63 points. JMB Racing also entered two MC12s, but they were used by amateur drivers competing in the Citation Cup, which was won by JMB's driver Ben Aucott. Maserati also won the Manufacturers' Cup by a significant margin while Thomas Biagi won
18515-518: The mass-produced cars upon which they were based. The highest selling sports car company of the 1930s was Morris Garages , who produced 'MG Midget' models of the M-Type , J-Type , P-Type and T-Type . The K3 version of the K-Type Magnette was a successful racing car, achieving success in the Mille Miglia , Tourist Trophy and 24 Hours of Le Mans . The Bugatti Type 57 (1934-1940)
18676-404: The mechanical clock in the 13th century initiated a change in timekeeping methods from continuous processes, such as the motion of the gnomon 's shadow on a sundial or the flow of liquid in a water clock, to periodic oscillatory processes, such as the swing of a pendulum or the vibration of a quartz crystal , which had the potential for more accuracy. All modern clocks use oscillation. Although
18837-422: The mechanisms they use vary, all oscillating clocks, mechanical, electric, and atomic, work similarly and can be divided into analogous parts. They consist of an object that repeats the same motion over and over again, an oscillator , with a precisely constant time interval between each repetition, or 'beat'. Attached to the oscillator is a controller device, which sustains the oscillator's motion by replacing
18998-603: The medieval Latin word for 'bell'— clocca —and has cognates in many European languages. Clocks spread to England from the Low Countries , so the English word came from the Middle Low German and Middle Dutch Klocke . The word is also derived from the Middle English clokke , Old North French cloque , or Middle Dutch clocke , all of which mean 'bell'. The apparent position of
19159-537: The middle of the vehicle ( MR layout ). Examples of FR layout sports cars include the Caterham 7 , Mazda MX-5 , and the Dodge Viper . Examples of MR layout sports cars are the Ferrari 488 , Ford GT , and Toyota MR2 . To avoid a front-heavy weight distribution , many FR layout sports cars are designed so that the engine is located further back in the engine bay, as close to the firewall as possible. Since
19320-456: The moon, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. Directly above the 24-hour dial is the dial of the Primum Mobile , so called because it reproduces the diurnal motion of the stars and the annual motion of the sun against the background of stars. Each of the 'planetary' dials used complex clockwork to produce reasonably accurate models of the planets' motion. These agreed reasonably well both with Ptolemaic theory and with observations. Wallingford's clock had
19481-418: The more extreme Enzo. It's even more forgiving at the limit than an Acura NSX ." When Automobile Magazine tested an MC12, reviewer Preston Lerner called it "user-friendly", praising the responsiveness and simplicity of driving. Lerner approved of Frank Stephenson 's work with the styling of both the car's exterior and interior, calling the trim "Speed-Racer-ish" but "without looking as though it belongs in
19642-544: The most common layout for sports cars was a roadster (a two-seat car without a fixed roof). However, there are also several examples of early sports cars with four seats. Sports cars are not usually intended to transport more than two adult occupants regularly, so most modern sports cars are generally two-seat or 2+2 layout (two smaller rear seats for children or occasional adult use). Larger cars with more spacious rear-seat accommodation are usually considered sports sedans rather than sports cars. The 1993-1998 McLaren F1
19803-497: The motions of all the known planets, an automatic calendar of fixed and movable feasts , and an eclipse prediction hand rotating once every 18 years. It is not known how accurate or reliable these clocks would have been. They were probably adjusted manually every day to compensate for errors caused by wear and imprecise manufacture. Water clocks are sometimes still used today, and can be examined in places such as ancient castles and museums. The Salisbury Cathedral clock , built in 1386,
19964-482: The next thirty years before submitting it for examination. The clock had many innovations, including the use of bearings to reduce friction, weighted balances to compensate for the ship's pitch and roll in the sea and the use of two different metals to reduce the problem of expansion from heat. The chronometer was tested in 1761 by Harrison's son and by the end of 10 weeks the clock was in error by less than 5 seconds. The British had dominated watch manufacture for much of
20125-701: The ninth round, the team fielded a third car under the name of Team Vitasystem , driven by Pedro Lamy and Matteo Bobbi which scored one point. JMB Racing retained a single MC12 for 2007 Citation Cup winner Ben Aucott and drivers Peter Kutemann and Alain Ferté, competing in the first five events of the championship. In the 2009 season the Vitaphone Racing won the fifth consecutive Team Championship, while Bertolini and Bartels gained their third Drivers' Championship. The other two drivers were Miguel Ramos and Alex Müller , who ended in sixth position. Starting from
20286-754: The notable exception of the Porsche 911 . The front-wheel drive layout with the engine at the front ( FF layout ) is generally the most common for cars, but it is not as common among traditional sports cars. Nonetheless, the FF layout is used by sport compacts and hot hatches such as the Mazdaspeed3 . Sports cars with an FF layout include the Fiat Barchetta , Saab Sonett , or Opel Tigra . The ancestor of all high-performance cars had its origin in Germany. The 28-h.p. Cannstatt-Daimler racing car of 1899
20447-501: The oldest time-measuring instruments, with the only exception being the day-counting tally stick . Given their great antiquity, where and when they first existed is not known and is perhaps unknowable. The bowl-shaped outflow is the simplest form of a water clock and is known to have existed in Babylon and Egypt around the 16th century BC. Other regions of the world, including India and China, also have early evidence of water clocks, but
20608-526: The originals, making a total of 50 cars available for customers. With the addition of 12 cars produced for racing, a total of just 62 were ever produced. Maserati designed and built the car on the chassis of the Ferrari Enzo , but the final car is much larger and has a lower drag coefficient, along with being longer, wider and taller and has a sharper nose and smoother curves than the Enzo. The Enzo had quicker acceleration, shorter braking distance , and
20769-456: The philosophy of achieving performance through minimizing weight and has been rated as one of the top 10 sports cars of the 1960s. The Elan featured fibreglass bodies, a backbone chassis, and overhead camshaft engines. A different style of roadster was the AC Cobra , released in 1962, which was fitted with V8 engines up to 7.0 L (427 cu in) in size by Shelby . The Porsche 911
20930-420: The principle of the use of water-power for the driving mechanism has always been the same. The heavens move without ceasing but so also does water flow (and fall). Thus if the water is made to pour with perfect evenness, then the comparison of the rotary movements (of the heavens and the machine) will show no discrepancy or contradiction; for the unresting follows the unceasing. Song was also strongly influenced by
21091-423: The production of two-seat sports cars being limited to smaller manufacturers such as Aston-Martin (350 Astons built from 1921 to 1939) and Frazer-Nash (323 cars built from 1924 to 1939). Then by the late 1920s, the cost of producing racing cars (especially Grand Prix cars) escalated, causing more manufacturers to produce cars for the growing sports car market instead. Significant manufacturers of sports cars in
21252-418: The prototype mechanical clocks that appeared during the 13th century in Europe. In Europe, between 1280 and 1320, there was an increase in the number of references to clocks and horologes in church records, and this probably indicates that a new type of clock mechanism had been devised. Existing clock mechanisms that used water power were being adapted to take their driving power from falling weights. This power
21413-464: The race). In 2006 the only team representing Maserati was Vitaphone Racing. On September 30, 2006, Vitaphone secured the Teams' Championship for the 2006 season despite their drivers placing 5th and 7th in the Budapest 500 km race with weight penalties of 85 kilograms and 105 kilograms respectively. Bertolini and Bartels also shared first place in the Drivers' Championship on 71 points but
21574-472: The rear. The brakes are Brembo disc brakes with a Bosch anti-lock braking system (ABS). The front brakes have a diameter of 380 mm (15 in) with six-piston calipers and the rear brakes have a diameter of 335 mm (13.2 in) with four-piston calipers. The centre-lock wheel nuts that hold the wheels to the chassis are colour-coded; red on the left of the car, blue on the right. The car has generally received mixed reviews, with critics saying it
21735-422: The road going MC12. The MC12 Versione Corse shares the GT1's shortened nose, which was a requirement for entry into the American Le Mans Series . The car was available in a single standard colour, named "Blue Victory", though the car's paint could be customized upon request. The MC12 Versione Corse possesses steel/carbon racing brakes, but is not fitted with an anti-lock braking system . The Maserati Birdcage 75th
21896-737: The safety of a race track", as stated by Edward Butler, General Manager for Maserati in Australia and New Zealand. In similar fashion to the Ferrari FXX , although the owners are private individuals, Maserati is responsible for the storage, upkeep, and maintenance of the cars, and they are only driven on specially organized track days . Unlike the FXX, Versione Corses are not used for research and development, and are used only for entertainment. Three Maserati MC12 Versione Corses were converted to road legal use by German tuning firm Edo Competition and feature
22057-629: The series with two teams entering. Vitaphone Racing Team , the defending FIA GT Champions, won five races en route to the Drivers' and Teams' World Championships. The second team representing Maserati was Alfrid Heger's Triple H Team Hegersport . MC12s have had great success racing in Italy, and have replaced the GT3 " Maserati Trofeo Light " as Maserati's representative in the Italian GT Championship . In 2005 Maserati introduced two MC12s to
22218-558: The sporting events of the period, bringing renown to successful entrants. The Prince Henry Tours started the evolution of reasonably large and technically advanced production sports cars. In England, the development of sporting cars was inhibited by the Motor Car Act 1903 , which imposed a speed limit of 20 mph (32 km/h) on all public roads. This led to the 1907 opening of the Brooklands motor circuit , which inspired
22379-408: The sports car is traced to the early 20th century touring cars and roadsters , and the term 'sports car' would not be coined until after World War One. A car considered to be "a sports-car years ahead of its time" is the 1903 Mercedes Simplex 60 hp , described at the time as a fast touring car and designed by Wilhelm Maybach and Paul Daimler . The Mercedes included pioneering features such as
22540-476: The sports car, but also the most important and diverse technical developments [and] very rapid and genuine improvement in the qualities of every modern production car; assisted by new design and manufacturing techniques a consistently higher level of handling properties has been achieved." In Italy, a small but wealthy market segment allowed for the manufacture of a limited number of high-performance models directly allied to contemporary Grand Prix machines, such as
22701-476: The spring or raise the weight of a mechanical clock would be classified as an electromechanical clock . This classification would also apply to clocks that employ an electrical impulse to propel the pendulum. In electromechanical clocks the electricity serves no time keeping function. These types of clocks were made as individual timepieces but more commonly used in synchronized time installations in schools, businesses, factories, railroads and government facilities as
22862-567: The start of the final race of 2005: Karl Wendlinger and Andrea Bertolini each on 71 points and Timo Scheider and Michael Bartels on 70. Gabriele Gardel of Ferrari was also on 70 points, however, and in the crucial race he placed ahead of all of the Maseratis, driving an older Ferrari 550 Maranello . Gardel took the title, leaving all of the Maserati drivers within four points of first place (Scheider and Wendlinger receiving four points for
23023-496: The team managed to take second and third places. At the next round at Oschersleben , the MC12 of Andrea Bertolini and Mika Salo won for the first time. At the final round of the year at Zhuhai , the FIA finally agreed to homologate the MC12s and allow them to score points towards the championship. With this, the MC12 again took victory, allowing it to score enough points to finish 7th in the teams championship. In 2005 Maserati won
23184-627: The thrill of driving, and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1910s and are currently produced by many manufacturers around the world. Definitions of sports cars often relate to how the car design is optimised for dynamic performance, without any specific minimum requirements; both a Triumph Spitfire and Ferrari 488 Pista can be considered sports cars, despite vastly different levels of performance. Broader definitions of sports cars include cars "in which performance takes precedence over carrying capacity", or that emphasise
23345-488: The time in various time systems, including Italian hours , canonical hours, and time as measured by astronomers at the time. Both styles of clocks started acquiring extravagant features, such as automata . In 1283, a large clock was installed at Dunstable Priory in Bedfordshire in southern England; its location above the rood screen suggests that it was not a water clock. In 1292, Canterbury Cathedral installed
23506-540: The time standard of the United States on quartz clocks from late 1929 until the 1960s, when it changed to atomic clocks. In 1969, Seiko produced the world's first quartz wristwatch , the Astron . Their inherent accuracy and low cost of production resulted in the subsequent proliferation of quartz clocks and watches. Currently, atomic clocks are the most accurate clocks in existence. They are considerably more accurate than quartz clocks as they can be accurate to within
23667-427: The timing of services and public events) and for modeling the solar system. The former purpose is administrative; the latter arises naturally given the scholarly interests in astronomy, science, and astrology and how these subjects integrated with the religious philosophy of the time. The astrolabe was used both by astronomers and astrologers, and it was natural to apply a clockwork drive to the rotating plate to produce
23828-478: The war, but a small number of manufacturers returned it to prominence. In 1948, the Porsche 356 was released as the debut model from Porsche. The significance of the Porsche 356 and its successors was described in 1957 as "future historians must see them as among the most important of mid-century production cars". The 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL is another significant car from this era. The 1961 Jaguar E-Type
23989-415: Was a pioneering all-wheel drive sports car. The 1995 Porsche 911 Turbo (993) saw the 911 Turbo model switch to all-wheel drive, a drivetrain layout that the model uses to this day. The BMW M3 was released in 1986 and has been produced for every generation since. The 1993-1996 Mercedes-Benz W124 E36 AMG was the mass-produced AMG model. Audi's equivalent division, called "RS", was launched in 1994 with
24150-684: Was an unusual arrangement for a car used to compete in rallying, nonetheless it was very successful and won the World Rally Championship in 1974 , 1975 , and 1976 . The Lancia Montecarlo was produced from 1975 to 1981 and is a mid-engine two-seater, available as a coupé or a targa-top. It was sold as Lancia Scorpion in the USA. Its racing variant, Montecarlo Turbo, won the 1979 World Championship for Makes in its division and overall for 1980 World Championship for Makes and 1981 World Endurance Championship for Makes . Montecarlo also won
24311-627: Was another significant sports car of the pre-war era and is now among the most valuable cars in the world. The T57 was successful in sports car races, including winning the 1937 24 Hours of Le Mans and 1939 24 Hours of Le Mans . Another successful Bugatti sports car was the Bugatti Type 55 (1932-1935), which was based on the Type 51 Grand Prix racing car. The decade following the Second World War saw an "immense growth of interest in
24472-470: Was built in 1657 in the Hague , but it was in England that the idea was taken up. The longcase clock (also known as the grandfather clock ) was created to house the pendulum and works by the English clockmaker William Clement in 1670 or 1671. It was also at this time that clock cases began to be made of wood and clock faces to use enamel as well as hand-painted ceramics. In 1670, William Clement created
24633-554: Was controlled by some form of oscillating mechanism, probably derived from existing bell-ringing or alarm devices. This controlled release of power – the escapement – marks the beginning of the true mechanical clock, which differed from the previously mentioned cogwheel clocks. The verge escapement mechanism appeared during the surge of true mechanical clock development, which did not need any kind of fluid power, like water or mercury, to work. These mechanical clocks were intended for two main purposes: for signalling and notification (e.g.,
24794-485: Was in 1928. Sports cars started to become popular during the 1920s. The term initially described two-seat roadsters (cars without a fixed roof), however, since the 1970s the term has also been used for cars with a fixed roof (which were previously considered grand tourers ). Attributing the definition of 'sports car' to any particular model can be controversial or the subject of debate among enthusiasts. Authors and experts have often contributed their ideas to capture
24955-414: Was introduced during the 17th century and had distinct advantages over the 'countwheel' (or 'locking plate') mechanism. During the 20th century there was a common misconception that Edward Barlow invented rack and snail striking. In fact, his invention was connected with a repeating mechanism employing the rack and snail. The repeating clock , that chimes the number of hours (or even minutes) on demand
25116-446: Was invented by either Quare or Barlow in 1676. George Graham invented the deadbeat escapement for clocks in 1720. A major stimulus to improving the accuracy and reliability of clocks was the importance of precise time-keeping for navigation. The position of a ship at sea could be determined with reasonable accuracy if a navigator could refer to a clock that lost or gained less than about 10 seconds per day. This clock could not contain
25277-694: Was produced until 1980. Other successful lightweight roadsters include the Triumph Spitfire (1962-1980) and the Alfa Romeo Spider (1966-1993). The Fiat X1/9 (1972-1989) was unusual for its use of a mid-engine design in an affordable roadster model. A late entrant to the affordable roadster market was the 1975 Triumph TR7 , however by the late 1970s the demand for this style of car was in decline, resulting in production ceasing in 1982. The original Lotus Elan (1962-1975) two-seat coupe and roadster models are an early commercial success for
25438-675: Was released in 1964 and has remained in production since. The 911 is notable for its use of the uncommon rear-engine design and the use of a flat-six engine . Another successful rear-engine sports car was the original Alpine A110 (1961-1977), which was a successful rally car during the Group 4 era. In 1965, the BMW New Class Coupes were released, leading to the BMW 6 Series which remains in production to this day. The Lamborghini Miura (1966) and Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale (1967) mid-engined high-performance cars are often cited as
25599-580: Was still 66 mm (2.6 in) too wide. In 2005 the governing body of the ALMS, the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), allowed the MC12s to compete as a guest with the agreement that they were not allowed to score championship points and were forced to run a weight penalty. Some ALMS teams initially objected to the participation of the MC12 due to the possibility that an accident could eliminate their chances at
25760-420: Was transferred through the spread of trade. Pre-modern societies do not have the same precise timekeeping requirements that exist in modern industrial societies, where every hour of work or rest is monitored and work may start or finish at any time regardless of external conditions. Instead, water clocks in ancient societies were used mainly for astrological reasons. These early water clocks were calibrated with
25921-417: Was without a doubt the first attempt to give real performance to a road car. Many of its features, such as a honeycomb radiator and gate gear change, were continued on the much improved version which Paul Daimler designed in 1899-1900. This was of course the famous Mercedes. It also laid down standards of chassis design which were to be followed, almost unthinkingly, for the next thirty years. Several variants of
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