Type 57 engine

Chenard-Walcker
Car : Chenard-Walcker
Year : 1926
Engine : 4 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke : 66×80 mm
Cylinder capacity : 1095 cc
Gears : 4 forward
Brake horse power :-
Maximum speed : 93 mph
Wheelbase : –
Suspension : front and rear : semi-elliptic leaf- springs ;
Chenard-Walcker has an important place in the history of racing through its victory with Lagache and Leonard in the first Le Mans 24 Hour race in 1923 though the firm did not concentrate solely on racing. It was founded in 1898 at Asnières and it latter moved to Gennevilliers taking the name of Société Anonymedes Anciens Etablissements Chenard & Walcker.

The Chenard-Walcker car pictured here won its class in the 1925 Le Mans 24 Hour. In 1926 it was awarded the Coupe Boillot at Boulogne and its class in the Spanish G.P. of the same year. A feature of this car was its unattractive but functional tank shaped body which brought back memories of similar Bugatti and Voisin bodies. The tank’s 4-cylinder engine had overhead valves, only two main bearings and it had oversized inlet valves. Some versions were also supercharged and this raised the maximum speed to more than 105 mph (more than 93 mph in a non-supercharged engine). This French firm gave up racing in 1927, returning to it ten year later in the 1937 Le Mans 24 Hour, but by then it had lost its individuality and its reputation of being unbeatable. Car production ceased in 1946 and in 1951 it was absorbed by Peugeot.