CarBrandLogos archive · Panhard · 1936

PanhardDynamic

Streamlined art deco, sleeve-valve six, and the driver seated in the middle.

The story

A defining chapter in Panhard history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Panhard Dynamic, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Panhard had been building cars since before most of its rivals existed, and the Dynamic of 1936 was its last statement in the grand class. Louis Bionier's body is one of the strangest of the decade: fully streamlined with faired-in headlamps, spatted wheels front and rear, a scalloped chrome band running the length of the flank, and three windscreen wipers.

MHV P&L Dynamic 1937 01 · Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain

Design and engineering

Inside was the detail everyone remembers. The steering wheel sat in the centre of the car, with room for a passenger either side, on the argument that it gave the driver the best possible view and equal symmetry on either hand. Customers disliked it enough that Panhard moved the wheel to the left in 1939.

1938 Panhard Dynamic-interior · dave_7 · CC BY-SA 2.0

In production

Under the bonnet was the Knight-type sleeve-valve six that Panhard had persisted with long after everyone else abandoned it, in capacities from 2.5 to 3.8 litres, giving a quiet, smooth, oil-burning engine of considerable complexity.

Panhard Dynamic · Alf van Beem · CC0

Legacy

Only 2,742 were built before the war ended production in 1940, and Panhard never returned to large cars. Everything it made afterwards was small, front-wheel drive and powered by a flat-twin, which makes the Dynamic the end of one company and the Dyna X the beginning of another.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1936–1940

Units built

2,742

Engine

2516 cc - 3834 cc sleeve-valve I6

Designer

Louis Bionier

Technical specification

The Dynamic, in detail.

Production: 1936–1940; 2,742 produced
Class: Large car
Body style: 4-door saloon; 4-door “6-light” saloon; 2-door coupé ; 2-door cabriolet
Layout: Front engine, rear-wheel drive
Engine: 2516 cc - 3834 cc sleeve-valve I6
Designer: Louis Bionier
Assembly: Porte d'Ivry district, Paris
Manufacturer: Société des Anciens Etablissements Panhard et Levassor