{"id":18335,"date":"2025-05-16T07:55:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T10:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/?page_id=18335"},"modified":"2025-05-10T09:52:28","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T12:52:28","slug":"chenard-et-walcker-z1-speciale-tank-40-spark","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/chenard-et-walcker-z1-speciale-tank-40-spark\/","title":{"rendered":"Chenard et Walcker Z1 Sp\u00e9ciale \u201cTank\u201d #40 – Spark"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Z1<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
1937 Chenard et Walcker Z1 Sp\u00e9ciale \u201cTank\u201d #40<\/strong>
Pilots: G. Contet, C. Roux
Team:  Yves Giraud-Cabantous<\/em>
Race: DNF (2.0 class) at Le Mans in 1937<\/strong>
Spark - S8105 (resin)<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Published 05\/16\/25<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chenard, Walcker et Compagnie<\/em> (C&W), founded by Ernest Chenard and Henri Walcker, started operating in 1899. Their first product was a quadricycle, yet in 1900 they released their first car, the Type A<\/strong>. Powered by a 1160 cm\u00b3 two-cylinder engine designed in-house, the Type A was soon followed by the Type B. Business prospered, and by 1910 they were the ninth largest car maker in France. Though with a diverse automobile line, during WW I they began producing Hispano-Suiza aircraft engines. With the war over and life back to normal, they restarted their automobile production line. In 1922, designed by Henri Tout\u00e9e, C&W released the Type U3 15CV<\/strong><\/a>. Powered by a new 3.0 inline-4 SOHC engine, the new car was rated at 66 kW (90 hp). That was the basis for the 1923 Sport<\/strong> version, the car that C&W enrolled in the first Le Mans race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Z1
Chenard et Walcker went bankrupt in 1936, with French body manufacturer Chausson taking over.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Piloted by two C&W engineers, the U3 15CV Sport #9<\/a> came in first place overall at Le Mans. The following year they went to La Sarthe with a three-car factory team. Two cars finished in fourth and fifth, managing a first place in the S 2.0 class. The manufacturer continued to grow, and by 1925 they were France\u2019s fourth largest car company. Consequently, for the 1925 Le Mans race they came ready to conquer: a four-car factory team!  Two of these were \u201cnormal\u201d Type U 22CV Sport, a development of the 1923 U3 15CV. However, the other two were special<\/em>, also designed by Henri Tout\u00e9e, the Z1 Sp\u00e9ciale Tank<\/strong>. To create the new car, Tout\u00e9e took inspiration from the Bugatti Type 32 Tank<\/a>. His creation was in fact a test mule for C&W\u2019s future 1500 Y8 Tank, to be released in 1927.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Z1
The first GT prototype to race at La Sarthe, and in 1925?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The Z1 Sp\u00e9ciale had an aerodynamic and avant-garde design, with brakes on all four wheels. As a power plant, C&W used an inline-4 1094 cm\u00b3 engine, with the car weighing about 600 kg. The two Tanks, cars #49 and #50, finished respectively in 13th<\/sup> and 10th<\/sup>. They took home the Biennale and Triennale manufacturers\u2019 cups, and #50 won the S1.1 class. As a side note, 1925 was the first edition of Le Mans to have the \u201cLe Mans start\u201d. Despite the booming business (or perhaps because of that?), in 1926 C&W abandoned motorsports. However, that was not the end for the Z1 Sp\u00e9ciale. Twelve years later, Yves Giraud-Cabantous bought both cars. He tweaked the bodies some, and tuned the original 1.1 l engine, adding a supercharger to one of them. Unfortunately though, both cars DNF. Z1 Sp\u00e9ciale #41<\/a> lasted 151 laps, while #40 only lasted 32.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Z1
Ugly yet charming – a true clunker. And wheels with the positive camber that were the norm at the time. Point for Spark!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Looking at the car, I\u2019m not sure if I would call it dog-ugly or butt-ugly \ud83e\udd23. I know that the understanding of aerodynamics was pretty crude in the 20s and 30s, but come on\u2026 Just look at what Delage<\/a> could do in 1937. Aesthetics notwithstanding, the Z1 Sp\u00e9ciale is a VERY interesting car. Why? Because you can rightfully call it the first GT prototype<\/strong> to race at La Sarthe! Oh yes, it was a test mule for a future production car, ergo, a prototype \ud83d\ude09. Cool, huh? Moreover, Giraud-Cabantous tried two different body and engine configurations for 1937. Car #40 had a longer hood and a supercharged 1.1 engine, running in the S2.0 class. Conversely, #41 had the original 1925 hood and normal engine, racing in the S1.1 class. In scale, though dog-ugly, it\u2019s beautiful \ud83d\ude02. Spark nailed it*, and makes both #40 and # 41 cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PS: The model looks awesome, yet I didn\u2019t find pictures<\/a> of the real Z1 Sp\u00e9ciale #40 with aero hubcaps\u2026\ud83e\udd14<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
1937 Chenard et Walcker Z1 Sp\u00e9ciale \u201cTank\u201d #40Pilots: G. Contet, C. RouxTeam: Yves Giraud-CabantousRace: DNF (2.0 class) at Le Mans in 1937Spark – S8105 (resin) Published 05\/16\/25 Chenard, Walcker et Compagnie (C&W), founded by Ernest Chenard and Henri Walcker, started operating in 1899. Their first product was a quadricycle, yet in 1900 they released their … Continue reading “Chenard et Walcker Z1 Sp\u00e9ciale \u201cTank\u201d #40 – Spark”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-18335","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18335"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18508,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18335\/revisions\/18508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}