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None of them ran without a carburetor ...

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Created on June 1, 1973

Text:

Richard von Frankenberg

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

13

Bruno von Rotz

7

RM/Sotheby's

1

Balz Schreier

1

Artcurial

1

Courtesy of Bonhams

1

Romeo Gross

1

Archiv

24

Daniel Reinhard

13

Bruno von Rotz

7

RM/Sotheby's

1

Balz Schreier

1

Artcurial

1

Courtesy of Bonhams

1

Romeo Gross

1

Archiv

24

Jaguar E Type Coupé (1965) - the three SU carburetors

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Functionality of an early carburetor

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Brush carburetor by Siegfired Marcus from the year 1888

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Surface carburetor as used by Daimler in 1886

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August Horch's carburetor from 1903 with its own float chamber

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Solex downdraft carburetor from 1933 with idle mixture regulation and starting device

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Double rising-flow carburetor from 1915 with water preheating and two float chambers

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Advertisement for Marvel carburetor from 1910

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Zenith carburetor from 1910 with main and correction jet and slide on the air intake as a starting aid

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Solex (1954) - Advertisement from 1954

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Solex carburetor - Advertising from the year 1950

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Solex carburetor - advertising from 1969

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Solex shows the history of the carburetor - Geneva Motor Show 1959

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Weber carburetors - Sports models from Bologna - Geneva Motor Show 1958

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Solex carburetors, as used in Ferrari - Geneva Motor Show 1958

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Accessories - Intake manifold for Weber carburetor - Geneva Motor Show 1968

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Solex carburetors enable higher performance - Geneva Motor Show 1959

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Volvo P 1800 S (1962) - the two SU carburetors are clearly visible

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Singer Nine Le Mans (1935) - the SU carburetors characterize the faster version

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MG Midget Series TF (1954) - hood open on the right - two SU carburettors

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 from 1963 - The in-line six-cylinder with three SU carburetors

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Alfa Romeo Giulia Tubolare Zagato - Weber carburetor

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Invicta S-Type Tourer 4.5 Litre (1932) - six-cylinder OHV engine seen from the right, a plaque with the setting data between the SU carburetors at the top

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Jaguar XK 120 (1952) - the in-line six-cylinder engine of the XK 120 and the Mark VII with two overhead camshafts and two SU carburetors

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Austin-Healey 3000 (1964) - 150 DIN horsepower were texted for the engine presented with two SU carburetors

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Atalanta Sport Tourer (1938) - two SU carburetors mounted on the left-hand side

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Impressions from the Grossglockner Grand Prix 2012 - three Solex carburetors in a row in the Veritas RS

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Peerless GT 2 Litre (1959) - this example has Weber carburetors for better power delivery - a common tuning approach

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Lancia Flaminia Sport Zagato (1960) - the V6 engine with Weber carburetor equipment

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Aston Martin DB 2 (1951) - The in-line six-cylinder engine of the Le Mans racing car with Weber carburetors

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Aston Martin DB4 GT Jet Bertone (1960) - Weber carburetors are responsible for mixture preparation

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Alfa Romeo 6 C 2500 (1951) - the three carburetors of the Super Sport engine

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Alvis TF21 Graber Super (1966) - three SU carburetors for the six-cylinder - at the British Car Meeting 2013 in Mollis

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Ferrari 365 GTC/4 (1971) - four camshafts and six Weber twin-body carburetors

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Austin-Healey 100 S (1955) - two SU carburetors

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Opel Kadett A Italsuisse Spider (1964) - the one-liter engine comes from the Kadett, it was given more power with two Solex carburetors

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Triumph Italia 2000 GT (1960) - two SU carburetors, 1991 cm3, 100 hp

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Triumph Spitfire 4 (1963) - in-line four-cylinder with two SU carburetors

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AC Ace Bristol (1960) - six cylinders in line, three Solex carburetors

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Ferrari 315 S / 335 S (1957) - the six carburetors are from Solex

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Jensen 541 (1956) - with three SU carburetors

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Porsche 914-6 (1970) - one Weber triple carburetor 40 IDT hp per cylinder bank

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Rover 3500 V8 (1970) - SU carburetor for mixture preparation

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Cromard Special (1950) - Weber carburetor mounted on the side

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Aston Martin DB6 Vantage Volante (1969) - Vantage version with Weber carburetors

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Lamborghini Islero S (1969) - Weber carburetor battery

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - the powerful versions had Weber carburetors and up to 60 hp

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Alvis TC 108G Graber Special (1957) - SU carburetor

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Alvis TC 108G Graber Special (1957) - two SU carburetors provide the mixture preparation

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Summary

Before fuel injection became the standard, carburetors were the most common way of supplying an engine with the air-fuel mixture it needed to run. From the early days of the automobile, carburetor development went hand in hand with engine development. Carburetor technology reached its peak in the 1960s, when it was already on the verge of being replaced by fuel injection. Today, there are fewer and fewer specialists and experts who are familiar with traditional technology. This report looks back at the beginnings of carburetor technology ...

This article contains the following chapters

Hardly any carburetor factory has survived
Difficult beginnings
The transition to the spray nozzle
Towards specialization
Multiplication
And then there was the downdraft carburetor
Economizers?

Estimated reading time: 10min

Preview (beginning of the article)

When you still had to bring some technical knowledge to the driving test, the driving instructor used to explain the carburetor thoroughly. He liked to say that the carburetor worked just like a perfume atomizer, except that it wasn't perfume but petrol that was carried along and swirled by the air. At the latest when you went into a workshop and the mechanics presented carburetor adjustment as a kind of secret science that was only accessible to a few, you realized that a carburetor obviously works a little more complicated than a perfume atomizer. Building carburetors and understanding carburetors - that has long since become a science in itself. "The carburetor," as Professor Pierburg once tried to define it, "has the task of supplying the engine with a precisely metered air-fuel mixture at any speed, under any load and in any atmospheric condition. This is necessary because air-fuel mixtures are only ignitable in a very specific composition, for example between mixing ratios of 7 to 19 kg of air per kilogram of fuel, and because economical operation of the engine is only guaranteed if the air-fuel mixture is leaned down to the limit that the engine can still tolerate."

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