Ford Taunus P1 for any Ford vehicle, having been patent-protected by a German bicycle manufacturer. Therefore by the time Ford’s radical new car came to market it arrived under the name “Ford Taunus 12M”. The “12” in the name referred to the engine size of 1.2 litres and the “M” was the only part of the “Meisterstück” name available to Ford. During development it was intended that the car would be powered by a 1,498 cc engine. This was in many respects the engine that had originally been intended for the previous Ford Taunus first produced in 1939, but now it was to
Ardex (car manufacturer) Ardex (car manufacturer) Ardex was a small French automobile manufacturer controlled by Marcel Tamine and based in Nanterre. In 1934, Ardex produced its first cyclecar, which followed the form of the Morgan three-wheeler and was powered by a V2 500 cc engine. A four-wheel car followed in 1937 which was at the time the cheapest car on the French market, priced at 5,500 francs: 10,900 francs were needed to buy a Simca 5. In September 1939 France declared war on Germany and in June 1940 the German Army rapidly invaded and occupied Northern France. The war years were characterised by