The Alfa Romeo 147 is an Italian automobile produced in three- and five-door models since 2001 when it was voted European Car of the Year, before undergoing revisions in 2005. The Alfa Romeo 147 is marketed as a stylish family car and is powered by a 1.9 litre four-cylinder engine providing a top speed of 129 mph, acceleration of 0 to 60 mph in just under nine seconds and a combined fuel consumption of almost 48 mpg. The Alfa Romeo 147 has been plagued by reliability issues and in October 2003 models were recalled due to a fire risk caused by an engine bay wiring short circuit on cars built between January 2002 and April 2003. Another recall occurred in April 2004 due to the power-assisted steering which could fail on GTAs made between November 2000 and March 2003. In May 2005 another recall occurred due to fuel leaks discovered on cars built between May and September 2004, in September 2006 a braking fault was discovered with the space-saver spare fitted on non-GTAs made between June 2004 and February 2006 resulting in a recall of these vehicles and in October 2006 clutch issues were discovered on vehicles made between March 2003 and October 2005. Research Alfa Romeo 147
The Allard J2/J2X was a British sports car produced in 1949 by Sydney Allard of south London. They were powered by a 5420 cc Ford V-eight engine providing 180 bhp and a top speed of 209 kmh and acceleration of 0-60 mph in 5.9 seconds. Research Allard J2
The Aston Martin V8 Vantage is a British hand-crafted two-seater sports car produced in a coupe and a soft-top convertible roadster model, both powered by a 4.7-litre V8 engine delivering 420 bhp providing a top speed of 180 mph and acceleration of 0 to 60 mph in just under five seconds. The Aston Martin V8 Vantage has a six-speed manual gear box and is rear-wheel drive. Research Aston Martin V8 Vantage
The Ferrari F430 is an Italian two-seater sports car first produced in 2004. The Ferrari F430 is powered by a 4.3 litre V 8 mid engine producing 490 bhp (the Scuderia model produces 510 bhp) providing a top speed of 196 mph and an acceleration of 0 to 60 in four seconds and a combined fuel economy of 15.4 mpg. The Ferrari F430 is produced in a Coupe, Scuderia, Spider and standard model. Research Ferrari F430
The Lotus Elan was a British sports car first sold in 1962 both as a ready-built vehicle and in self-assembly kit form. Various models of Lotus Elan were produced between 1962 and 1973, with an in-line four twin-cam engine providing a top speed of about 116 mph. The Lotus Elan was renowned fior its fast acceleration, balance, reliability and good handling abilities. Research Lotus Elan
The Lotus Exige is a British two-door, rear-wheel drive sports car powered by a transverse, mid-mounted in-line four-cylinder, 1796 cc engine and a six-speed manual transmission providing acceleration of 0 to 60 mph in 4.1 seconds and a top speed of 148 mph with a fuel consumption ranging between 23 and 39 mpg depending upon the environment. Typical of Lotus sports car, the handling is excellent, with independent double wishbone with coil springs over monotube dampers suspension, making the Exige capable of steering at speed through sharp corners where other vehicles career off the road. Research Lotus Exige
The Morgan Roadster V6 is a British, hand-crafted two-seater sports car first produced in 2004 and modelled on the 1930's sports car style. The Morgan Roadster V6 is powered by a three litreJaguar engine providing a top speed of 134 mph and an acceleration of 0 to 60 in just under five seconds and a combined fuel economy of 29 mpg. Critics of the Morgan Roadster V6 complain that the interior is inferior, with plasticbuttons and a plastic steering column which detract from the walnut dashboard and steering wheel and are 'reminiscent of a Ford Mondeo'. The Morgan Roadster V6 lacks power steering which makes steering difficult, but it handles well on country roads. Research Morgan Roadster V6
The Suzuki T 350 was a Japanese motorcycle manufactured between 1969 and 1973. The original Suzuki T 350 was powered by a single cylinder piston port two-stroke air-cooled 315 cc engine providing a top speed of about 90 mph and an acceleration to 60 mph from standing of about 6.2 seconds. Later models were fitted with a parallel twin, piston-valve sleeved aluminum 2-stroke engine. Research Suzuki T 350
George Attwood F.R.S. was an English mathematician. He was born in 1745 and died in 1807. He is best known by his invention, called after him Attwood's Machine, for verifying the laws of falling bodies. It consists essentially of a freely moving pulley over which runs a fine cord with two equal weights suspended from the ends. A small additional weight is laid upon one of them, causing it to descend with uniformacceleration. Means are provided by which the added weight can be removed at any point of the descent, thus allowing the motion to continue from this point onward with uniformvelocity. Research George Attwood
Johann Franx Encke was a German astronomer. He was born in 1791 at Hamburg and died in 1865. He studied under Karl Gauss at Gottingen and during the war of Liberation (1813-1815) he served as artillerist in the German army, and after the peace became assistant in the observatory of Seeberg, near Gotha and later became director successively of the observatories of Seeberg in 1822 and Berlin in 1825. He vastly improved the ephemeris of Berlin, guided the execution of the great star-maps of the Berlin Academy and superintended the erection of the new Berlin observatory in 1832. While at Seeberg he calculated the orbit of the comet observed by Mechain, Caroline Herschel, and Rons, predicted its return, and detected a gradualacceleration of movement, ascribed by him to the presence of a resisting medium. The comet is now known as Encke's comet. The fame of his works Die Entfernung der Sonne (The Distance of the Sun) and Der Venusdurchgang von 1769 (Transit of Venus of 1769) led to his appointment as director of the Berlin Observatory, a position which he held until his death in 1865. Research Johann Encke
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Abbreviations
Research Alfa Romeo 147
