Ariès

The Ariès was a French automobile manufactured by La Société des Automobile Ariès in Asnières-sur-Seine. The firm was founded in 1902 by Baron Charles Petiet. The decision to end production was taken in 1937. Around 20,000 vehicles were produced in total.

The first cars were two- and four-cylinder vehicles built 20 chassis at a time in a large factory. These shaft-drive cars had a rather unusual double rear axle, while the engines were built by Aster.

In 1907 the company made its own narrow-angle V4 engine with desmodromic valves. The engine had a single cast iron T-head monobloc on a light alloy crankcase. This contained four cylinders in a square layout with a narrow 15° vee angle. Bore and stroke were 60 by 100mm, giving a capacity of 1.13 litres. It was rated at 8/10 fiscal horsepower. The crankshaft was short with disk webs, two main bearings and fork-and-blade connecting rods. Crankpins and main journals were held in the webs by tapers and a shallow nut, giving the effect of an undercut crankshaft. This made the engine extremely compact overall, 310 millimetres (12.2 in) long, 290 millimetres (11.3 in) wide and 570 millimetres (22.4 in) tall. The intention was to offer this compact engine as a replacement that would fit into a wide range of other vehicles. The crankshaft was drilled for a pressure oil feed to the crankpins, an advanced feature for this time, but the pistons and gudgeon pins were still lubricated by splash.