Zeta (automobile)

Zeta is a marque of automobile which was produced in Australia from 1963 to 1965 by South Australian manufacturing company Lightburn and Co.

An established manufacturer of cement mixers and washing machines, Lightburn and Co. built the cars in its factory in the Adelaide suburb of Camden Park. The first Zeta model was introduced in 1963 at a price of £595. Production ceased in 1965 with the last vehicles sold in 1966 and total sales of fewer than 400 vehicles.

Models

Zeta cars were produced in the following models.

Lightburn also produced an electric 'mobility-scooter esque' runabout vehicle capable of carrying 2 adults and available in two models.

Features

Sedan & Utility

The Zeta Sedan, (also known as the Zeta Runabout) and Utility, were powered by a 324cc Villiers engine and were front wheel drive with independent rear trailing arms. The Sedan was not equipped with a rear hatch so access to the cargo area required removal of the front seats, the ease of which was advertised as a positive feature. The chassis was steel, with a fibreglass body enclosing a large but sparse interior. Windows were perspex except for the front windscreen which was laminated glass. The doors were steel with sliding perspex windows.

Car

A car is a wheeled, self-powered motor vehicle used for transportation and a product of the automotive industry. Most definitions of the term specify that cars are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels with tyres, and to be constructed principally for the transport of people rather than goods. The year 1886 is regarded as the birth year of the modern car. In that year, German inventor Karl Benz built the Benz Patent-Motorwagen. Cars did not become widely available until the early 20th century. One of the first cars that was accessible to the masses was the 1908 Model T, an American car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. Cars were rapidly adopted in the United States of America, where they replaced animal-drawn carriages and carts, but took much longer to be accepted in Western Europe and other parts of the world.

Cars are equipped with controls used for driving, parking, passenger comfort and safety, and controlling a variety of lights. Over the decades, additional features and controls have been added to vehicles, making them progressively more complex. Examples include rear reversing cameras, air conditioning, navigation systems, and in car entertainment. Most cars in use in the 2010s are propelled by an internal combustion engine, fueled by deflagration of gasoline (also known as petrol) or diesel. Both fuels cause air pollution and are also blamed for contributing to climate change and global warming. Vehicles using alternative fuels such as ethanol flexible-fuel vehicles and natural gas vehicles are also gaining popularity in some countries. Electric cars, which were invented early in the history of the car, began to become commercially available in 2008.

Automobile (disambiguation)

An automobile or car is a kind of wheeled motor vehicle. Automobile may also refer to:

Zeta

Zeta (uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ; Greek: ζήτα, classical [d͡zɛ̂:ta] or [zdɛ̂:ta] zḗta, Modern Greek: [ˈzita] zíta) is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. It was derived from the Phoenician letter zayin . Letters that arose from zeta include the Roman Z and Cyrillic З.

Name

Unlike the other Greek letters, this letter did not take its name from the Phoenician letter from which it was derived; it was given a new name on the pattern of beta, eta and theta.

The word zeta is the ancestor of zed (UK) and zee (US), the names of the Latin letter Z in English. However, Swedish and many Romanic languages (such as Italian and Spanish), do not distinguish between the Greek and Roman forms of the letter; "zeta" is used to refer to the Roman letter Z as well as the Greek letter.

Uses

Letter

The letter ζ represents the voiced alveolar fricative /z/ in Modern Greek.

The sound represented by zeta in Classical Greek is disputed. See Ancient Greek phonology and Pronunciation of Ancient Greek in teaching.

Tropical Storm Zeta

Tropical Storm Zeta was a late-developing tropical storm over the central Atlantic that formed after the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season had officially ended (on November 30) and continued into January 2006. Becoming a tropical depression at approximately midnight on December 30 (UTC), it became the record-breaking thirtieth tropical cyclone of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season and after intensifying into Tropical Storm Zeta six hours later, it become the season's twenty-seventh named storm. Zeta was one of only two Atlantic tropical cyclones to span two calendar years (the other being Hurricane Alice in 1954–55).

Zeta originated from an area of low pressure on December 29, which previously developed within an upper-level trough. After becoming a tropical storm, the National Hurricane Center continually predicted it would weaken rapidly. Like the previous tropical cyclone, Hurricane Epsilon, Zeta defied these predictions. The storm reached its peak strength on January 2, 2006 before finally dissipating on January 6. As Zeta never approached land there was no impact from the storm other than minor shipping problems. Several ships encountered the storm, and several crews in the 2005 Atlantic Rowing Race were affected by rough seas and high winds.

Principality of Zeta

The Principality of Zeta was a medieval state ruled by the families of Balšić, Lazarević, Branković and Crnojević in succession from the second half of the 14th century until the Ottoman vassalage in 1514. The Serbian crown land of Zeta had become virtually independent during the fall of the Serbian Empire, when Balša and his sons wrestled the region by eliminating Žarko in Lower Zeta (1360), and then Đuraš Ilijić in Upper Zeta (1362).

Zeta under the Balšići

Zeta under the Lazarević

Zeta under the Branković

Zeta under the Crnojevići