Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/08/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]In a message dated 08/11/1999 4:57:54 PM Central Daylight Time, rrubey19@idt.net writes: << With reference to the great reverence that some Leica fans have for the quality of old Leicas, there has been considerable progress in materials and manufacturing in the last fifty years. Evidence of this was illustrated when a British restoration organization rebuilt an Auto Union race car a few years ago (Auto Union is now Audi). The Auto Union was one of the German great racing cars in the era immediately before World War II; their only competition was Mercedes-Benz. Must of the cars were lost but a few have been found in Easter Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Union. When one of these newly discovered pre-war cars was being rebuilt, some aluminum engine parts were beyond restoration so new ones had to be fabricated. The old parts were sent to a laboratory for analysis so faithful replicas could be made. The laboratory replied that the type of aluminum used in that pinnacle of German engineering in the late 1930s had about same qualities and strength that is used today in making cheap lawn furniture. >> Is this reference to old 1930 German race cars supposed to suggest M-6 cameras are better made than M-3 and M-4 cameras?