The Magazine

Whatisit? Quiz # 315

We have no idea why there is no tire around the spare wheel. The car looks brand-new, so perhaps it still has to be fitted. Although it seats four, it was still called a cyclecar, but that name may have been more fitting to the two-passenger side-by-side roadster or the two-passenger tandem that were also offered. The V-shaped radiator provided the cooling for the four-cylinder air-cooled engine. It was said to be the car for the American nation and it was priced accordingly. Yet the company president wasn’t sure about the future of cyclecars in the US, so he bought another company that produced a large six-cylinder car. Very soon after that the company went into receivership, and although it was stated that some 600 cycle cars and 100 six-cylinder cars were to be assembled under receivership, that number must be doubted. Do you already have an idea what car we are talking about? Then tell us the make of the cyclecar; the name of the company that produced it and preferably also the make of the six-cylinder car. To win the infamous PreWarCar T-shirt send us your answer before Monday, February 6 by using the Contact Form or the ‘Add new comment’ below, but please use no more than 100 words. Enjoy your weekend!
(photo source to be published next week)

Saturday, 04 February 2012

Same girl, same dog, same car

And also by the same artist (click main pic!). Both are watercolours for an advert for the Steyr XII, one Dutch, one from Austria. The origins of the Steyr are easy to trace, but the artist by the name of Demar we have never heard of before. We found only one other Steyr advert by him. Who can tell us more about Demar… did he work solely for Steyr or have more of his paintings survived?

Friday, 03 February 2012

Highlights at Retromobile

Retromobile in Paris will held from February 1st until the 5th. If you are there, why not send us your best shots!
(Click READ MORE for earlier pictures)


An all different look at our cars and the people involved. Japanese artist Todoroki Tomohiro likes to emphasize on the human aspect and character of the car's face. That's why he doesn't use the straight metallic lines but more the wrinkled aging lines of their owners faces.

Thursday, 02 February 2012

Concours Brasier in Ascoli Peceno around 1905? (Upd. Licence by Fides?)

Giuseppe de Angelis wrote from Italy:" A few weeks ago I found two glass-pictures in a little box. The photos were taken in the early 1900s in the garden of my house, which is in Ascoli Piceno – Italy. It's a superb car with chain drive, full of flowers because it participated in a local show where it won third place (as shown in the little flag over the steering wheel). But I don’t know what kind of car it is; who built it or where. Can someone identify the four-leaf clover on the radiator? Please help us to rebuild its history.” The cloverleaf makes it easy to identify, Guiseppe, it’s a French-built Brasier. But who can fill in the rest of the details?

Thursday, 02 February 2012