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When breaking Derby Bentley's was not yet a sin. (upd. where's OM8654 ?)
You may remember the uproar a few weeks ago around the breaking of a Derby Bentley. As an addendum photographer Rick Ford sends this nice set of period photos. "Both taken in 1959, the Silver Ghost to the rear (click photo) is chassis #1962 showing it's second body, whilst today it wears body #3 an out of period Roi des Belges. So plenty of precedents for body changes from the earliest da... |
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Chain Drive Mystery Racer (upd. self built special)
Job van Huizen was kind enough to upload these photos and ads the question: "For some time now I'm trying to find the make of this car. It took part at the Circuit des Ardennes in 2008, but is not on the list of participants. It has a French license plate. There are a fair number of Edwardian chain drive racing cars in existence. Could it be American, Italian, German, French? Famous or Fantasy?... |
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The Automobile Handbook and Guide
Book Review by Michael E Ware: As you might imagine from a book with the title “The Automobile Handbook and Guide, an illustrated treatise on petrol, steam and electric cars for all purposes” this is not a modern book. The Society of Automotive Historians in Britain have reproduced a 45 page catalogue put out originally by The Automobile Manufacturing Company (AMC) Ltd in 1901. This catalogue ... |
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Follow the thread
Although we immediately tend to focus on the lady-driver, her message is that we are to look at her tires. And they are important, yes, we know. It’s a 1932 advert by the German company Continental tires, who this year are celebrating that they are in business for 140 years! The company started in 1871 with the production of solid tires for carriages and bicycles and (probably after having a ... |
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The Mégy Mystery (Upd. see Patents)
Jorge Virdo has send us some pages from an old book on cars that has an illustration of a "System Mégy" car. The book dates from 1911 (according to the foreword) and is in Spanish. What we do know about the Mégy is that it was a car made in France from 1901-1903. According to Georgano it had a rudimentary form of ‘automatic transmission’ in which the gear ratio changed according to the su... |
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Don't forget to send your calendar submission.
Already we received lots most interesting photos with very nice cars and no less attractive ladies. Including this very nice shot of vintage beauty Renee Perle. Yet of course we are looking for new photos, shot by our visitors. And we will do our best to get in as many as possible. And when one of the photos you sent is in, you'll get the calendar for free. As promised you have the chance unti... |
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Delicatessen in Lyon.
Last weekend's Epoqu'Auto in Lyon was extremely busy. We can't talk in numbers, but the organisers must have been quite happy with the box office output. We had the chance to meet our friends from ACCLC, Christoph Grohe and Christian Decombas. The atmosphere was colourful with lots of used parts yet also high quality automobilia and unexpected cars. We were amazed with the amount of delicious Fren... |
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A Victorian Engine Mystery (upd. stationary engine or early Benz maybe?)
Ron Mellowship has asked our help in identifying this engine. There are no identifying numbers, stamps or names anywhere. We understand it does have an atmospheric inlet valve, but as you can see rod (& piston?) are missing. Ron did take some measures, so that might help. They are: bore -120mm; stroke - 150mm; flywheel diameter - 520mm and the flywheel width is 41mm. Please study the photo... |
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Can you identify this car? (upd. 1903 De Dietrich)
Mark Delbridge sends us a crumpled photograph and writes: "This is a picture of either my great-grandfather or great-uncle in one of the cars he used to chauffeur. I think it's a great photo and a fantastically presigious looking machine. It might be an easy one for the expert, but I'd love to know what it is."Can we help?... |
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Whatisit? Quiz # 311
In Europe we tend to think of American cars as great big ocean liners as in general they are so much larger than European cars. However, when we saw this one we were immediately attracted to it. Maybe it was the eye-catching paintjob which is probably not original. Our quiz car featured an all-new styling to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the make. It differed from the previous model years in h... |
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Bonus for today's Sunbeam Mabley buyer.
The Sunbeam Mabley was the first Sunbeam to go into series production. And it is believed that a number of around 130 have been built of which a handful have been saved. An original photo of such a rare car is a rarity in itself. Visitor Ian Murray was kind enough to make a very generous offer to give the depicted photo from his collection to the new owner of the Sunbeam Mab... |
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The Heartbeat of America and some 139 other nations.
Today exactly 100 years ago, 3 November 1911, Swiss born Louis Chevrolet and Billy Durant founded the Chevrolet Motor Car Company. Very soon they became very succesful and started exporting to India, to China, to Japan and 137 other countries around the globe who all got used to the values attached to the name of Chevrolet. To a non US citizen - like your e... |
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Are we seeing double?
It's the nosepiece of one of the many strange vehicles that was found among the Lee Hartung Collection. It’s a 1936 Lincoln Zephyr equipped with the “Twin Grille” optional extra. Inventor Willard Morrison was of the opinion that 1930s (American) automobiles would be more attractive if they had a wider look, so he came up with the “Dual Nose” conversion, a smaller replica of the car’... |
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The Sound of Silence: 1924 Berliet electrique
There are many arguments for the use of the electric car. The one depicted here may be obvious but it never came to our mind so far. We understand this Type VTB electric hearse is one of two survivors. One being fully restored and in the collection of the Fondation Berliet. The car we see here is unrestored and is despite a few missing details and missing batteries, u... |
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Beware today!
When the sun sets tonight, be careful! You never know what you will come across. It could be just a couple of harmless bats, but beware of low-flying pumpkins! ... |
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Non stop restoration: 1937 Daimler 15
Owner Dave Bennett reports: Daimler manufactured the fully functioning powered rolling chassis, the customer then chose a suitable "body" from a choice of coach builders such as Mulliner, Hooper, Tickford, etc. The car I own is a 1937 Daimler 15 with a Mulliner Sports Saloon body.The engine is a straight 6 cylinder 2166cc unit feeding a Wilson pre-selector gearbox and a fluid flywheel. She r... |
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Six Cylinder Aero Bugatti(?) Mystery. (upd. Bug Type 18 radiator on Benz 200 HP?)
Thomas Erler sent us this interesting mystery photo which recently sold through the Austrian auctioneers Dorotheum.at . We see a massive chaindriven racing machine with a Bugatti like radiator with enlarged top tank. We can only speculate about the the machine depicted. The thick as a leg, high mounted exhaust manifold is attached to a colossal 6 in-line which suggests an aero engine or som... |
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The Lost Suitcases Mystery
André Blaize, who is a Rolls-Royce author & historian, asks our help in tracing the owner of the Phantom III you see here. It’s chassis #3CP14 with a limousine body by Rippon. It was delivered new to Mrs. Edith Sophia Weatherhead of Netherside, Bingley, Yorks in 1938. Much later it went to the USA and recently came back to the Old Continent. It was imported into Holland on the first ... |
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How to become an early starter
Perhaps you will not be able to get into the London-to-Brighton Run by acquiring the offered Orient Buckboard. But you'll get another chance! On the eve of the run Bonhams will be offering a very nice 1898 Fisson that comes complete with a LBVCR entry pack. It has number 26, making sure you’ll have a nice and early start from Hyde Park! Not content with a Fisson? There are... |
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Hupmobile participant of the 1912 Tour de France? (driver: Savene)
Patrick Daniell send this fine picture of a Model 20 Hupmobile. On the reverse of the old photo, in careful ink handwriting is written: 26:2:12 Tour de France - Voiture Hupmobile 12/14 hp-4 cyl" / photo M. Rol, Paris .
So we understand the photo was taken 26 February 1912 during Tour de France (was it a winter event??). The T... |
