Quiz Archive

About Quiz # 303: 1907 Iris

We realize it’s difficult to recognize a car from a painting, yet we received several suggestions. But it’s not a Wolseley, not a Belsize and certainly not a Minerva, as our quiz car is British-made, although a special mention should go to Craig Gillingham for identifying the headlamps as US made Rushmores. One of the clues we gave you was that the car was named after a Greek goddess, and this could have led you to Iris, the personification of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. Four people came up with the right answer, Alan McGuinness, Jean-Claude Poisson, Anders Svenfelt and jury member Fried Stol. After some deliberation we choose Anders as the winner for his most complete answer: “Iris made by gear cutting company Legros & Knowles in Willesden Green, London. This shaft driven six-cylinder 40 h.p. was in production 1906-1908. The company went into receivership after that and the car was then produced by Iris Cars Ltd.in Buckinghamshire up to 1925 The company’s first car in 1905 was designed by a brother of the famous aircraft designer Geoffrey de Havilland. Two cars participated in the very first Brooklands race meeting in 1907, one of them a six-cylinder. Advertised as It Runs In Silence.” Congratulations, Anders, with your second win!

The painting -which appeared as an advertising supplement in 'The Car Illustrated' of 18 December 1907- is by an artist called Phillip Dadd, who seems to have done no other car-related work. The picture is actually titled: 'A Cabinet Minister' and is ostensibly leaving the Houses of Parliament.

(with thanks to Leo McAllam for the quiz idea!)

Saturday, 23 July 2011