Jean Marie Guivarc'h from France is making very nice sepia ink drawings. This time of a lady in an Austin 7 tourer which we should have known. But as we were born on the 'wrong' side of the Channel we just didn't know. Now before you check in at 'Read More' click the photo and let your brain work.... The chassis of this car may have been the basis for the brainchild of the back seat driver, a most Superior Seven...   Read more

Not one of the competitors had serious problems identifying the 1939 De Soto S6 correctly. So that alone was not enough to make yourself stand out from the crowd. A lot less of you recognised Walt Disney, one of the stars that was asked to show up in Chrysler's advertising campaign for the "America's Smartest Low Priced Car". Like many times before we had one -somewhat hidden- question about the relation between this man and machine. Still some five competitors went as far going into the trouble to elaborate on that aspect! The DeSoto-Disney advert copy reads...: "DeSoto owner Walt Disney" . A few of you put questionmarks behind the presumption that wealthy Walt really would have owned an average familycar like the DeSoto to park it in front of the Disney Residence (TheSilverLakeNews.com), where the photo probably was shot. Kim Koffman writes: "I doubt that he personally owned a midpriced car." which is close to the truth. In the end we decided the overall best answer was by Dominik Ridder (Germany) who wrote (aside the car type):"Disney did promotion for DeSoto and received the car as bonus additionally to the charge." Congratulations Dominik ! The great patent drawing you see here (don't forget to click it) is from the virtual collection of Henk Visscher who succeeded locating this in the incredible files of the US Patent Office.  

The equally famed and feared Targa Florio (ddavid.com) will see its centennial celebration this spring. The Veteran Car Club of Panormus is organising the Centenario della Targa Florio which will run from May 30 to June 4. Lucky the ones who will participate circling low around Sicily. Lucky the happy few who can bring contemporary machinery like this 1906 Fiat 24/40 'Targa Florio' chain gang. The car is a very close reconstruction of the works cars which won in 1907. It is an original chassis which after a rest of 72 years was found back and after a seven year restoration now is ready to enjoy again. Ask Morris or Welford (US) for more details. To get even more atmosphere, take a dip in this French gallery of Fiat Corsa cars  

One of the most spectacular cars ever made is the Mercedes-Benz SSK from the collection of Ralph Lauren. We received this era photo from the Florentine Alfadoctor like promised earlier. Click it for a better view on the car to see how it looked like during the short ownership of the playboy/banker Mr. Levi Semana, who appeared in an 8C Alfa last week. Very little has changed over the decades. See the comparable sideshot showing the car like it is now at MotorTrend.com. There are a few interesting differences. Most eyecatching in this respect are the eliminated wheel discs (Aftermarket bling-bling? Were they lost at some point in time? Or did designer Lauren decide they were not sporty enough?). Second is the diagonal vent door in the bulkhead which is grey or metalised in the vintage photo and colored black in the current lay-out. Three: the two large brackets on the side of the car, one of which is used as a footrest by Mr. Semana. Both brackets seem foldable and both have a leather strap attached. They are not with the current car. Is Ralph keeping the luggage rack in his attick in favour of an uncluttered line? Our theory for the contraptions is that they were meant to take exra luggage. Polo gear? We hope to hear from Mr. Lauren or from his collection conservator. Also we need to mention that the Alfadoctor is prepared to swap the photo for a bunch of RL polo's. Happy to hear a few answers to the numerous questions; Info@PreWarCar.com (photo courtesy AlfaDoctor)
See also an : earlier feature at PWC about the RL collection including this Merc.
UPDATE II The car as it is nowadays seems to be more original than in our late thirties photo!! Read UPDATE II by Carsten Christiansen, but first check this this vintage photo (collection Christiansen): "The photo originates from Carlo Felice Trossi's family, and shows the car in 1932 while the car was in Trossi's ownership! In fact Trossi sold and bought back the car several times between 1931 and 1949 when he passed away!"
UPDATE by Jean l'Homme from Spain: "Maybe that the car pictured with (second?) owner Mr Levi Semana was different before he owned it. Maybe Ralph Lauren has found out what it looked like originally?" Edit. (JB): This may very well be the case. We did not try to imply that the restoration was not correct, like Jean says the photo was taken at a later stage, not when the car was new. It is just interesting to see an old photo and the differences. We contacted the restorer Mr. Paul Russell who loves the photo and promised to come back to it.  

You can't say this is a barnfind, as it is a car kept hidden in a Florence garage since a long-long time. The owner is not too eager to talk about his car, let alone to discuss a sale... According to sender of the photo, Mr. AlfaDoctor, this is a Lancia Augusta Bertone on Revelli de Beaumont Design. We see some familiarity with the Augusta Mille Miglia as shown at BilNorge.no . Anybody out there who can add to the identity of this charming fixed head beauty? Info@PreWarCar.com  

Each year the Interclassics-Topmobiel in Maastricht, The Netherlands, gets better and better. And it should, because the show has much to offer the visitor: an impressive auction by Coys; a lively presentation of car clubs and lots of classic car dealers offering a wide variety of cars. We’re proud to say that the PreWarCar stand attracted many visitors. Not only because of the very rusty 1912 Regal chassis we had on display, it also gave us an opportunity to meet many of our readers. As the first car show of the year, the Maastricht show attracts many visitors from Holland, Belgium, France, Luxembourg and Germany, giving this event a nice, international atmosphere. Surely a great way to start the new driving season. (RB) 

A factory shot quite recently found in Belgium by Fer Cools. The coachwork just has been finished. Click the photo and you can see the beaten panels. Fer says the sidelights (click for detail ) look somewhat familiar. He sugests the car could be an Imperia from just before world war I. Take note of the V-shaped radiator and a hardly visible piece of lettering. Would you know more? Info@PreWarCar.com  

It's a publicity photo showing a high volume car and a million seller man. The second and last hint you are getting is that carname and family name start with the same letter. Tell us about the car and the man beneath the hat. Do not use more than one hundred words to describe car plus man + their relation. Just one winner this time. May the best man win! (Horwitz Collection)  Read more

Raul Valkila sends this Finnish beauty depicted in a late twenties car advert. The headline reads:"Hän oli kütti ja sai lahjaksi uuden auton." In plain English: "She behaved-well and got the new car as a present.... Her devout wish was a 1929 Reo Flying Cloud." (click photo for the full advert; collection Raul Valkila). Did you see the nice REO factory stained glass window in our automobilia section?  

Rain Valkila sent another great mystery car. Like a flying ace the man is looking from the 'cockpit' of his well equipped tourer. See that lighting gear! That extra XL middle headlight and the nice spotlight mounted aside the windscreen...the man is ready to roll! Way much better then nowadays xenon trash. It brings cash to Bosch and friends and dreadful blinding to upcoming traffic and thus is totally contra productive to safety. But We must admit it is perfectly suited to keep a steady cruise of 80-90 mph slicing through thick mist. Obviously the safety boards and car testing labs of the world decided to have a nap and close their eyes for this life threatening krypton hype. Is it allowed in the US? We hardly can imagine. Sorry for the small sidestep, of course we are far more interested to learn about the set of wheels we are looking at. Click the photo for a better view but don't try counting the spokes.... Info@PreWarCar.com
UPDATE III by Peter Ransom ,AU :"...the windscreen is probably not glass but wire mesh to protect the driver's head from stones, etc., as there's nothing between the the cowl and the lower edge of the windscreen frame. This, plus the driver wearing a helmet and goggles, suggests some really serious long distance motoring - perhaps an endurance record attempt?. 7-passenger tourer, right hand drive, external brake and gear lever, 3/4 elliptic rear springs, looks like there could be a bulb horn and a stubby vertical drive Klaxon. The car has to be around 1913-14."
UPDATE IV by Peter Ransom:"Could it be a Thrige? (editor: check this site) edit.: 'Thrige' is a car made in Denmark which gathered fame in endurance events.
UPDATE II: by John Downe (Bahrain)"Re the mystery car with the saerchlight, I recall seeing this sort of arrangement on cars equipped for night-time hunting."
UPDATE by Dick Trenk on Tourer and Xenon hazards: "On this "Mystery" car the large central headlamp appears to be an acetylene gas "searchlight" as evidenced by the vent on the top. Considering the poor reliability of the early electric generator and light bulbs it makes sense to have the gas powered light as a back-up. You ask about those blinding blue color Xenon headlamps, which we have in the US and they appear to be legal. Like you, I consider them to be a hazard to oncoming drivers and not at all needed for high speed night driving on our wide main highways. It is possible we may yet see some states (or the entire nation) outlaw them if enough accidents can be shown to be caused by blinded drivers."