Miss Europe's mystery: a stately machine for a beauty queen

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If the concours d’élégance is the beauty contest for cars, Miss Pageant is the one for women. Now, we understand these contests aren't for everyone—there are those who maintain that it's what's on the inside that really counts, and we have some sympathy with that viewpoint. There are some beautifully engineered cars out there which aren't necessarily lookers in the traditional sense...

All joking aside, the lady shown here is Austrian model Fraulein Hertha van Haentjens, who represented her country in the 1931 Miss Europe contest held in Paris (all contestants in the second picture below are courtesy of L’Illustration). Twenty-year old Hertha won and thus enjoyed the title of prettiest girl in Europe for a full year. It led to a number of good modelling and advertising jobs, as well as a leading rôle in the 1931 silent comedy Wiener Zauberklänge ("Magical Sounds of Vienna"), but what happened to her after that we don’t know.

What we also don't know is the identity of the car seen here by Hertha’s side. Surely it's something American? Or maybe it's actually a big Mercedes-Benz? What model could it be? It must be one from after her 1931 Miss Europe victory, right? And what is the meaning of that crest on the door? You see, we're nothing without your expertise...

Words: Jeroen Booij
Picture: Österreichischen Nationalbibliothe

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