What is this mystery Monte challenger?

• 

Steeply raked windscreens are nothing new. The Belgian-built Pipe shown at the 1910 Paris Motor Show (click here) already raised eyebrows at the time. Was it a world first? And what happened to it? The car you see here was built many years later, but doesn’t seem to be any less mysterious. Nor does it seem to be less aerodynamic either. It is believed to be a special-bodied Talbot built for Laury and Lucy Schell, the millionaire motorsport couple from the US, seen here on the 1933 Rallye Monte Carlo.

The Schells were not afraid of a challenge and started the rally all the way in Tallinn, Estonia, navigating their way to Monte Carlo over 3,780 treacherous kilometres in what must have been severely cold circumstances. They reached Monaco and finished a very credible fourth overall. So what exactly was the car? We couldn’t find much. From a variety of sources came the following bits of info: ‘14CV’, ‘2,505 cc’ and ‘Type M75’. We don’t know how trustworthy these are. The registration 5191-RG1 doesn’t disclose anything else either.

And how about the body? Certainly made with the thought that ‘form follows function’ was in mind? For despite the streamlining it looks far from elegant. We can’t place it. And with that odd body being likely to have been commissioned by the Schells, it could come from anywhere, too. Any ideas?

Words Jeroen Booij, pictures La Revue du Touring-Club de France

Make a comment, ask a question, give your opinion, share additional information or start a discussion by filling in the fields below.