 Lean back and relax when you read this - we will be somewhere on our dusty jaunt from Beijing and Shanghai for the Classic Car Car Challenge China. Earlier we proposed to you the oldest competitor in the 2014 Beijing - Shanghai rally: a fine 1929 Rolls-Royce Pantom I Sports Saloon by Parkward. Upon closer inspection at the start we found the car to be in perfect fettle and up to anything what a gentleman driver would plan to use it for. Now maybe slightly more dusty than an appearance at Oxford Street would demand for, but apart from that it appears to be in spotless condition. But it also seems that the princely motorcar is a very well choice of transport for this event. The Belgian owner and his spouse cruise effortless over steep and winding mountain roads, along fast mainroads and through the crazy busy Chinese city traffic. Now, taking part in a sports event - and certainly in China - will bring you in circumstances unforeseen from time to time. Yesterday a sudden break up of the road resulted in manoeuvring the cars over a very much unpaved area with several nasty potholes. The elegant Sport Saloon picked up an unpleasant blemish in the course of taking a very deep bump, leaving its track to touch a parked tricycle. A small dent and scratch were left at the off side front wing. This was the only incident on a harsh rallying day with 350 km along demanding roads. We were most happy to learn that all competing cars arrived safely at the superb hotel in Jinan. And the Parkward R-R - that's taking a deserved rest for the night as well. (Text and picture Joris Bergsma) |
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Stains of honour...
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A Hershey Tradition
 That's what some people call rain. Others call it a curse. More often than not the high holy days of Hershey see some rain; once in a while many days see a lot. It's not the horror it used to be, when the meet was held on green fields and even moderate rain meant deep, deep mud, but it still deters shoppers and spectators. This year, the rain fell mostly at night, but lingering showers sprinkled the Saturday morning car show. The visitors didn't mind, though, nor did the car owners. There were ample quantities of both. As always, interesting and unusuals cars abounded. A case in point was the rare 1932 DeVaux that heads this article. Others included a late model (1932) Detroit Electric and a French Front 1904 Oldsmobile. The latter is a version of the curved-dash Olds, but with a "conventional" front radiator. Also being judged were a 1934 Aerodynamic Hupmobile and a 1934 Railton from the saem year. Built in Britain on Hudson chassis, Railtons sported classic coachbuilt bodies. The Antique Automobile Club of America's Historic Preservation of Original Features Class continues to grow. In near-barn find condition, a 1918 International truck delighted visitors with its engine running. Showers resumed as spectators flocked to a brace of Mercers, but they were not deterred. The umbrellas went up and the show went on. (Text and pictures by Kit Foster) |
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A day of rest in Zaozhuang
 Sorry chaps, no cars today. Even a rallying reporter has to obey to the rules. And today - yesterday to be exact - was a day of rest & relaxation in the China Classic Cars Challenge. This to gain new energy in view of tomorrow's 200 mile trip. So this day we used up to explore Zaozhuang - also known as Shandong - the place of birth of philosopher Confucius and to indulge in the fabulous hospitality of course director Mr. Zong, here assisted by his most charming PA with a perfect Boston accent showing us how to prepare a local spicy pancake (as served in the top location depicted above). The outrageous variety of food and dishes is just one of the treats of this exotic rally along the highlights of China. Tomorrow back in the MG's bucket seats for a long day of winding and fast back roads leading to Nanjing. Maybe we should end the day with the wise Confucius' words: "Man who run in front of car get tired. Man who run behind car get exhausted. Man who drive like hell, bound to get there." (source of these confucian sayings) (Text and pictures Joris Bergsma) |
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Kate and the Busy Bee
When certain magazines drop through the letterbox, I down tools, make a cup of tea and read it from cover to cover – the quarterly mag from the VSCC Light Car & Edwardian Section is one such publication. I turned to page 17 to read about the Cyclecar Capers at the the 80th anniversary celebrations and there’s Kate in her 'Busy Bee’. The car is a wonderful home brew cyclecar built from scratch in 1919 by Mr. J.A.Mills and you can read more about it here. I believe this is its first time out since Kate and David did the necessary fettling after acquiring it last year. (David entered one of their other cyclecars, the Graham-White)
Kate looks a picture of concentration as she not only keeps control of her eccentric contraption but also tries to remember the instructions for the test she was driving. The rain didn’t help either, but it didn’t dampen her spirit as she splashed her way through the puddles to the finish line. The article describes the Busy Bee’s popularity… ”several friends enjoyed driving the Busy Bee , but a combination of slow driving and stationary idling ended when the V-twin decided to seize. Fortunately, in less time than it takes to drink two pints of beer, it had cooled down and recovered, apparently none the worse for the experience.”
(Words Robin Batchelor, pictures courtesy David Grounds)
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What is it? Quiz #381
It's a pickup, obviously, but what pickup? We've obscured a few identifying features, but we can tell you that it was sold by a company that normally did not build pickups. It was built for a few years only, and was produced in conjunction with another company that had roots in a General Motors brand.
You just have to tell us the make, year and model. Many of you may find it easy, so to win you might tell us some of its history. As a tie breaker, you could offer the name of the model that succeeded it. Just read the Rules under Read More and start looking, looking, looking. This may finally be your chance to win the coveted PreWarCar T-shirt. Results will be published next Saturday, October 25.
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Back shed bike to rich and famous Packards
 If you are in Melbourne on October 25th then head over to Theodore Bruce for their Motorclassica Collector Car Auction. Sixty lots of automobilia will go under the hammer at 6pm and 34 vehicles start at 7pm. Lot 7 is a 1914 Victor, the last and only surviving motorcycle from a series of five built over many years by Mr. Edward Victor Bowen in a shed at the back of his bike shop. As each one was completed, the previous one was sold so we can surmise that this must have been Bowen’s ideal machine with 1000cc JAP V Twin engine, TT 3-speed Armstrong gears within the rear hub and locally made sidecar attached to the frame using parts from the Chater Lea catalogue. The auction catalogue shows how it is entirely possible to carry out a thorough refurbishment and still retain the original finish and patina. Full marks! The 1923 Alvis 12/40 "Ducksback" Tourer is a firm favourite amongst so many sporting vintage drivers being made by a company with a good reputation for reliable, quality hand built cars with impressive performance and stylish bodywork from the best coachbuilders of the time, Cross & Ellis and Carbodies. The pictures show a meticulous restoration and the new owner can look forward to a lifetime’s happy motoring in this vintage gem. Three RHD Packards from Detroit are offered with their legendary straight eight engines, luxurious coachwork and the car of choice for the rich and famous the world over. I like the story behind the 1925 Packard Holbrook Coupe bought by music magnate Mr. Frank Albert and delivered to Sydney aboard the RMS Niagara which was subsequently sunk in 1940 by a German U-Boat whilst carrying US $8 million worth of gold. However, the 1937 Packard 120 Straight 8 Rumble-Seat Convertible Coupé is my favourite and the same can be said of the acting Governor of Hawaii when he saw the car on the ship taking it to Melbourne on a stopover in Honolulu, although I don’t believe the reason he wanted a RHD car. The description of the 1936 Cord 810 Sportsman's Convertible Coupé makes the car very tempting….” On account of its rarity and aesthetic appeal, the Cord Sportsman is one of the most highly collectable of American motor cars. Its unconventional bonnet and radiator conceal a V-8 engine coupled to front wheel drive and a pre-selection gear-change with electrically operated box. Remarkably quick acceleration, the Sportsman's Convertible Coupé cruised at 75 mph and had a top speed of over 92 mph..” and is in “ absolutely tip-top condition throughout.” But you’ll need deep pockets. There are two 1929 Marmons with much lower estimates but the car I would most like to take home from the pre-war cars is the 1937 BMW 327 Convertible. Look at the sheer beauty of the streamlined body (designed in conjunction with the Karosseriebauer Autenrieth of Darmstadt) and beneath the bonnet sits the straight six OHV M78 engine of 2 litres - BMW’s first straight-6 and designed by Fritz Fiedler. Transmission is via a ZF 4-speed gearbox with freewheel facility in first and second gears. “The much sought after 327 convertible is one of the most exclusive of all BMW classic cars.” (Text Robin Batchelor, pictures courtesy Theodore Bruce Auctions) |
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Another mystery hailing from India (update: Standard Avon)
You may remember we had a rather hard time identifying the (alleged) 1905 l’Elégante some weeks ago, believing the mystery car, shot in India, was a Rover. But you knew better, and right you were! Want more of that? You get more, as we’ve had another message from our friend Karl. And once again, he attached a picture of an old car photographed in India a long time ago. Karl wrote: “Hello once again. Firstly thank you for identifying the 1905 l'Elegante in Bombay that I shared the picture of recently. I have another one to identify."
"A friend saw this photograph hanging on the wall in an old garage in Nasik, India, amongst other pictures. All others were easy to identify except this sporty looking possibly European car. The registration number tallies to Poona (now Pune), at around the 1940s (all cars in the region were assigned new numbers in 1939). I hope you can help me identify the car.” Now, it looks English to us, but we wouldn’t dare giving it a go this time. So let's leave it over to you, our readers. You surely may help us - and Karl - out once more.
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Barbara's Rolls-Royce links to all the cars that matter
You will know by now that we have a soft spot for cars with a bit of drama attached to them, and so when regular Uffe Mortensen sent in a picture of his 1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom II we nearly melted. Not just because of the car – a truly great design, oh yes, and in a marvellous shape and colour combination, no doubt. But it’s the history-bit that got us really enthusiastic here, as this car has been linked sometime, somehow, somewhere, to a multitude of car-crazy people and their vehicles. Take a deep breathe for a short overview.
When new, the drophead Phantom was commissioned by Georgian prince Alexis M’divani who had just taken delivery of a unique Duesenberg SJ Roadster. He bought the Rolls-Royce for his newly-wed Barbara Hutton, a then 21-year old heir to the Woolworth fortune who’d just inherited $50 million. It wouldn’t be Barbara’s only marriage. M’divani died not long later of a fall from a polo horse (although some sources say he crashed the Phantom) and Barbara started a whole string of weddings and divorces to the rich and famous. Amongst others to Cary Grant, who drove anything from Cord special to Isetta; Igor Troubetzkoy, who became the first driver ever to drive a Grand Prix for Ferrari in 1948 and who later won the Targa Florio for them. Also Porfirio Rubirosa, who owned a multitude of sports cars, also raced for Ferrari and was killed in one when he crashed it into a tree in Paris. A similar thing happened to her next husband, tennis player Baron Gottfried von Cramm, who blew out his mind in a car crash in Cairo, Egypt. Another marriage was to Count Court Haugwitz-Reventlow who gave Barbara her only child: Lawrence ‘Lance’ Reventlow who became racing driver for Cooper, Maserati and Mercedes and later set up his own racing car marque in the US: Scarab. Meanwhile, Barbara hadn’t enjoyed the Phantom for too long, and had also become attached to Ferraris later in her life. She had a silver grey 250 Pininfarina cabriolet and a 365 GTC in an unusual shade of pink!
That’s an incredible amount of exotic cars attached to one life. Barbara died, bankrupt according to some, in 1979 aged 66. After the supposed crash the Rolls-Royce is said to have been restored by Thrupp & Maberly in 1935 and was offered for sale not too long ago for over a million dollars. It didn’t sell, but now that it’s in Uffe’s hands it may be seen in public again. What a car, what a story!
(picture courtesy Uffe Mortensen)
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Driving home the Model A
Gregory Wells recently decided to buy and left on Monday with his new purchase trying to drive it home on own wheels:
"Been wanting a driver quality antique car to tour with for a few years now and I finally found one at a price point I could afford. So I pulled the trigger on the purchase of this car about a week ago. The price was too good to pass up, barely into five figures in USD. As you may know, I'm in the Atlanta area and the Model A is in McMinnville, Oregon, a little bit southwest of Portland, so we're 2,700 miles apart. I'm going to attempt to drive the car back to Atlanta from Oregon.
(continued under Read More)
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A low bonnet Mystery ( update: Crossley RAF staff car)
Jaap 'Molsheim' Horst sends this fine photo which came to him from an enthusiast who was thinking (or hoping?) this could be a Bugatti. Well one thing is sure it's not a brainchild from Ettore Bugatti. Maybe it is french...? Maybe we're looking at a fine set of Bleriot headlights. Maybe Dealunay Belleville, or even Turcat Mery? Yet it is hard to say, there's so little to see. We can only hope that the low bonnet line, the charcteristic louvres and the sheer size of the machine prompt an Aha! with one or more of you.
(picture courtesy Jaap Horst)
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Dina plays for time
The clocks ‘go back’ this weekend which marks the official end of British Summer Time. It was Germany that first introduced daylight saving in 1915 and Britain followed in 1916. It is New Zealand who can take credit for the idea thanks to George Vernon Hudson who proposed it in 1895, but his native country waited until 1927 before introducing it.
So with time being on my mind, I dug out my slowest car – a 1925 Trojan Utility with top speed of 35 mph – and went to visit Dina. Timing is very important in her job as a concert pianist – just listen to her playing Prokovief’s Sonata No. 2.(click), and you can watch her here. Or do you prefer a Scarlatti sonata? She started playing the piano age 5 in her home country of Kazakhstan and has won numerous awards whilst performing all over the world. Her next concert is at The Royal College of Music in London on November 13th in their Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall, named after the accomplished cellist who was author Ian Fleming’s half-sister and Augustus John’s illegitimate daughter.
As the setting sun heralded the end of another Autumn day, Dina decided to try out the hood in case it rained – she has spent enough time in England to understand our strange weather. And now she understands a bit more about our strange cars.
(Text & pictures Robin Batchelor)
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About Quiz #381: 1937 Mack Jr.
 As we suspected, this was an easy quiz, and all but one of the 17 who responded were on the right track. Most of you got the make, model and year of this truck (the model year of the truck encroached on the calendar years either side, so 1936, '37 and '38 might all be considered correct). It's a Model 2M Mack Jr., created for Mack Trucks, Inc. by the Reo Motor Car Company by rebadging a Reo Speed Delivery pickup. Jury members Alan Spencer and Stuart Penketh had it pretty well all together, but the next best answer came from Luk Martens: "1937 Mack Jr. Mack, builder of heavy trucks, introduced a 'light' truck in late 1936, for the 1937 model year (jr meaing Junior) and it was based on a REO truck. It was even built by REO, but sold by Mack dealers. REO stands for Ransom Eli Olds, founder of Oldsmobile, there's your link with GM. With prices ranging from $575 for the half-ton to $1205 for the 2,5-ton model (a Ford costed $470) and powered by a Continental 6 cylinder engine, just 4974 were built before it was succeeded in 1938 by the larger model 'ED'." Congratulations, Luk. Please sen your mail address and T-shirt size to office*at*prewarcar.com. The truck was in plain sight for all of Hershey Week, outside the Giant Center in the middle of the giant swap meet. Perhaps some of you saw it then. |
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Pre Wars in Athens
 What better place to make contact with “the right” people than a Concours d’Elegance? While planning the Via Hellenica we visited the Athens show at the Flisvos Marina. We immediately spotted our ideal car, a 1930 Rolls Royce with beautiful patina and thus not a candidate for the Concours awards. There must have been some 10 pre wars on this pleasant event. Most special (during-war-car) means of transportation was definitely the 1941 Moto Guzzi three-wheeler. It had been abandoned by the Italians and recently been found and restored to better than new. This being a prerequisite for one of the 54 prizes to be awarded, it did indeed get a class win. (Text and pictures by Bart Kleyn) |
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Barbara's Rolls-Royce links to all the cars that matter
You will know by now that we have a soft spot for cars with a bit of drama attached to them, and so when regular Uffe Mortensen sent in a picture of his 1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom II we nearly melted. Not just because of the car – a truly great design, oh yes, and in a marvellous shape and colour combination, no doubt. But it’s the history-bit that got us really enthusiastic here, as this car has been linked sometime, somehow, somewhere, to a multitude of car-crazy people and their vehicles. Take a deep breathe for a short overview.
When new, the drophead Phantom was commissioned by Georgian prince Alexis M’divani who had just taken delivery of a unique Duesenberg SJ Roadster. He bought the Rolls-Royce for his newly-wed Barbara Hutton, a then 21-year old heir to the Woolworth fortune who’d just inherited $50 million. It wouldn’t be Barbara’s only marriage. M’divani died not long later of a fall from a polo horse (although some sources say he crashed the Phantom) and Barbara started a whole string of weddings and divorces to the rich and famous. Amongst others to Cary Grant, who drove anything from Cord special to Isetta; Igor Troubetzkoy, who became the first driver ever to drive a Grand Prix for Ferrari in 1948 and who later won the Targa Florio for them. Also Porfirio Rubirosa, who owned a multitude of sports cars, also raced for Ferrari and was killed in one when he crashed it into a tree in Paris. A similar thing happened to her next husband, tennis player Baron Gottfried von Cramm, who blew out his mind in a car crash in Cairo, Egypt. Another marriage was to Count Court Haugwitz-Reventlow who gave Barbara her only child: Lawrence ‘Lance’ Reventlow who became racing driver for Cooper, Maserati and Mercedes and later set up his own racing car marque in the US: Scarab. Meanwhile, Barbara hadn’t enjoyed the Phantom for too long, and had also become attached to Ferraris later in her life. She had a silver grey 250 Pininfarina cabriolet and a 365 GTC in an unusual shade of pink!
That’s an incredible amount of exotic cars attached to one life. Barbara died, bankrupt according to some, in 1979 aged 66. After the supposed crash the Rolls-Royce is said to have been restored by Thrupp & Maberly in 1935 and was offered for sale not too long ago for over a million dollars. It didn’t sell, but now that it’s in Uffe’s hands it may be seen in public again. What a car, what a story!
(picture courtesy Uffe Mortensen)
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A low bonnet Mystery ( update: Crossley RAF staff car)
Jaap 'Molsheim' Horst sends this fine photo which came to him from an enthusiast who was thinking (or hoping?) this could be a Bugatti. Well one thing is sure it's not a brainchild from Ettore Bugatti. Maybe it is french...? Maybe we're looking at a fine set of Bleriot headlights. Maybe Dealunay Belleville, or even Turcat Mery? Yet it is hard to say, there's so little to see. We can only hope that the low bonnet line, the charcteristic louvres and the sheer size of the machine prompt an Aha! with one or more of you.
(picture courtesy Jaap Horst)
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Vive Traction Avant!
 Report and photos by Mike Tebbet: "Les Amis de la Traction Club de L’Aigle” held their seventeenth annual ‘Bourse d’Echange’ last weekend (19th October). Welcoming visitors at the entrance into the show was this ‘Traction on a string’ or is it ‘Traction in the Air’? This was a spectacular celebration of eighty years of the Traction since its launch in 1934. As usual the Bourse was inside a large market hall, with a much bigger range of stalls set outside in the surrounding surfaced area. A large number of Tractions of all years and types were parked nearby, with an even larger selection of 2CV’s and derivatives parked on a grass area nearby. An adjacent car park serving a supermarket was full to overflowing with visitors classic and vintage cars. To one side of the market hall on an open area large display of WWII vehicles included a Sherman tank. Inside the hall as well as the Bourse, the Club had laid out an impressive display mimicking a Motor Show or Salon and featuring of course the Citroen Traction. A 1934 first year example with the fabric roof slowly revolved on a turntable in the centre and was surrounded by examples of various others including a decapotable. A commerciale was set up to replicate the famous advertising image being loaded with a huge oak barrel. In one corner a car was in the camouflage livery as used by the French army and indeed by the Wehrmacht and French Resistance.This event has from gone from strength to strength in the last seventeen years. Your writer came away with a car boot full of ‘treasure’ to aid the restoration of the far too many projects in his garages!" |
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A 1914 GN returns home
Amongst the cars sold at RM’s Hershey auction was a 1914 belt drive GN which is well known to the British GN fraternity and had enjoyed some competition after being discovered in a UK barn in the 1950s. A new generation of enthusiasts has emerged along with more knowledge about GN cars’ history and the good news is that the car is returning to UK into the hands of a deserving owner who is painstakingly uncovering the history of the car.
It is the only original pre-war belt-drive GN known to exist, there being one other 1915 belt-drive car built up by Arthur Gibson who fitted a Precision V Twin after unsuccessfully hunting high and low for a 90° J.A.P. V twin motor. Those engines are rare and only two are known to exist, I believe both with the same Australian owner. GN built their own 90° V Twin because it was ideal for Cyclecars and the engine in the car returning from America has the only example I know of. Tragically, its original body was discarded and a new one fitted, so more detective work is needed to unravel the car's origins. The body profile as found is similar to photographs of this Brooklands GN and the discovery of drilled con rods and pistons from the original restoration might mean the car cornered on the concrete at the 7 year old banked track in Weybridge? This picture from a copy of Cyclecar shows a 2 seater GP GN captioned 'The Grand Prix GN to be driven by Mr. Nash.' Notice the cycle mudguards as on the car when discovered.
(Text & pictures Robin Batchelor)
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Austin Seven Vs Morris Minor
There are some types of car which inspire total dedication from their owners. Much more than a means of transport, they become part of the owners' personality. Along with this dedication comes too a single-minded belief that their car stands head-and-shoulders above its rivals, and they pull no punches when debating this fact with owners of other, lesser, vehicles.
Perhaps the longest-standing of these rivalries was initiated in 1928 when William Morris launched his Minor as an answer to Herbert Austin's groundbreaking Seven. Foolish is the man who suggests to an Austin owner that a Morris Minor is the better car, and vice versa.
Matthew Bell recently braved the flak from both camps in a good-natured shoot-out between the two cars. Growing up with baby Austins, could he put aside his personal preference in the name of impartiality? Pick up a copy of the November issue of The Automobile to find out.
(Photographs by Jason Bye)
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Looking for new facts about the Schlumpf brothers.
 At the moment Arnoud and Ard op de Weegh are working on a new book about the Schlumpf Affair. " This book will tell the whole truth about the affair and will display many new photo's that never have been shown before. We're also the writers of The Fate of The Sleeping Beauties, the book that tells the truth about the Dovaz collection (Sleeping Beauty collection) that was photographed in the early 80's bij Herbert Hesselmann. We have a lot of information yet (For example: the fact that some people have tried to buy the collection from Fritz Schlumpf to keep the factory going. And Fritz agreed, but the deal could never be made.. etc. etc.), but if you have any new facts about this collection or documents or photo's that could make this book better, please let us know! Don't hesitate to contact us! Arnoud op de Weegh & Ard op de Weegh |
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Jack o' Lantern and Witches
The annual habit of carving a grotesque face into a pumpkin dates back to long before our cars were made, and commonly believed to be an ancient Irish custom where they also carved turnips and was named after the phenomenon of a strange light flickering over peat bogs, called will-o’-the-wisp’or jack-o'-lantern . Those of you who, like me, were brought up on Eagle comic will remember the character Jack O’ Lantern – a lad called Jack Yorke whose adventures in Napoleonic England gripped the boys of Britain every week. True afficionados in Britain know that Jack O' Lantern has a strong car connection as well.
The flickering pumpkins you’ll see tonight however will herald a night of superstition where we are led to fear ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties and things that go bump in the night. But most of the posters and post cards from the past tell us there's nothing to be afraid of, so whether you encounter witches or goblins, HAVE FUN!
(Text Robin Batchelor)
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