Another long-time mystery solved by Ariejan Bos. He writes: It's not a Napier, but a Humber! In September 1903 the annual 1,000 Miles Reliability Club Trials were held in England. The Autocar reported extensively about these trials and noted that 140 cars had been entered, 48 more than the year before. The cars were tested on efficiency of brakes, condition after trial, restarting on hill and absence of noise, vibration, vapor or smoke, and dust. On eight consecutive days journeys were made with the Crystal Palace in London as the starting and return point. On the Evan Lewis mystery photo we see the entrant with number 122 (click!), a large 20 h.p. Humber during one of these journeys. With 9 ft. the car had the longest wheelbase in the trials. The Humber wouldn't win its class, the winner being Captain Deasy on a Rochet-Schneider."Earlier text:
Anthony Evan Dowden Lewis sent us this most interesting '1906' snap on glass negative showing a large tourer racing or rallying. Four men aboard, driving through a busy street with shops. The car carries a licence (or rally) plate with unreadible text and the number "122". Is this during a Gordon Bennett, or what? This is what Evan told us: "I recently acquired about 100 glass plate negatives of photographs taken by my Great Grandfather Anthony Lewis and his sons Leslie and Hubert. They lived at Hillside House in Compton, Herts, near Winchester, UK. We believe that this photograph was taken in Winchester about 1904 to 1906, but identifying the car would help us confirm the date. The car possibly being a 45 HP Thornycroft. Notice the license plate 122! I wonder whether there are old license registration records available. It is a huge vehicle and the design is typical of 1904 to 1910 approximately, the body is similar to the Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, but the radiator is very different. It is unusual in that it does not have leaf springs protruding out the front. Most cars of that period had these leaf springs. Instead it appears to have a torsion bar or anti-roll bar across the front."
Don't know why, but this radiator makes us think of a very well known car, but which one was that? Info@PreWarCar.com