Clik here to view.
Sprints, smiles and silver linings
The photo captures all elements in a nutshell. Great cars from the early days of motoring, vintage, pre-war, post-war and smiling girls. Sprints on the palace driveway and dark clouds plus lots of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What is it? Quiz #424
This car was especially designed for competition in a country, where reliability trials were thought to be more effective for car development than road racing. One of these trials was held during a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Direct heritage of iconic marques forever gone.
Direct automobile links of econic marques forever gone ? Messier-Bugatti-Dowty & Hispano-Suiza become Safran.The French aerospace giant Safran recently published a press-release explaining that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Giza Tourist Mystery (update: Panhard & Levassor )
Mahmoud Ezzeldin sends this beautiful photo showing a mystery Laundaulet making a tourist photo stop near the pyramids of Giza (or Gizeh). More precise, it looks like it is the north face of the Great...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Keeping her barn fresh or give the full monty?
When people see a derelict example of a car they like, it immediately fires their imagination in one of two ways : either to give the old girl a bare-chassis rebuild, or confine their work to a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
PWC Workshop: making a speedometer drive
MAKING OF A P/N - TYPE RIGHT ANGLE SPEEDOMETER DRIVEDid you know that Jay Leno makes parts for his older cars using the same process I do? I'm sure he started this method before me, but he has a deeper...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Rolls Royce Binder Mystery
Car historian Timo Laitinen from Finland sends us this old advertisement. This Rolls-Royce Phantom II was shown in the 1936 Paris Motor Show (Autocar Oct 9, 1936). Maybe Cord had given some ideas for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Ambassador's daughter
When you look at this 1922 picture, do you immediately think of the purr of the large side valve V8 beneath the Cadillac's bonnet, or perhaps the sound made by the 'Get Out of My Way' horn mounted on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
About Quiz #424: A 1910 Prince Henry Opel
The hints for this quiz were supposed to lead you to Germany, the land of the Herkomer and the subsequent Prince Henry trials. The latter trials or "Prinz Heinrich-Fahrten" as they were officially...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Celebrating 15 years of PWC in the wet
To celebrate fifteen years of PreWarCar there was a small reception during the Concours d’Elegance at Het Loo. And when we say it was in the wet, we mean that quite literally, as it was wet outside...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Karachi Rooftop Rolls Find
Man, are we lucky to be in the first position to see things like this. We nearly dropped from our chair when we saw the first pics that came in through Shahzeb, our Pakistan friend since last year's 4C...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Is it an Ansaldo or a Mystery?
Leonhard Thomas sends this photo of a fine vintage roadster; with dickey seat?Leonhard adds: "On the reverse of the photo is written ' note the difference in complexion of the 'southerner ' and the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
PWC Workshop: to electronic or not to electronic?
More and more classic cars have electronic ignition (some pre-wars even electronic petrol injection!). There are great fans and there is strong opposition. So we throw the 'dead cat' on the table and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
He/She Drives a Duesenberg.
On Saturday 30 July RM-Sotheby's are holding their next auction at Motor City in Plymouth, Michigan and there are some impressive vehicles.We like the description 'A Drivers Duesenberg' for the 1929...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Three Graces.
Antonio Canova's neoclassical statue 'The Three Graces' is said to depict the three daughters of Zeus - Euphrosyne, Aglaea and Thalia who represent beauty, charm and joy. The statue came to mind when...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What is it? Quiz #425
The light car above is British and as many as five examples survive from a production of about 2,500. It was another make to suffer from the popularity of the Bullnose Morris, but nevertheless...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Toujours le 'Torpedo'
One of the most used and at the same time superfluous words in body description in the years before WW1 is the word torpedo. In fact, in the period 1910 to 1914 most cars were in a way torpedo, and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
My Dads Car is a Mystery (UPD: Vernon Derby, Standard Avon Sports, Singer...
Some photos are really 'arty' and believe it or not we love these nearly vanished memories. And no matter how poor the quality, there is always some good information in the photo.In this case sender...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Three Sisters Mystery (UPD. 1925(?) Hudson super six brougham sedan or...
Some time ago we received this photo from an anonymous source. The back drop is a mountain group called Three Sisters in the state (ooops: should be province!) of Alberta, Canada (which should not be...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fancy some further fettling?
It was this 1936 Rosengart that caught our eye when perusing the H & H auction catalogue for the sale being held on 24 February at Donington Park in UK.Found in Bordeaux in a dismantled state, this...
View Article