Name this car....

[Ivan Goriup]

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Wilson - not a Riley, although the timelines are quite similar.

Below, another visual clue.

JZG

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[pippy]

Is it an Aston of some type? Beautiful detailing whatever it is.

I couldn't help noticing that pairs of 'Puma Drift/Speed/A.N.Other Cat' trainers seem to be popular; different variations of the species appearing in both shots. As it happens I'm wearing a Sparco-released version of the Drift-Cat at this very moment......😸......

Philip.

[Ivan Goriup]

2 hours ago, pippy said:

Is it an Aston of some type? Beautiful detailing whatever it is.

Philip.

Yes, it is what became Aston-Martin, and you are entirely correct, this thing is positively bewitching.

Now, who'll take on the task of identifying the specific car and the correct Type.

JZG

 

[stuny]

Perhaps an S4?

[pippy]

2 hours ago, Ivan Goriup said:

Yes, it is what became Aston-Martin, and you are entirely correct, this thing is positively bewitching...

So if it's an example of what 'became A-M' are we talking about the Bamford & Martin years? Something like an early 1920's 1 1/2 litre / Mk. II? I know practically nothing about A-M (so apologies in advance if I 'misdirect'!) but the car pictured seems to be too svelte to date from the LM-1 to LM-7 period let alone the 'Ulster' era.

I've never seen such 'plumbing' on an early A-M; is all that original or part of an individualistic re-build?

Philip.

[Ivan Goriup]

16 hours ago, pippy said:

So if it's an example of what 'became A-M' are we talking about the Bamford & Martin years? Something like an early 1920's 1 1/2 litre / Mk. II? I know practically nothing about A-M (so apologies in advance if I 'misdirect'!) but the car pictured seems to be too svelte to date from the LM-1 to LM-7 period let alone the 'Ulster' era.

I've never seen such 'plumbing' on an early A-M; is all that original or part of an individualistic re-build?

Philip.

Yes, this car started out as a Bamford & Martin Standard Sports Roadster, approx. 55 produced with 25 known survivors. Around that time however the Company went under due to financial troubles and was purchased by a group of investors, renamed Aston-Martin and began building sports / racing car, including a 1-1/2 liter, twin cam, 16 valve, 4-cylinder Grand Prix car for the newly-formed factory racing team.

This particular car, Ser. # 1934, was purchased as a two-seat roadster by famous racing-pioneer Captain George Easton, who had it converted by the factory to a full-fledged Grand Prix car in 1925. He established a worthy record of victories and participated in the first ever British GP with this car, but retired with a blown head-gasket. The car was restored to replicate the exact appearance and condition of that race and retains all the original components, including the original Renwick-Bertelli designed, and very rare Aston 16-valve, twin-cam motor.

JZG

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Edited December 16, 2023 by Ivan Goriup

[Ivan Goriup]

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Additional images showing different aspects of this unusually well-done and tidy project.

All Images - Leica M240-P / 35mm Summilux Asph FLE.

JZG

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[Ivan Goriup]

A full side view.....

JZG.

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[Ivan Goriup]

...and the final image, the inevitable 3/4 rear view of a rare, very beautiful & classic example of English engineering and craftsmanship at its finest.

Thanks for participating, your turn Philip.,

Merry Christmas to all,

JZG

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[pippy]

2 hours ago, Ivan Goriup said:

...The car was restored to replicate the exact appearance and condition of that race and retains all the original components, including the original Renwick-Bertelli designed, and very rare Aston 16-valve, twin-cam motor...

Wow! That's quite a pedigree to have behind one's car! As you say; a very beautifully crafted thoroughbred indeed. Thanks for the info!

I feel a bit of a fraudster; I only guessed Aston in the first place due to the gently curving shape of the radiator side seen in shot 21101. Apart from that I wouldn't have had the foggiest idea. The rest of the guesswork came through a few on-line 'history lessons'. I was also about to type 'Nice DBR-1 as well!' which - had I not done even more googling - would have resulted in even more egg on my face as I believe the car seen behind the mystery-car in post 21108 is, in fact, a DBR-2; a car of whose existence I was completely unaware...

Obviously I have a very great deal to learn about these things!

We're about to host a dinner-party (in 36 mins!) so will not be able to unearth another quiz-car before tomorrow so hopefully all can wait that long?

Philip.

Edited December 16, 2023 by pippy

[pippy]

Apologies for lateness of a reply......and things are still very busy so haven't been able to dig out anything complex from hard drives but this scan of an old snap found on the laptop might entertain some folks here for the interim. Rear lamp-cluster is a  no-no / Red-Herring but al else seen here is original. As much as you like; who was marrying whom, when and where?

Nah; just kidding! Merely the model variant will do for now. Dating comes later. Unlike for the couple who had this uncommon car as their wedding-day transport...

More 'time-era honing' features to follow if anyone gets close...

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Philip.

[Lelmer]

Reminds me somehow a VW beetle...

[pippy]

16 minutes ago, Lelmer said:

Reminds me somehow a VW beetle...

There's a pretty good reason for that, Alain. Care to try to go a little bit further with your (accurate) guess? There are two important clues in the pic...

😺

Philip.

Edited December 17, 2023 by pippy

[stuny]

Yes, the taillights seem Beetle, and of course it appears to have a rear engine.  Your reply suggests that a Beetle is the basis for the car.

[Graham (G4FUJ)]

VW Karmann Ghia, but I don't think the tail lights work for one of those

[pippy]

2 hours ago, stuny said:

Yes, the taillights seem Beetle, and of course it appears to have a rear engine.  Your reply suggests that a Beetle is the basis for the car.

The tail-light clusters are from a Beetle, Stuart, and the VW Typ 1 was, indeed, the basis of the 'mystery' but as mentioned in post 21111 these lights are to be discounted in terms of vehicle-identification as they date post-1967 which is a much later era than the car pictured.

1 hour ago, Graham (G4FUJ) said:

VW Karmann Ghia, but I don't think the tail lights work for one of those

Interesting that you mention Karmann-Ghia...

It isn't a K-G, Graham, although a very few of these cars were finished by Karmann right at the extreme tail-end of its production run and, as such, this is almost certainly one of them.

Here is another crop from the only pic I have of this fascinating car. Believe it or not although total production of this 'Typ' went into the several hundreds everything needed to identify this one particular example can be seen in the pair of crops!............as an owner of a '59 VW 'Sonnendach' Saloon at the time I cannot tell you how astonished I was to see this car just sitting at the edge of a street in Heidelberg waiting for a bride-and-groom;

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Philip.

Edited December 18, 2023 by pippy

[pippy]

No takers?!

Ok; a clue.

What is unusual (for a Beetle) about the distance - or lack thereof - between seats and rear bodywork / hood cover?

🙀

Philip.

[Ivan Goriup]

Looks a lot like a Type 14A Hebmüller Convertible ( made from about 1948 into the early '50s ) after which date production was shifted to Karmann.

JZG

 

[pippy]

Absolutely correct.

I'm in transit A T Moment and will post all later but does anyone wish to guess why this is unique?

P.

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[pippy]

6 hours ago, Ivan Goriup said:

...a Type 14A Hebmüller Convertible ( made from about 1948 into the early '50s ) after which date production was shifted to Karmann...

For those who might be interested in this sort of thing I'll try to make this little bit of a History Lesson brief. Everyone else merely needs to skip to the bottom of the page!...

On the first day of 1948 one of the greatest persons in the history of VW became their General Manager- Heinz Nordhoff. One of his decisions was to resurrect the pre-war idea of a convertible version of the VW Typ 1 (the 'Beetle') but because production numbers were expected to be quite low gave the contract for the manufacture and final assemly of the bodies to two companies; a four-seater version would be built in Osnabruck by Karmann and a two-seater version would be built in Wülfrath by Hebmüller. Today almost everyone knows the Karmann Cabriolet but few would know the 2-seater.

The Hebmüller actually appeared first and was shown in March '49 at the Geneva Motor Show with production proper starting in June of that year. The Karmann appeared just a few weeks later in July. Tragically a monumental fire broke out in the Hebmüller factory on the 23 July which destroyed much of the equipment. Although there were heroic efforts to keep the company going completed-vehicle output nose-dived from a high of 104 in November of that year to a single example in 1951. Unsurprisingly after this catastrophic turn of events Josef Hebmüller & Son filed for bankruptcy. The remains of the panels & stock was then transferred to Wilhelm Karmann who completed the very last examples of the Typ 14A some time later.

Which brings us to the 'Mystery Car'!

When I saw the 'Heb' parked at the roadside I had a bit of a look and wondered whether it was 'Genuine', a 'Bitsa' or simply an out-and-out fake. The problem was the dashboard. As far as I was aware the Hebmüller was only made during the 'Pretzelfenster' (split rear window) years of the Typ 1; i.e 1947-1952. The dashboard of these 'split-window' era cars was symmetrical around an imaginary line dividing the dash in half left & right with a 'cubby-hole and panel' then 'panel and cubbyhole' arrangement across the pressing. The dash of the car pictured, however, clearly dates to the 'Oval Window' years (1953-'57) and - if you have a look at the snap below - is nothing like the earlier dash in layout.

Having done a bit of research after I got home regarding production-numbers, however, revealed that there was just one single example of the 'Hebmüller' two-seater convertible built by Karmann in 1953 which, of course, would have the new dash layout; this car is - quite literally - unique;

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The questions which I would like to ask about this snap taken in Heidelberg are why is 'Just Married' written in English? How did the couple know of this car? and does the owner know how special this car is?......

Thanks for playing and having a look and over to Ivan for the next puzzle!

Philip.

Edited December 19, 2023 by pippy