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Stuart, 

I particularly remember it, as a friend has two of the final Type Z cars awaiting restoration a saloon and a coupé. I have told him that I am not convinced they are worthy of restoration, given their current state of dilapidation and less than interesting spec. He is currently restoring a 1930 straight eight Minerva AL and has been for the last 10+ years. It is a huge car, with a wheelbase similar to that of a medium size truck. 

Wilson

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Your turn.

1909 Zebra 1 in Franschhoek, South Africa 

 

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Stuart, 

I still have nothing to post so open to all.

This Le Zebre model A must have been a real bundle of fun on the very hilly roads with unsealed surfaces everywhere at the time in South Africa (once outside urban areas and away from the N roads, many roads are still unsealed). A 600cc engine, probably producing around 5 HP, would mean a slow 1st gear crawl up some of the steeper hills. The Smart car my wife and I hired at Nice some years ago, did not have enough power to get up the very steep drive of the B&B we were staying in at Ventimiglia, with the transmission just stalling out. 

Wilson

 

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Allow me to take a crack at this........

Th usual statistics, please.

JZG

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Wilson, not a Tucker, but  '48 is the correct year.

As an additional hint, since this is relatively shortly after the war, like so many other manufacturers of that time, the last left-over prewar chassis were used by this firm to have a sporty & a little moire luxurious custom body by one of the newly established European coach builders mounted on their antiquated  chassis to kick-start postwar sales

JZG

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Perhaps another crop might prompt a few more guesses.

JZG

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Wilson, while the gist of your guess is exactly what this car represents....just different names - neither Cadillac, nor Saoutchik or Ritter were involved. 

A renowned American 'luxury' car builder who, unlike Cadillac, was actually struggling to sell its wares immediately after the war since they had abandoned car building entirely to devote 100% of their capacity to building machinery for the military, came up with the idea to ship some convertible chassis to one of the brightest, newly established Italian styling studios / carrozzerias to have a sporty body designed & mounted on these chassis to appeal to the recently discovered fondness among returning American military personnel for upscale, refined, and 'sporty' European luxury vehicles to help in establishing sufficient volume sales of their day-to-day production cars for the purpose of achieving high enough numbers to break even and generate sufficient income to develop a new generation of modern postwar vehicles and sustain growth.

I will 'reveal all' at the end of today unless there are additional guesses.

JZG

 

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Probably that favourite of Briggs Cunningham, Vignale. Vignale were well known for re-cycling their bodywork to various chassis providers. The 212 Ferrari Vignale looks almost identical to the Cunningham C3. 

Wilson

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1 hour ago, wlaidlaw said:

Probably that favourite of Briggs Cunningham, Vignale. Vignale were well known for re-cycling their bodywork to various chassis providers. The 212 Ferrari Vignale looks almost identical to the Cunningham C3. 

Wilson

Correct, and that is the 'missing link'. It's a 1948 Packard Eight Vignale Convertible 'Victoria'. This car is one of seven concept cars ordered by Packard and the only one to be bodied by Vignale, who also opened their doors in 1948,  as an independent carrozzeria. The car is built on a 1939 Packard One Twenty chassis, their entry level, moderately priced sedan.

I assume Wilson, that you will throw it open to anyone who may have something interesting to post.

M240-P / 35 Summicron Vers. 4

JZG

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