Name this car....

[pedaes]

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47 minutes ago, wlaidlaw said:

Mulhouse is like lots of museums

To fully appreciate the Museum it is well worth knowing the history of the Schlumpf brothers who assembled most of the collection, certainly the Bugattis. When I visited back in the 80's it was very much in its original state, and you entered by a small side door. We were lucky in that we caught an event where they had gathered every Bugatti Royale in existence together, including the one owned by 'Mr Domino's Pizza' in the US. Still have the Poster for the gathering somewhere.

Edited Monday at 04:47 PM by pedaes

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[wlaidlaw]

36 minutes ago, pedaes said:

To fully appreciate the Museum it is well worth knowing the history of the Schlumpf brothers who assembled most of the collection, certainly the Bugattis. When I visited back in the 80's it was very much in its original state, and you entered by a small side door. We were lucky in that we caught an event where they had gathered every Bugatti Royale in existence together, including the one owned by 'Mr Domino's Pizza' in the US. Still have the Poster for the gathering somewhere.

On my visits to Mulhouse I used to stay in a chambres d'hôte, which was owned by the daughter of the Schlumpf's chief engineer. She said 90% of what was written about them in the papers was rubbish, especially about the secrecy of it all. She said that the Schlumpfs would happily lend out cars for weddings and special events for locals, free of charge and you would see the cars out and about in Mulhouse all the time.

One of the problems for the museum is down to French museum legislation. They would love to sell off some of their surplus/duplicates collection to fund the restoration of other cars or otherwise improve the museum. I know they have in their warehouses a derelict type 54 Bugatti (along with lots of others, a crashed type 32 Tank Bugatti) that we tried to buy from them about 15 years ago. The director asked for permission to sell it but was refused by the bureauprats in Paris. We even suggested to them a swap for our Gangloff bodied Bugatti 57SC (the ex Ralph Lauren car and one of only two original factory SC cars, not a later upgrade) for the 54 plus a number of their other stored Bugattis but again Paris refused.

Oddly though a much sought after car, the 57SC was not a nice car to drive, I suspect because the Ralph Lauren restoration had concentrated on appearance to try and win Pebble Beach and the mechanical restoration was not done by a Bugatti expert, like Tim Dutton, who we would use for vintage Bugatti work. I think the front tubular axle wedge adjustment was incorrect leading to very heavy steering, the rear shock absorbers were far too soft, the brakes were indifferent (although that is pretty good for a Bugatti, which are notorious for dreadful brakes, that sadly resulted in the death of Jean Bugatti in a type 55) and that the supercharger had very worn lobes and gears, leading to poor performance. It was supposed to have 200 BHP. I would guess that it might have had 110 on a good day. 

Wilson

 

[pippy]

On 10/5/2025 at 1:32 PM, wlaidlaw said:

Open to all as usual for me...

I am not really posting this curio as the next 'Mystery' but it might do well as an interesting 'Filler' until such time as anyone has a genuine offering.

Any guesses as to what this - in any way, shape or form - might be? As it is a one-off the 'recognition' chances of anyone who has not encountered the car 1-to-1 are, admittedly, rather slim but I promise to be very forthcoming with helpful suggestions when guesses are proffered!

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Philip.

Edited yesterday at 10:35 PM by pippy

[Graham (G4FUJ)]

Blockley tyres.  The engine looks vaguely familiar - relatively modern 1980's.  Not a clue as to the rest of it though.

[pippy]

57 minutes ago, Graham (G4FUJ) said:

Blockley tyres.  The engine looks vaguely familiar - relatively modern 1980's.  Not a clue as to the rest of it though.

The engine, Graham, has been modified from its 'factory' spec. but the change was effected some 90+ years ago!

Both engine and gearbox were originally installed in a works grand prix machine. One of the team's drivers acquired the car for his own use and these units were duly put into a different chassis (from by the same manufacturer) specifically due to its forthcoming intended purpose...

This snap (I believe!) contains a good clue as to the particular change mentioned above......but I'm not sure that knowledge will be of much help!

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I won't drag out this puzzle for much longer as to do so might be considered to be somewhat unfair given the unique - and rather obscure - nature of this beast......😸......

Philip.

Edited 14 hours ago by pippy

[dkCambridgeshire]

A UK modified oval circuit racer as raced on UK 'stock car' short oval tracks – but not sure which 'class' this 'special' would qualify for? 

Or maybe a 'sprint special' for quarter mile sprint events? Philip's 'drag' being a clue? 

Edited 14 hours ago by dkCambridgeshire

[wlaidlaw]

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I would guess as a stab in the dark, that the engine looks a bit like an Alvis 12/70, which it was quite common to supercharge but usually with a vane supercharger like a Shorrocks rather than this vertical version. The other engine that looked something like this was the British Salmson DOHC 12/70. 

Wilson

[Graham (G4FUJ)]

I was way off on the engine then!

[wlaidlaw]

I think I might have identified the engine - an Alta???

Wilson

[pippy]

1 hour ago, dkCambridgeshire said:

A UK modified oval circuit racer as raced on UK 'stock car' short oval tracks – but not sure which 'class' this 'special' would qualify for? 

Or maybe a 'sprint special' for quarter mile sprint events? Philip's 'drag' being a clue? 

As originally constructed, Dk, the car competed in the 1100cc Class of Grand Prix events and, in this form, scored at least one class win.

59 minutes ago, wlaidlaw said:

I would guess as a stab in the dark, that the engine looks a bit like an Alvis 12/70, which it was quite common to supercharge but usually with a vane supercharger like a Shorrocks rather than this vertical version. The other engine that looked something like this was the British Salmson DOHC 12/70. 

Neither an Alvis nor a Salmson Wilson.

58 minutes ago, Graham (G4FUJ) said:

I was way off on the engine then!

I'll have to check out some twin-cam engines from the '80s before condemning you altogether Graham......😸.....

52 minutes ago, wlaidlaw said:

I think I might have identified the engine - an Alta???

No; nor is it an Alta but you are very much thinking along the correct lines.

Here is another view of the very shapely tail treatment;

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The car was bought by the works team-driver in '31 and the subsequent main modifications were undertaken between then and 1933 by which time it had been "re-chassi'd" and had received its Supercharger. A regular at UK events it also raced, post-WWII, at Goodwood and Silverstone. I don't know of its history immediately after the 'fifties but by the early '90s it was being raced in numerous events by its then owner who was, himself, a VERY well-known racer on the Historic Scene.

I've also, just this minute, discovered that there is a strong link between that gentleman-racer and Graham's first post on this car (#24004)......

If this info doesn't help much then I will post a snap of the front which might - but only might - be more helpful...

Philip.

Edited 13 hours ago by pippy

[wlaidlaw]

Could the engine be a Riley 9HP 1098cc engine, not overhead cams but twin high in block cams with short push rods and hemi combustion chambers. Therefore the basis of this car might be a Riley 9 Brooklands? 

Wilson

[NigelG]

4 hours ago, pippy said:

I won't drag out this puzzle for much longer as to do so might be considered to be somewhat unfair given the unique - and rather obscure - nature of this beast......😸......

Philip.

Happy for you to drag it out - allows time for some thinking and research…

I personally prefer this to the “oh you didn’t get it in 2 hours here’s what it is” scenario.

Obv. YMMV 😉

[Graham (G4FUJ)]

Gentleman racer would be Julian Majzub then?

The rear end of the car is reminiscent of Bugatti 59/50B, but it's not one of the very few of those.  And Julian's interest in Bugatti - perhaps the car was originally a Bugatti?

[pippy]

1 hour ago, wlaidlaw said:

Could the engine be a Riley 9HP 1098cc engine, not overhead cams but twin high in block cams with short push rods and hemi combustion chambers. Therefore the basis of this car might be a Riley 9 Brooklands? 

Wilson

Correct in every detail Wilson. The Coconut is Yours!

This was sitting out in the sunshine on my visit to Brooklands the other week. As I was snapping it I noticed that one of the four cam-covers(?) had been removed and there were some tools and the proverbial Oily-Rag lying beside the thing.

Then, from Stage Left, a chap properly-attired strode purposely over the lawn, picked up his tools and got back to work. I had a very enjoyable chat with him during which time he related a considerable part of the history behind the racer.

It transpired that the engine had started to consume far greater quantities of oil than was ideal and his task was to track down the reason behind this issue. Normally, he told me, they would be working in the various garages which dot-around the circuit but when the weather is so nice the mechanics prefer to work out in the open air...and who could blame them.

At this point my intention was to Reveal-All but having received a notification alerting me to Nigel's previous post (#24012) I am happy to allow the sleuthing to continue some time longer...

The Mechanic if Full Stride Mode and his 'Waiting Patient';

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Philip.

[pippy]

6 minutes ago, Graham (G4FUJ) said:

Gentleman racer would be Julian Majzub then?

The rear end of the car is reminiscent of Bugatti 59/50B, but it's not one of the very few of those.  And Julian's interest in Bugatti - perhaps the car was originally a Bugatti?

Gentleman was, as you surmised correctly, Julian Majzub who was, as I have just read very recently, the Owner / Driver of this car for some time from c. 1991-on.

Not a Bugatti of any number though, Graham, and "No part of a Bugatti was harmed during the making of this car" (as it were) although it does seem to borrow a fair few ideas from that marque!

Philip.

Edited 9 hours ago by pippy

[wlaidlaw]

Not a great surprise it has Blockley tyres then 😄. My thinking when I guessed Alta, was that a school friend's father, A.J.R. Cormack, had raced an offset single seater Alta pre-war at Brooklands, where he was a trainee test pilot with Vickers (this was before the days of the Empire Test pilot school at Boscombe Down). He later became the test pilot for Scottish Aviation at Prestwick, who had the RAF wartime contract for acceptance trials of aircraft flown across the Atlantic. As well as Brooklands, he also raced the Alta in various Voiturette Grand Prix around Europe and north Africa (Tunis, Casablanca and Tripoli).

I used to go for lunch most Sundays from school in Edinburgh with Mr and Mrs Cormack. He showed me a furious letter he had written to Shell in 1938, on his return from North Africa. Being a highly supercharged car, it ran on a mixture of methanol, benzol and various other organics. Shell had erred and had sent his team out with drums of high vapour pressure fuel, suitable for use in cold climates, but wholly unsuited for hot. The Alta apparently suffered from major mixture problems because of the fuel boiling in the carburettor, which then sooted the plugs. The Alta was a capricious car. On one of its few good days, it would be slightly faster than the Types B and C ERA cars and about the same as a 6CM Maserati. It would seem that the good days were few and far between. He was a painfully modest man and it was only with great difficulty that his son and I could get him to talk about his pre-war racing experiences and his flying. 

Open to all to post the next car. 

Wilson

[dkCambridgeshire]

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This s/b fairly easy? 

 Marque / Model please; maker too if you know the car's history. 

Has a good reputation for reliability and body's corrosion resistance. 

I've cloned out the boot mascot

BW, dunk 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by dkCambridgeshire

[wlaidlaw]

Moskovich 407 at a guess. I believe the mechanicals were copied from an Opel Cadet and the body from a Simca Aronde. 

Wilson

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[dkCambridgeshire]

34 minutes ago, wlaidlaw said:

Moskovich 407 at a guess. I believe the mechanicals were copied from an Opel Cadet and the body from a Simca Aronde. 

Wilson

Wilson, not a Moskvich 407 and not a Moskvich.

This car has a 2.5L (ish) engine.

BW, dunk  

[wlaidlaw]

Then I would guess the 53-58 version of the Opel Kapitän. 

Wilson