Today it’s exactly 120 years ago that the world-famous Eiffel Tower was inaugurated. Erected in honour of the World Exhibition in Paris, it took two years to built, from 1887 to 1889. Made to last only twenty years, it was soon discovered that the Tower was too valuable as a tourist attraction and as a means of communication. André Citroën also realised this and had his name put up on the Eiffel Tower in large illuminated letters. These could be seen from far away, much to the chagrin of Renault in nearby Billancourt who could read them only too well from his office.
To the Tower I would like to say: Congratulations on your birthday and may you last forever!
The photo -courtesy Citroën- shows a 1939 Traction Avant 11B Cabriolet
March 31, 2009
I think these three sailors on shore leave are having a great day out. But I also suspect they already had a few pints when they decided to have their photo taken. The photograph was certainly taken in a studio, just look at the painted tree in the background and probably dates from around 1910, when it was still a novelty to sit in an automobile. The pic was send to me by Stein Tranvik from Norway, who would like to find out what make this early car is. It could be that the back seats have been added for photo studio use, but according to Stein one thing is sure: the car is not made in Norway, although the photo is most likely taken there.
March 11, 2009
Eh, well… that is to say only if you have no other job at the pitlane. This great image comes from the collection of the late Dacre Stubbs, a professional photographer who owned this Bugatti Type 51 before the war. Later the Bug was raced by Geoffrey (Twink) Whincop, who in this picture is tuning the supercharged engine, while wife Monica defiantly looks the other way. More from the collection of great racing photographs by Dacre Stubbs can be found on the website of Motormarques, but I also discovered another picture of Monica taken at Shelsley Walsh. Monica beautiful as ever, and the thread of the tyres worn out as before...
February 2, 2009
A few months ago I wrote about The Many Colours of Sonia Delaunay, who designed clothes that matched the car body (see November 21, 2008). Here’s another picture of her work that gives a good impression of her designs. Sonia and husband Robert Delaunay were fond of fast motorcars and even after the death of Robert in 1941, cars continued to play a role in Sonia’s work. For a retrospective in 1967 she painted a Matra in the many-coloured squares which were so characteristic of her style. In 1979 Sonia created the paintwork on a 1:8 scale-model of a Bugatti Type 35 for an exhibition. And in 1991, twelve years after her death, Marc Nicolosi, the creator of Rétromobile, had a 1:1 Bugatti painted in her style.
January 30, 2009
This is just the kind of photo I enjoy on a Sunday. See how marvellous the sculptor included the dust circles at the back of the car. The driver and co-driver sure need their goggles and leather helmets as the whole image just oozes speed! This bas-relief can be found on the William Massopust Building in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The building stands on the corner of State & Chauncey near the Outerbridge. Jim McTernan, who took the photo, would very much like to know more about the history of this building and what it was used for. He thinks it might have been a car dealer or a repair shop, but is not certain. Who knows more?
With thanks to Tim Martin, photo courtesy Jim McTernan, Keyport, NJ
January 11, 2009
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 This story is neither about the Voisin nor the model in front of it. It’s about the many colours. Both clothing and matching car body were designed by Sonia Delaunay. She was a versatile artist who, with her husband Robert Delaunay, made paintings that are nowadays much appreciated for their originality and choice of colours. Sonia also began to use her ideas for paintings as designs for stage-scenery, evening dresses, carpets and interior-decorating. Many influential people wore cloths made by Sonia and in 1925 she designed dresses with matching body-colour for the car. She did the same again in 1928 by making the upholstery of her Talbot in the same material and geometric motifs as her designs for clothing. Even after the death of Robert in 1941, cars continued to play a role in Sonia’s work.
The image of the Voisin is a drawing by Georges Lepape, courtesy National Library of The Netherlands, in loan from Gemeentemuseum The Hague.
November 21, 2008
Tintin & Snowy; Tintin & Milou; Kuifje & Bobby; Tim & Struppi. Who hasn’t enjoyed the comics of the roving reporter and his little fox terrier? Tintin’s adventures were drawn by Belgian artist Georges Remi, who was better known as Hergé. From 1929 until his death in 1984 he wrote twenty-four of Tintin’s albums. Many of his earlier comics were also published in the Belgian newspaper supplement “Le Petit Vingtième”. This mysterious looking gouache graced the front page and comes from “The Blue Lotus”, published in April 1935, about Tintin’s struggle against a gang of drug smugglers. Titled “Where we see how Mr. Fan-Yeng is taken care off”, it is one of the many artefacts to be sold by Artcurial during their auction of comics on November 21-22. However, gems like these don’t come cheap. Artcurial estimates the Blue Lotus to sell at 35.0000-40.000 euros!
photo copyright Moulinsart / Artcurial
November 19, 2008
Marlène Dietrich was one of the first women who dared to wear men’s clothing. And wearing a formal dinner jacket she really knew how to ‘dress to impress’. The dinner jacket is part of an exhibition called ‘The ideal man’. It’s all about the history of men’s fashion from the seventeenth century up to the present day. The exhibition with over 150 outfits and accessories can be seen until the end of October at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. photo courtesy Gemeentemuseum September 13, 2008
 David Herbert is an American artist who builds rough sculptures of iconic figures, objects, and landscapes. He chooses American icons that everybody recognizes, but transforms them in order to get a different meaning. In this case the Model T stands for the revolution that mass-motoring brought along and the role it played during the trek west in the thirties. The house represents California and in fact it is the house from the 1960 movie Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock. The T-Ford, called Western Model, can be seen in the Dutch city The Hague until the end of August after which the T will certainly go on tour. photo Rutger Booy August 20, 2008
Where would you find a combination like these two relics? In the Arizona desert where James Roark lives! James is a retired artist who loves classic cars. One day while working on a shiny model he thought: “What would this car look like if I sculpted it to look like it had 300,000 miles of wear, tear and abuse while being abandoned by its owner?” Since then he created a lot of “rusty wrecks” like this Mack with the Model T on the flat bed. The name 'Grumpy old Men' sprang to mind when he saw the two together and was reminded of a couple of men who had seen much better days. Check his website. You’ll love it! July 13, 2008
Next Monday the French celebrate their national Bastille Day. This day marks the start of the French holiday season, which means lots of people will start their vacation tomorrow. Especially the famous Autoroute du Soleil, leading to the sunny south coast will be extremely busy. The Black Saturdays are feared for their notoriously long queues waiting for the toll-gates. Holidaymakers are advised not to drive on these days, especially not tomorrow July 12, but also on the Saturdays July 19 and 26, August 2 and 9. But of course holidays aren’t always a strenuous affair. Take this family of five for instance. They found a nice spot to pitch their folding caravan and are sure to have a nice time. photo courtesy Dutch Tourist organisation ANWB July 11, 2008
 Exactly 75 years ago the great racing driver Sir Henry “Tim” Birkin died after a freak accident. During a refuelling stop at the Tripoli Grand Prix he burned his arm on the still hot exhaust pipe of his 8C Maserati. He thought nothing of it, and went on to gain third place in the race with his arm in a bandage. When he retuned to London he appeared to be suffering from blood poisoning and was taken to Countess Carnarvon Nursing Home. There he was treated by Dudley Benjafield who, like Birkin, had been one of the Bentley Boys. In those days there were no antibiotics, Benjafield was unable to save him. Tim Birkin died on June 22, 1933. It is unknown whether his death was caused by the blood poisoning or that he had become too weak to fight a malaria attack. The photo is of the memorial erected at Brooklands racetrack. photo Tim Birkin courtesy Bentley Motors June 22, 2008
It’s a little known fact that on D-Day, June 6 1944, the first to arrive in occupied France, was an MG. An MG? Sure, but the story is a bit complicated. In 1941 Cecil Kimber, Managing Director of MG, obtained a contract to manufacture the front end of the Albemarle bomber aircraft at the Abingdon factory. The Albemarle was Britain’s first nosewheel bomber. It could be built in sections by different factories. The front end of the bomber contained the cockpit with all its control. To manufacture this nosepiece proved far more complex than any car ever produced by MG. Yet the workforce at Abingdon succeeded to construct 653 of these nosepieces. On D-Day the fast Albemarle planes were the first to drop airborne troops on the Continent so it seems fair to say that MG arrived there first. It is interesting to note that when Cecil Kimber had secured the contract for the Albemarle nosepiece, he had done so at his own initiative. Officially this ‘policy of non-conformity’ led to his dismissal by Sir Miles Thomas, Chairman of the Nuffield Organisation. However Jean Cook, daughter of Cecil Kimber, stated that: “My father said that a directive cam from Morris Motors to centralize the issuing of unemployment and insurance stamps, which would have meant sacking a faithful employee, a single women who supported her widowed mother. My father refused, and the next day Miles Thomas arrived to demand his resignation.” Sources: Fairfax, Ernest (pseudonym of Miles Thomas): Calling all arms, page 145-146 Thomas, Sir Miles: Out on a wing, 1964, page 210-211 McComb,Wilson: MG by McComb, 1978, page 147-148 Allen, David: an article in Safety Fast, 2000 Knowles, David: MG, the untold story, 1997, page 40 The photo of the MG-workforce with the 100th Albemarle nosepiece comes from the book “Calling all arms”, written by Ernest Fairfax, about the war efforts of the Nuffield Organisation. (courtesy Random House (UK) Ltd.) June 6, 2008 (D-Day)
This year it is 120 ago that Bertha Benz made her now famous long-distance journey. In August 1888, she and her two sons set off in the patent motor car designed by her husband, Carl Benz, and drove the 106 kilometers from Mannheim to the town of her birth, Pforzheim, returning to Mannheim a few days later. With the exception of one or two minor incidents, the patent motor car functioned perfectly. To mark this anniversary, the town of Pforzheim has unveiled a monument in honor of Bertha Benz. The sculpture, made by local artist René Dantes, is -in his words- “an expression of dynamic movement but also depicts a stylized representation of a Benz patent motor car and seated female figure, whose two elements fuse to form a single entity.” In our words: a fitting Monument to the Mother of all Motoring! photos courtesy Daimler AG May 11, 2008 (Mother's Day!)
Although the German motoring-artist Bernd Reuters had been company-designer of Volkswagen from 1946 until 1958, little was known about his earlier life and work. The only insight into this period was an interview he gave to a Swiss magazine in 1951. His first illustrations date from 1927 and his later work can be found in catalogues of Adler, Brennabor, Horch, Wanderer and many other German makes. Reuters told the interviewer that during the 1930s he had also made automobile-illustrations for the British market. He did not quite remember the makes, but mentioned “Amstrong Sidenlie, Rols Royce and Woelslie”. He made these paintings without him ever having been abroad. There’s also a Morris advert that has Reuters’ signature in mirror writing, which means the whole image is a reflection to get the steering wheel on the right side. Working in his studio in Berlin he must have forgotten that in the UK traffic runs on the other side of the street. images courtesy Henk Schuuring April 27, 2008
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Today it’s exactly 120 years ago that the world-famous Eiffel Tower was inaugurated. Erected in honour of the World Exhibition in Paris, it took 
I think these three sailors on shore leave are having a great day out. But I also suspect they already had a few pints when they decided to have their photo taken. The photograph was certainly taken in a studio, just look at the painted tree in the background and probably dates from around 1910, when it was still a novelty to sit in an automobile. The pic was send to me by Stein Tranvik from Norway, who would like to find out what make this early car is. It could be that the back seats have been added for photo studio use, but according to Stein one thing is sure: the car is not made in Norway, although the photo is most likely taken there.
Eh, well… that is to say only if you have no other job at the pitlane. This great image comes from the collection of the late Dacre Stubbs, a professional photographer who owned this Bugatti Type 51 before the war. Later the Bug was raced by Geoffrey (Twink) Whincop, who in this picture is tuning the supercharged engine, while wife Monica defiantly looks the other way. More from the collection of great racing photographs by Dacre Stubbs can be found on the website of 
A few months ago I wrote about The Many Colours of Sonia Delaunay, who designed clothes that matched the car body (see November 21, 2008). Here’s another picture of her work that gives a good impression of her designs. Sonia and husband Robert Delaunay were fond of fast motorcars and even after the death of Robert in 1941, cars continued to play a role in Sonia’s work. For a retrospective in 1967 she painted a 
This is just the kind of photo I enjoy on a Sunday. See how marvellous the sculptor included the dust circles at the back of the car. The driver and co-driver sure need their goggles and leather helmets as the whole image just oozes speed! This bas-relief can be found on the William Massopust Building in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The building stands on the corner of State & Chauncey near the Outerbridge. Jim McTernan, who took the photo, would very much like to know more about the history of this building and what it was used for. He thinks it might have been a car dealer or a repair shop, but is not certain. Who knows more?
Tintin & Snowy; Tintin & Milou; Kuifje & Bobby; Tim & Struppi. Who hasn’t enjoyed the comics of the roving reporter and his little fox terrier? Tintin’s adventures were drawn by Belgian artist Georges Remi, who was better known as Hergé. From 1929 until his death in 1984 he wrote twenty-four of Tintin’s albums. Many of his earlier comics were also published in the Belgian newspaper supplement “Le Petit Vingtième”. This mysterious looking gouache graced the front page and comes from “The Blue Lotus”, published in April 1935, about Tintin’s struggle against a gang of drug smugglers. Titled “Where we see how Mr. Fan-Yeng is taken care off”, it is one of the many artefacts to be sold by Artcurial during their auction of comics on November 21-22. However, gems like these don’t come cheap. Artcurial estimates the Blue Lotus to sell at 35.0000-40.000 euros!
Marlène Dietrich was one of the first women who dared to wear men’s clothing. And wearing a formal dinner jacket she really knew how to ‘dress to impress’. The dinner jacket is part of an exhibition called ‘The ideal man’. It’s all about the history of men’s fashion from the seventeenth century up to the present day. The exhibition with over 150 outfits and accessories can be seen until the end of October at the 
Where would you find a combination like these two relics? In the Arizona desert where James Roark lives! James is a retired artist who loves classic cars. One day while working on a shiny model he thought: “What would this car look like if I sculpted it to look like it had 300,000 miles of wear, tear and abuse while being abandoned by its owner?” Since then he created a lot of “rusty wrecks” like this Mack with the Model T on the flat bed. The name 'Grumpy old Men' sprang to mind when he saw the two together and was reminded of a couple of men who had seen much better days. Check his 
Next Monday the French celebrate their national 
It’s a little known fact that on D-Day, June 6 1944, the first to arrive in occupied France, was an MG. An MG? Sure, but the story is a bit complicated. In 1941 Cecil Kimber, Managing Director of MG, obtained a contract to manufacture the front end of the Albemarle bomber aircraft at the Abingdon factory. The Albemarle was Britain’s first nosewheel bomber. It could be built in sections by different factories. The front end of the bomber contained the cockpit with all its control. To manufacture this nosepiece proved far more complex than any car ever produced by MG. Yet the workforce at Abingdon succeeded to construct 653 of these nosepieces. On D-Day the fast Albemarle planes were the first to drop airborne troops on the Continent so it seems fair to say that MG arrived there first.
This year it is 120 ago that Bertha Benz made her now famous long-distance journey. In August 1888, she and her two sons set off in the patent motor car designed by her husband, Carl Benz, and drove the 106 kilometers from Mannheim to the town of her birth, Pforzheim, returning to Mannheim a few days later. With the exception of one or two minor incidents, the patent motor car functioned perfectly. To mark this anniversary, the town of Pforzheim has unveiled a monument in honor of Bertha Benz. The sculpture, made by local artist 
Although the German motoring-artist Bernd Reuters had been company-designer of 