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Last update: December 21, 2009
Cars and Culture
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“…cars and culture have nothing in common”
quote from: ‘Drive on’, by L.J.K. Setright, Palawan press 2002
I like to write. And especially about cars. Most of the stories on these pages have been previously published on PreWarCar, an internet magazine that has a daily item about an antique motor car. In November 2004 I started writing for PreWarCar as an editor. Although most items in this magazine deal with the cars themselves, in these stories I try to create a link with some form of culture or art.
These articles and images are protected by copyright. They may not be reproduced without prior permission from the author. Permitted of course (and even encouraged) is a link to this page.
Rutger Booy
1,00 : 1
photo Rutger Booy
Many expressions used in automotive speech are borrowed from the French language. Prise-direct is one of them and is -simply put- used when there’s a direct drive between the crankshaft and the propshaft, without a reduction from the gearbox. I have no clue as to why this house in a Rotterdam suburb is called 'prise-direct', but was immediately intrigued when I saw it. Does your house have an ‘automotive’ name too?
November 25, 2009
Take a look at me now
Being a lover of old-time music I stumbled upon this marvelous old piece of sheet music dating from the Tin Pan Alley era. Composed in 1911, it tells the story of a poor young girl who comes to New York trying to find her luck. She arrived with only one gown, but “Take a look at her now”. She has certainly learned her way around with “Every night an auto ride.” And by the way, isn’t that a Baker Electric she’s stepping in to? Hard to tell.
Permission to publish the picture of the sheet music was given by the Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music , The Sheridan Libraries, The Johns Hopkins University.
October 16, 2009
No Monkey Business Today!
Today, October 4, is World Animal Day. A day to be nice to animals of all kinds. And the perfect day to show you this cuddly chimpanzee. Many of the early motorists joined an automobile club and as a token of their membership they wore a chauffeur’s cap. The German toy-company Steiff took up the idea and from 1911 until 1931 they produced the Car Chimpanzee. It was 22 cm high and made of brown mohair. Because of it’s chauffeurs cap the chimpanzee soon became some sort of car mascot. This one is a reproduction also made by Steiff. It was a limited production instigated by Mercedes-Benz Classic Collection and if you like it, they still may have just a few in stock.
October 4, 2009
The Pacemaker
This lovely print is titled “The Pacemaker”. Is it because she’s ‘fast’? Mwwah, I don’t think so. Is it because she keeps us alive? No, not that either. Maybe because she’s on the fast track to wherever. But then I should call her a pacesetter, not pacemaker. I give up. (drawing by cover girl artist John Bradshaw Crandell, collection RB)
August 21, 2009
The Origin of a Logo
photo Graig Little
Surely we all know where André Citroën got the idea for an emblem of his automobiles… he started his career by building gear wheels and the twin chevrons (groenewoud-citroen.nl) of the Citroën emblem represent the teeth of those gears. But few of us have probably seen what the "Double Chevron" really looks like in the flesh so to speak. Now Graig Little gives us that opportunity when he took these shots while re-assembling the double helical drive of the differential of his 1923 B2 Torpedo Deluxe. It was also our last chance as the diff is now back together with new bearings and seals and not due to come apart for another 85 years. Maybe even 500. It is certainly built to take it.
July 20, 2009
Live dangerously
It’s great to be a woman and it’s great to live in the exiting 1930s! At least that’s what novelist and scenario writer May Edgington wrote in her short story for the magazine “Modern Woman”. In the story she tries to find out who these “dangerously living” women are. Although both accompanying pictures and frontpage of the magazine show adventurous women like Amy Johnson and Elsie Wisdom, May Edginton arrives at another conclusion: she is not “…the beautiful, not the rich or the exceptionally talented woman. It is the quiet woman with the very female smile and the understanding eye… She is a woman who has the rare temperament to be herself.”
May 6, 2009
Art Deco in Automotive Advertising
artwork courtesy Opel AG
During the 1930s the German artist Bernd Reuters produced a lot of impressive advertising for Opel. Like many of his contemporaries influenced by Art Deco, Reuters developed a distinctive graphic style. His brochure for the 1938 Opel Admiral can be considered one of the classics in the history of automotive advertising. Some of Reuters most impressive artwork will be exhibited at the Opel-Forum in Rüsselsheimer Bahnhofplatz. For instance the 1.2 four cylinder and of course the later Kadett. The exhibition can be seen in Rüsselsheim until July after which it will be moved to Bochum and finally Berlin.
April 6, 2009
A Grand Old Iron Lady
The photo -courtesy Citroën- shows a 1939 Traction Avant 11B Cabriolet
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!
March 31, 2009
What to do on shore leave?
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
A woman with petrol in her veins
(With thanks to Daimler AG)
As next Sunday it will be International Woman’s Day, I will introduce you to one of history’s female footnotes. In 1887 Edouard Sarazin had entered negotiations with Emile Levassor to build Gottlieb Daimler’s engines in France. Edouard died before the talks could be completed, but his wife Louise was well acquainted with the negotiations. Together with Levassor she visited Daimler in Cannstatt and in 1889 this meeting resulted in an agreement in which Louise Sarazin got the rights to commercialize the Daimler patents in France. She then -for a percentage- assigned the rights over to the company Panhard & Levassor. After that, the relationship between Louise Sarazin and Emile Levassor deepened, and in 1890 they got married. Emile Levassor died in 1897, but is still known in France as the ‘father of the automobile’. However, it was Louise Sarazin who believed in the success of the automobile and who introduced Emile Levassor to Gottlieb Daimler thus paving the way for the introduction of the automobile in France.
March 6, 2009
A Bugatti is for posers
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
More colours from Sonia
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
A specialist form of art
(photo from the collections of The Henry Ford and Ford Motor Company).
Two well-dressed ladies about to set of for far horizons. One problem, though, how to start the Model N? We don’t know if the young lad voluntarily turns the crank or not. We do have some comments though, as hand cranking is a specialist form of art. First the boy should have planted his feet more firmly on the ground, one foot left and the other on the right of the crank. Too bad I can’t see how he holds the crank. If he does it the right way he has his thumb on the same site of his fingers, because if the engine backfires, the reversing crank can cause him a broken wrist or arm. Don’t laugh, it happened lots of times. In those days doctors even called it the ‘Ford Fracture’.
Update by Scott Barton: “…the car shown is either a Model R or S runabout. Both these models had full running boards with edged fenders. The N had step plates with simple ploughshare fenders. Only the shape of the turtledeck will distinguish between the R and S; the former being completely round to accommodate a spare tire, and the latter had a pointed deck like the N. (comment Rutger Booy: Scott could very well be right. When I received this photo it was labelled by Ford as a 1908 Model T. I then checked with Hugh Nutting who worked with the Ford Archives long before it was called The Henry Ford. He told me that many photos were misfiled and mislabelled. “Some of it was due to the fact the original Archives was housed in the Rotunda which burnt in the early 1960s. There were handwritten notes added in the rush to save and move what was left. In the early days of the Archives all the photos were in filing cabinets in brown envelopes. When they got requests for photos by model date, the staff (which was very small) would go to these envelopes and take out what ever body style was asked for. In the 1970s there was still stuff that had never been unwrapped from the fire at the Rotunda years before. There were handwritten notations "save for Mr. Ford" with no dating. They could have been written by department heads years ago or by employees cleaning up the fire.”)
January 23, 2009
Petrified Dust
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
The original Woman in Red
This charming young lady posing in her two-seater Mercedes is Ernes Merck (some research makes me think she drives a 6/25/40hp). Ernes was introduced to motor racing through her husband Wilhelm Merck, the owner of a Darmstadt-based chemical company. Wilhelm competed in several races with his SSK, but during the 1927 Klausenpass Hillclimb Ernes proved faster than him! Driving her Type S, she even gave Rudolf Caracciola a run for his money! I found another picture of the same girl, but now with a four-seater Mercedes-Benz (I presume this is the S type, 26/120/180hp). Now the next thing I found out is that she not only had attracted the attention of racing drivers. Artist Offelsmeyer Cucuel asked her to pose for a Mercedes S poster. All this success didn’t make her happy though, as she took her own life in that same year, only a few months after the birth of her son Peter Mercedes Merck. Who -in commemoration of his mother- competed in some serious racing during the fifties.
December 12, 2008
On the road
photo courtesy Hugh ‘Montana’ Nutting
Thanksgiving is the day that Americans give thanks for the harvest and other good things in life. Traditionally the day is celebrated with the whole family and many do like this festive couple. Although they live in far-away Nebraska, they take to the road in their 1906 Ford just to be with their distant relatives and enjoy the customary Thanksgiving dinner together.
Happy Thanksgiving! And do drive safely!
November 27, 2008
The many colours of Sonia Delaunay
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
The Blue Lotus
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
A monument of 194 km
Several years ago Frauke Meyer and husband Edgar visited the Carl Benz Museum in Ladenburg. They became interested in Bertha Benz and decided to revive interest in her life. They didn’t want to erect a static memorial in stone, but rather a monument that reflected the courageous achievement of Bertha Benz, when she drove from Mannheim to Pforzheim in 1888. So they created a scenic route that followed Bertha’s authentic roads as closely as possible. After all, Bertha had to use roads that were bumpy field tracks through the many vineyards. Frauke and Edgar have had the present route signposted and made sure there’s much to see and to do along the way. It links almost forgotten sites Bertha passed on her way and it leads through one of the world's most beautiful holiday regions. And remember… Bertha did the trip in two days, so take your time!
photo Frauke and Edgar Meyer
October 17, 2008
The never-ending line
Maybe you wonder what they are doing. Nowadays we would probably call it Quality Control, but in those days it was called “materials testing”, measuring all those bolts to make sure they have the correct dimensions. Somehow we have a vague idea of the early factories as dark holes, where people toiled to make a meagre living. This photo proves otherwise as this group of people seems to have a clear and proper workspace. The picture dates from 1922 and was taken in the Manheim factory of Benz & Cie. The factory itself dates from 1908 when Benz had a new plant constructed in Mannheim. Officially opened on October 12, 1908 and now, exactly 100 years, later it is still in operation producing commercial vehicles.
photos courtesy Daimler AG
October 10, 2008
Step into my limousine, mister
This isn’t the kind of heart-warming invitation I get everyday as I was only admiring the well proportioned and stout curves. So I accepted the invitation and stepped inside her Citroën C6. And was amazed at its roominess. She told me she preferred the possibility of taking a fifth or even a sixth passenger. That why she bought the “Conduite intérieure” instead of the four-seater Sedan. To seat six passengers, her limousine had two extra folding seats added, so-called strapontins. Room enough for a family. But this time... there were only the two of us (not counting the fox).
September 26, 2008
Unknown movie-star
I don’t know who she is or what part she’s playing, but this young lady was captured on camera by Ron Herpers. While on holiday last month, Ron accidentally stumbled on a film company making a movie in the streets of Paris. Ron couldn’t find out what the movie was going to be titled. But do have a look at several of the other movie-stars waiting their turn to play their role. Judging from the photo’s Ron made, the plot looks to be set during World War II, but one thing is strange though… on the cabin of the ‘Loterie Nationale’ I noticed a poster of the Grand Prix de Paris dated June 28. I also found an original that shows the year 1936!
September 19, 2008
Dress to impress
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
Psycho-T
(photo Rutger Booy)
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.
August 20, 2008
After Church
It’s Sunday morning; you’ve just been to church and then what…? Time for a drive in the country and maybe a picnic later on. But perhaps first something a little stronger…? Cheers!
August 17, 2008
An Engineer and Designer
The scene is the Paris-Bordeaux race in 1895. The Benz Vis-à-Vis is owned by Emile Roger, who had already been involved with Benz for several years. He started by selling Benz gas engines in Paris and when in early 1888 he saw one of the first three-wheelers, he immediately recognized its potential. Carl Benz granted Roger the sole selling rights after which Roger set up a factory where he assembled vehicles that he marketed under his own name. In this way he made sure that he became known in France as having invented the motor car. Roger strengthened this impression in his leaflets, describing himself as engineer and designer, without mentioning the name Benz. Carl Benz wasn’t amused and demanded that Roger from then only sold complete vehicles imported from Germany.
photos courtesy Daimler AG
July 13, 2008
Grumpy old men
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
Transport in Stone
You only have to look around you to find a pre-war car. And looking is just what Henk Schuuring did when he took a stroll in Amsterdam. On the façade of the Parkhotel, situated between Vondelpark and Rijksmuseum, he saw several stone tablets. Three of them depict ancient forms of transportation and four the ‘modern’ way: the motor car; the train; the ship and strangely enough the fourth is not an aeroplane but a Zeppelin. Presumably the Parkhotel was built in the days that still great things were expected of the airships.
photos Henk Schuuring
July 13, 2008
Holidays are fun!
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
Death of a Racing Driver
(photo Rutger Booy)
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
The first on D-Day
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)
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