RAV

By Rosemarijn Atalante Veenenbos

POTW – ALFISTI DREAM MACHINE WITH MARIO TADINI AT THE GAISBERGRENNEN IN 1933

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Today we will forget all the trouble and look at this gorgeous and breathtaking Alfa Romeo – Scuderia Ferrari. This masterpiece is accompanied by the heroic Mario Tadini. As you might have heard, CHB had some trouble with FB and due to this CHB will not be able to share stories, except on www.crankhandleblog.com and the CHB FB page until Wednesday. This is probably the work of FB and has to do with money, which sadly can destroy great initiatives. I hope that all the CHB readers will continue to support the work of team CHB : ) Please support by sharing this link as much as possible in FB groups, your own FB page, or any other great place you know: https://crankhandleblog.com/news/pic-of-the-week/potw-alfisti-dream-machine-with-mario-tadini-at-the-gaisbergrennen-in-1933/

Let’s make sure CHB is exploding all the social media…

Luckily I became good friends with the one and only Brooke Swan Car and she will go and visit to the FB headquarters to steam them all out with hot water, perhaps even… Continue reading (there is some fine Scuderia history to be found…)

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LOUWMAN WILL TELL YOU HOW TO PURCHASE A DREAM AUTOMOBILE! – PART 2 

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All of this made a great time journey, BUT the real deal started for me when I stepped into the world of the finest of the finest. Before I did, accidentally, I grew like a giant after drinking something from a little bottle. I wasn’t able to get out of the Spyker hall with the wonderful aircraft, which was not a bad place at all to hang around. Luckily I remembered from Alice in Wonderland that I I had to eat some cake in order to get back to normal size. I was now smaller as before, especially when staring at those great historic heroes…

Next I ended up at the section of race icons and wonderful vintage and classic supercars. I listened with interest to some great stories about these heroic automobiles, told by… Continue reading

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POTW–LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGTHER

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Let me first wish you a HNY, now that we are in 2016! Today I like to share with you a photo I absolutely love… why? It shows a Hispano-Suiza, an Amilcar and a fierce racer which could perhaps be a Mors? This year I will definitely be on the road in a number of rallies with Amillion (my Amilcar CGS), but there is one more thing I wish for this year. I hope my dad will accompany me in his, hopefully finally completed, Hispano ‘Grand Sport’, so that we can both have fun in our prewar beasts, one of which is a small beast ; ) Hispano Senior and Amilcar Junior, or as Simon, one of CHB’s writers told me, Hispano the elder and Amilcar the younger. These terms are used in the art world and as I call vintage and classic cars art as well, the elder and the younger it is! Or as we say in Dutch, like father, like daughter (although it would usually be son instead of daughter, obviously…).

Also a good moment to show my appreciation for my parents for giving me this most incredible name Atalante, and for my dad for passing on this great automotive passion, which is FORMIDABLE! To come back to a question raised by Simon, my dad started at young age with… Continue reading

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MYSTICAL BARN FIND DISCOVERY 

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I must make a confession while it is still 2015. I found something hidden in a church, a church find! Who doesn’t dream about finding a sleeping beauty hidden under dust and behind broken windows. I know you are a barn find junk too, so I need your help. Who can tell me which car this is? I looked for hours at the photo, but I can’t discover what it is.

But let me first tell you a nice and exciting story which will give you so much adrenalin, like I felt that moment. I was doing a prep drive with a friend just before the 100 Miles of Amsterdam when the friend told me about a place he knew with a mass of barn finds… Continue reading 

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CHB WISHES YOU HAPPY HOLIDAYS, PERHAPS ON THE ROAD?

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Especially for you a fine design of an artful Christmas card by CHB’s NYC correspondent. The car shown is a Bugatti Royale with chassis number b, the Weinberger cabriolet. The buildings are on rue Robert Mallet-Stevens, Paris 16.

The magnificent #41121 was painted very dark green or black at the time and to be honest, it was never… Continue reading

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS ON THE ROAD WITH A RACING CAR 

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“Let’s enjoy a great story told by our hero, legend Denis Jenkinson. This incredible man gave us petrol heads so many lovely stories, so let’s honor DSJ. With that said, I don’t mean CHB’s DSJ obviously ; ) Thanks Robin Batchelor for this great Christmas suggestion.”

I began to think about doing something appropriate to wind up the year at Christmas time. Other magazines were doing Christmas road tests of unlikely vehicles, with esoteric things like measuring the acceleration of a pogo stick, or the maximum speed of a steamroller. For Motor Sport my thoughts were totally on Grand Prix racing, though I occasionally helped the editor by road-testing the more exciting vehicles. For this purpose I plotted out a figure-of-eight route that pretty well covered the whole county of Hampshire, where I lived, and did timed runs in the faster road-test cars, There were no motorways in those days and, more to the point there were no… Continue reading

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HOW MUCH CASH IN OLD SOCKS ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?

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A number of articles ago, CHB presented a special one-off concept car for those who still have hidden socks with cash. On December 10th RM Sotheby’s held their NYC Driven by Disruption auction. Our NYC correspondent Walter Jamieson was present and noted down for you the hammer prices of his favorites, which he dealt with in a previous article about great dashboards.

The following prices are… Continue reading

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WON’T STOP ROCKING, CHB IS EVOLVING…

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Wait! We start with a mini quiz. I am sure you noticed this many times, as it has been sitting there already for the past 8 months since CHB popped up on the world wide web. Guess what the marque is of the spooky-like automobile in the banner above every page…

Dear readers, this article will be about you! We, RAV and DSJ, want to thank you so much for visiting and reading our stuff, we appreciate that truly so much. As I, RAV, am writing this, I thought today would be a good time to… Continue reading

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THE AUTOBAHN KURIER, ANOTHER LAKE FIND… – PART 2 

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CHB stands corrected – the Mercedes 540K in yesterday’s article is a 1936 Special Coupé by Sindelfingen and not an Autobahn Kurier… Of the original Autobahn Kuriers only 6 were built, 4 on a 500K chassis and 2 on a 540K chassis. The car in the Arturo Keller collection, chassis 408336, ex prof. Barraquer, is believed to be the only remaining of those 6, although …? (read on). That doesn’t make yesterday’s article less fascinating and in this part 2 we continue this amazing story, still calling ‘our’ car an Autobahn Kurier for the sake of the great story!

My uncle and father definitely fell for the charms of the Autobahn Kurier, without knowing that it was one! They were impressed like they had never been before by any other car. They both began to convince their father to buy the car. Saying that my grandfather was interested, is an understatement! He simply was shaken by this apparition. He asked if the cars could be started… The Colonel told them that they… Continue reading

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THE AUTOBAHN KURIER, ANOTHER LAKE FIND… – PART 1

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Get ready for a fine barn finding story from a great CHB reader! It is just awesome to see stories from my precious readers. Thank you so much Simon for this intriguing story! : ) If you also have such a great story, don’t hesitate to share it with CHB.

When I was a young boy (that was a long time ago), I was always waiting for the weekends, because on Sunday we used to go for lunch at my Grandparents’ home. After the meal my beloved grandfather, a great car enthusiast, always liked to tell us some fairytale-like car stories. I remember those moments very well. My father, my uncle and I suddenly got sparkling eyes when it came to listen to grandpa’s marvelous stories. Such as the story of his 16 valve Bugatti Brescia, that he owned for just one week, the Rolls Silver Ghost converted into a towing car, but the most appreciated and sought after tale was for sure the story of the Autobahn Kurier near the lake… Continue reading

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AN UNEXPECTED 8C ADVENTURE THANKS TO FB…

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My dad always tells me to plan and organize or prep a bit more, not really my kind of thing… The best days are when I get in my car unprepared to experience some great adventures! To name some very nice examples, I went to Denmark on my own, to join that great Bonhams auction of the Frederiksen collection. You can read those reports by clicking here for part 1, or here for part 2. Unexpectedly I left for Denmark, without any plan but getting to the auction in time. Where to stay? Just see how it goes, no commitments, just total freedom and fun. This adventure crossed my path thanks to a great friend who knows a lot about the fine art of Saoutchik and Figoni & Falaschi. That reminds me, I still need to write that article about Figoni… Expert Peter Larsen and his companion Ben Eriksen invited me to come to the action and that is what makes this blog so rewarding, these unexpected encounters! Peter Larsen is author of a number of magnificent books, so make sure to check them out via the Dalton Watson site.

The second example of a great day was when I… Continue reading

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WATCH OUT FOR THE BULLS WHILE BARN FINDING!

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It is great to see some action caused by a CHB article. Barn finding is something that is so intriguing for most of us, a special dream we are all looking for. Sometimes this dream becomes reality, but the next question will be, will your dream actually come true, or will it become one of the most disappointing experiences in your life. I suppose this last possibility will have been experienced by many…

My father used to look for barns a lot, with the hope of finding that old rusty and dusty treasure, mostly Buagttis. Like the story I shared with you titled ‘La clinique des chocs and the Russian princess’ (the very first article on CHB). To find that special sleeping beauty is just the jackpot in a lottery, especially in the time we live in now. I very much believe that unknown barn finds don’t really exist and if they do, it is a real miracle on earth. Most of the time there are people who know about the barn find, but their lips are sealed ; ) Once… Continue reading

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UPDATE ON MY APPRENTICESHIP

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As promised, I will keep you posted about my apprenticeship at ERK. I must admit, every day this work gets more and more fun! We even have a barn find section in the garage, just to relate to yesterday’s article… ; ) The diversity of cars that come in is large, pre- or postwar, patinated like a Brescia, finely restored like a Hispano H6C (the gorgeous H6C with Kellner coachwork shown below is mostly restored by ERK, also the special Chromos bumpers), or sporty like a Lambo GT400, all great to work on.

A job I really enjoyed, was installing the overhaul sets of the 6-double Weber carburetors for the Lambo GT400 V12. When assembling 6-double Webers you soon find out how they are put together and what every part means for the function of the carburetor – fascinating. With an excellent manual, which had every part numbered, it was almost as simple as assembling an Ikea closet… ; ) While dong the job… Continue reading

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JAMES BOND EAT YOUR HEART OUT – THE SPECTRE CAR BEING REVEALED TOGETHER WITH ITS PREDECESSORS

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To prepare for this day, before this joyful event, I already paid a visit the Aston showroom in Wommelgem near Antwerp the day before. I can say that this Aston Martin dealership truly is a great place. The sales team are very nice and take time for their customers. I was impressed by the wall of color options that you can choose for your new toy. Both paint swatches as well as leather for your interior.  There is such a great diversity to create your personalised luxurious and elegant environment. Especially Mariana black, which is a very deep dark blue, so when you take a closer look with the sun shining on it, you can see that it actually is blue. The Astons can also be delivered in two tone. This is something that I love to see, as I am quite a fan of two tone colored cars. Without doubt, this is a great place to visit if you are looking for an exciting, fierce and fast ride.

Many of us will soon go or have already seen the latest Bond movie Spectre, which as usual is full of excitement, new Bond girls, action, fierce Astons and gun shots. I had an even better Bond experience! To get in the mood, the Aston Martin… Continue reading

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REMEMBER “THE ITALIAN JOB” AND THE SPECTACULAR DESTRUCTION OF A MIURA? IT’S NOW FOR SALE…

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No, they won’t offer you a crashed Miura that is still lying in the abyss. What they do offer? Just continue reading and you will find out.

If you have been following CHB for a while now, you will probably remember that once upon a time… Some nut heads pushed a Miura P400 off a cliff with a bulldozer! This sounds like madness, because who would ever destroy a Miura on purpose? While digging a bit further into this crazy story, it appears that… Continue reading

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A WORKSHOP- SHOP… THE BEST WAY TO SPEND MONEY

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During my apprenticeship at ERK Automobiles, I will visit many wonderful workshops. It is great to see the differences between different workshops and of course to meet the people who run those workshops. This week I visited a great place near Amsterdam, Track Motortechniek (engine technique).

This workshop is specialized in engines and they are dedicated to digging deep into the mechanical aspects. They write about and explain many… Continue reading

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THE AMILLION JOURNEY CONTINUES

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Most of you know that the first step towards my goal was to purchase a lovely Amilcar or other cyclecar. That first step has been accomplished, but it is just the beginning of great adventures which are yet to come! Every vintage car has its own issues or things that can be improved and so has Amillion (that is the nickname I have given to my Amilcar CGS). To make sure you can hit the road safely and have lots of fun you need to make sure you check the car thoroughly and go for mechanical perfection as far as possible. Later you will probably still find new things that can be improved. This is a part of the journey/adventure and you should enjoy it because it is a great experience to get to know your car.

A while ago I posted a fun tour of the workshop of a true professional near Amsterdam. I know the very nice and relaxed man of the workshop and his wife from the Bugatti Club Netherlands and decided to… Continue reading

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CHB IS BECOMING FAMOUS THANKS TO PREWARCAR/POSTWARCLASSIC 

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Have any of you noticed my first article on PostWarClassic? Make sure to check it out by clicking here! Luckily the owner of Prewarcar/Postwarclassic appreciates my youthful and fun way of writing, so he challenged me to start writing some articles for his amazing site, I feel honored to do so. My first article was about the Brussels Interclassics exhibition earlier this month. Joris Bergsma, the owner of PWC, wanted me to look for the weirdest car at the event and the result can be found here.

From now on I will write an article each week for him, which will mostly be published on Wednesday. I suppose most of you already know the website – if not, shame on you! PWC has also played an important role in my life… Continue reading

Schermafbeelding 2015-11-21 om 14.54.47

PRESS, BEND… AND MIND YOUR FINGERS!

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Today we step into the world of sheetmetal working! Again a nice workshop, as I am addicted to seeing all those great and interesting places which you usually never get to see. Good work requires expertise and this man I visited commits to that rule. He is an allround man concerning sheetmetal work, but he is also an engineer and designed and produced some of his own machines.

The man has a creative mind that blew me away. He makes all sorts of art with sheet metal, like for example a rocket-like set of chairs with table and a very cool prototype of a unique motorcycle, inspired by an old concept that never succeeded because it was too advanced for its time. Another fun thing, he makes steampunk items… Have you ever heard of it?

If you are inspired by his work and want to learn it yourself… Continue reading

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CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THE WORKSHOPS!

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Sorry for my radio silence again… As I already announced, I am in my learning process about mechanical things, restoration and revision. One of the jobs I also have to do is to make sure some car parts are delivered at special workshops for modifications or specialized work. This is one very interesting thing to do, because I get to see so many great places where real craftsmanship is delivered. So for now I will send a series of POTWs about workshops that are specialized in a specific field.

The first workshop I visited was Nuyts, located near Antwerp. They are an engine overhaul/repair company and have some very impressive and monstrous machinery! Their workshops looked just great and I was lucky enough to get a tour around the premises. They showed me some very special engines they are now working on, like a Delage, a Bugatti T37 and a Rally… Continue readinghttp://crankhandleblog.com

I AM IN MECHANIC’S CLASS AT A SPOOKY BARN!

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If there is one thing that you need to experience… Driving on a dark rainy evening in a open racer, like in a Teal! This is the best way to spend your evening, especially when it is followed by a highly educative private class about all things mechanical! As you will see I had a GREAT evening with a great petrol head friend! Initially Hans, the owner of the Teal, didn’t want to pick me up with the Teal because of the rain, but before starting work on it that evening it needed a warming up… For me rain, thunder, darkness, etc. no problem at all! In all circumstances I love to drive such cars, no matter what. Even better because it is a bit spooky and adventurous, right? ; ) Even better when the FUN ride ends at a barn, not just a ordinary one… Continue readinghttp://crankhandleblog.com

THE INTERCLASSICS BRUSSELS PREMIERE WAS…!

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For those petrol heads who missed the 2015 edition of the Interclassics Brussels exhibition on November 6-8, you might wonder was this first ever exhibition in Brussels a flop or top? Judge yourself after reading my report! : ) I always love to go and see some nice events and to make a report about it. It sounded very special to visit the first Brussels Interclassics exhibition, so let’s take a look at the first day of this new event! I also had the mission of finding the weirdest car of this event, commissioned by PreWarCar, so make sure to check out PWC frequently!

Friday was the first day that Interclassics Brussels opened their doors, a good day to have look at the cars they had collected and see some nice stands! The entry was already GREAT! The original T35 Bugatti of Luc Slijpen was your host while entering the arena of brute HP! : ) This Bug was also a good teaser… Continue readinghttp://crankhandleblog.com

THE AMILLIONCAR HAS ARRIVED! MEET MY RED AND MOST ELEGANT DRAGON/UNIKORN ; ) – PART 2

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Off we went again to Austria! This time to collect, so a somnolent slow journey towing a trailer… No hanging around ‘en route’ in workshops, just GO GO and GO, because the next 2600 km had to be covered as quickly as possible! After a very long drive and a stay 70 km before Salzburg we arrived in Carinthia again.

We secured the ‘Amillioncar’ in the trailer, after having visited a friend of the seller. The seller is a great enthusiast who owns many great Puch motorcycles, a modern 300SL and even an Abarth Monomille GT! The seller loves Mercedes and so does his friend, who owns a… Continue readinghttp://crankhandleblog.com

THE AMILLIONCAR HAS ARRIVED! MEET MY RED AND MOST ELEGANT DRAGON/UNIKORN ; ) – PART 1

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Sooner than expected… my goal of snatching up a nice cyclecar has already been achieved! : ) After some initial orientation and looking and enquiring around, it transpired that I had to take a quick decision! Sometimes you just need to have faith and believe in miracles! The next day after having contacted the seller my dad and I left to start our journey to Austria to see the CGS and to get things sorted out. I must admit that before we left we already had seen a lot of details and pics of the CGS. It looked perfect and that made us decide to be madhatters and just GO… Continue reading http://crankhandleblog.com

MY MECHANICS APPRENTICESHIP!

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A lot of good news to tell you! To start with my learning process of becoming a mechanic! As mentioned before Erik Vandalon from ERK Automobiles is one of the mechanics/restorers of our cars. He does some fantastic work on exclusive cars, like Bugatti Brescia, Delahaye 135, Lamborghini GT400, Hispano-Suiza H6C, etc! I am lucky enough to have a chance to learn from him since I started my ‘apprenticeship’ with him. This is a good way to start at the bottom of the ladder and first of all to gain a good knowledge of the basics.

Some time ago, when I was driving back from Chantilly with my dad in the Delahaye, we discussed… Continue readinghttp://crankhandleblog.com

IT IS ALL ABOUT THE WORKSHOPS! ONE LIKE YOU HARDLY EVER GET TO SEE! – PART 2

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As I promised in my previous article, I will continue the story with some technical highlights! Because the TRUE specialist had some unique and interesting secrets! This great Salmsonist is capable to restore everything himself and for that he obviously needs good tooling and machines…

Let’s get to the point, the journey of the Salmson D-GSS-GS with twin overhead camshafts (2act) to a state of absolute perfection!

In fact his garage is not large… but everything just fits in there perfectly! He owns vintage machines to restore everything in style! Such as the… Continue reading http://crankhandleblog.com

COUNTLESS GREAT PETROL HEAD FRIENDS AND MY DEBUT DRIVING A TEAL!

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For now a little newsfeed in-between… I like to share with you the great atmosphere in petrol head world! It is not long ago since I became very active in this scene, but from the very first moment I noticed something fascinating… It seems to be a world that is so nice, with people who are very happy to become friends with you, share the same great interests and mostly have fun with each other and the cars! So far I haven’t seen any envy or unfriendliness… Perhaps because I am a nice young girl? ; )

Also on FB there were some surprising developments! It almost looks like… Continue readinghttp://crankhandleblog.com

IT IS ALL ABOUT THE WORKSHOPS! ONE LIKE YOU HARDLY EVER GET TO SEE! – PART 1

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I discovered something you will LOVE to see and get to know more about! First of all sorry for my radio silence. Being an active petrol head has been a bit overwhelming lately – so much to do and so many visits including something very special, which will be revealed soon! It is just one big delight! : )

Let me start where I stopped after the previous article. I visited a small private workshop of a TRUE Salmsonist. Not just anybody, but a VERY special person, a REAL specialist! This Salmsonist has only recently restored his own Salmson to the finest details and has now embarked on the restoration of an… Continue readinghttp://crankhandleblog.com

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF THE SAMILCAR – YOUR AMBITIOUS BLOGGER ; )

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To give you a personal update, which is also about that surprise I announced before… First of all I am looking for my very first own vintage car! After driving those two GREAT Delahayes, I can’t wait to also have a taste of a fierce little cyclecar-racemonster! Nothing better than driving all different kind of cars! The Bugatti drives made me really excited to acquire a fine and manoeuverable little racer, but a bit less expensive than a Bug… So a ‘poor man’s Bugatti’ it should be! : )

I have already seen quite a few charming cars like the Amilcar, Salmson, Riley and Rally… BNC is also very nice. I don’t mention Bugs, because for now they are unaffordable for me… The first experience was an Amilcar while on our way back home from Martin Waltz’s museum near Freiburg. It was the first time I saw (and drove in) an Amilcar in real life and I was impressed! One thing I kept in mind was to… Continue readinghttp://crankhandleblog.com

POTW – A FAMOUS FRENCH AUTOMOTIVE MOVIE-STAR ; )

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This time a POTW session of our 1938 135M Delahaye Chapron cabriolet. As you may already have seen, our Delahaye has a role in an upcoming Dutch war movie with my dad as the chauffeur! : ) So today will be all about this automotive actor! The 135M is already getting the manners of a famous movie star, so it demanded to be featured in a POTW of its own… (in a special scene as a kind of dirty trials racer) ; )

As you can see, after recordings, the Delahaye needed a beauty treatment as it was very DIRTY! This is how stars want to be treated… Like I said before, some classic cars need to shine like a diamond, such as this piece of eternal elegance designed by that master coachbuilder Henri Chapron! So remember this face, it will be on screen as of next year 5th of May, the day of the première of this movie! Click here for more POTWs!Schermafbeelding 2015-10-13 om 21.02.49

A FUN PORT-TOUR WITH THE 135MS DELAHAYE AND THE WORKSHOP OF A SPECIALIST!

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Life with all those great events doesn’t get boring! Last weekend we had again a nice tour with friends of the BCN (Bugatti Club Netherlands). My dad and I drove some 105 km to the location in North-Holland with the 1950 135MS Delahaye Chapron cabriolet.

A very nice man, the owner of the Silverstone party center at Halfweg near Amsterdam, organized this event which included two local tours. Everything was very relaxed and quite a few cars turned up, such as modern supercars like Aston Martin, but also many Lotus/Caterham/Donkervoort…, MG, Alvis, Cobra replicas, Ford Mustang, etc. For us there wasn’t enough time, but in the Silverstone center there were plenty of entertaining activities to do, such as laser gaming, karting, bungee football and bowling.

Our friends of the BCN live almost next door, so we were happy to visit them and see their large workshop and… Continue readinghttp://crankhandleblog.com

OUR DELAHAYE 135M CHAPRON CABRIOLET MAKING FAME IN THE DUTCH CINEMAS!

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Can you remember my request on CHB a while ago for period cars for that war movie about Mr. Riphagen? Well, after a serious request from my sister, who is casting director for this movie, my dad and our Delahaye 135M with Henri Chapron coachwork, accepted a role in that thrilling movie! The other period cars were supplied by Jan Wijnakker. He owns a host of classic cars of all kinds of marques and models, including a Delahaye 148L with coachwork by Pennock of The Hague!

Jan’s ‘actor car’ in this scene was a Peugeot 201, but once the movie appears in the cinema next year you will see many more of his cars on the screen. An interesting subject to report about some time, because he rents his cars for film sets, which is good business with a vehicle park of more than… Continue reading http://crankhandleblog.com

MY CLASSIC DRIVERS DEBUT – STARTING BIG IS THE BEST WAY!

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http://crankhandleblog.comThis week I experienced a VERY SPECIAL day! My first time driving a classic car and not just a classic car, but one of our lovely BIG Delahayes (the 1938 two tone blue coloured 135M cabriolet with Henri Chapron coachwork). Most people say you need to start small and I will follow that advice in my search for my first own classic car, but starting BIG is really more my kind of doing things… ; )

The very first moment of driving away was really strange! Steering on the right hand side appears not really to be so weird and soon it starts to feel quite natural, but steering and braking is not anything like in a modern BMW! Steering round on a roundabout is much harder work than I am used to. The cable brakes on this heavy car (about 1700 kg) work extremely well but you need to… Continue reading

FORGET THE GERMAN MOTORWAY CIRCUIT! THIS IS PETROLHEAD HEAVEN!

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Sorry for my ‘radio silence’, but I had some issues with my MacBook, which is the worst that can happen to a blogger! Last weekend I went to the Circuit Park Zandvoort. You won’t believe this, but it was my first visit to the circuit and I had such an amazing time there! Some of my BCN (Bugatti Club Netherlands) friends were also present at the event British Race Festival / Vintage Revival Zandvoort. It is always a real pleasure to meet them again, one BIG car loving family! : ) The weather was great, so nothing could spoil the weekend!

The Dutch Vintage Sports Car Club (DVSCC) was present with many great cars, also cyclecars, which made the event for me the more interesting as I am looking to buy one! Next to the 58 race- and sportscars from the 20s and 30s, there were also… Continue readinghttp://crankhandleblog.com

POTW – THE FREDERIKSEN AUCTION THRU ANOTHER EYE!

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Just some other POTWs! Denmark was a wonderful trip for me and to return some of those lovely memories… We take a look at the Frederiksen collection that was to be auctioned by Bonhams in some more detail! For sure the automobiles were looking very Pebble Beach worthy, but if we look at those cars thru a different eye… the eye of my camera, the lens! To me, when I look back at the pics I made, the best ones are those of the details! To get to the point, details can make or break a car!

Of course this is something that has to do with personal taste. In my opinion… Continue reading (see much MORE lovely POTWs!)http://crankhandleblog.com

POTW – VANVOOREN COACHWORK PARADISE!

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I just added one more photograph of the Volante museum… Martin Waltz sent it to me and I was amazed, it looks like some VERY fine art! Another reason to start your engine and pack your bag and head to Kirchzarten ASAP! And when you are on the road, why not make a short detour to Denmark to the Strøjer Samlingen in Assens! Oops, almost forgot the Louwman museum in The Hague. There it is… a short European automotive museum tour! Any suggestions for other great museums that you would like to read about? Let me know! For sure there are other magnificent automotive museums to visit, e.g. Mulhouse.http://crankhandleblog.com

THE GRAND OPENING OF MUSEUM VOLANTE – A VANVOOREN COACHWORK PARADISE!

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Denmark was a great trip, but soon after returning home I already left again and this time to the south of Germany. I had the privilege of being the only press at the grand opening of Martin and Inge Waltz’s Museum Volante in Kirchzarten near Freiburg. This time I was with my dad, which is always great, because together we always experience some weird and great adventures. I was happy to turn back to the German motorway race circuit, but our journey was CRAP! Literally everywhere roadworks, redirections and Stau (traffic jam in German)… After some SLOW 700 kms we arrived at the hotel, which was as I call it a Pinocchio kind of mountain house, the way my dad likes it! When watching out of the window of our room we saw a clattering stream with waterfall, very relaxing!

Enough about that, you are reading this because of the Museum! First of all… Continue reading http://crankhandleblog.com

STRØJER SAMLINGEN IS THE PLACE TO BE AND THE NEW HOME OF MY DEAR FRIEND THE HISPANO H6C!

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Some 3700 kms later (last week)… Excuse-moi, I had a very busy week with all those FANTASTIC events, so forgive me that I didn’t publish as much as I used to… Lets get back to business, get ready for some nice reports!

The other GREAT surprise I have in store for you (after the Frederiksen auction) is the invitation to the Strøjer Museum by Jørgen Strøjer! First of all this was a VERY pleasant surprise for me as I was incredibly happy to get to know the new owner of the Hispano-Suiza H6C Kellner cabriolet de ville that is so special to me. I always say that things work out as they should… Continue readinghttp://crankhandleblog.com

BONHAM’S BLUE CATWALK AT THE FREDERIKSEN AUCTION! – PART 2

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So, let’s get into some other fine cars in the auction that caught my attention!

I really enjoyed the 1927 Bentley 6,5 liter ‘Bob-tail’. This 6,5 liter Bentley is only one of 20 with the exclusive 11 foot short wheelbase. The re-bodied chassis looks rough and impressive. Its engine was entirely refurbished and the chassis dismantled, stripped and repainted. Sold for €963,510 (DKK 7,187,500).

Since I did the article about the incredible Louwman 500K Special Roadster, the Butcher’s car, I love the 500K and there was one present at the auction. It used to be a Sindelfingen Cabriolet C which was re-bodied into a Special Roadster by expert German restorer Franz Prahl, in the style of Sindelfingen. Under the hammer for… Continue readinghttp://crankhandleblog.com

BONHAMS’ BLUE CATWALK AT THE FREDERIKSEN AUCTION – PART 1

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The big day last week was the day of the Frederiksen Auction at the lovely estate of Lyngsbækgaard in Denmark. An auction without any Porsches or Ferraris… just unbelievable! That is why a lot of vintage petrol heads must have looked forward so much to this event! A huge collection went under the hammer with many RRs (which Henrik Frederiksen obviously loved!) and mostly English, American and German marques. Almost the entire collection consisted of cars restored to the finest detail, but some had new bodies. Also several fine original cars crossed the blue catwalk. Not many French cars, except that FANTASTIC Hispano-Suiza (also two Citroens – a DS23 Pallas and SM coupe – also a Renault V-1 20/30 Cape Top Victoria)! The Auctioneer, Malcolm Barber, did a great job with all his jokes. Another thing… the weather was really great!

The highlights of this auction were definitely the the ex-Maharaja of Patiala 1933 Maybach DS-8 Zeppelin Cabriolet, which achieved a highest bid of a hefty… Continue reading

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ROAD CIRCUIT AND A SECRET PORT TO WONDERLAND!

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http://crankhandleblog.comTo keep you posted, a short report of today’s journey to the Bonham’s Frederiksen auction at Ebeltoft in northern Denmark… a bit unexpected. Tomorrow, the 26th of September, will be THE day of the incredible Frederiksen auction, and yes I will be present as CHB Press ; ) Nice start of my career! But first some 925 km to get there. No problem for me because I love to be on the way, no matter how far it will be!

My dad learned me to drive without navigation (except cities), so this was a good test and it went… Continue driving (reading) ; )

POTW PHOTOREPORT – THE AFTERGLOW OF THE BCN RALLY!

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Last report I told you about the magnificent BCN weekend and to raise those great memories I thought it was a nice idea to do a POTW photoreport as addition to the extended report! I took some nice pics of details that I like. So enjoy my artful photographer skills : P The afterglow is for those that can’t get enough of the Bugattis, like me! Stay tuned because some highly interesting stuff is on its way! Click here for more stunning pics!
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THE DUTCH BUGATTI CLUB RALLY, THE PLACE TO BE

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As announced on CHB the BCN (Bugatti Club Netherlands) held its autumn rally this past weekend and it was MAGNIFICENT! So sit back and relax, here is the full report of this very enjoyable long BCN weekend. I call this a rally, but in fact it isn’t an official rally with strict rules to get from A to B in a certain time… it is more a relaxed tour, but you know those Bugatti people…!

On Friday my dad (who is a long time BCN member) and I left with our black beauty, the 1950 Delahaye 135MS cabriolet Chapron (of course not on a trailer!). The adventure started right away as everything went wrong that could go wrong… Continue reading                                

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TWO YOUNG AMERICANS MAKING FAME IN PARIS

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I expect not many CHB readers will know today’s coachbuilder, Hibbard et Darrin, contrary to others like Chapron, Saoutchik, Figoni, etc. So let’s put Hibbard et Darrin in the spotlight! As I am trying to gain more knowledge myself as well, I got the idea to feature these great artists thanks to a magnificent Hispano-Suiza of a friend of my dad. It won Best of Show last year at the Concours d’Elégance Palace Het Loo in the Netherlands and went on to win the coveted Ullman Trophy at Pebble Beach this year. Since then this Hispano-Suiza belongs to the cars that are special to me, so let’s dig into the history of the men who were responsible for such fantastic coachwork and of course also Paris-based, as many famous coachbuilders of the era were!

Though based in Paris, this company was run by two Americans, and counted among its clients many Americans visiting or resident in France. Thomas L. Hibbard (1899-1982) from Brooklyn, New York had set his… Continue reading http://crankhandleblog.com

HIGH CLASS FROM VANVOOREN

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As we continue with the Parisian coachbuilders, today is the turn for Vanvooren who was located with his workshop in the north-western Parisian suburb of Courbevoie. This coachbuilder was one who built on high class chassis like Hispano-Suiza, Bugatti, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Delahaye and Delage. A great example of one of his creations is the 1939 Bugatti 57C Atalante that won an award at Chantilly. Vanvooren is best known for his work from the 1930s on those grandiose chassis of the era, but the company had already been active from 1910 and persisted until 1950. Vanvoorens style could be described as advanced with a conservative elegance, combined with very high standards.

Achille Vanvooren did good business with those expensive marques… Continue readinghttp://crankhandleblog.com

BMW M1 HOMMAGE CONCEPT THAT FAILED TO REACH PRODUCTION

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As mentioned earlier, the gym I go to every day is also my office… ; ) My personal trainer showed me a great BMW concept car and after seeing the BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage winning an important award at Chantilly I think this is a nice continuation! This styling exercise, without interior nor engine, was revealed at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in 2008, almost 30 years after its predecessor was revealed at the Geneva Motor Show in 1977.

This concept is a worthy successor with those lovely slats above the engine (which is not present), also seen on the Lamborghini Miura. Soon after the flashy concept was revealed it was announced by BMW that… Continue reading http://crankhandleblog.com

THE ROAD ESSENTIAL FOR WIRE WHEES!

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As I mentioned yesterday in the Chantilly report we had to deal with a flat tyre while driving to the concours… on the side of the motorway! Luckily we had brought some great tooling with us. To release the wing nut of the wire wheel most people use a (copper) hammer. Of course you need to know which direction the nut will release (left or right) on each side of the car. If you have a really bad day, the nut or spokes, or even the wing, can get badly damaged by the hammer. But there is a solution for this! The torque wrench is an incredible tool to loosen the wing nuts safely, but also tighten them back again in a very optimal way with a central locking rim (the correct direction is indicated on the rim)! No damages and no risk to get hurt yourself either.

This GREAT tooling is still quite unknown… Continue readinghttp://crankhandleblog.com

THE GRANDIOSE CHANTILLY ARTS & ELEGANCE CONCOURS RICHARD MILLE

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As promised a report of the grandiose Chantilly Arts & Elegance concours! This year was only the second time such a concours at Chantilly took place and for me the fist time to visit this event. I guess this concours is a keeper for the coming years! If I have to describe Chantilly in one word… MASSIVE! The castle gardens are massive and of course beautiful, historical and elegant. Next to the Concours d’Etat there were also many clubs present, such as Delahaye in which we were participants. Sadly the Delahaye Club didn’t win, because they had already won last year, so the Delage Club did this year. Even so the Delahaye Club field looked formidable with 22 cars present. A very pleasant club to join!

But let’s go back to the beginning of the journey, which was not as smooth as we had expected… Continue readinghttp://crankhandleblog.com