RAV

By Rosemarijn Atalante Veenenbos

COACHWORK-LEGEND PININFARINA AND THE WEIRDEST FERRARI EVER! – PART 2

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Now that we know more about Pininfarina, we can take a look at a contrarian ‘trapezium styled’ futuristic creation that resulted from the relationship between Pininfarina and Ferrari… the Ferrari 512S Modulo! This is a one-off concept car designed by Pininfarina’s designer Paolo Martin. The pearl light blue creation was unveiled at the 1970 Geneva Motor Show, where it was definitely a highlight as the weirdest Ferrari ever!

http://crankhandleblog.comThe looks of the car are not like any other Ferrari, so why did they come up with an experimental
one-off prototype like this… Continue reading

COACHWORK-LEGEND PININFARINA AND THE WEIRDEST FERRARI EVER! – PART 1

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Most of the glorious coachbuilders we can remember have disappeared, but Pininfarina is of course still very much alive (sadly not literally, because big boss Battista Farina as well as his son Sergio aren’t there anymore)! We know Pininfarina for its magnificent classic designs and the Italian design house continues to come up with highly refined designs, like for instance the BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupé, also thanks to their expensive windtunnel and R&D that I briefly discussed in the intro.http://crankhandleblog.comCarrozzeria Pininfarina is an independent Italian car design house and coachbuilder in Cambiano, Italy. It was founded by Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina in 1930. A fun little fact about the name ‘Pinin’ is that… Continue reading

INTRO TO THE UP-COMING PININFARINA WEEKEND FEATURE!

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While doing my research for the weekend article about the legendary Pininfarina, I found this very nice retro photo of the Pininfarina windtunnel with a Lancia Beta Berlina! This windtunnel is still a very important part of today’s aerodynamic alluring designs for which Pininfarina has become so famous. The windtunnel has been an essential element since 1972 in Pininfarina’s research and development about aerodynamics and aeroacoustics.

Today the all new and improved Pininfarina test center is a major leap forward from the one built in 1http://crankhandleblog.com995, which at the time was the first one that was capable of testing full-scale cars by simulating the aerodynamic effects due to wheel rotation and ground-relative motion. Quite impressive right?         To make it even more impressive… Continue reading

POTW – PININFARINA’S FASHIONABLE X FISH : P

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Who doesn’t know the blue three-wheeled Reliant Robin of comedian Mr. Bean? This special three-wheel Pininfarina is even more fun! Oh snap … it is a four-wheel! Forget what I just said, the fourth wheel is a little bit hidden in an unsuspected place… under the boot! Anyway, this aerodynamic 1960s X Concept is a design of Pininfarina and without doubt 50 years ahead of its time.

This little fish – just another joke of mine again : ) – has an unusual arrangement of its four wheels. They are arranged in a kind of diamond shape. The tiny aerodynamic four-seater Pininfarina-X had a drag coefficient of just 0.23, indicating that the Italian design house Pininfarina was a long way ahead of the rest of the world in exploring the critical area of aerodynamics!

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GRAB YOUR OLD SOCKS WITH CASH, THIS LAMBO CONCEPT ‘S’ IS GOING UNDER THE HAMMER! 

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Talking about one-off concept cars, this one-off Lamborghini Concept S – based on the Gallardo – is going to be auctioned! The Concept S is to be offered by RM Sotheby’s at its ‘Art Automobiles’ sale in Manhattan on the evening of 18 November. The unique Lambo is expected to fetch between 2.4 and 3 million US dollars. So, if you still have some millions in your old socks, take your chance because cars like this are rarely for sale! The private collector who has owned it must have been in a tidying-up mood, I suppose…  Perhaps you now wonder, what about the CHB concept? Well this isn’t a classic yet, but obviously this one-off is going to be a very important part of the Lamborghini history if it isn’t already! So a promising classic for the future and CHB likes that!http://crankhandleblog.comHowever, like the Ghia Gilda, this concept was again more of a styling exercise than a vehicle for series production, so only 2 models were ever made. You will now think, do I read two… Continue reading

OUT OF THE WAY! THIS ROAD-GOING JET SPITS FIRE! – PART 2

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That opened the door to what came next. In the late 1940s, Ghia, one of Turin’s
oldest coachbuilders, had established a close working relationship with Chrysler in the US. That effort was led by Ghia design chief Mario Boano and commercial director Luigi Segre, but, not too long after the Conrero project entered the Ghia works, Boano had a serious row with Segre. Boano and his son, Gian Paolo, left Ghia to form their own carrozzeria, so Segre contacted Savonuzzi, and overnight Ghttp://crankhandleblog.comhia had a new design and technical director. They organized a small production run using the shape created for Conrero, calling it the Supersonic. First used with spectacular effect on nine Fiat 8Vs, a one-off Aston and Jaguar followed.

Ghia’s next project was the… Continue reading

OUT OF THE WAY! THIS ROAD-GOING JET SPITS FIRE! – PART 1

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Again an ‘aerticle’ related to this week’s theme of aerodynamics, this time a windtunnel tested rocket-like turbine engined concept car!

https://crankhandleblog.comIn 2009 I was lucky to visit the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este at Cernobbio on Lake Como in Italy. Although I was a bit disappointed that Ralph Lauren didn’t show up with his magnificent Bugatti Atlantic, this was more than made up when I saw this Ghia Gilda spitting fire. I was so thrilled by this car that It immediately made me forget my disappointment! I couldn’t find pics with the Ghia Gilda and the enormous amount of heat released by its exhaust, but you can see this rocket-like car spitting fire by… Continue reading

AERODYNAMICS ADD-ON, THE MIGHTY HISPANO-SUIZA BLOWER!

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This article is an add-on to ‘GO WITH THE AIR-FLOW, THE AERODYNAMICS OF A ZEPPELIN…’

Some time ago I fhttp://crankhandleblog.comound photo’s of the Hispano-Suiza windtunnel – the so-called ’Soufflerie’ – at Bois-Colombes, a suburb of Paris. This week is a good moment to publish an article about this subject as an add-on to the aerodynamics article of last weekend!

The mighty Hispano-Suiza blower building in Bois-Colombes was built in 1936-1937 to test aircraft engines. This French “Heritage of the twentieth century” is a unique witness to the time when the aviation industry was booming… Continue reading

POTW – OLD SCHOOL CAR-SHIPPING

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I found this Mercedes-Benz photograph while searching for 500K Special Roadster pics. This one I could not use for the article of ‘the butcher’s car’, but a very good one for this week’s pic! The Mercedes-Benz (I believe it is a 380K A-Carbiolet?) has such a nice background, that shows how cars were hauled onto a ship in the good old days.

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PIC OF THE WEEK

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CHB is expanding with a ‘pic of the week’! ‘POTW’ is all about nice or special photographs, if you have a precious photo that needs to be seen, let me know! The best pics are the ones that look like they are alive or those that tell a story without words… Enjoy!

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I STAND CORRECTED

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Concerning the article about ‘the Butcher’s car’, I stand corrected. One of the CHB readers was so kind to point out to me the fact that the ‘Pearl’, as I’d like to call the 500K Spezial Roadster, isn’t truly a pearl. While restoring a 500K he surprisingly discovered that the dashboard is made of “faux mother-of-pearl”. The material of the ‘pearl’ dashboard is also used for drum kits and other musical instruments, he told me. This is quite disappointing to hearhttp://crankhandleblog.com, but it doesn’t make the 500K any less precious. If that was the case I would immediately try to buy one! My ‘pearl’ bubble has burst, but at least I learned a little secret of the 500K. That is what
CHB is all about, learning more about classic cars!

Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment, it will be most appreciated because critique – positieve or negative – is what I need to improve my knowledge as well as CHB!

OTHER THAN THE LAGO MAGGIORE BUGATTI BRESCIA…

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We have all heard of barn finds, but now I have found 1400 ‘sea finds’ for you! This time no classic cars on my blog, I make an exception because this is CHB worthy! A number of yeas ago, a Bugatti Brescia was hauled from the bottom of the Lago Maggiore after 70 years of being a well-known diving-attraction. This sea find is quite different, because on board were no less than 1400 brand new cars!

About 40 miles off the Dutch coast lies the wreck of the car-transport-ship Baltic Ace, which sank two and a half years ago. The wreck is located in one of the busiest shipping routes in the North Sea and hinders a smooth and safe passage for the 16,000 ships that sail annually to the port of Rotterdam.

The Baltic Ace collided on December 5, 2012 with the containership Corvus J and sank immediately. 13 of the 24 crew members survived the accident.

Here are some impressive pictures of the sea finds. I think I’m going to apply for copyright for the word ‘sea find’! Click here for more sea find pics!

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GO WITH THE AIR-FLOW, THE AERODYNAMICS OF A ZEPPELIN…

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Today I indulge in the history of the aerodynamics of cars and windtunnel testing. You may wonder what the Zeppelin has to do with this? I will explain…

The Hungarian engineer Paul Jaray was the man who presented numerous designs for streamlined car bodies. Initially he designed seaplanes, but later he focused on streamlining airships. The LZ-120 Bodensee was one of his airship designs.

http://crankhandleblog.comThe detailed series of experiments in the LZ’s windtunnel were also a start of something new, the use of aerodynamics in car design. Jaray studied the effects of wind direction and airflow over an airship at ground level. This way he also developed his theories about streamlining motorcars. With his streamlining theories Jaray founded in 1927 the Stromlinien Karosserie Gesellschaft. But of the many car manufacturers to whom he presented his designs for streamlined bodies Tatra was the only one which… Continue reading

THE DANISH TREASURE, SPEECHLESS!

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After Artcurial’s auction of the wrecks from the Baillon collection last February, Bonhams will sell end September the incredible collection of 48 cars from the Frederiksen collection. This time not a heavily neglected collection, but a ‘PERFECT’ one, with emphasis on perfect!
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Watching the video it seems that Henrik is not entirely sure about his decision… He literally said this when he saw his collection for the very first time lined up outside his wonderful property; “So maybe I should cancel it, to sell, because… Continue reading

THE BEAUTY OF SPOOKY BARN FINDS

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I just have to share this! I found this site with the most amazing barn find photo’s. I love the spookiness that the photo’s show off, although they are heavily neglected, I think this is art! 

Make sure to check it out on epaveart.ch Enjoy!

Here are two of my favorite pics, as you can see especially the Jaguar caught my attention, click here for more pics!

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540K SPECIAL ROADSTER WORKSHOP TOOLING FOR SALE!

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Related to the 500K Spezial Roadster article, I wanted to share this advertisement that I noticed on prewarcar.com. This American genius/master fabricator has built the most magnificent Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster replicas – not really what you call replicas – with his special workshop tooling. The tools are used to restore original Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadsters to exact specifications of the factory.

http://crankhandleblog.comNow all of that tooling is for sale! This is a chance of a lifetime for any Mercedes-Benz builder/restorer. As you can see in the photo, this is craftsmanship at a very high level! No wonder that some cars in the Mercedes museum in Stuttgart feature his work. His concours-winning work is the real deal! Time with the retiring fabricator included in the price of 40,000 USD.

For more details check the link below.

http://www.prewarcar.com/classifieds/ad180126.html

MERCEDES-BENZ 500K SPEZIAL ROADSTER PEARL BURRIED FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS!

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My father told me a while ago a short story about a Mercedes-Benz that was found behind a butcher’s shop in the UK. It sounded like an interesting story, so I wanted to find out more details about this car and its story. That is why I am now publishing this story about what I like to call the ‘pearl’, because of its stunning pearl dashboard!

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The 500K Spezial Roadster from 1936 is known as one of the most prestigious cars that Mercedes-Benz has ever built. Less than 30 of these great cars were built. But the ‘Spezial Roadster’ which is the subject of this article was not always as liked as it is today, because this car was immured behind walls at a British butcher for 32 years! Unfortunately I have to tell you that this ghost story was just one big delusion… Continue reading

This photograph shows an unknown Spezial Roadster. Could this be ‘the butchers car’? This roadster also has right-hand steering. As far as known only ‘the butchers car’ and the Olympia Motor Show model had this…  Who can solve this mystery? Please let me know in the comments below!

CALL 9-1-1! A TALBOT-LAGO T150 C FIGONI-FALASCHI TEARDROP IS BEING SLAUGHTERED!

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We have all seen the sleeping beauties, barn-finds and perished cars, passing by, but this? You might wonder how it is possible that anyone destroys such stunning cars on purpose! A Talbot-Lago T150 C – or CSS – with Figoni-Falaschi teardrop coachwork, an exceptional Delahaye 135 M – or MS – with Saoutchik coachwork and a Bugatti – probably a type 44, that definitely didn’t survive. Many other special cars have been sacrificed like this at stockcar racing events. If only they had known what there were doing… Continue reading

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TWO ROLLS-ROYCE SILVER GHOST SHOOTING-BREAKS HAMMERED DOWN TODAY

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Just being a little hyperactive lately… Looks like blogging about these incredible cars is becoming addictive, and so I just couldn’t resist writing about these very cool vehicles after noticing two of them on the PreWarCar sales page. Both are gone by now because the auction was today…

The announced (hilarious) article of this weekend, with outrageous French high-class cars, will be published tomorrow. So you will have something to enjoy on Sunday too!

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These Silver Ghosts both have a shooting-break body, or as the French elegantly say ‘break de chasse’. This coachwork-style evolved over time and has more than one meaning. At first the term was used for horse-drawn carriages built for hunting. Later the term was also used for motorized vehicles. Early 19th century shooting parties used such vehicles, because they offered enough space for all their hunting gear. Later the term was also used by high-end coachbuilders for custom-built station wagons, which we now affectionately call woodies… Continue reading

ATTENTION! ROLLING BOUTEILLE DE RHUM…

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This 1938 Oak-bodied bottle car is what you call most remarkable! This Austin 7 is very suitable for a goofy alcoholic! Not sure if there comes rum out of the back of the of the bottle-car or if it is a little on-the-go wine cellar…

I was just joking, I meant to say that it is a mhttp://crankhandleblog.comost delightful car, love the oak body! If you think so too, I have some great news for you, because it is for sale! For a little under 14.000 EUR it is yours! For sure you will be making a splash with this little gem, warranty for that comes included with the car.

Find more details clicking the PreWarCar-link below

THE BRUTAL AMERICAN 20-LITRE V-4 FRONT WHEEL DRIVE CHRISTIE RACING CAR OF 1907 

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Forget the Beast of Turin! This brutal Chistie front wheel drive racer is much more EXTREME! It is possibly the most exciting and elusive racing car ever. It not only is front wheel drive, but also has a huge and extraordinary transverse V-4 engine of almost 20 litres! It is as if it comes from another world, with its four large pots, riveted crankcase and big and short exhaust pipes, almost blowing their flames in the face of the driver.

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Late in 1903 John Walter Christie, an American mechanic, engineer and inventor, started designing extraordinary vehicles with the most unusual engines and transmissions. His point of view wasn’t as common as others … Continue reading










			

	


				
					


	

			
LE YACHT DE LA ROUTE AND BIKINIGIRLS
		

				

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In the summer of 2007 my dad discovered by chance in France this unique Réard in the garage of a widow. This particular car was the advertising vehicle of Louis Réard, the inventor of the bikini.


Réard commissioned coachbuilder Henri Chapron to design a ship-like car. It is a nice story to tell, because we own two Delahayes with Henri Chapron coachwork.


http://crankhandleblog.comOriginally this very special coachwork of Henri Chapron was built on the chassis of a 866 Hotchkiss, but the engine was not strong enough for the heavy car. Therefore the chassis was later replaced by that of a Packard Super Eight from 1937. Thereby the steering wheel was moved from the right to the left.


Louis Réard was an automobile engineer from Paris … Continue reading