James Long

Hello BM, and what an interesting post... I thought I knew my pre-war monsters but I'm sure I have never seen this one before but yes, that radiator shape does ring vague bells. You've stirred up my investigative juices. The location certainly has a north-eastern Europe feel about it. One possible small starting point? There is an indistinct horizontal marking right down at the bottom right which might be a very small photographer's or a printer's name (or maybe just random...) I can't blow it up enough to be sure. Can you see anything on the image that you're working from? Thanks. JL (in Somerset) Edited just now by James Long

Yes, that looks like a Minerva Type F from the late 1930s... made in Antwerp, Belgium, only 10 miles from the Dutch border, so the two NL (Netherlands) plates make sense. They used superb Knight sleeve-valve engines but struggled to make a profit in the hard times of the 1930s, merged with another Belgian manufacturer and gradually faded away after the war.

If it is Campbell's car (he raced a type 37 for a while) but, I think, as a Bugatti concessionaire, will have had other Bugs through his hands, then it may be the same car - 37238 -that is currently visible for sale on the williamianson.com website which includes a very detailed and interesting history, including the period when it had an Anzani engine before being reunited with the original motor.

Sizaire-Naudin, probably a Type G. Single cylinder 1,580 cc.

Oh yes... and what a great picture. Thanks, James.

John, yes I think you've got it. Here is a roughly contemporary picture of Ivy Cummings, There are others of her at the wheel of what's described as a Frazer Nash but seems likely to be a GN, possibly the GN Akela which is still around and active. She also had the Bugatti 'Black Bess.' I've never seen a picture of 'Perky' before but that does seem a good match (wheels, chassis details and front/rear body heights) for your photo so I will pass that on to the Brooklands Museum. .

That's an interesting photo and it certainly appears to be Brooklands. The female driver may be Jill Scott, a woman with a daredevil reputation who lived close by the track and raced for three or four years from the end of the 1920s, driving one of the old GP Sunbeams plus a Parry Thomas Leyland, a Bentley 4.5, Bugattis and various others. She always wore deep red overalls which looks a possible match for the tone of the photo, but she and her husband usually painted their cars black with green wheels. The car in this shot has escaped identification so far. I showed the pic to the Brooklands Museum and they couldn't come up with anything either. Fascinating, and I will keep thinking...

Barney Oldfield and Charles Soules went on a barnstorming racing tour around America in 1908 with two Stearns. Bonhams auctioneers sold a photo of Oldfield 'flat out on the 240 mile Briarcliff road course' in that year (probably for the race on April 24th?). There are also pictures online (firstsuperspeedway.com etc) of Oldfield arriving at St.Paul from Cleveland for the Hamline races (which were held in July) in that same Stearns with full touring equipment, but the right general shape for the car in this photo possibly? It has a flat radiator, not the Veed version in this picture, though the profile shape is about right. However... there is one partial image in a composite on that website of newspaper articles, showing part of a story datelined 'New York June 20th' saying Oldfield has just got the car back from repair in Cleveland after an accident at Lowell apparently in May, implying that in the repairs it had been put in good racing shape, so that might explain the removal of the touring equipment, and the modification of the radiator. Curiously although identified as Rodney Roy's grandfather, the driver in the picture has a touch of Oldfield's facial shape from earlier pictures of him. The only results listed for him in 1908 are second place to Ralph DePalma at Leadville on June 17th and second to Walter Christie at Glenville on October 10th (with Charles Soules third in the other Stearns.). I hope that helps.

Ah yes, I'd forgotten the Anderson. That's it.

Possibly an early Allard V8 ?

I'm based in the UK, in the south west near Bristol... recently helped with the local sale of a Holsman. Is the vehicle anywhere near me and can I help if so?

AI in the background or not...the basics of the car are surely a Kaiser? The radiator aperture is right though the grille isn't - and there would have been a central bar to the original windscreen.

I am fairly sure that the gentleman in the suit is Peter Harris-Mayes, who found Zborowski's Chitty Bang Bang semi-derelict in a garage in Kent (SE England) after WW2 and rebuilt it enough to run effectively.

I want to alert AACA members to the coming auction sale in England of a recent barn-find Holsman type 3 High Wheeler from 1904/5. This Chicago-built car had been hidden away in a Somerset shed for years and will be auctioned on Saturday December 9th. It isn't mine and I have no financial interest in this sale. I think American collectors need to know about it. Holsman cars are almost unknown in the UK and this one is accompanied by a large quantity of spare parts, It needs to go to a knowledgable new home. I was surprised to see it a few weeks ago at Killens Mendip Auctions in Somerset. It had just arrived there when I came to view an auction. I had recently seen a similar Holsman in New Zealand’s wonderful Southward Motor Museum outside Paraparaumu. I offered to research its history for the auctioneers and soon discovered this Holsman has strong links to the AACA. The car being sold is is the actual car (chassis 245) reassembled by former AACA President, Franklin B Tucker of New Jersey, more than seventy years ago (and mentioned twice in the New York Times soon afterwards). Tucker sold it to a Somerset man many years later. Paperwork supporting this comes with the car. The auction is on Saturday December 9th (starting at 10.00 GMT) You can read much fuller details in the Mendip Auctions catalogue at mendipauctionrooms.co.uk .You can leave bids with them. You can also bid easily online through the-saleroom.com The car is lot 250 in the sale. There are also other lots of spares including several engine blocks and wheels. From the same hoard there are kerosene lamps including Ford-O Brown lamps for early Model Ts. I may be able to help if you have questions. The car needs you. Good luck.