1910 Unic C1

Unic , Paris-Rambouillet 2018

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Unic, Puteaux, France.  Unic was an automobile manufacturer founded by Richard Brasier in 1905,  with funding from Baron Henri de Rothschild.  Originally the company made just light cars and taxis.  In the end taxis were perhaps what they became most famous for and they were commonplace in Paris, London and Monaco.  They then went on to make light vans and other utility vehicles and from 1922 trucks.  Cars were made until just before WWII.  In the nineteen fifties the truck business was integrated into Simca.

Early model numbers were a letter followed by a number.  The vehicle pictured above appears to be  a C1 four cylinder two seater from about 1910.

The name Unic comes from the French word "unique" and refers to the common interchangeable parts used in various models.   Unic cars were amongst the first sold on credit.

Porsche 959

Porsche 959 at Laguna Seca for the Porsche Rennsport Reunion VI.  The 1985 Paris-Dakar Rally car driven by René Metge.

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Porsche AG, Stuttgart, Germany.   The 959 is probably my favourite Porsche road car.  Nearly 300 were made to meet the requirements of Group B.  It was the first Porsche Supercar and took the 911 concept to another level.  It had a 450bhp 2,849cc twin turbocharged flat six engine that was derived from the Porsche Indy Car power plant,  It took the 959 to over 190mph in road trim and thus was the fastest road car at the time it was introduced in 1986.

The rear of the road going 959 defined its good looks.

It had success in motorsport.  In 1986 Porsche scored a 1-2 in the Paris-Dakar Rally with René Metge winning from Jacky Ickx.   In the same year the racing version of the 959, the 961 won its class in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and came seventh overall driven by René Metge and Claude Ballot-Lena.

The Porsche 953 that was a modified 911 that included 959 components and took pat in the 1984-Paris-Daker.  Here it travels across a gravel trap at Laguna Seca!

1980 Tiga SC80

Tiga SC80 at the Saint Goueno Hill Climb in Brittany in 2017 driven by Fernand Santerelli.

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Tiga Race Cars, Reading, England.  Tiga was named after its founders, former Formula One drivers, Tim Schenken and Howden Ganley.  Tim Schenken was a very succcesful F3 driver but only got on a F1 podium once for Brabham.  Howden Ganley has success in F5000 before his F1 career that yielded two fourth places for BRM.    Apparently, the proper pronunciation is like the big cat - Tiger.  They formed the company in 1974/5 and started off making Formula Ford cars.  In 1977 they began making Sports 2000 cars and at this they were very successful.  Between 1979 and 1985 their Sports 2000 car won either the British or European championships.  The SC80 won the British Championship in the hands of Ian Taylor.   It had a simple monocoque chassis and tubular fame bolted on to a 2 litre Ford Cortina engine.   The body is glass fibre.  The engine was tuned to develop about 130bhp and this pushed the car along at up to 135mph.   Occasionally these cars ran in bigger races.  In 1980 Divina Galicia and Mark Thatcher finished eleventh in the Brands Hatch 6 Hours, an event that was part of the World Championship of Makes.

1929 Amilcar CGSS

1929 Amilcar CGSS at Retromobile 2018 in the Artcurial auction.

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Amilcar, Saint-Denis, France.  Amilcar started producing cyclecars (small, lightweight and inexpensive cars) in 1920 and made a name for itself in the twenties for its sporty vehicles.  The name car from its financiers Emil Akar and Joseph Lamy but the driving technical force behind the marque were two engineers Edmond Moyet and André Morel.  Unusually, for a cyclecar producer, they made there own engines.  The cars were often entered in motor sport events and Morel won the 1922 Bol d'Or, a 24 hour race with a single driver, in 1922.    In 1927 a 1.1 litre turbocharged Amilcar touring model G won the Monte Carlo Rally.  The CGSS model pictured here was produced from 1926 to 1929 and stood for Cyclecar Grand Sport Surbaissé.  It thus was a CGS with a lowered chassis.  It had a 4 cylinder  1.1 litre engine with 3 speed gearbox and the body was a two seater.  Just under 1,000 CGSS models were made and then in 1929 the great depression killed the marque.  Like other Amilcars the CGSS was raced including in major events such as the Mille Miglia.   It should also be mentioned that the famous American dancer, Isadora Duncan, was killed in 1927 as a passenger in  an Amilcar CGSS when her scarf caught in  the real wheels of the car in Nice.   This late model and original CGSS was sold for Euro 83,000 at the Artcurial Auction.

Jensen C-V8

A Jensen C-V8 climbing up to Montmartre during the 2018 Traversée de Paris.

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Jensen Motors, West Bromwich, England.   Alan and Richard Jensen were the brothers who set up Jensen Motors that originally built vehicle bodies and then went on to build complete cars.  The Jensen C-V8 was the last Jensen with which the brothers were actively involved in the conception.  It was launched in 1962 and produced until 1966.  It was a two door, four seater, front engine, rear wheel drive, luxury fast sports car.  It had a steel chassis, glass fibre body and was powered by big American Chrysler six litre V8 engine.  Performance was exceptional for the time both in terms of straight line speed and handling..  The MkI had a top speed of 132mph and a 0-60 time of 8 seconds.  The MlIII had a top speed of 139mph and a 0-60 time of under 7 seconds.   With the big V8 the fuel consumption was quite high at around 13 to 14 mpg.  Depending on your point of view, the Jensen is either rather beautiful or an ugly duckling.  Personally, I think it is rather desirable.   Only 500 were built so quite rare but quite good value as a classic car.  Not often raced, it did win the 24 hour Commander's Cup at Snetterton in 1965 with a team that included Roy Salvadori.   It featured in the sixties TV series The Baron and later London Spy.