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.

1929 Packard 645 Deluxe Eight

1929 Packard 645 Deluxe Eight at Retromobile 2017

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Packard, Detroit, USA.   The car above has the rare Dual Cowl Phaeton bodywork by the coacbuilder Dietrich.  However, another twenty different body styles were available.  Power is provided by Packard's legendary big 385 cubic inch (6.3 litre) Super Eight of 105+ HP.  It was one of the most refined and best engineered cars of its day.  Packard exported many of their cars and was one of the top luxury brands in the late twenties, outselling its rivals.  The 645 Deluxe Eight was a huge car with a long wheelbase and this car is an attractive convertible.  Engine was at the front and powered the rear wheels through a manual gearbox.  A beautiful large vintage car seating at least four people.

1929 Frazer Nash Super Sports Special

Mark Roper, 1929 Frazer Nash Super Sports, Course de Cote d'Etretat-Benouville.

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AFN Ltd, Iseleworth, England.  The Frazer-Nash  Super Sports was produced from 1928 to 1930. They normally had 1.5 litre 4 cylinder engines but the one pictured has a Ford 3.3 litre engine.

1929 Morgan Super Aero

Sue Darbyshire, Morgan Super Aero, Course de Cote d'Etretat-Bénouville VHC 2016.

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Morgan, Malvern, England.  The Morgan Super Aero was a motor cycle engines three wheeler that was a cheap fast car in the twenties.  The exposed motor cycle engine was ahead of the of the front axle and powered the single rear wheel.   As well as good performance they benefitted from being taxed like a motor cycle.  They can be powered by various 2 cylinder engines including JAP, Blackburne, Anzani and Harley Davidson.   They had a two speed gearbox. The Super Aero had a tubular steel chassis and lowered streamlined bodywork.  In the twenties ad thirties they were regularly used in trials, hillclimbs and on racetracks such as Brooklands and Donington Park.  This tradition continues.  Sue Darbyshire has been competing successfully with this car for around 15 years which has a 1.2 litre engine.

1929 Bentley Blower 4.5L

J.Ernst, Blower Bentley, Le Mans Classic 2016.

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Bentley, Cricklewood, England.  Tim Birkin, the famous Bentley driver, came up with the idea of supercharging the 4.5 litre Bentley as a way of beating the supercharged Alfa Romeos of the time.   The idea did not meet with the approval of W.O.Bentley who favoured building a bigger engine to keep the reliability that had proved one of Bentley's strong points.  Nevertheless, Tim Brikin persuaded the Bentley chairman Woolf Barnato to build over fifty super-charged examples so that they could enter the 1930 Le Mans.  The supercharged or blower Bentleys had a top speed advantage of about 12mph over the non-blown versions. The blower bentley's did as, W.O. had predicted, prove unreliable.  Neither of the two blown cars finished the 1930 Le Mans 24 hours.  However, Tim Birkin did finish second in that year's French GP in the blown Bentley behind a Bugatti Type 35.

1926 Miller 91 Armacost Special Indy Car

Miller 91 Armacost Special Indianapolis 500 car, Pertersen Auto Musueum, Los Angeles.

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Miller, Los Angeles, USA.  Harry Miller became a a builder of engines and racing cars especially for the Indianapolis 500 race.  They were very successful in the nineteen twenties and thirties.  This particular car raced 4 times at Indy but only managed a best place of ninth in 1929.  The 91 refers to its engine size in cubic inches.  The engine was supercharged and the car had a top speed of 155mph.  Today this car is part of the Charles Nearburg collection.