1907 Mercedes Touring

Mercedes Touring at the Royal Bath Hotel (photo credit: C. L.)

This very cool vintage photo was taken in front of the Royal Bath Hotel in Bournemouth, England located right on the seafront in Dorset. The hotel still stands today. As you've probably guessed, the car is a Mercedes. I believe it to be a 1907, 35hp chassis with touring body. The Mercedes reputation was well established by this time and the English upper-class who looked to an imported car would find Mercedes at the top of the list. Competing with the domestic Napier and Rolls-Royce (the new 40/50 hp chassis being introduced in 1907), Mercedes was represented in England by J. E. Hutton Limited. Hutton, of 23 Regent Street, London, was an early motor racing enthusiast and represented Mercedes and Panhard - he would also would manufacture his own light car.

If anyone has more information about this image, please leave me a comment.

The 1907 Mercedes, 35hp chassis (photo credit: The Automotor Journal, November 10,1906)

The 35hp Mercedes engine (photo credit: The Automotor Journal, November 10,1906)

1922 Targa Florio and Ballot factory team cars

Ballot factory team car (photo in the collection of the author)

One of the greatest cars to grace the fields of Hershey this year was George Wingard's 1922 Ballot factory team car. One of a couple Ballot racing cars in the Wingard collection, I had not seen this car previously. The car looked freshly restored, but Mr. Wingard campaigns his cars in vintage racing events - I'm amazed at how clean the car is kept.

Edouard and Maurice Ballot founded their engine business in 1905, and after building auto and marine engines, turned to automobiles in 1910. Reorganized as Etablissements Ballot SA, the company soon went racing. Rene Thomas would have a banner year in 1919 bring home a second place finish in the Indianapolis 500 as well as the Targa Florio. In 1921, Ballot would finish 2nd and 3rd in the French GP (Ralph DePalma and Jules Goux respectively).  In 1922, Ballot would build two new cars to be campaigned in the Targa Florio - the LS DOHC 2 (4-cylider). The number 14 would be piloted by Jules Goux , an experienced factory driver. The number 18 car, George Wingard's car, would be driven by Giulio Foresti. According to Mr. Wingard, Foresti's mechanic for the race would go on to great success helping to design and build land speed record cars for Sir Malcolm Campbell. The Ballot company would end it's days in 1931 after being taken over by Hispano-Suiza the year before - both victims of the economic recession.

The Targa Florio was first organized in 1906 and the race held in April of 1922 would be run over a shortened version of the course, known as the Polizzi circuit. One of the toughest tracks in the world, each lap was just over 67 miles (the race is 4 laps) with some 1500 corners. 42 of the 46 cars entered started the race and Count Giulio Masetti, a privateer driving a Mercedes, and Jules Goux in the #14 Ballot were soon dueling for the lead. When Masetti had to pit for an over heating radiator, Goux pass for the lead. However, In the last lap, Goux had trouble with his brakes and skidding off the road damaging his radiator and blowing the tires. He lost the victory to Masetti but managed to bring home a second place finish. Foresti in the #18 Ballot was not far behind and came in a very respectable third place.

The #18 Ballot driven by Foresti in the 1922 Targa Florio (photo credit: targaflorio.info)

Mr. Wingard tending to his Ballot racer (photo in the collection of the author)

The DOHC 4-cylinder engine of the Ballot factory team car (photo in the collection of the author)

Brass Cars at 2013 Hershey

Now back from the AACA's Eastern Fall Meet - better known as Hershey - and the event can be summed up in one word - wet. Regardless of all the rain, the sun did return on saturday, show day, and a good group of brass era cars took the field. The following are few cars that caught my eye. 

1907 Autocar Type XV (from the author's collection) 

1911 Locomobile Model M (from the author's collection) 

1912(?) Mercer Model 35 Raceabout (from the author's collection) 

Series 5 Mercer roadster (from the author's collection) 

Series 5 Mercer engine - L-head 4-cylinder (70hp) (from the author's collection) 

1905 Packard Model N (from the author's collection) 

Chris Paulsen's 1911 Page-Detroit in wonderful vintage patina (from the author's collection) 

1909 Peerless Model 19 - barn fresh (from the author's collection) 

1909 Peerless Model 19 - barn fresh (from the author's collection) 

Beautiful 1903 Stanley (I believe this to be chassis 845, ex-Earle Eckel) (from the author's collection) 

Hershey Time

It's Hershey time once again. I've been going to Hershey (the AACA's annual event in Hershey, PA) with Dad since 1974 - it's annual pilgrimage I look forward to all year.  This year is a special one as I'm bringing my son for the first time - the next generation car guy in our family. 

This year I'll be live-tweeting from Hershey, so please follow us on Twitter: @VintageMotorBlg.

Here's a few photos of treasures from past Hershey events.

1908 Benz Grand Prix Car

1908 Benz Grand Prix Car (photo credit: C.L.)

While perusing the collection of a friend recently, I saw this picture among the many covering the walls. I was curious about the coat-of-arms seen on the car. Upon further inspection the scene looks to be take here in America, circa 1908-1910 (based on the clothing). After a bit of research, I believe this to be a picture of one of the 1908 Benz factory GP cars. Benz brought forward a new design in 1908, due to the drubbing they took in 1907 at the hands of Mercedes. The cars featured a 12 liter, 120hp, 4-cylinder engine and performed well on it's first time out at the 1908 French Grand Prix - Victor Hemery  would bring one of the three cars home in 2nd place.

The Motor Car Journal of November 7, 1908, reporting on the pending American Automobile Club's Grand Prix race to be held in Savannah, states "The three Benz cars for the contest are the same as took part in the A.C.F. Grand Prix in July last; they have, however, been fitted with new engines, the cylinder dimensions of which are states to be 150mm bore by 200mm stroke". Victor Hemery would come to the United States to pilot one of the cars. The other two would be driven by Willie Haupt, fresh from his success with the Chadwick, and David Bruce-Brown, an unknown at the time who would go on to have a remarkable but short career.

The picture herein would appear to show one of the Benz GP cars with the Heraldic symbol of Prussian Royalty - the Royal house of Hohenzollem (of which Kaiser Wilhelm II was a member). Is the car shown here in Savannah? It doesn't look like a warm weather environment. Is the driver shown Hemery, Haupt, or Bruce-Brown. Well, after comparing pictures of the three, it appears not to be Hemery or Haupt. It might be Bruce-Brown but I'm not confident of that.

To give the story one more twist, Robert Dick's Auto Racing Comes of Age: A Transatlantic View of the Cars, Drivers and Speedways, 1900-1925, notes that in April 1908 Louis Bergdoll, of the prominent Philadelphia Brewing family, bought a GP Benz: "Louis J. Bergdoll of Philadelphia has purchased the Benz entry in the Grand Prix, and expects to bring the car to this country soon after the big race in France and enter it in the Vanderbuilt Cup race". 

Is this the car Bergdoll purchased and campaigned on the east coast? If any readers know more about this image, please leave me a comment.

1908 Benz Grand Prix Car (photo credit: www.favcars.com)

Scottsdale Super-cars

Lamborghini Murcielago (photograph by the author)

His and Her's Ferrari 458's (photograph by the author)

I went to a local Cars and Coffee event in Scottsdale this past weekend and it reminds one that Scottsdale is littered with super-cars. Its plan silly how many Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, etc. are prowling the streets of this southwestern community.

Don't get me wrong, I love these cars as much as the next person, even though they're out of my reach. However, when you see so many in one place, it does take a bit of the shine off. Thankfully, I had my son with me, who loves super cars and could identify each model. It's interesting to see the contemporary super-cars next to a few from the past.

One of the cars that caught my attention was a friend's Renault R5 Turbo. These cars were introduced to complete in Rally racing and a road-going version was manufactured between 1980 through 1986. The car seen here is a 1985 "Turbo 2" with aluminum roof panels. Of the 3576 total R5 Turbos (all years), these Turbo 2 (later variation) are not often seen in the United States. Weighing in at roughly 2200 lbs and with 160+ horsepower from the mid-engined turbo charged 4-cylinder, these cars are street rockets.

Renault R5 Turbo 2 (photograph by the author)

Bugatti Veyron (photograph by the author)

Aston Martin DB6 (photograph by the author)

Aston Martin V8 Vantage (photograph by the author)

A pair of wonderful Jaguars

Jaguar XKSS (photographed by the author)

You never know what you'll find at a local car show but I was surprised to see these two fantastic Jaguars at an event this weekend in Scottsdale. I'm not sure why I should be surprised as there are a number of significant collections within the area. These two are both from the same collection.

The first car seen below, a C Type Jaguar (XK120-C), is the "competition" version of Jaguar's landmark XK120 road car. The XK120 was introduced in 1948 to great fanfare and shortly thereafter Jaguar introduced the C Type. Produced between 1951 and 1953, only 53 were built - and yes, this one is the real deal. The C Type famously won on its first time at Le Mans (1951) at the hands of Peter Walker and Peter Whitehead. The twin-cam, inline 6-cylinder engine produces over 200hp.

The next car is an XKSS, the street version of Jaguar's D Type competition car. The D Type was introduced in 1954 and would win Le Mans in 1955, 1956, and 1957. When Jaguar retired from racing is 1957 (temporarily) the company had 25 D Type cars under production and needed to sell them. They would alter the car slightly, making it road legal, and sell them as the XKSS. Although, the D Type (and XKSS) share the same basic engine as the C Type, this car is a completely different chassis (monocoque construction). Jaguar's plan was cut short when a fire swept through the factory and a number of the XKSS cars under production were destroyed. It's said that only 16 of these cars survive. I've had the good fortune to see 4 of them in person - fantastic.

Jaguar C Type (photographed by the author)

Jaguar XKSS (photographed by the author)

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