European Grand Tour
I had a blast on my European Grand Tour recently as these pictures hopefully show. Editorial enquiries welcome.
First Stop – Classic Boat Rally in Venice
Second Stop – Vogalonga Venice
Third Stop – The Old Ginetta Factory in Witham, Essex
Final Stop – Villa d’Este Concorso d’Eleganza
The Kellner Affair
‘The Kellner Affair’, by Peter Larsen and Ben Erickson and published by Dalton Watson Fine Books is a remarkable book. But how to categorise it, what is the genre and where should one place it on one’s bookshelf? For place it on one’s bookshelf, if it is sturdy enough to handle the weight of this three-volume tome, one certainly should.
On March 21, 1942, five members of a French resistance group operating in Paris were executed by the Nazis at Mont Valérien just outside the city. Two more had been sentenced to deportation to Germany. One went to prison there. The other was transported by cattle car to Mauthausen, a forced labour camp where he succumbed in 1945, just two weeks before the camp was liberated. Although the group was rooted in the French luxury car industry, it was diverse. One of the dead was the coachbuilder and industrialist, Jacques Kellner. Another was the ground-breaking designer Georges Paulin who had created aerodynamic car bodies of breathtaking beauty. There was also an architect, a panel beater, a shop foreman, a salesman, a railroad conductor and a housewife. The mastermind in Madrid was the former director of Rolls-Royce in France.
The group’s name was Phill. Its composition shows that in the fight against the oppressor, questions of wealth, position and social standing are of little value. Valour, moral integrity, fearlessness and ingenuity are. In a few short months, crucial information was secretly passed to the Allies concerning German activity in Occupied France, not least, critical intelligence about the early development of the Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe jet-fighter. The group was denounced and arrested in late October and early November 1941. They were tortured, given a trial of farcical proportions, and then shot. One man escaped with the help of theAlliancenetwork.
Over the years, many accounts of the Resistance have appeared, about its members, their doings, their capture, deportation and death. This book endeavours to present the first factual account of Phill;what happened, how it happened, and who shouldered the blame.
The Kellner Affair is written in didactic style by Dr Peter Larsen, but with a sense of humour and horror, that I know from my personal acquaintance with the author, has the undoubted ring of truth. Larsen is an automotive specialist and a member of the jury at events such as the famous Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. His period of expertise is very much that of pre-war French elegance, les grand routières of the art deco era, marvelous, exotic machines with coach-built bodies – Saoutchik, Figoni, Chapron, and Kellner et al. And this work certainly started out life as a book by a man involved with cars about a man involved with cars, but it is not a car book even though Volume III is a very comprehensive review of Jacques Kellner’s oeuvre and is indeed a veritable catalogue raisonné and archive of his creations.
Yes, if you want to know about the cars designed by the famous French carrosserie of Kellner which designed and built bodies for such as Rolls-Royce, Bugatti and Hispano-Suiza, this is undoubtedly the book to read. Indeed, for the ‘car bits’ one does also need to have an interest in and some knowledge of automobiles, for Larsen is a great expert and does not bow down to the lowest common denominator. It is after all very much a specialist’s book which enters into an enormous amount of detail and depth running to some 1,056 pages including 1,568 images, along with a USB inside the front cover of Volume 3 with a further 401 pages and 388 images of reference material. The regular edition of 1,000 numbered and signed copies costs US$445, whilst the deluxe edition of a limited run of 20 leather bound copies is priced at US$1,950. The deluxe edition must be trés luxe for the regular book, is a beautifully presented three volume-affair in a slip case, with all of its pages sporting marvelous silver fore-edge painting, with debossing to the cover along with a photograph of Kellner (July 5th 1894 – March 21st1942) affixed to the cover of each volume. Perhaps it would have been even more satisfying if a differing photograph had been used for the cover of each Volume, but this is to quibble.
The photographs in this work are one of its finest attributes. All the images are period and many of them have never been seen before outside of family circles or old files. They are tremendously informative and virtually all in black and white, apart from a few which were hand tinted at the time. It is such a visual pleasure to see such fine images and for the whole story to be told without resort to modern images to supplement the text.
This book is far-reaching and cross references many people including such as Gustave Eiffel, André Dubonnet, Douglas Fairbanks Snr, Van Cleef & Arpels, Josephine Baker, Maurice Chevalier, Marlene Dietrich, and places and texts. I love a good ‘Easter-egg’ and intertextuality but for a book of this nature I wonder if Stephen King or Disney’s Lightning McQueen are significant enough literary quotations to head up chapters. Still, King deals with horror, and Larsen does have a wicked tongue-in-cheek sense of humour, so perhaps he is an apt reference for some of the dreadful deeds within this book.
But this book is not about cars, as Larsen says in the last paragraph of page 17, Volume I, “And by the way, you’re all out of luck: there’s absolutely nothing in this book about Ferraris, Porsches, racing – or Steve McQueen for that matter.” Nor is this book about the Second World War, though much of it deals with the people and difficult events that took place leading up to, during and immediately after this conflict. Ultimately it is a book about humanity, and for anyone who has an interest in mans’ inhumanity to man, to reference Robert Burns, and how some strive to rise above it, it is a wonderful work of record and intelligence and an intriguing ‘spy’story wonderfully told. The world is a better place for challenging and possibly at times flawed works such as this. Lest we forget!
To order please contact the publisher: https://www.daltonwatson.com
Thank you Henry.
Those people at Ford are very nice. For my big trip to Crowdy Head to cover the beach trials (cf previous post) they lent me a very nice Ranger Wildtrak. I must admit I was rather impressed with its comfort and all round ability and it certainly made my life a lot easier. Sometimes one forgets what great cars this popular marque can and does make. If I were ever to drive to Uluru, the real one, not this service station pictured on the Pacific Highway, I am sure it would make a pretty reliable companion. Thank you Henry Ford and all those who have followed him – as Isaac Newton said, “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.”
On The Beach
Just got back from the Drag-ens Sydney Hot Rodders weekend at Crowdy Beach. A great day out, over 1,000 spectators watching pre-1941 cars and motorbikes doing their stuff on the sand. It may not have been the Monaco Historic GP held on the same weekend, but having already attended the festivities in the Principality, I was keen to enjoy some late-autumn sunshine on the NSW coast of Australia looking out over the Pacific Ocean. For those of you who like a little sand between your toes, here is just a taste of what you missed!
Two More Beauties For Sale
Every now and then I alert you to cars with interesting stories that are available through me. If you are a potential buyer and wish to learn more, please do not hesitate to get in touch (james@marinamarini.com.au), if you are simply a voyeur then simply enjoy.
1956 Cooper-Climax T39 Bob-tail Mk II
Originally owned by Lance Reventlow, once described as, “..the richest baby in the world.” Reventlow was the son of Barbara Hutton (who at one time was married to Cary Grant) and heir to the Woolworth fortune. He was able to indulge his pleasures and enjoyed racing cars (even setting up the famous Scarab race team). One of his earliest cars was this magnificent 1956 Cooper-Climax T39 Bob-tail. Very competitive in period, it is accompanied by an FIA Technical Passport and CAMS logbook, and is ready for historic racing.
1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental
Chassis 24Sk is an absolutely stunning PII Continental with an amazing Park Ward body (believed just one of ten from this esteemed Coachbuilder). Very authentic and presented just as it should be, and of course running as quietly as a mouse.
A Different Perspective
Please take a look at my article published by Perspective Magazine on architects, designers and their cars.
http://www.perspectiveglobal.com/lifestyle/what-type-of-cars-do-architects-drive/
With coverage of cutting edge design concepts, global trends and interviews with influential leading designers Perspective is a vital source of information for architects and design professionals. For more than a decade it has covered the architecture, interiors and design markets in Asia and beyond.
Gio Ponti sketch for Touring Superleggera
Cue Red Ruby
Offers are invited for these two incredible motor cars, both with outstanding provenance and history. To find out more please contact me directly – james@marinamarini.com.au
1934 MG Q-Type – chassis #0257; Australian delivered; number 7 of just 8 built; ex-Hope Bartlett, Jumbo Goddard; superb condition; extensive history file confirming provenance; export licence.
1937 Alvis 4.3 litre – Australian delivered; one-off Vanden Plas coachwork; current (second) owner since 1949; Factory build sheet; highly authentic; known as Red Ruby for obvious reasons.
Pass the Salt please
Lake Gairdner in South Australia is hard to reach. Seven hours drive from the State Capital, Adelaide, the last two hours of which is on dirt roads in the Outback and the last 25 kms of which is pretty tortuous on corrugated, dusty and treacherous tracks. If you manage to stay on the road and avoid the wildlife (that was one very large and lucky Emu that I am glad I missed), the view as you top the rise and see the dry salt-lake gives one a feeling, as of a small child spotting the ocean for the first time. The excitement makes one want to sing out for joy at the marvellous vista spread splendidly before one’s eyes after the continuous red dust approaches.
Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah may have been the Cathedral of speed racing; going as fast as one can in a straight line. In recent years, however, for a variety of reasons, be it weather, a changing (shrinking) landscape, it has been unable to provide consistent enough conditions to create record breaking runs. It would appear from the latest Speed Week held on Lake Gairdner, that the mantle may now have passed from Bonneville to the South Australian salt lake, and that the Americans are now visiting Gairdner.
Urus
Beating the Tamburo!
The opportunity to take more than one friend or member of the family in a Lamborghini has not been possible since the demise of the fabled LM in 1993. Until now that is, with the launch of the new Lamborghini Urus. Whilst the LM was more of a truck (the ‘Rambo-Lambo’ conspicuous by lack of even a mention at the launch at Barangaroo in Sydney), the new Urus is a luxury super suv. At its Oceania premiere I was able to sample the new Lamborghini experience, which combines the DNA and qualities of the current Lamborghini offering. Take the very best bits of the Huracán and the Aventador super sports cars, such as four-wheel steering and carbon ceramic brakes, throw in air suspension and lots of other high-tech stuff including torque vectoring, and Lamborghini has created an SUV capable of 0-100 km/h in 3.6 seconds with a top speed of 305 km/h. Despite its increased centre of gravity and the fact that it is much higher and heavier than the other models from Sant’Agata Bolognese, the Urus is capable of stopping from 100 km/h to a stand-still in just 33.7 metres
This is a sports car on steroids that is capable of running on sand, snow, gravel, race-track or tarmac, with breathtaking performance and amazing all round capability. This is in no small part due to its exciting new V8 4.0 litre twin-turbo engine, the first occasion that Lamborghini has utilised turbo power. All controlled from the Tamburo, or Drum at the centre of the ultra-modern interior which comfortably seats four. And the name, well, as has been the tradition at Lamborghini, the name Urus is derived from the world of bulls. The Urus, also known as Aurochs, is a wild ancestor of domestic cattle. The Spanish fighting bull, as bred for the past half-millennia, is still close to the Urus in its appearance.
A Passage To India
“Is emotion a sack of potatoes, so much the pound, to be measured out? Am I a machine?” to borrow a line from Chapter XXVII of E.M.Forster’s 1924 novel, A Passage to India. Well, there was plenty of emotion shown over machines at the 2018 ’21 Gun Salute International Vintage Car Rally and Concours Show’ held in New Delhi.
This magnificent event was a romantic mix of ‘A Drive of the Lutyens’, named for the architect Edwin Landseer Lutyens (1869 -1944) who laid out so much of the administrative heart of the new city; black tie dinners at the homes of Maharajahs; traditional and unique dance entertainment from the regions of India; the National Railway Museum; motorbikes and scooters; culinary delights such as Hyderabadi Dum Biryani, Machher Jhol; Rogan Josh, Sorpotel, Meen Vevicahthu (do not question, just eat!); and last but certainly not least well over 100 Veteran, Edwardian, Vintage and classic cars including international entrants from the USA, Australia, the Seychelles, Italy and the United Kingdom.
As well as the international entrants held in such high regard locally, there were participants from Delhi, Kanpur, Jaipur, Udaipur, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur.
Best in Show was the Gurney Nutting all weather Rolls-Royce cabriolet chassis number GR048, supplied new to HH Maharajah of Drabhanga, and which made everyone’s draw drop in appreciation when first seen in the mist of early Saturday morning at India Gate.
