You're close Magnette but it's '54 Ferrari 250 Europa one of the earliest of a long line of 3 litre V12 Ferraris and one of the first to sport Pininfarina coachwork IIRC.
It certainly resembles the 375 America but so far I've only seen those with Vignale bodies.
It's known as the Beutler-Porsche. Beutler was a Swiss Carrozzeria that used a mish-mash of VW and Porsche pieces to create a four-seater in the late 1940s.
The B-P is rather ugly in my opinon, and silly too. A grille on a 356! Come on! There was an even uglier Beutler-Porsche Cabriolet>
I'd have to disagree, there's nothing wrong with an Alpine. The proportions are correct except for the exaggerated fins on the Mk.I which were remedied on later versions (including the Tiger).
Fair enough but there is a picture of a Pininfarina 375 in Fitzgerald and Merritt's book, 'Ferrari Sports and Gran Turismo Cars' and they say it was at the Paris Salon of 1953. It is that car that the 250 Europa design came from, I think, and I haven't ever seen either, so wouldn't have recognised it really.
Absolutely, The Complete Ferrari by Geoffrey Eaton says they're the same car, same chassis, and body but the nomenclature at Ferrari back then dictated a name change when they went to a different motor. They were first shown simultaneously at the Pari Salon in '53.
Nobody copied Pininfarina more than PF, at least this time they didn't sell the same design to two different makers (see sprevious post about the resemblance between Fiat 1200 and Ferrari 250 PF cabrios).
Pretty cheeky to call the same body America with one engine and Europa with another!
Edit: I was mistaken earlier when I said that the 250 Europa pioneered the glorious line of 3 liter Ferraris. Not exactly it turns out, Eaton sez the three liter shown used the Lampredi "long block" V12, a bigger version (4.5 liters) went into the 375 America.
The first car to use the "short block" Colombo-designed V12 was the similarly-named 250GT Europa, introduced at the '54 Paris show. It was the colombo 3 liter which powered the classic 250GT SWB, the 250 California and of course the 250 GTO.
The 250GT Europa used a Scaglietti body with a fastback>
I think PF made a lot of similar designs, just look at the BMC Cambridge / Oxford saloons and the Peugeot 404, the FIAT 1900 / 2100/ 2300 etc - although they were Farina then
The little Porsche-like thing is a late 50s Denzel 1300WD, the brain child of an Austrian, Wolfgang Denzel. There was a Denzel 1600 as well. The bigger motor was a Porsche unit.
Sat in one at the Frankfurt show, and one of our directors has just taken delivery of one as his company car - already seeing a few on the roads, but we do have a Land Rover dealers at the end of our High Street.
Well you can't excuse the Alpine as if the Mark I never happened. I'd personally reserve "ugly" for things like the Marlin or the Packard Hawk, etc. which are pretty hopeless. Bad proportions aren't the worst fault a car can display.
Nissan Figaro, early 90s (I think the "H" prefix is for 1990-91 cars). Quite a few have been grey market imported into the UK, they are also not unknown in Canada now too.
Not my cup of tea, to say the least. But they actually have a race history of sorts. Apparently Jaguar drove them out of business since they saw the car as a competitor, but really, they needn't have worried, given the looks of this....thing....Now really don't the door panels look like they were made in shop class?
In direct contrast to my not so subtle nose-sniffing comments, and as a direct rebuke to my corrosive and patently unwarranted comments, these cars are worth some money.
Go figure. I wouldn't be seen dead in one. I could have a spectacular TR3A with equal performance, better looks and 1/5th the price.
Yup, according to Fantasy Junction Jaguar and Swallow used the same supplier of steel tubing and when Jag sales took of they told the supplier they'd go a competitor if they didn't cut off the supply to Swallow.
Interestingly enough, Jaguar Cars Ltd. was an outgrowth of the original Swallow Sidecar Co.
The price is waaay over the top as you say but I think the car looks pretty sophisticated for it's era and light enough that it would just blow the doors off a TR-3 or a contemporary MG.
Speaking of doors, those have pockets which is pretty sophisticated for the early 50s. There's nothing to the doors on most of those early Brits.
Kinda doubt it...the TR3A weighs only maybe 100 lbs more but has more HP (being a somewhat later car). I would say it would outperform the Doretti or easily match it. And a 60s Morgan should beat both of them---also with the same Triumph power.
Well I guess having door panels in 1954 is a plus if cutting a hole in a rectangle with a hole saw is a triumph (no pun intended) of functionality over form.
And a 60s Morgan should beat both of them---also with the same Triumph power.
So I have been reading lately, the Mog was a kind of secret weapon in production sports racing. It's wooden frame was much lighter than the steel frames in TRs and MGs and guys like Peter Revson and Masten Gregory knew how to take advantage of that.
If they did build cars with wooden frames Concord NH would be Detroit. I used to work in one of the buildings where the famed Concord Stagecoaches were built.
This one (ironically) lives in the Henry Ford Museum>
Comments
It certainly resembles the 375 America but so far I've only seen those with Vignale bodies.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
The B-P is rather ugly in my opinon, and silly too. A grille on a 356! Come on!
There was an even uglier Beutler-Porsche Cabriolet>
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
-It comes from the same country where the first Porsches did.
-Like the Beutler, it used a mish-mash of Porsche and Volkswagen pieces but the word Porsche was never part of the model name.
-Here's a look from another angle (note how tiny it is)>
Going...going...
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Nobody copied Pininfarina more than PF, at least this time they didn't sell the same design to two different makers (see sprevious post about the resemblance between Fiat 1200 and Ferrari 250 PF cabrios).
Pretty cheeky to call the same body America with one engine and Europa with another!
Edit: I was mistaken earlier when I said that the 250 Europa pioneered the glorious line of 3 liter Ferraris. Not exactly it turns out, Eaton sez the three liter shown used the Lampredi "long block" V12, a bigger version (4.5 liters) went into the 375 America.
The first car to use the "short block" Colombo-designed V12 was the similarly-named 250GT Europa, introduced at the '54 Paris show.
It was the colombo 3 liter which powered the classic 250GT SWB, the 250 California and of course the 250 GTO.
The 250GT Europa used a Scaglietti body with a fastback>
Nice shot of the front here
Confused? :sick: :confuse:
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Yikes.....and here I always thought the Sunbeam Alpine (and Tiger) were great looking cars. This one surpasses ugly, and borders on fugly. :shades:
The little Porsche-like thing is a late 50s Denzel 1300WD, the brain child of an Austrian, Wolfgang Denzel. There was a Denzel 1600 as well.
The bigger motor was a Porsche unit.
More here and here.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
It's the replacement for the LR2/Freelander..
Also available in 4-door.... saw a 4-door when I drove by the Land Rover dealer, yesterday..
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Well-kept non-working women must be lining up already.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Yep!
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
It's British but it's neither fake nor retro, in fact it had more modern styling than it's contemporary competition. MY 1954.
Maybe this'll help>
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
More hints- That's aluminum body work and here's what it looks like inside>
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Not my cup of tea, to say the least. But they actually have a race history of sorts. Apparently Jaguar drove them out of business since they saw the car as a competitor, but really, they needn't have worried, given the looks of this....thing....Now really don't the door panels look like they were made in shop class?
In direct contrast to my not so subtle nose-sniffing comments, and as a direct rebuke to my corrosive and patently unwarranted comments, these cars are worth some money.
Go figure. I wouldn't be seen dead in one. I could have a spectacular TR3A with equal performance, better looks and 1/5th the price.
I thought they were going to keep the LR2 and sell them side-by-side, no? The Evoque costs more.
That happens...
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Interestingly enough, Jaguar Cars Ltd. was an outgrowth of the original Swallow Sidecar Co.
The price is waaay over the top as you say but I think the car looks pretty sophisticated for it's era and light enough that it would just blow the doors off a TR-3 or a contemporary MG.
Speaking of doors, those have pockets which is pretty sophisticated for the early 50s. There's nothing to the doors on most of those early Brits.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Well I guess having door panels in 1954 is a plus if cutting a hole in a rectangle with a hole saw is a triumph (no pun intended) of functionality over form.
So I have been reading lately, the Mog was a kind of secret weapon in production sports racing. It's wooden frame was much lighter than the steel frames in TRs and MGs and guys like Peter Revson and Masten Gregory knew how to take advantage of that.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
I don't know if anyone EVER built a car with a wooden frame---probably the French....
This one (ironically) lives in the Henry Ford Museum>
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93