Mystery Car

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Myrtles Man
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Mystery Car

Post by Myrtles Man »

Bit of a long shot I'm afraid but, having trawled t'interweb at great length to no avail, it occurred to me that an appeal to the collective intellect and vast experience of life and stuff embodied on this website might just yield a result; in short, what make and model of car is this?
Mystery Car identification.jpg
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philthehill
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Re: Mystery Car

Post by philthehill »

I will start the ball rolling and say that it is a variant of the Lagonda M45.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagonda

ManyMinors
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Re: Mystery Car

Post by ManyMinors »

It is quite a big car which would have been expensive. Mid to late 1930s? Lots of coachbuilders around still in those days so possibly an unusual body. Something like an Alvis possibly? MG also made some large saloons. The rear lamp is similar to that on the (pre Jaguar) SS cars so possibly one of those?
Myrtles Man
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Re: Mystery Car

Post by Myrtles Man »

I too was thinking along those lines (Lagonda, Alvis, MG, SS etc) but, in each case, I came up against the problem of equating the styling of the rear end; each of the 'possibles' has a 'notched-back' rather than the smooth straight-down shape of this car. Also the rather uncompromising oblong-shaped rear window doesn't appear to be used by the above-mentioned marques and the raised fluting running the full length of the wings and running boards is hard to find on the usual suspects. The single rear lamp suggests early thirties and, as far as I've been able to ascertain, ALU is a London registration from Sep/Oct 1933. The mystery continues, but many thanks for your thoughts so far.
TDV102
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Re: Mystery Car

Post by TDV102 »

1937 Alvis 4.3 Sports?
Good home offered for custom splittie
Myrtles Man
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Re: Mystery Car

Post by Myrtles Man »

Perhaps the closest yet TDV but still no cigar I fear. The 'straight down' back is there but the shape of the bottom of the rear mudguards aft of the wheels is different. Also, whilst the rear window is almost an oblong, it has a slight overall downward curve and rounded corners, unlike in the picture above. Plus there is no raised valance along the wings and, of course, the 'mystery' car doesn't have front-wing-mounted spare wheel(s). Thanks for the suggestion though.
philthehill
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Re: Mystery Car

Post by philthehill »

Bentley. 1935 3 1/2 ltr fitted with special bodywork possibly by Vanden Plas. There is a very similar car but with soft top shown on the web under images of classic Bentley cars but is a sports open/soft top version. It has the raised ridge on the front mudguards but cannot make out if it is the same on the rear mudguards.
The hard top on the mystery car could be removable.
Most Bentleys of the period would be sent to coach builders for bodywork of the owners choice to be fitted so very few Bentleys or cars of that ilk would be the same.

The petrol tank filler is typical Bentley and there appears to be a stylised 'B' on a black background (which again is typical Bentley) in the centre of the wire wheel spinners.

One of Bentleys 'fastest lorry's in the world' went past the house yesterday and it looked and sounded lovely but did not smell as good as the competition Austin Healy 3000 running on Castrol R.

Myrtles Man
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Re: Mystery Car

Post by Myrtles Man »

Well, Phil, having now trawled through literally dozens and dozens of pictures of the model I'm starting to think that you may well be right about it being a 3.5 litre Bentley, albeit with, possibly, a bespoke coachbuilt body as indeed was suggested by ManyMinors earlier in the thread. The raised ridge/valance/swage line also seems to have been something of a Bentley feature.

In the matter of 'racing lorries', I had the good fortune to know the late Vaughan Davis and, through his kind generosity, I was present at the record-setting meetings that took place at Millbrook and which were reported on in the linked article. To say that the whole experience was impressively unforgettable is to understate it somewhat.

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/arch ... l-bentleys
ManyMinors
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Re: Mystery Car

Post by ManyMinors »

Myrtles Man wrote: Mon Apr 08, 2019 9:55 am
In the matter of 'racing lorries', I had the good fortune to know the late Vaughan Davis and, through his kind generosity, I was present at the record-setting meetings that took place at Millbrook and which were reported on in the linked article. To say that the whole experience was impressively unforgettable is to understate it somewhat.

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/arch ... l-bentleys
A small world. One of the other drivers of that Bentley in its record breaking attempts was Philip Greenwood who I remember well as a customer of the garage I used to work at. Apologies for the thread diversion!

A Bentley the mystery car could well be.
philthehill
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Re: Mystery Car

Post by philthehill »

Myrtles Man

Many thanks for the link. Brought a tear to my eye.

I attended the 1st Brooklands reunion in June 1967 and walked around the whole course until chased off by some official.

No matter I was not going to pass up a chance to explore the site which was very much as it was after the war.

Phil

Myrtles Man
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Re: Mystery Car

Post by Myrtles Man »

ManyMinors wrote: Mon Apr 08, 2019 10:22 am
A small world. One of the other drivers of that Bentley in its record breaking attempts was Philip Greenwood who I remember well as a customer of the garage I used to work at. Apologies for the thread diversion!
I (briefly) knew Phil Greenwood too, having been introduced to him by Vaughan in the Charlbury pub they both frequented (Phil was a local farmer, I seem to recall). No apologies necessary MM.

I'm pleased you found the link of interest Phil; as you're no doubt aware, Brooklands is now a well-supported and thriving motoring and aeronautical museum and, as I happen to live locally, I attend several events each year - I'll be taking Myrtle to the British Marques Day on 28th April as indeed I did to the New Year's Day gathering that saw an attendance of over 1200 cars and 5000 visitors. Attempting to walk to the top of the banking is always something of a challenge!
philthehill
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Re: Mystery Car

Post by philthehill »

When I went to Brooklands in 1967 the track was covered in old aircraft bodies etc. especially around and under the members bridge. On my visit a few years later it had all been cleared away.

Myrtles Man
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Re: Mystery Car

Post by Myrtles Man »

Further to my mention of the New Year's Day gathering, you may find the attached link interesting, giving, as it does, a good idea of the current set up there:-

https://vimeopro.com/brooklandstrustmem ... /309240853
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