THE LOUWMAN MUSEUM: HISTORY OF CARS .....
ABOUT THE LOUWMAN MUSEUM
The aim of the Museum is to give a comprehensive overview of what the
automobile industry has produced since 1887. Without a doubt the automobile has
completely transformed our lives. It has become an icon of modern life. It is
one of the most important inventions of the 19th and 20th century.
Over 80 years ago the Louwman family recognised the importance of the motor
car and decided to keep the highlights of motoring history so far for future
generations. The Louwman Museum in fact dates back to 1934. Since then we have
regularly added vehicles and over the years have gradually refined the
collection. Today there are over 275 historic and classic motor cars in our
museum. We do not aim to be all-encompassing – the motor industry has produced
far too many cars over the past 130 years for that to be feasible. What we have
done is compile a well-balanced collection of motor vehicles with a view to
presenting a clear and fascinating overview of the history of the motor car.
The Louwman Museum was opened by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix on 2 July 2010.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/about-the-museum/
THE BUILDING
ARCHITECT:
The building was designed by renowned American architect Michael Graves. It
blends in sympathetically with its historic surroundings. The landscape
gardens, designed by Lodewijk Baljon, complement the architecture of the
building.
DESIGN:
The museum building is essentially oblong-shaped and the design is reminiscent
of the demolished Reigersbergen country estate that used to stand in this spot.
It is located adjacent to the N44 road. The impressive front of the building,
the square and the pond are easily recognisable as you enter The Hague.
The total floorspace is about 16,000 square metres. Much attention has been
paid to detail. The universal aspect of the building, the special features,
such as the pavilion at the rear, that is perfectly aligned with the Grand
Canal which runs through the neighbouring Marlot district.
RESPONSE TO A HISTORIC
CONTEXT
The project balanced
large-scale storage and conservation workshops for an extraordinary collection
of automobiles with the context of a bucolic historic park near the Queen’s
Palace. We placed public-facing functions such as a reception hall, conference
center and food service around a small-scaled courtyard. Its character — with
distinctive brickwork and steeply sloped roofs with dormers — is reminiscent of
a Dutch carriage house.
ASSEMBLING INDUSTRIAL
COMPONENTS
Working with the client,
owner of one of Europe’s largest car dealerships, we utilized industrial
building technologies to produce an efficient, economical and sustainable place
for storing and displaying cars — along with a wide variety of automotive art —
in temporary and permanent galleries. By placing smaller elements such as an
octagonal gallery aside the large volume, we created contemplative space for
visitors within the landscape.
AHRENS – FOX MODEL N-5-2
1000 GMP FIRE ENGINE 1924
Seven of these gigantic
Ahrens-Fox fire engines were used by the Rotterdam Fire Brigade from 1928 to
1971. In World War II they proved their worth in tackling fires after the
German bombing of Rotterdam in May 1940, thanks to their pumping capacity of almost
4,000 litres per minute.
The American-made fire
engines were delivered as a chassis with an engine; the Rotterdam coachbuilders
Bikkers then manufactured the bodywork. The car is fitted with a six-cylinder
engine with an impressive 16.4-litre capacity, and includes a cooling system
using the water from the fire pump: note the tubes leading to the radiator. The
large silver sphere on the front pump is a pressure reservoir. Drivers were
given special training to handle the vehicle; the turning circle was 22 metres.
Ahrens-Fox, which
produced its first fire engine in 1912, is deemed to be ‘the Rolls-Royce of
fire engines’. In 1917 an Ahrens-Fox engine of the New York Fire Brigade
managed to pump water to the top of what was then the world’s tallest structure:
the 245-metre high Woolworth building.
ASTON MARTIN DB3 WORKS TEAM CAR 1952
‘Works car’ is the English term known by car enthusiasts for a
‘factory-entered racer’, differentiating it from a car which is entered in a
motor race by ‘privateers’.
This unique Aston Martin is one of five DB3 works team cars. It was
updated by the factory in 1954 with DB3S style bodywork, a lighter version of
the DB3. The curvaceous body is typical of sports racers of the fifties.
There has been only one Grand Prix in Monaco for sports cars, and this car
took part in it in 1952. The young racing driver Peter Collins finished seventh
with the DB3. One year later, together with top motorcycle racer Geoff Duke,
Collins drove the car in the 12 Hours of Sebring, the opening race for the
World Sports Car Championship. Collins was well in the lead when he handed over
to Duke, but unfortunately he crashed and the DB3 was forced to retire. The car
was repaired, and Peter Collins drove it once again in the 1953 Mille Miglia,
finishing in sixteenth place. Today this DB3 is a regular entrant in the
historic Mille Miglia.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/aston-martin-db3-works-team-car/
AUSTIN A90 ATLANTIC CONVERTIBLE
When first laying eyes on this car with its extended mudguards, enclosed
rear wheels, numerous chrome strips and the centrally mounted fog light, few
will realise it is British.
But then it was not intended to look British, because this Austin was
designed specifically for the American market.
In order to focus attention on the car, a successful attempt was made in
America in 1949 to break an endurance record, whereby the Atlantic was driven
at an average speed of 113 km/h over 19,000 kilometres in seven days.
The concept behind the Austin Atlantic emanated from the post-war British
government, which was strongly focused on export and expounded the policy
‘Export or perish’. But the Americans preferred their own large V8s over the
Austin’s 2.7-litre, four-cylinder engine. A mere 350 of the circa 8,000
Atlantics produced made it overseas. The engine was later used for the
Austin-Healey 100 and this did prove successful.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/austin-a90-atlantic-convertible/
CHRYSLER TOWN & COUNTRY CONVERTIBLE - 1948
The name ‘Town & Country’ came about by chance. On first
seeing the car, one of Chrysler’s designers mentioned that the front of the car
looked very ‘town’ and the wood panelling very ‘country’. It was as simple as
that.
This Chrysler Town & Country Convertible can transport six
people with ease. The car is 5.63 metres long and because of the wood panelling
it weighs approximately 2,500 kilograms.
Most models were powered by a six-cylinder engine, but this one
has a 5.3-litre eight-cylinder, producing 135 hp. The Chrysler was fitted with
a ‘fluid drive’ semi-automatic transmission and hydraulic clutch as standard.
Automatic gearboxes were still in their infancy at that time. The car has a
rare accessory: a second windscreen for the rear compartment.
After the war, when other car manufacturers did no more than
update their pre-war models, Chrysler continued the Town & Country range
with the introduction of a completely new model.
The car was not cheap: a Town & Country cost 3,500 dollars,
making it more expensive than an average Cadillac. The wood panelling of the
Town & Country was also very expensive: one door cost 234 dollars, about
three times the price of a steel door which cost 73 dollars. At the end of the
1940s the real wood was replaced with a type of wood grain called Di-Noc.
BAMBINO 200 - 1955
This funny-looking,
egg-shaped little car with its single-cylinder, 200 cc JLO two-stroke engine
was effectively a Dutch product.
It was basically a German
Fuldamobil, built under licence in the mid-1950s by the conveyance manufacturer
Alweco in Veghel, Holland, and named the ‘Bambino’. Other countries such as
Chile, Greece, England and India also built the Fuldamobil under licence.
The Bambino enjoyed only
limited success in the Netherlands. A four-wheeled version, the Sport, was
introduced in 1957. It goes without saying that this considerably underpowered
two-seater was not a credit to its model name and vanished as quickly as it
appeared.
DELAHAYE 135 MS COUPÉ
POURTOUT 1946
An aerodynamic coupé by
the coachbuilder Pourtout, based on a sporty Delahaye 135MS. This specific car
was shown at the 1946 Paris Motor Show.
The streamlined body
styling was inspired by Georges Paulin’s pre-war designs. Paulin, who worked
for Marcel Pourtout (though he started his career as a dentist), had many
special designs attributed to his name, including the 1934 Peugeot ‘Eclipse’
with a retractable steel cabriolet roof, a construction that he patented. In
1940 he joined the British secret service to fight the Nazi regime, but he was
arrested and executed.
The Delahaye 135MS was
launched in 1938 as a special high-end version (MS stands for Modifié Spéciale)
of the 135, which was already three years old. The chassis, which was the same
as that of the successful Delahaye Le Mans racers, cost 585,000 French francs.
The 135MS had a 125 hp, 3.5-litre, triple-carburettor six-cylinder engine and
could reach a top speed of 160 km/h.
Many famous coachbuilders
such as Saoutchik, Chapron, Letourneur et Marchand and Pourtout made the most
beautiful bodywork for the 135MS chassis.
DESOTO SERIES S-11C
TAXICAB - 1946
Not just any typical
American yellow cab, but a real movie star. In 1972 this DeSoto taxi featured
in Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece ‘The Godfather’.
Five years later the taxi
also appeared in the film ‘Thieves’ with ‘Professor’ Irwin Corey as the taxi
driver. The red and yellow colour scheme is that of a San Francisco taxicab.
This DeSoto has a ‘Fluid Drive’ system: a hydraulic coupling, allowing smooth
gear changes.
The DeSoto marque, named
after the Spaniard Hernando de Soto, who discovered the Mississippi river, was
launched by the Chrysler Corporation in 1929. The DeSoto was a big success,
partly due to a huge marketing campaign; 80,000 cars were sold in the first
year of production. Sales fell in the 1950s and in 1960 the DeSoto disappeared
from the market. Similar to the Chrysler, there was also an Airflow version of
the DeSoto.
FERRARI 750 MONZA
SCAGLIETTI - 1954
This 750 Monza Scaglietti
is the first Ferrari racing car to be delivered with disc brakes.
This Ferrari has plenty
of racing history. The car was raced by many great names in motorsports, such
as Mike Hawthorn, Maurice Trintignant, Umberto Maglioli and José Froilán
Gonzales. Driven by the Dreyfus/Lucas team this car also took part at Le Mans
in 1955, the infamous race in which Pierre Levegh’s Mercedes flew into the
crowd, killing some eighty people including Levegh himself.
This 3.0-litre
four-cylinder Ferrari racer was designed by Dino Ferrari, Enzo’s son, and
constructed by coachbuilder Scaglietti.
The 750 Monza was
developed in the early 1950s because large-capacity four-cylinder engines were
proving to be performing very well in the then new Formula 1. The first Ferrari
750 Monzas were fitted with large drum brakes but, as an experiment, these were
replaced with disc brakes.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/ferrari-750-monza-scaglietti/
FERRARI 375 INDIANAPOLIS 1952
Ferrari did not often make wrong decisions, but entering the Indianapolis
500 with the Ferrari 375 was one of them.
When, in 1950, the international motor sport federation (FIA) decided to
include the Indy 500 in the Formula I World Championship, Ferrari two years
later modified four of its 4.5-litre Grand Prix racers. The American Ferrari
importer Luigi Chinetti sold three of them to clients and the factory entered
the fourth, with their top racing driver Alberto Ascari behind the wheel.
Thanks to the exceptional talents of Ascari, the works car was the only
one of the four to qualify, starting in 17th position. Built for flat tracks
with many bends, the Ferrari was unable to cope with the oval circuit and high
banking. In the fortieth of the two hundred laps the car suffered a broken
wheel hub and Ascari had to retire.
The car displayed in the museum is the ‘Grant Piston Ring Special’ entry,
one of the three privately entered cars. It was to have been driven by Johnnie
Parsons but he left during the second qualifying weekend as he was unhappy with
the little attention Ferrari paid to his car during the run-up to the race. His
replacement, Danny Oakes, was a less accomplished driver and was unable to
qualify.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/ferrari-375-indianapolis/
HUDSON COMMODORE 8 - 1948
Getting into this Hudson really
means getting in because the floor is quite a bit lower than the threshold.
This special construction is therefore called the ‘Step-down’, and gives the
car a lower centre of gravity, resulting in improved roadholding.
Another advantage was its
safety: the chassis frame effectively surrounds the passenger compartment. It
was so advanced that competitor General Motors immediately obtained a couple of
these cars in order to fully test their motoring performance.
The Hudson Commodore, a design
by chief stylist Frank Spring and engineering director Sam Frahm, was available
as a coupé, sedan and convertible. By 1953 the step-down design had become
dated, but no successor for this large Hudson was ever made as the factory
decided to produce a more compact model. Hudson merged with Nash to form
American Motors in 1954 and the Hudson marque was dropped altogether in 1957.
In 2006 a Hudson Hornet, a
six-cylinder model similar to the Commodore, starred in the Disney/Pixar animation
movie ‘Cars’ as the ‘Doc Hudson’ character.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/3754/
JAGUAR - XK120 FIXED HEAD COUP – 1952
JAGUAR D – TYPE XKD 606
In 1957 Jaguar drove to victory with this D-TYpe XKD 606 at Le Mans.
Jaguar dominated Le Mans in the 1950s, winning in 1951, 1953, 1955 and
1956, first with the C-types (the first car with disc brakes to win Le Mans)
and then with the D-types. Jaguar withdrew from racing at the end of 1956 as
the factory wanted to concentrate on its production cars.
Yet five D-types appeared for the 1957 race, all privately entered. The
private team Ecurie Ecosse based in Scotland participated with two ‘dated’
factory Ds. This XKD 606 was crewed by Flockhart and Bueb, and the second car
was driven by Lawrence and Sanderson.
Flockhart/Bueb took the lead after three hours and held onto it. The
predominantly experimental Ferraris and Maseratis with drivers such as Moss and
Fangio dropped out one by one, and Flockhart and Bueb’s Jaguar drove to victory
with a nine-lap lead on the number two car, the Lawrence/Sanderson D-type. The
other D-types took third, fourth and sixth places. The XKD 606 had achieved a
hattrick for Jaguar in 1957, with three consecutive Le Mans wins. The car
covered a record 4,397 kilometres at an average speed of 183 km/h, a record
which remained unbroken for four years.
After Le Mans, the discarded D-type ended up in the club racing scene.
Finally, following a crash, the car was split in two: the body and rear-wheel
suspension, and the front sub-frame and engine. Both halves were then completed
with replica parts, forming two separate, ‘original’ cars.
The Louwman Museum managed to acquire both cars, and following a lengthy
and historically accurate restoration project the original components were
reunited, returning the car to the condition it was in when it was so
successful in 1957.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/jaguar-d-type-xkd-606/
JAGUAR XKSS - 1957
A total of only 16 Jaguars XKSS,
a street version of the legendary D-type, came on the market.
In spite of the car’s triumphs
Jaguar struggled to sell the last D-types when the factory withdrew from racing
in 1956. Hence the decision to convert the remaining cars into a street
version, the XKSS.
The car was modified so it would
conform to regulations for use on public roads. The rear fin of the D-types was
removed as well as the partition between passenger and driver. A windscreen,
side windows, a passenger door, chromed bumpers and a canvas hood were added.
Part of the Jaguar factory in Coventry was destroyed by fire in 1957 and a
number of XKSSs, both under construction and finished, were lost.
A total of only 16 Jaguars XKSS
came on the market, one of which was once owned by Steve McQueen
LLOYD - LP 300 – 1951
MARCH 707 CANAM - 1969
CanAm stands for Canadian
American Challenge, a race formula that became very popular in the mid-sixties.
Factory racing driver Chris Amon
had designer Robin Herd strapped into the passenger seat during test drives, so
that he could explain to him directly what improvements had to be made to the
car. After all, it was Amon himself who had suggested that fledgling marque
March should build a car for the CanAm races.
Given that these races did not
apply any regulatory restrictions on engine power or technology, this aluminium
March 707 was fitted with a 7.5-litre Chevrolet V8 engine that produced 680 hp.
The two stabiliser ‘flippers’ at the front are typical of the March.
The naming of the car requires
explanation. March is an acronym of the names of the founders: Max Mosley, Alan
Rees, Graham Coaker and Robin Herd. The number 707 denotes a car for the 1970
season in the racing category Group 7.
Three March 707s were built: two
for Chris Amon and one for Helmut Kelleners. The cars were not successful in
the CanAm Series.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/march-707-canam/
PEGASO
RILEY - RMA - 1947
ROVIN - D4 - 1951
HUMBER PULLMAN, FORMERLY OWNED BY SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL 1954
The British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and his cigar were
inseparable, which is why an extra-large ashtray was installed in this Humber
Pullman, his private car.
In addition, there is a push-button radio, a novelty at the time, and
independent heating systems for the chauffeur and the passengers. The bodywork
is by Thrupp & Maberly.
The Humber Pullman pre-dated the Second World War, but during the war
years this model was only produced for British government officials and
military officers. Field Marshal Montgomery drove a Humber staff car which he
christened ‘Old Faithful’, referring to its reliability.
The Humber was popular with the government because it was a reliable and,
above all, understated limousine. It offered the luxury of a Rolls-Royce but
was more restrained. There was also a version known as the Imperial which did
not have a partition behind the driver.
In 1954 the Pullman was the largest car in the range offered by the
Coventry-based Rootes Group. Production ended that same year and this is one of
the last examples.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/humber-pullman-formerly-owned-by-sir-winston-churchill/
TALBOT LAGO - T26 GRAND SPORT COUPÉ CHAPRON – 1949
TALBOT LAGO T26 GRAND COUPE SAOUTCHIK 1948
This Talbot Lago is an automotive sculpture, a work of art. Function follows
form and not the other way round.
This type of car cannot be judged against general standards. The
flamboyant styling is by Jacques Saoutchik, a cabinet maker who fled from
Belarus and set up his own coachbuilding company in Paris in 1906. His only aim
was to make it to the top in the motorcar industry, and this he finally
achieved in the 1920s.
The exaggerated, voluptuous contours and the excessive use of chrome were
typical of Saoutchik’s designs. It was reminiscent of the flamboyance of the
1930s, but after the war this was however no longer appropriate. The world was
focusing on reconstruction and such extravagant cars looked out of place. Only
36 Grand Sports were built.
Antonio Lago, the Italian major who bought out the declining French marque
Talbot in 1935, misjudged the post-war opportunities. The marque did enjoy some
racing success, but things soon went downhill. Talbot Lago was taken over by
Simca in 1959. Saoutchik had already ceased to operate a few years earlier.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/talbot-lago-t26-grand-sport-coupe-saoutchik/
TARUFFI ITALCORSA TARF II - 1951
‘Bisiluro’ is Italian for ‘twin torpedo’, and it is that idea that
Italian racing driver and engineer Piero Taruffi (1906-1988) used to design
record breakers Tarf I and Tarf II.
The first one, built in 1948, broke six records in the 500 cc
class and two in the 1500 cc class. Tarf II was designed in 1951. It was powered
by a 1.7 litre
290 hp supercharged Maserati engine and achieved a top speed of just under 300
km/h on the flying kilometre and flying mile, held on the Via Appia near Rome.
In later years the car broke records over longer distances at
the Montlhéry (France) and Monza (Italy) circuits. It was an experimental
vehicle and over the years was modified frequently; various engines were used,
including Ferrari units.
In the case of Tarf I the driver sits on the left, in Tarf II on
the right. The engine is mounted in the driverless ‘torpedo’. As there is no
room for a steering wheel in the Tarf II, control sticks are used instead. The
rear wheels are chain-driven. Adjustable rudders compensate for any side winds.
TRIUMPH - 2000 RENOWN – 1952
AMERICAN LA FRANCE HOOK & LADDER AERIAL TYPE 31-6 - 1922
Americans build the most beautiful fire engines in the world. The
functional aspect of the fire engine is hidden under rich ornamentation.
This American LaFrance, which was delivered to the Westfield Fire
Department in New Jersey in 1922, is no exception; note the beautiful gold leaf
embellishment, the black trims and the locomotive-shaped front with a bumper
that looks like a ‘cow catcher’. In order to manoeuvre this extremely long
vehicle through traffic, a second ‘navigator’ was seated at the back to steer
the rear wheels. The ladder could be extended to more than 20 metres by a system
of huge springs.
The fire engine is in excellent condition thanks to an intensive
restoration by John Abrahamson of Enfield Auto Restoration, USA. The equipment,
including ladders and tools, is intact. The LaFrance factory was founded in the
1870s in New York by Truckson LaFrance and initially built steam engines, but
in 1900 the company amalgamated with other manufacturers to form American
LaFrance. The factory began building motorised fire engines around 1910.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/american-lafrance-hook-and-ladder-aerial-type-31-6/
AC - RACING SPECIAL – 1924
ALFA
ROMEO 6C 1750 GRAN SPORT TESTA FISSA - 1931
BRIGGS & STRATTON FLYER -
1920
There is no car more basic than
this Briggs & Stratton Flyer. The fifth wheel at the rear was driven
directly by the engine.
When starting the car it had to
be lifted slightly off the ground by means of a lever so that it could turn
freely. It then had to be lowered slowly so that the car could be driven away.
The wooden chassis, made up of
six flexible ash spars, provided the suspension. The rear mudguards had fitted
brake pads. The car offered no protection from the elements, but the all-round
view was excellent. A proud owner once said: “You can even see a snail when you
drive over it.”
The Briggs & Stratton was an
improvement on the 1919 ‘motor wheel’ concept by A.O. Smith & Co, who had
produced a similar car. The Flyer had a 200 cc, 2 hp engine and could reach a
speed of approximately 35 km/h. It is one of the cheapest cars of all time; in
1920 it cost 125 dollars. The manufacturing rights were sold in 1924.
Briggs & Stratton still
exists today and produces motors for lawnmowers and other domestic appliances.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/briggs-stratton-flyer/
BMW 328 - 1938
BUGATTI TYPE 57 ROADSTER GRAND RAID GANGLOFF - 1934
When this Bugatti Type 57 was introduced at the 1934 motor show in Paris,
it was an instant hit.
The word ‘raid’, French for a long rally through inhospitable terrain such
as a desert, immediately conjures up the idea of an adventure. Bugatti chose
the name deliberately for this extremely sporty version of the Type 57 with its
two aerodynamic bulges at the rear, resembling the contours of an aircraft.
Coachbuilder Gangloff from Colmar, who built much bodywork for Bugatti, was
responsible for this beautiful design. The aluminium body was built on a Type
57 chassis.
After the 1934 motor show in Paris, Veyron and Wurmser drove the car in
the Paris-Nice-Paris rally. Robert Benoist triumphed with this Bugatti in the
1935 Chavigny hill climb, after which the car also took part in an endurance
race through the Vosges Mountains.
In the fifties the Bugatti ended up with a Belgian collector, and in 2001
the car was acquired by the Louwman Museum. The ‘Grand Raid’ was then fully
restored to the specification as seen in Paris in 1934.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/bugatti-type-57-roadster-grand-raid-gangloff/
CORD 812 SUPERCHARGED BEVERLY
SEDAN - 1937
In designing the Cord 810 in
1935, Gordon Buehrig had created one of the most revolutionary American cars.
He even patented his ‘new,
original and ornamental design’. Its front resembles an (American) coffin,
earning it the nickname ‘coffin nose’. The grille was often compared to a
radio. The headlights were retractable, adapted from Stinson aircraft landing
lights. The lights were retracted mechanically by turning two little cranks,
one on each side of the dashboard, which were attached to a cable.
The Cord 810 was the first
American car to combine front-wheel drive with independent front suspension. It
had an electrically controlled transmission with an overdrive in fourth gear.
The car was nevertheless developed too hastily, which resulted in mechanical problems.
Sales were disappointing.
Although a supercharged version, the 812, was introduced a little later, it
could not save the company from closure in 1937. The groundbreaking bodywork
was sold to Graham and Hupmobile, who went on to produce similar cars, albeit
without the retractable headlights.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/cord-812-supercharged-beverly-sedan/
ISOTTA-FRASCHINI TIPO 8A VAN RIJSWIJK DUAL-COWL PHAETON - 1925
Coachbuilder Van Rijswijk of The Hague, who had already supplied the
coachwork for one of HM Queen Wilhelmina’s Spykers in 1911, was commissioned in
1925 to build the coachwork for this Isotta-Fraschini 8A.
It was a modest ‘Dual-Cowl Phaeton’; the rear passengers had their own
closed compartment with a removable windscreen. Note the beautiful wooden
decking; the section above the rear doors could be lifted to allow the
passengers to board.
In 1900 Cesare Isotta and Vincenzo Fraschini first started assembling
Renaults. Spurred by the demand in America for luxury motorcars,
Isotta-Fraschini aimed purely at the top end of the market after the First
World War. The Tipo 8, designed by the brilliant engineer Giustino Cattaneo was
the only model offered. The larger Tipo 8A was introduced in 1924, fitted with
a 7.4-litre, 120 hp eight-cylinder engine, and in 1931 the 8B was launched,
producing 150 hp.
However, the economic crisis put an end to car production and
Isotta-Fraschini then focused on building train and marine engines, which it
continues to do today. The famous actor Rudolph Valentino owned an
Isotta-Fraschini.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/isotta-fraschini-tipo-8a-van-rijswijk-dual-cowl-phaeton/
HISPANO-SUIZA - H6B MILLION-GUIET DUAL-COWL PHAETON – 1924
DUESENBERG
MODEL J LIMOUSINE –LANDAULETTE THRONE CAR - 1937
DUESENBERG MODEL SJ LAGRANDE DUAL-COWL PHAETON - 1935
The Duesenberg SJ, equipped with a mechanical centrifugal supercharger,
was launched in 1932.
Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, James Cagney, Mae West, Lupe Velez,
Joe E. Brown, Dolores del Rio, Howard Hughes, William Randolph Hearst, HM King
Alfonso XIII of Spain, HM Queen Marie of Yugoslavia, HRH Prince Nicholas of
Romania: many famous Hollywood stars and members of high society owned a
Duesenberg.
The wealthy World War I flying ace Reginald Sinclair was the first owner
of this Duesenberg SJ, where the ‘S’ stands for ‘Supercharged’. Like other
Duesenberg owners, he had to pay approximately 20,000 dollars for his new car;
that was 8,500 for the chassis with engine and 12,000 for the coachwork, in
this case a LaGrande with a V-shaped windshield by Rollston. By comparison, a
Ford cost 500 dollars at the time. For the price of this chassis alone you
could buy 17 Fords.
The supercharger allowed the engine to produce 320 hp, so that the car
could reach a top speed of 210 km/h. The supercharger did however take up a lot
of room, hence the reason why the exhaust pipes were placed outside the bonnet.
This gave the car such a powerful appearance that these chromed pipes were
offered as an option to the owners of the Duesenberg J (without super-charger),
for 1,000 dollars.
Despite the fact that the J and SJ models generated good sales figures,
the Depression caused the marque’s demise and Duesenberg closed down in 1937.
About 35 examples of the SJ were produced. This is the only example with
coachwork by LaGrande.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/duesenberg-model-sj-lagrande-dual-cowl-phaeton/
ETTORE BUGATTI 1928
‘The fastest lorries in the
world’, that is what Ettore Bugatti called the large Bentley racing cars that
in the 1920s fiercely battled with his elegant and slim ‘bolides’.
Walter Owen Bentley, W.O. for
short, was a newcomer to the scene: just a couple of years after completing his
first prototype in 1919, the 3-Litre, Bentley made his presence felt in motor
racing. Not just for publicity purposes, but also to test his cars to the
limit.
n 1922 a Bentley made it to the
finish in the Indianapolis 500 Mile race, which proved the car’s reliability.
The following year, a Bentley finished in fourth place in the first Le Mans
24-hour race, and set a new lap record three times. And then a legend was
established: in 1924 a 3-litre Bentley achieved the first of five victories for
the marque at Le Mans.
A Bentley 4½ Litre, fitted with
lightweight fabric sports coachwork by Vanden Plas won Le Mans in 1928. Of this
four-cylinder model, introduced in 1927, over 700 cars were built over the next
three years, including various factory-built Le Mans replicas for private
customers, such as the car on display in the museum.
FRANKLIN - 11-B SEDAN – 1927
DAIMLER - 45-HP OPEN DRIVE LIMOUSINE – 1925
JOSWIN TOWN CAR - 1922
This rare German Joswin exudes
pure luxury.
Note the special finish on the
body panels, the finely executed door handles and the ‘opera windows’, through
which you can view the lavishly decorated interior, finished in brocade,
rosewood and ivory.
The car started off as a
Mercedes and was built in 1913. In the early 1920s it was acquired by Josef
Winsch of Berlin who, under the name of Joswin (a contraction of his first and
last name), fitted surplus aero engines in Mercedes cars. Winsch mounted a
7.2-litre Mercedes aircraft engine in this car and had the coachwork built by
Szawe of Berlin.
In ca. 1924 the Joswin ended up
in the United States, where it was even used in a couple of movies. From 1929
on, the car was on display in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. For
years the car was believed to have been owned by the German Emperor Wilhelm II
and the King of Bulgaria. The Louwman Museum acquired the exceptional Joswin in
2015.
The marque only lasted from 1921
to 1924. Production numbers were very low and this is probably the only Joswin
left in the world.
HUDSON STRAIGHT EIGHT
INDIANAPOLIS - 1933
The 500 Miles of Indianapolis,
better known as the ‘Indy 500’, is the most significant motorsports event in
the United States.
The race was first organised in
1911 and is run on an oval track: the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. An
interesting point to note is that the cars race anti-clockwise.
In the early years there were
many European entries in the race, but European racing cars were built for
sinuous circuits. As a result, the Indy 500 soon became a predominantly
American event. The costs involved in participation gradually increased, partly
due to the fact that cars were being enhanced with more powerful engines.
In 1930 the organisers therefore
decided that the cars had to be equipped with production engines and this
proved to be the event’s salvation. A race car could now be built for 1,500
dollars instead of ten times the amount, and this decision brought the major
motor manufacturers back to the Indy 500.
This Hudson has a 3.8-litre,
eight-cylinder engine and was 80 km/h faster than the standard sedan on which
it was based. The car was built for the 1933 race, which was to end in tragedy;
many cars crashed and three participants and two mechanics were killed.
ROLLS- ROYCE 40/50HP PHANTOM BARKER TORPEDO TOURER
At the time when India was still a British colony, Maharajas and other
Indian rulers were regular customers of Rolls-Royce. The Nawab (prime minister)
of Hyderabad, Wali-ud-Dowla, placed an order for a new Phantom I with
Rolls-Royce Motors Ltd. of Bombay at the end of 1925.
Barker, Rolls-Royce’s favourite coachbuilder, was commissioned to build
the bodywork. The Phantom is finished in polished aluminium and soon became
known as ‘The Silver Phantom of Hyderabad’. The door panels are made of
polished teak, and there are two veneered folding tables in the rear
compartment as well as a teak cabinet holding a camera, binoculars and water
bottles.
The car was used regularly for carrying visiting members of the British
Royal Family, including the Prince of Wales – the future King Edward VIII.
According to the descendants of the Nawab, the car brought good luck, and was
consequently used to carry over a hundred brides to their weddings. The car was
in service until 1953 but remained in family ownership, simply gathering dust
in the Nawab’s garage.
The Phantom aroused the interest of the English car enthusiast William
Meredith-Owen in the 1960s. The Nawab’s family indicated they might be
interested in selling the car, but Meredith-Owen first had to gain the family’s
trust and friendship. It took some two hundred pages of correspondence before
the Rolls-Royce was returned to England and fully restored.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/rolls-royce-40-50hp-phantom-barker-torpedo-tourer/
RENAULT - 40CV TYPE JP TOURING WIDERKEHR – 1922
SPYKER C4 STANDARD TORPEDO
CABRIOLET - 1924
One of the very last Spykers.
Even HM Queen Wilhelmina’s
uninterrupted patronage could not save the company. Sales had been
disappointing, despite the impressive qualities of the C4 and the fact that the
car was guaranteed for life, provided that a special seal on the engine
remained unbroken. A mere 150 C4s were sold in five years, and in 1925 Spyker
closed its doors for good. Bankruptcy was declared a year later.
The method for changing gear in
this Spyker is rather curious; the gear gate has a ‘W’-configuration. The lever
has to be moved back, sideways and then forward to change gear. In 1921 the
Spyker C4 Torpedo cost fifteen-thousand guilders.
In the Netherlands the Spyker C4
set a special record. On 27 November 1920, the very first C4 named the ‘Tenax’
(Latin for ‘tenacious’) left for the Nijmegen-Sittard-Nijmegen endurance race,
a distance of approximately 120 kilometres, to be covered non-stop by four
drivers over a period of about one month. The race ended on 2 January 1921,
with Spyker breaking the record set by Rolls-Royce; within 36 24-hour periods,
the ‘Tenax’ had covered a distance of 30,000 kilometres at an average speed of
35 km/h.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/spyker-c4-standard-torpedo-cabriolet/
SPYKER - C4 ALL-WEATHER COUPÉ – 1922
MERCEDES BENZ TYPE NÜRBURG 500,
FORMERLY OWNED BY KAISER WILHELM II - 1933
This Mercedes-Benz weighs nearly
3,000 kilograms, primarily due to the fact that it is lightly armoured.
Chassis and suspension have been
strengthened. The car also has under-floor heating. However, the most
interesting detail of this car is the interior communication system, which
allowed the passenger to relay instructions to the driver without actually
speaking to him. Buttons on a small console in the back were used to activate
dashboard lights with directives such as: ‘Fast – Slow – Stop – Left – Right
–Turn – Home’.
The owner of this Mercedes was
the last German emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II. The navy grey paintwork betrays
emperor’s preference for the fleet. As the Netherlands had remained neutral
during World War I, he spent his exiled years living in Amerongen Castle and
later on the Dutch estate ‘Huis Doorn’. He died in Doorn in 1941.
PACKARD - 223 TWO SEATER ROADSTER FIRE CHIEF – 1926
MARMON SIXTEEN LEBARON CONVERTIBLE COUPE -
1932
MOON - TYPE 6-48 – 1922
MIDGET RACING CAR ‘ THE ALLEN
SPECIAL’ - 1938
Midget racing is an American
class that has been in existence since 1933. The racing cars are small and ultralight
but are fitted with powerful four-cylinder engines, which gives them an
excellent power-to-weight ratio and great performance.
The races are over short
distances, varying between 4 and 40 kilometres, mostly on oval, unsurfaced
tracks, known as dirt tracks.
The ‘Allen Special’ displayed here is powered by an 1800 cc twin-cylinder
overhead camshaft Offenhauser engine that produces about 170 hp.
Midget racing remains very
popular. Although some people regard Midget racing as an entry-level class,
many drivers stick with them because racing is always spectacular and extremely
competitive. The cars have been modified to satisfy today’s safety
requirements, and no longer look as elegant as the older models.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/midget-racing-car-the-allen-special/
SIZAIRE FRERES - 4RI SALOON WITH WEYMANN CAROSSERIE – 1924
STANDARD - ELEVEN
SLO4 TOURER – 1922
SPYKER 14-18HP
DOUBLE PHAETON
VOISIN - C7 TYPE DEMI-BERLINE TWO-DOOR – 1925
LANCIA ASTURA PININFARINA - 1938
The Astura model, named after the peninsula at Lazio that housed many Roman
villas, was produced from 1931 to 1939. The Mussolini regime chose the Astura
as its official government vehicle.
a sports car suitable for long distances).
LAGONDA M45R THE 1935 LE MANS
WINNER
This Le Mans-winning Lagonda is
completely original; even the upholstery has never been replaced.
The fin at the back of this
Lagonda M45R was fitted the night before the 1935 Le Mans race, purely because
the participating Alfa Romeos all had one. As it was fitted in haste, it is a
little crooked. On replicas the fin is perfectly straight.
This Lagonda M45R won Le Mans in
1935 despite having hardly any oil left in its engine and having damaged
steering caused by a collision with a spinning Aston Martin in torrential rain.
During the race the Lagonda team, made up of drivers John Hindmarsh and Luís
Fontes, was put under extreme pressure by the Alfa Romeo driven by ‘Heldé’ (the
pseudonym used by the famous racing driver Dreyfus) and Stoffel. Alfa Romeo was
planning to take its fifth consecutive victory and equal Bentley’s record.
However, Heldé was misinformed by his pit crew: he thought he was in the lead
but was in fact one lap behind the Lagonda which won, having covered 3,006.8
kilometres at an average speed of 125.3 km/h.
It is one of two Lagondas
entered for Le Mans in 1935 by car dealer Arthur Fox, who hired test-drivers
John Hindmarsh and Luís Fontes to form his racing team. The 21-year-old Fontes
was one of the favourites, but this talented driver retired from racing after
one successful season. After ‘Le Mans’ the car was sold to the then-new Lagonda
chairman Alan Good, who hired a new technical director: Walter Owen Bentley.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/lagonda-m45r-the-1935-le-mans-winner/
GRAHAM MODEL 65 STANDARD SIX -
1935
The flowing lines of this Graham
Model 65 were penned by designer Amos Northup.
The radiator grille slopes
backwards slightly, the radiator cap is no longer situated on the grille, but
rather under the bonnet and the shape of the wings is more flowing and rounded
off. At the time these were revolutionary new design features. In 1932 Northup
first incorporated these lines in the Graham Blue Streak, of which there is a
model elsewhere in the Museum.
The logo on the grille shows the
profiles of the three brothers who at the end of the 1920s took over the Paige
automobile company, forming Graham-Paige. Later the name of the cars was
shortened to Graham; the company name remained unchanged. Although Graham cars
were industry leaders in terms of styling, the company’s sales figures steadily
declined. After the war, Graham linked up briefly with Kaiser to manufacture
the Kaizer-Frazer, named after Graham’s new President, Joseph W. Frazer.
In 1947, Graham-Paige sold the
business to Kaiser-Frazer and continued as an investment corporation, later
becoming owner of the Madison Square Garden in New York.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/graham-model-65-standard-six/
CYGNET THE BABY SWAN CAR – 1920
BUGATTI TYPE 43 - 1929
Although it’s not obvious when
looking at the long touring car body, the Bugatti 43 was an updated version of
the Type 35 Grand Prix racer.
The car was even equipped with
the same engine: a 2.3-litre supercharged eight-cylinder. This engine had three
valves per cylinder, two intake and one exhaust valve, and had so much torque
that the car could accelerate in fourth gear from standstill. In its time the
Type 43 was the first production car to reach a top speed of 160 km/h.
The eight-spoke alloy wheels
indicate the link to the racing Bugattis. An interesting detail to note is that
the headlights swivel with the steering wheel.
The Type 35 was the most successful Bugatti racing car. The model made its
debut at the Lyon Grand Prix in 1924. The car then came second in the Grand
Prix at San Sebastian, followed by multiple triumphant Grand Prix wins, as well
as five consecutive wins at the Targa Florio in Sicily.
Bugatti was one of the few car
manufacturers to sell its racing cars to privateers. The Type 35 was very
popular and could be considered the first series production racing car, which
is why it has a good thousand wins against its name.
BENZ PRINS HEINRI
CHASE HIGHWEELER DELIVERY VAN - 1908
There are not many old delivery vans or lorries of this kind which still
exist in such good and authentic condition.
After all, they were workhorses that led a relatively hard life. This
Chase was discovered in a deserted barn in Indiana, buried amongst tractors and
other farm equipment. It is an example of a make that only existed for a few
years as a motorcar manufacturer, from 1907 to 1912.
Chase was established in Syracuse in New York State and specialised in
commercial vehicles, based on the popular American ‘highwheeler’ of the time.
This 1908 delivery van with its twin-cylinder 2.6-litre, air-cooled engine, was
a typical example.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/chase-highweeler-delivery-van/
BROOKE 25/30-HP SWAN CAR - 1910
This Brooke Swan Car is truly extraordinary. It was the creation of the
eccentric and wealthy Scotsman Robert Nicholl ‘Scotty’ Matthewson, who lived in
early 20th century Calcutta, the capital of what was then British India
Matthewson wanted to shock the local elite with his car, and he certainly
succeeded in doing so.
The bodywork represents a swan gliding through water. The rear is
decorated with a lotus flower design finished in gold leaf, an ancient symbol
for divine wisdom. Apart from the normal lights, there are electric bulbs in
the swan’s eyes that glow eerily in the dark. The car has an exhaust-driven,
eight-tone Gabriel horn that can be operated by means of a keyboard at the back
of the car. A ship’s telegraph was used to issue commands to the driver.
Brushes were fitted to sweep off the elephant dung collected by the tyres. The
swan’s beak is linked to the engine’s cooling system and opens wide to allow
the driver to spray steam to clear a passage in the streets. Whitewash could be
dumped onto the road through a valve at the back of the car to make the swan
appear even more lifelike.
The car caused panic and chaos in the streets on its first outing and the
police had to intervene. Matthewson sold the car to the Maharaja of Nabha,
whose family owned it for over seventy years.
The car was discovered years later in its original state, albeit in poor
condition. The sumptuous Indian silk upholstery had been eaten away by rats.
In 1991 it came into the ownership of the Louwman Museum and was fully
restored. New upholstery was commissioned from an Indian weaving mill following
the discovery of remnants of the original material under the seats. All the
gadgets were made to working order again. In 1993 the Swan won the Montagu
Prize at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d’Élégance in California.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/brooke-25-30-hp-swan-car/
BIKKERS STEAM CAR -
1907
Although this looks more like a fire engine, it is actually a sanitation
vehicle and the oldest surviving municipal vehicle in the Netherlands.
At the beginning of the twentieth century this Bikkers was used by the
local authority of Amsterdam to clean building façades, advertising columns and
other street furniture. The steam engine provided the propulsion and also fed
the pressurised steam hose.
It is a typical utility vehicle in that no thought was given to comfort.
The workmen were not protected from the elements; there is no windscreen and no
roof. The car’s front wheels are wooden discs and it has solid tyres.
Nevertheless, the vehicle was produced by a manufacturer of fire
appliances, A. Bikkers & Zn. in Rotterdam, whose history dated back to
1783. At the end of the 19th century, Bikkers was even able to claim the title
of supplier to the royal household. In 1905 the company produced the first
Dutch fire engine, which was also steam-driven. Bikkers closed down in 1983,
200 years after the company was founded.
BUGATTI TYPE 18 SPORTS TWO SEATER ‘ BLACK BESS ‘ - 1913
The famous French aviator and sportsman Roland Garros (1888-1918) was a
close friend of Ettore Bugatti and was the first owner of this Bugatti Type 18
in 1913.
That same year Garros became the first pilot to make a non-stop flight
across the Mediterranean Sea in a Morane-Saulnier monoplane. When the First
World War broke out in 1914 he became a fighter pilot. He was killed in action
in 1918.
In 1922 his Bugatti was sold to the British female racing driver Ivy Cummings
who named the car ‘Black Bess’, after highwayman Dick Turpin’s legendary black
steed.
This Bugatti is the fourth in a series of circa seven Type 18s.
With its powerful 5.0-litre, 100 hp engine it could reach a top speed of 150
km/h. The coachwork is by Henri Labourdette, whose Panhard & Levassor
‘Skiff’ is also on display in the museum. The bucket seats, which still have
the original 1913 leather upholstery, were placed at an angle behind each other,
so that the driver and the passenger would not get in each other’s way.
In 1927 the stadium where the French Open is held, was named after WW1 hero
Roland Garros.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/bugatti-type-18-sports-two-seater-black-bess/
PANHARD et LEVASSOR - X19 LABOURDETTE SKIFF TORPEDO -
1912
HEDAG ELECTRIC BROUGHAM - 1905
Two heavy electric motors were mounted on the front wheels of this Hedag,
one on each side – but unfortunately one of them is missing.
The batteries are located underneath the driver’s seat and at the rear.
Its range was approximately 80 km and its maximum speed 23 km/h. The Hedag had
four-wheel brakes, which was unusual at the time.
Indicators in the form of small black boxes are situated on the mudguards.
At the press of a button these boxes would open up and a little hand would
appear, at the same time as the sounding of a crackling signal. Note the bell
at the front which was necessary because you could not hear the car
approaching.
The Hedag was designed as a taxi, but this model was privately owned. The
original number plate of the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant is still on the
car.
Hedag is an abbreviation of Hamburger Elektrische Droschken Aktien
Gesellschaft. The company obtained a licence to run taxis after a ban had been
imposed on petrol taxis in cities such as Hamburg and Berlin.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/hedag-electric-brougham/
LANCHESTER - 28-HP LANDAULETTE – 1910
OPEL -
6-14-HP TOURING - 1910
NAGANT - TYPE D 14-16-HP TOWN CAR – 1909
EDWARDIAN ( 1905 – 1918 )
HUMBER HUMBERETTE - 1913
Of all the cycle-cars, this Humber Humberette looked the most like a
conventional car and was also technically advanced.
This car had a tubular chassis and conventional driveshaft instead of the
generally less reliable chain or belt drive. The Humberette was equipped with a
1.3-litre air-cooled, twin-cylinder JAP engine. It was available only as an
open two-seater. A water-cooled model was introduced a year after its launch.
The name ‘Humberette’ – a contraction of the English brand name Humber and
the French word for small sports car: ‘voiturette’ – was first given to one of
the smaller Humber models in 1903. However, the original Humberette was not a
success because it was greatly underpowered and the predominantly well-to-do
buyers were not interested in small cars.
The Humberette was given a second chance around 1912 when the market was
ready for it. Advertisements promoted the car as appealing to women, partly
because the engine was easy to crank up.
REGAL - MODEL NC COLONIAL COUPE – 1912
PANHARD et LEVASSOR - DOUBLE PHAETON – 1907
PHÄNOMOBIL VAN – 1912
Although it looks a
somewhat fragile and experimental vehicle, this German Phänomobil was an
extremely successful car, a few thousand being produced between 1907 and 1927.
Various models were available; passenger cars as well as delivery vans.
Even the Netherlands had a distributor: Baakman in Assen, which recommended the
car ‘for commercial use as well as touring and racing’.
The model on display is a light van that was probably used in the
Karlsruhe area. The air-cooled, four-cylinder, 1.5-litre engine proves that the
car must have been produced in or around 1912, the year in which these engines
were introduced.
The Phänomobil was manufactured by the Phänomen-Werke in the German town
of Zittau in the state of Saxony, which later became part of East Germany. In
1927 the firm switched to producing lorries under the name ‘Granit’. The
factory was nationalised in 1945.
ROLLS – ROYCE 40/50 HP SILVER GHOST
SHOOTING BRAKE - 1910
This Rolls-Royce ‘shooting brake’, or
hunting car, reflects the wealth of the nobility.
Gun boxes over the rear mudguards, a
roof rack to transport the game and a stag’s head as a radiator mascot – the
famous ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ was to be introduced a year later.
The landowner John Charles
Montagu-Douglas-Scott, seventh Duke of Buccleuch and ninth Duke of Queensberry,
great-uncle of Lord Montagu of Beaulieu and the descendant of four British
monarchs, commissioned this Rolls-Royce in 1910. The bodywork was made by the
Scottish coachbuilders to HM The King, Croall & Croall in Kelso.
The six-cylinder Rolls-Royce 40/50-HP
was launched at the 1906 London Motor Show. The twelfth example of the model
was finished in aluminium paint and was given the name ‘Silver Ghost’, a
reference both to its colour and its exceptional quietness of operation. This car
covered 24,000 kilometres in a reliability trial in 1907, without mechanical
breakdown. Up to then, no car had achieved even half that distance.
The poor roads however did necessitate
twenty-nine tyre changes. Only a few parts that showed signs of wear needed to
be replaced, at a total cost of two pounds sterling. In honour of this great
achievement which justified the claim that the Rolls-Royce was ‘The Best Car in
the World’, the name ‘Silver Ghost’ was applied to all 40/50-HP models. This is
the third oldest surviving Silver Ghost with original bodywork.
SPYKER - 15-22-HP DOUBLE PHAETON – 1907
SPYKE 14-18 HP DOUBLE PHAETON – 1906
A ‘double phaeton’ is a luxurious, open, four-seat carriage. At the
beginning of the 20th century the phaeton was a very popular body style,
especially in Great Britain.
This Spyker model was therefore built for export. This car is the earliest
known Spyker with an original factory body.
With this export market in mind, the Spijker brothers had already given their
company a more international-sounding name by replacing the ‘ij’ with a ‘y’:
Spyker (the ‘ij’-ligature is an extra vowel sound in the Dutch language).
Hendrik-Jan and Jacobus Spijker started out as coachbuilders in Hilversum
in 1880, and moved to Amsterdam six years later. In 1898 Jacobus bought a Benz
and it wasn’t long before the brothers introduced an improved version of this
car under their own name. Two years later they produced their first Spyker car,
a 5 hp twin-cylinder, in their new factory called Trompenburg, named after the
estate which once stood there and had belonged to the naval captain Cornelis
Tromp. The car was not an immediate success, as the Dutch had a preference for
imported cars.
For many years this 14/18-HP, 2.5-litre four-cylinder Spyker belonged to
the Royal Dutch Automobile Club (KNAC).
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/spyker-14-18hp-double-phaeton/
CADILLAC MODEL 51 V8 - 1915
A car telephone(!), air-conditioning, a heater, reversing lights,
pneumatic shock absorbers, an alarm, a refrigerator, swivel seats and a double
bed; this Cadillac, once owned by W.J. Moore, President of Moore Telephone
System in Caro, Michigan, had everything.
In 1915 Moore ordered the new Cadillac V8 with a long wheelbase.
Coachbuilder Kimball from Chicago was then commissioned to create a unique body
to Moore’s specifications. Therefore, this remarkable Cadillac represents the
first generation of two great American automotive traditions: the V8 engine and
the customized car.
Beneath the bulge on the hood is a tube that funnels warm air from the
radiator into the interior of the car via thirteen vents. A stove is situated
in front of the radiator, to heat the car when the engine is switched off and
which can also double-up as a cooking element. Electric fans provide the air
circulation. The windows are double-glazed.
The Cadillac is a seven-seater. The seats swivel and the middle and rear
seats can be folded up to create a single or double bed. There is a
refrigerator behind the rear seats to store drinks and food, but it can also be
used to blow cold air into the interior of the car. An alarm can be set to
activate the horn when a door is forced or not shut properly when the car is
put in gear.
In addition, the Cadillac has a telescopic tube, binoculars, a camera and
a telephone. In order to use the latter, the car was parked next to a telephone
pole so that Moore could connect to a line using the five-metre long tube.
EYSINK -
10-12-HP – 1912
DETROIT ELECTRIC - CLEAR VISION BROUGHAM – 1912
CYKLON 6-HP CYKLONETTE - 1912
Although somewhat unorthodox in its design, the Cyklonette was very
successful. It was produced over a period of twenty years during which few
changes were made.
Cyklon from Berlin produced motorcycles but in 1902 it introduced a
three-wheeler at a car show in Leipzig. The engine was mounted on top of the
front wheel, which it drove by chain. The ‘Cyklonette’ was available both as a
passenger car and as a light van.
The first model had a 450 cc single-cylinder engine, but later larger
models, of which this is an example, were equipped with a 1.3-litre
twin-cylinder engine. The Cyklonette was manufactured until 1922, over a period
when most three-wheelers had already disappeared from the scene.
GEORGES ROY -
12-HP TOURING SPORT TORPEDO – 1909
PEUGEOT - TYPE 126 12-15-HP TOURING – 1910
BAKER ELECTRIC COUPE - 1912
This Baker Electric was the model for Grandma Duck’s car in Walt Disney’s
Donald Duck cartoons.
Note the beautiful silk and brocade interior upholstery, which denotes
that this Baker was a luxurious automobile aimed at the ladies of high society.
The roof was built high to allow for the large hats that were fashionable at
the time.
The dashboard was located at the top, against the roof and merely consists
of a Volt and an Ampere gauge. The batteries were placed in the front under the
‘bonnet’ and in a space at the rear, and could be recharged by connecting to
the mains; the engine itself was located underneath the seat. The car had
tiller steering, which was relatively outdated at the time that it was
launched.
The Baker was positioned as the ‘Aristocrat of Motordom’, which guaranteed
freedom from ‘the Uncertainties of the Explosive Motor or Steam-Driven
Vehicles’.
STANLEY - 20-HP MODEL F TOURING CAR – 1906
SPYKER - 15-22-HP THREE-QUARTER LANDAULETTE – 1907
VETERAN ( 1885 – 1904 )
BENZ 3-HP NO.1 IDEAL VAN - 1894
Probably the very first delivery van in the world. Turning a car into a
commercial vehicle was a logical progression.
The principle was very simple: a detachable goods container was placed on
top of a standard Benz model. In this case it is a wooden chest that was used
by a Rotterdam laundry firm, established in 1864, to pick up dirty laundry and
then return the freshly starched shirts and suits to the customers.
At the time, the London Benz dealer Henry Hewetson publicised the delivery
vans by pointing out that they were the perfect vehicles to expand business
activities. According to him, they also offered an effective way in which to
advertise.
In 1894 the Benz No.1 Velo was the smallest model in the Benz catalogue:
‘Light, fast, reliable and affordable. And exceptionally good at climbing
hills.’ This Benz was also equipped with a ‘mountain strut’, a bar behind the
rear wheel which could be lowered on climbing a hill to prevent the car from
rolling back down.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/benz-3-hp-no-1-ideal-van/
BENZ - 6-HP
IDEAL – 1901
BENZ - DUC VICTORIA – 1900
BENZ MY LORD VICTORIA - 1899
This car, which is over 120 years old, is a prime example of the quality
of Karl Benz’ automobiles – it is still in perfect condition.
With its leather hood, leather mudguards, ‘dos-à-dos’ seating arrangement,
the twin-cylinder Mylord was regarded as a ‘super-luxury’ model in its day.
Legend has it that in 1893 Karl Benz called his first four-wheeled car
‘Victoria’ to celebrate his victory over a problem with the steering by inventing
and patenting double-pivot steering technology. It is more likely, however,
that the car was named after the Victoria, a type of carriage, something that
was quite common in those days. Nevertheless it was the first time a production
car had been given a distinctive model name.
In 1897 Benz introduced a flat-twin ‘Kontra-Motor’ which was more powerful
and smoother-running that the original single-cylinder engine. This type of
engine later became known as a ‘boxer’. Karl Benz, who disliked change, refused
to alter the basic design of his cars despite falling sales.
BENZ - PATENT MOTOR CAR – 1886
COLUMBIA ELECTRIC LANDAULET - 1899
Literally a horseless carriage. The horses have been replaced by a couple
of large electric motors that drive the rear wheels via an internal ring gear.
This Columbia is believed to have been used for transporting VIPs in New
York City at the beginning of the 20th century.
The vehicle was subsequently acquired by the owner of a plantation in
South Carolina. It was put into storage a couple of years later, due to the
lack of charging stations in rural America. Furthermore, by that time the
electric vehicle had been ousted by the internal combustion engine, because the
latter had a far greater range. The Columbia was discovered in a carriage house
in 1976 and completely restored. It is believed to be the last remaining car of
this type.
At the end of the nineteenth century the Pope Manufacturing Company of
Hartford, Connecticut was the largest bicycle manufacturer in the United
States. When Colonel Albert Pope started the manufacture of automobiles, he
sold them under the name of Columbia, Pope’s bicycle brand. The company lasted
until 1913.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/columbia-electric-landaulet/
BENZ VELO COMFORTABLE - 1897
The delicately painted piping and special colour of this Benz Velo gives
it an opulent appearance. It is in fact an advanced and more luxurious model of
the Velo that was presented at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893.
The Velo was to become the first series-produced car and was manufactured
in different models for almost ten years until 1902. This model made Benz the
largest car manufacturer in the world in 1898, by which time it had sold 1,600
cars.
This ‘Comfortable’ model was introduced around 1897 and cost 2,500 Marks,
compared to the normal, less luxurious Velo which could be purchased for 2,000
Marks. It was one of the first car models to offer a list of options: pneumatic
tyres cost an additional 350 Marks, a special planetary gearbox with three forward
and one reverse gear cost 200 Marks and a sunshade cost 100 Marks.
With the 2.75 hp engine a top speed of 30 km/h could be generated. The
standard Velo could only reach 21 km/h
BUFFUM FOUR CYLINDER STANHOPE - 1895
This is the first four-cylinder car in the world.
Henry Buffum did not want to fit an existing engine to a carriage so he
designed his own compact and advanced engine with four individual cylinders.
Coachbuilder George Pierce, who would later manufacture cars of his own,
constructed the strong but elegant tubular frame in which the engine was
mounted, and also supplied the Stanhope body.
The knob at the base of the seat is for selecting gears, but is in fact a
shoemaker’s last. Buffum originally manufactured machines for the shoe
industry.
Over a period of 13 years, Henry Buffum produced just seventy cars, yet he
was responsible for a number of important milestones: in addition to this first
four-cylinder engine, he manufactured America’s first production racing car and
the first production car fitted with a V8 engine. He was a very innovative
designer and had various patents to his name.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/buffum-four-cylinder-stanhope/
DAIMLER 6-HP TWIN CYLINDER SIX-SEAT BRAKE - 1897
Although this 1897 British Daimler looks rather primitive, it was used
regularly until 1924, which says something about the reliability of the car.
The car is still in its original state and it’s worth noting that it still
has tiller steering and hot tube ignition. Daimler later offered the option to
replace these with a modern steering wheel and electric ignition, which many
car owners took up.
The ‘brake’ or ‘shooting brake’ is a type of coachwork mostly used for
hunting, in which the rear seats are placed sideways to accommodate extra
passengers.
Daimler is the oldest British car manufacturer and this 6-HP twin-cylinder
dates back to the first year of production. This makes it not only one of the
oldest surviving Daimlers, but also one of the oldest British cars.
In 1891 Frederick Simms acquired the rights to manufacture and sell the
German Daimler engines in Great Britain for use in both cars and boats. Four
years later Simms’ company was taken over by Harry Lawson who set up the
Daimler Motor Company in 1896; the following year he built his first car.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/daimler-6-hp-twin-cylinder-six-seat-brake/
DE DION0-BOUTON - 35HP VIS-A-VIS 1899
DARRACQ 8-HP TWO-SEATER - 1901
At the beginning of the last century the average car looked very much like
this Darracq, with its front engine, a somewhat angled steering wheel complete
with gear lever, and a tube radiator.
A large driveshaft drove the rear axle, whose wheels were a little larger
than those at the front. Note the beautiful deep-button leather bench of this
two-seater.
The car is of the 8-HP type and was one of the first production models of
the then very successful Darracq make. In 1904 Darracq was the largest car
manufacturer in the world with an annual production of 1,600 cars, which
represented 10% of the total car production in France at that time.
The founder, Alexandre Darracq, never learnt to drive himself and didn’t
even like to be driven. In 1912 he turned his back on the automobile industry
and invested his money in a casino in Deauville.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/darracq-8-hp-two-seater/
DE
DION-BOUTON - TRICYCLE – 1900
DE DION – BOUTON QUADRICYCLE - 1900
The Tricycle’s success in terms of sales and performance led De
Dion-Bouton to introduce other models.
An example was the four-wheeled Quadricycle, the first of which was
produced in 1898. This vehicle also performed well, being capable of reaching a
top speed of 50 km/h on level ground thanks to its light weight and relatively
powerful water-cooled, single-cylinder engine.
The De Dion-Bouton engines, although not cheap, were known for their
reliability and this was why many car manufacturers who initially did not
produce their own engines, bought them. Another advantage was that the engine
parts were interchangeable. Manufacturers who became famous a little later,
such as Renault, Delage and the American Pierce-Arrow and Peerless, equipped
their first cars with De Dion-Bouton engines and effectively owe their very
existence to De Dion-Bouton.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/de-dion-bouton-quadricycle/
DE DION – BOUTON & TREPARDOUX STEAM QUADRICYCLE - 1887
This De Dion-Bouton & Trepardoux is one of the oldest surviving
motorcars in the world.
With its steam boiler located at the front and connecting rods to the rear
wheels, it resembles a tank locomotive but is nevertheless one of the first
usable, and therefore successful, applications of a steam engine in a small
motorcar. The twin-cylinder compound engine installed under the floor could be
operated by one man, eliminating the need for an additional stoker. The water
tank was located underneath the seats and the coal bunker surrounded the
boiler. The vehicle could get up steam within 50 minutes and could reach a top
speed of approximately 60 km/h.
The company De Dion, Bouton et Trépardoux was one of the first car
manufac-turers. It was established in 1880 outside Paris by the brothers-in-law
Georges Bouton and Charles Trépardoux, initially to make toy steam engines.
Their sophisticated craftsmanship caught the attention of the count Albert de
Dion, who proceeded to finance the production of steam-driven vehicles.
In 1889, when De Dion attended the Paris Exhibition, he saw a petrol
engine for the first time. He immediately recognised its potential and went on
to develop one himself. Trépardoux however, wanted to carry on with steam and
left in 1893.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/de-dion-bouton-trepardoux-steam-quadricycle/
FN 3,5-HP VICTORIA - 1900
The Belgian company FN
was originally an arms factory. At the end of the 19th century it was taken
over by a German firm, which decided to diversify and manufacture other
products, including motorcars.
That little seat on the
back of the FN cannot have been very comfortable. Although elegant to look at
and of a refined design, it was not really intended for passengers but for the
mechanic or ‘mécanicien’, who was still considered a servant at the end of the
19th century. After all, the driver couldn’t get his or her hands dirty when
certain moving parts had to be oiled or, even worse, when a drive chain broke.
It’s worth noting that the cranking handle had to be inserted through the
spokes of the wheel.
The Belgian company FN,
located in Liège, was originally an arms factory, the abbreviation standing for
Fabrique Nationale d’Armes de Guerre.
The first FN automobile
dates back to 1899 and had an air-cooled, 2.5 hp, twin-cylinder engine. The car
exhibited (which is very well preserved) has a water-cooled, 3.5 hp engine. The
model proved so popular that a 4.5 hp was introduced in 1900.
GODDU - TANDEM - 1898
LACROIX ET DELAVILLE - LA
NEF – 1898
VETERAN ( 1885 – 1904 )
DAIMLER DOUBLE DECKER OMNIBUS - 1904
The oldest motorised bus still in existence in the world. It dates from
1904 and was specially designed for public transport in London.
At the time, there were fewer than twenty motorised double-deckers in
London; two years later there would be about four-hundred, of which half were
manufactured by Milnes-Daimler.
The bus is painted in the livery of one of London’s most famous bus
companies of the time, Thomas Tilling Ltd. It was initially delivered to the
Southborough & District Bus Company in Tunbridge Wells, but the company was
financially weak and had to sell the bus a few months later. In 1907 the bus
was converted to chain drive. Originally, the drive was taken directly to the
rear wheels via a cogwheel system. This was better suited to carrying heavy
loads but was also very noisy.
Milnes-Daimler was created in 1902 after the German Daimler company took
over the English tramcar and lorry manufacturer G.F. Milnes & Co. Ltd.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/milnes-daimler-double-decker-omnibus/
PANHARD ET LEVASSOR PHAETON WITH CANOPY - 1895
At the end of the 19th century a car was used for parading rather than to
get from A to B; especially in a cloth-upholstered Panhard & Levassor such
as this one, which was relatively easy to steer thanks to its short wheelbase.
However, driving longer distances was also possible: a car of this type
won one of the first motor races in the world, a long-distance race of no less
than 1,200 kilometres. This Paris-Bordeaux-Paris race was won by the car’s
designer, Emile Levassor on the 13th of June 1895 in an identical model, a
1.2-litre, twin-cylinder with hot tube ignition. He drove the entire distance
in 48 hours and 48 minutes, averaging 24 km/h, finishing six hours ahead of the
number two. During the race Levassor had only one bowl of soup, a couple of
sandwiches and a glass of champagne by way of nourishment.
This car has never been restored since it left the factory in Paris in
1895. Panhard & Levassor, one of the oldest car manufacturers in the world,
was already offering a choice of some twenty car models before the turn of the
century, including two-seaters, hunting cars and even buses.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/panhard-et-levassor-phaeton-with-canopy/
PEUGEOT - TYPE 6 PHAETON WITH CAPOTE – 1894
WORTH DOG CART - 1899
It is assumed that only fifteen Worth cars were ever produced, and this is
one of the two believed to be still in existence.
The car was technically very advanced. It has a patented steel chassis, a
cardan driveshaft and a spring to absorb vibration from the steering wheel – an
early steering damper. The distinction between chassis and bodywork is clearly
visible. Cars in those days were delivered as a chassis with an engine, after
which a coachbuilder would install the bodywork.
Going by information in the patents, it appears that this Worth dates back
to 1899. The car is in its original state; it was stored in a barn at the end
of the 1940s and bought by a car museum in Australia in 1981.
The Worth was acquired by the Louwman Museum in 2009. This Worth, which
was manufactured in Chicago, is a forerunner of the ‘highwheelers’, cars with
high wheels which could cross the prairies of the western United States. The
factory, the Chicago Motor Vehicle Company, was set up by three men under the
leadership of William Worth, who gave his name to the car in an attempt to
attain a degree of immortality.
VETERAN ( 1885 – 1904 )
RENAULT TYPE C - 1900
Just as with paintings, cars nowadays can be restored whilst retaining the
authentic sheen, known as patina.
This Type C, the first Renault four-seater, is a good example. During
restoration accumulated wear and tear were preserved thanks to specialist
cleansing, retouching and painting techniques, executed with surgical
precision. The car is in running order.
In this ‘tonneau’ body the passengers enter the car via a door at the rear
of the vehicle. The radiators are mounted on either side of the bonnet. The
white tyres are correct for the period; the addition of zinc oxide to rubber
made the tyres white. At a later stage carbon black was added to improve
durability.
This actual car was displayed at the World Fair in 1900, where the Renault
brothers first presented themselves as an automobile manufacturer. Their
company was two years old at the time. The 3.5 hp engine was a De Dion Bouton
unit, as fitted to quite a few cars of that period. Renault later started
producing their own engines.
HOLSMAN RUNABOUT HIGHWHEELER - 1902
A typically American ‘buggy’ or ‘runabout’. Originally these were
horse-drawn wagons, but at the beginning of the 20th century Harry K. Holsman
fitted a twin-cylinder engine to one, thereby becoming one of the most
well-known manufacturers of these so-called ‘highwheelers’.
The car was controlled by pulling the large lever backwards; this
tightened the transmission belts and set the car in motion. When the lever was
pushed forward, the belts slackened and the brake pads were forced against the
rear-wheel pulleys. In order to reverse, the lever had to be pushed further
forward, thereby pressing a drive wheel against the road wheels.
The launch of the cheaper and more reliable Model T Ford spelled the end
of the highwheelers, which were being built by several manufacturers at the
beginning of the 20th century. Holsman went out of business in 1910.
https://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/en/car/holsman-runabout-highwheeler/
BENZ - 5-HP
PHAETON – 1895
