Tag Archives: Lambert CS Cabriolet Sport

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2013 Retromobile

It is safe to say that the Classic Car Season really kicks off when the Retromobile comes round.

2013 Retromobile

Held at Pavilions 2 and 3 at the Parc des expositions, Porte de Versailles, Paris, the Retromobile has grown in stature and importance, as well as size, reflecting, perhaps, the general rising level of interest in automotive heritage.

2013 Retromobile

The Show is a cocktail of many ingredients, from the flea market to the top dealers, car manufacturers to the car clubs, enthusiasm abounds and there is much to see for even the casual visitor, let alone the dyed in the wool enthusiast.

2013 Retromobile

This Delahaye is typical of the quality that was found throughout the Retromobile.

2013 Retromobile

Despite the difficult trading conditions that prevail in Europe’s car market, especially for the French, there were prominent stands from Peugeot, Citroën and Renault, the latter having a well designed circular effort with the stars being

2013 Retromobile

a 1937 Renault Nerva Grand Sport

2013 Retromobile

and, from 1968/69, an Alpine Renault A220 that ran at the Le Mans 24 Hours.

2013 Retromobile

I also liked the contrast between the Renault 8 and Renault’s first modern day F1 car.

2013 Retromobile

The 70’s graphics are still striking.

2013 Retromobile

I witnessed the Renault RS01’s first race at Silverstone in 1977, the turbo era had arrived, though we did not appreciate it that day. We were more concerned with James Hunt and John Watson, and some crazy Canadian, Gilles Villeneuve making his debut.

2013 Retromobile

As with every show, anniversaries and birthdays are celebrated, any excuse and the Retromobile was no exception. So 30 years of the 205, one the quintessential hot hatches, was a focus on the Peugeot stand.

2013 Retromobile

Citroën’s DS19 did not have any obvious celebration to make, except being about as Gallic as is possible for a car. There were many fine examples of this ground breaker to be seen.

2013 Retromobile

The Germans occupied a big slice of Parisian territory with one of the show’s highlights being the Mercedes-Benz stand.

2013 Retromobile

Leading the fine selection of Mercedes rarities was  a joint exhibition with the Louwman Museum of the pair of recently restored Prince Heinrich 1910 Benz. The pair of cars had left in store room for decades, and recognising the importance of these cars, the two organisations decided to pool their efforts at restoration.

2013 Retromobile

“Since the beginning of the twentieth century, a large number of car races have taken place in Europe. Sons of wealthy families and rich sportsmen were the main competitors. One of these races was the Prince Heinrich, named after a keen sportsman who was the brother of Kaiser Wilhelm II. It was restricted to four-seater touring cars.”

2013 Retromobile

“On 10 June 1910 no less than 10 Benz cars took part in a 1,900 kilometer race across Germany and part of France. They had 80HP and 100HP engines with lubrication pumps, drive shaft transmission replacing the old chain system, and elegant ‘tulip’ bodywork. A month later, some of these cars took part in the ‘Kaiser Nicolas’ race in Russia covering 2,800 kilometres in eight days.”

2013 Retromobile

Speaking of the Louwman Museum, they had as a companion to the Benz a 1903 Spyker as they describe it. “This was the first car in the world to be equipped with a six-cylinder engine, and the first petrol-driven car with four-wheel drive and all-wheel brakes. This Spyker 60-HP is therefore one of the most significant cars in motoring history.”

2013 Retromobile

Rounding off the display of Mercedes Benz’ rich heritage was the “Blitzen Benz”.

One of the key goals in those early years of the 20th century was to break the then magic speed barrier of 200 km/h. Benz was the first company to do so, with a petrol-engine automobile: the 200 hp racing car took to the track at the Brooklands circuit in England in 1909, achieving an average speed of 202.7 km/h. This record-breaking racing car, with its massive four-cylinder engine, would however go on to achieve its greatest successes in Florida, USA. In 1911, Bob Burman reached the amazing speed of 228.1 km/h on the sand track at Daytona Beach, so making the “Lightning Benz”, as the model became known in the US, the fastest vehicle in the world – faster even than any aeroplane or train. It was a record that would remain unbeaten for eight years.”

2013 Retromobile

Porsche began the first of many celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the 911 with a fine selection of examples of the model through the years. Yes I know it’s a 935…………….

2013 Retromobile

BMW’s stand was frankly disappointing with some strange concept cars paying homage to the 328 and the M1, must have sounded better on paper than it looked in reality.

2013 Retromobile

Bentley had a small stand with the amazing Embiricos 4¼ Litre Pourtout Coupé on display, the impact of this important car only slightly diminished by obscure location and lighting of the stand. This will be the last appearance of this Le Mans’ veteran on this side of the Atlantic for a while.

2013 Retromobile

Sharing with the men from Crewe were fellow VW Group members, Bugatti, who brought out a Type 59 Grand Prix racer from 1934. I drew encouragement from the fact that it sported a tax disk, meaning that someone drives it on the UK roads.

2013 Retromobile

Skoda displayed an interesting array of rarely seen competition cars dating back to the 60’s including this sports prototype, the 720.

2013 Retromobile

There are always a selection of quite obscure vehicles at the top shows, tucked away in a corner was a stand celebrating Germain Lambert, an enterprising engineer who ran Automobiles Lambert from the 20’s through to 1953. This is the Lambert 6CV.

2013 Retromobile

Lambert was also an enthusiast, who raced his own creations, this is the CS Cabriolet Sport

2013 Retromobile

The output of another French engineer, Marcel Leyat, was also exhibited at the Show. His idea was to have a lightweight wooden chassis powered by a propeller, a plane without wings.

2013 Retromobile

During the 20’s he managed to sell around 30 of these strange contraptions but the concept never really caught on.

2013 Retromobile

One of the delights of shows such as the Retromobile  is finding the unexpected, here I encountered the Scuderia Filipinetti Ferrari 512S as driven at Le Mans in 1970 by Mike Parkes and Herbert Müller. They were eliminated in the notorious accident early in the race that took out the three 512s of Regazzoni and Wisell, as well as Parkes, I am sure it made for an interesting debrief.

2013 Retromobile

Another 70’s Ferrari present was this immaculate 512 BB LM

2013 Retromobile

And Paul Knapfield’s 312PB, with extra air intake to cool the F1 spec engine.

2013 Retromobile

And one last Prancing Horse, from the early days, a Ferrari 340/375 MM Berlinetta Competizione, promoting the Villa d’Este Concours.

2013 Retromobile

Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera had a stand to show off their skills and it contained a rarity from Lamborghini, dating back to 1966, the Flying Star II prototype. This was a collaboration with the factory and based on a Lamborghini chassis.

2013 Retromobile

The Retromobile had a wide range of automobilia for sale, from the likes of Hortons Books to several stands offering fine wines, and of course there are the ART stalls.

2013 Retromobile

Steve McQueen still has a power to fascinate……………..

2013 Retromobile

Someone’s wall is incomplete without this

2013 Retromobile

The Lukas Huni stand had several outstanding cars, the pick of which was this Type 57 Bugatti

2013 Retromobile

And this Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza

2013 Retromobile

I might be a bit biased but to my mind the two stands that were head and shoulders above the others came from across the English Channel.

2013 Retromobile

The sheer quality of the cars on Hall & Hall and Fiskens, or Fiskens and Hall & Hall, depending on whose stand you were on, was staggering.

2013 Retromobile

Highlights at Fiskens were two Le Mans’ veterans, the 1926 Bentley 3L Le Mans and Scuderia Filipinetti Ferrari 275 GTB/C that was a class winner in 1967, these endurance classics were just part of a fantastic set of cars that the well known London based dealer had in Paris.

2013 Retromobile

I caught up with Gregor Fisken who gave his thoughts on the 2013 Retromobile.

2013 Retromobile

“Every year it gets a little bit bigger, a little bit better, I think the show has really found the right balance. It is important that it still has elements of a flea market, it is important that the modern manufacturers can come in and embrace their heritage as well. It is important that there is wonderful art, models, parts but it is also important that it is Europe’s pre-eminent début event of the year. It kicks off the year and everyone leaves here motivated, they see old friends, they make new friends, they plan for the season and they have the opportunity to review what they are going to use in the future.”

2013 Retromobile

“What we have here on the stand today, I think, is a little bit of something for everyone. We have arguably one of the most important Le Mans’ Bentley team cars to come on the market in recent years and we have a Bugatti T37A that has had 50 years of one family ownership, so that is a special opportunity. Of course with the Ferrari 275 GTB/C there is an opportunity to purchase a car that raced in Les Vingt-Quatre Heures du Mans three times and it won its class. We had Claude Sage on the stand, from Scuderia Filipinetti, who ran the car in period. He remembered driving the car from Geneva to Le Mans, the car running in the race and then being driven back afterwards, absolutely fantastic.”

2013 Retromobile

I think cars from this period, the 60’s GT era, were the last that could be genuinely driven from the factory to Le Mans, win their class and be driven home. I think for a lot of new people that are coming into the market they find the opportunity to use such a car on the road and on rallies, events and races is very attractive. They can go to the Le Mans Classic and have a pretty prestigious way to travel down the Mulsanne.”

2013 Retromobile

It is hard to imagine but this impressive array of classics were matched by the Hall & Hall display. Endurance Racing was again well represented with Porsche 956/001 supporting Jaguar XJR-12 chassis 288, with the unique record of a victory in both the Le Mans and Daytona 24 Hours. Another flash from my misspent youth was a Lotus 49C in Gold Leaf Team Lotus livery, this being an unraced spare built for Ford.

2013 Retromobile

Rob Hall gave me his views on the Retromobile. “We have been attending the Retromobile for seven years now, it starts the season off for us really, it is a good shop window for the selling side of the business, a few of the cars here are not for sale but they add to interest to the exhibit and it gets our name noticed. It costs us certainly but during the rest of the year we recoup the outlay, either through picking up work or picking up sales.”

2013 Retromobile

“I had a quick look round the Show early today before things got busy and it is clearly a great event. There is something for everyone, whether it is old, new or something to help you work on your car.”

2013 Retromobile

“The Show is quite a big commitment but what has made it a lot easier is that it is now condensed into one weekend and a few days as opposed running over two weekends as it did in the past. The cost of hotels and travel and having staff on site has been reduced and that acts as an incentive for us to come to Paris. So both parties benefit.”

2013 Retromobile

A show would not be a show without an auction taking place and Artcurial provided the necessary ingredients, with many fine lots. The hammer came down the loudest when a 1936 Talbot Lago T150C Roadster went to a new owner for just under €1,500,000, despite the financial storms that rage in Europe there is still some money about for a classic car.

2013 Retromobile

The 2013 season is now underway having been launched at the Retromobile, it is worth a visit and especially as Paris is but a short train ride away, it can be done in a day and enthusiasts should be making their plans for February 2014.

John Brooks, February 2013

 

 

Porte de Versailles

The Special Correspondent has been over the Channel to Paris, to explore the 2013 Retromobile. As ever he finds a few gems for us to appreciate and so here we have his personal view of some cars, rare and interesting.

2013 Retromobile

1962 René Bonnet Djet

This car represents the outcome of the break-up of the very successful DB partnership at the end of 1961 when Charles Deutsch and René Bonnet could not agree about future power-units for their cars. Deutsch went on to give the superb Panhard flat-twin its last Index of Performance win at Le Mans in 1962 with his CD Coupé while Bonnet forged an agreement with Renault.
The Djet was originally conceived to have a B.M.C. Mini engine/transmission mounted transversely amidships, a theme adopted by Chris Lawrence for his Deep Sanderson. However, the availability of the Renault engine meant the design was adapted to accommodate the French engine longitudinally, still mid-mounted.
René Bonnet number 46 finished the 1962 Le Mans race in 17th position, the first 1,000 c.c. car home, and formed the basis of a series-produced road car, the world’s first production mid-engined coupé.

2013 Retromobile

Lambert 6CV

Very few cars were made by the French engineer Germain Lambert.
Having worked for the La Buire car company in Lyon, he set up on his own in Mâcon. He moved to Reims and by 1931 had designed a chassis with front wheel drive and independent suspension by transverse leaf springs which he called “Sans Choc” because of its smooth ride. During the war he made a few electric voiturettes and then moved again to Giromagny near Belfort. Here began his most productive period. He now resorted to a more straightforward chassis with rigid axles suspended on semi-elliptic springs and presented at the 1948 Paris Salon this 1100c.c. 4-cylinder Ruby-engined 6CV Coupé. Unusually the whole front section of bonnet and wings could be raised to reveal the engine.
Lambert also made a two-seater competition model which came third in the 1100c.c. category of the 1949 Bol d’Or and second in 1951:
2013 Retromobile
His CS Cabriolet Sport with body by Schmitt of Colmar was produced in small series and Lambert himself drove one of these to a class win in the 1953 Bol d’Or at Montlhéry.

2013 Retromobile

Peugeot 203 Darl’mat
Emile Darl’mat had a Peugeot agency in Paris and his firm is chiefly remembered as a low volume manufacturer of Peugeot-based sports cars in the 1930s. These cars were blessed with attractive Paulin/Pourtout bodies and in 1937 a team of three 302DS cars came 2nd, 3rd and 5th in their class at Le Mans; a year later a 402DS won the 2-litre category.

After the war Darl’mat made a streamlined 202 coupé for record breaking and then gave his attention to producing a special version of the Peugeot 203. This car had the bodywork lowered by 7cm, the engine was tuned to give 80 b.h.p. by using two carburettors and a more prominent front grille was fitted among other modifications; there was even a small dorsal fin on the boot lid. Between 1949-1950 over 120 of these were made.
It seems that Alexis Constantin used one as the basis for the supercharged 203 he ran at Le Mans in 1952.

2013 Retromobile

Bugatti Type 57
The Type 57 Bugatti was presented at the 1933 Paris Salon. It was a completely new design with considerable input from Jean Bugatti and was aimed at the more luxurious Delahaye/Delage market.
Gaston Descollas, the Bugatti agent in Marseille, planned a competition programme for this car, chassis 57.300, and had the Torpedo body without hood designed and made by Dubos in Marseille.
He won the important Paris-Nice Rally and went on to win his class in that year’s French Alpine Rally. In 1936 the car received a new body, a Coach Ventoux made at Gangloff’s

2013 Retromobile

1936 Matford 3.6 V8
Mathis + Ford = Matford
Emile Mathis had been involved in the motor trade in Strasbourg since the start of the 20th century, selling a wide variety of cars to some of which he would liberally attach the Mathis name! After the Great War he became a leading maker of popular cars, producing for example over 20,000 Mathis cars by 1927, making him France’s fourth manufacturer after Citroën, Renault and Peugeot. However, despite advanced mechanical features such as hydraulic brakes in 1931, synchromesh in 1932 and independent front suspension in 1933, Mathis sales gradually declined.
Ford now came on the scene because their V8 imported from America incurred heavy import duties and in October 1934 a new company, SA Franςaise Matford, was formed whereby Ford and Mathis cars would be made side by side. But with Ford holding 60 per cent of the shares, the Mathis cars were soon squeezed out and by 1936 the Strasbourg factory was making only the French Fords, the Matfords.

2013 Retromobile

Salmson 2300 Coupé
Salmson were making aero engines at Billancourt in 1912 and produced many during the Great War after which the demand dropped. Therefore the company diversified into making cars and at first they produced the British G.N. cyclecar under licence, even supplying some to the Police Force! However, they soon developed their own sporting 1100c.c. car with engines designed by Emile Petit who also came up with an excellent 4-cylinder twin-cam unit. These cars went on to score numerous successes in competitions and two of them almost won the Le Mans race outright in 1927 when the surviving 3-litre Bentley, badly crippled by the White House crash, only just managed to stay ahead of the little Salmsons.
The 2300 Coupé, introduced at the 1953 Paris Salon, represents the final fling for the famous marque. Still with a 4-cylinder twin-cam engine and with the torsion bar independent front suspension first seen on the S4E in 1937, the 2300 performed well in rallies, achieving some fifty-five victories/class wins in both international and national events. Luck deserted them, however, at Le Mans when privately- entered cars both retired, a spyder-bodied version by Motto in 1955 and a special lightweight coach, also by Motto, in 1956.
Alas, the last 2300 came off the line in February 1957 and Salmson
cars were no more.

2013 Retromobile

Cooper 500 Formula Three Racing Car
A hint of what was to come! When the Franco-American driver Harry Schell drove a little Cooper 500 like this but with an 1100c.c. J.A.P. twin in the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix he was making history in two respects.
First, he was giving the Cooper company its Grand Prix and World Championship début and, secondly and more significantly, he was driving the first mid-engined car to run in the World Championship. Cooper themselves were slow to develop this theme in their bigger cars (the concept wasn’t new of course – think of, for example, the 1923 Benz and the Auto Unions) and it was only with the advent of the “Bobtail” sports car in 1955 that the true benefits were realised with the advantages of modern chassis and suspension designs. When Cooper went on to dominate the Championship in 1959/60 with their mid-engined cars, everyone else naturally copied them. In the meantime Cooper had already won the Monaco GP in 1958, thanks to Maurice Trintignant’s efforts in Rob Walker’s T45.
Alas, we shall never know how well Schell’s nimble little machine coped with the big 4.5-litre and 1.5-litre supercharged cars around the twisty circuit because he was involved in the multiple shunt at the Tabac Corner on the first lap – it seems that a wave had splashed over the harbour wall very inconveniently!

TAILPIECE
2013 Retromobile
Residents of the Mercure-Porte de Versailles Expo hotel adjoining the exhibition site were greeted with this delightful little Amilcar sports car in the foyer. Last year it was a Le Zèbre – a charming gesture!

David Blumlein, February 2013