Marque, model it was based on, nickname and year of this unusual car please
Expert help required
This looks like a Lagonda too, with an experimental aerodynamic body, from the 1930's!
Am I on the right track?
Quote from: Carnut on April 23, 2011, 05:29:50 AM
This looks like a Lagonda too, with an experimental aerodynamic body, from the 1930's!
Am I on the right track?
Well, you are partly on the right track....
1930s - yes
Experimental aerodynamic body - yes
Lagonda - no
However there is a connection to Lagonda but not at this time....
So is it an Aston Martin?
Quote from: Carnut on April 23, 2011, 11:06:21 AM
So is it an Aston Martin?
It is an Aston Martin but I also need what model it was based on, the year and what nickname it was known by.
I'll lock it for you for the next 24 hours to come up with the answer.
Thanks for the lock, but I've been completely unable to find any picture or reference to this car on any Aston Martin website.
So it'll have to be an educated guess!
It looks remarkably like the Atom in many details and proportions, and since the (1939) Atom was originally based on a SWB 15/98 chassis along with a 2-litre 15/98 engine, I suspect this is how the Atom originally looked before it was quickly modified to gain the more modern (at the time!) aerodynamic appearance that we know today.
Am I on the right track?
This is so frustrating. I hate my memory sometimes, it is just awful. I seem to remember this having 'duck' or 'duckling' in the nickname but that has given me no results searching..... ::)
Quote from: Carnut on April 23, 2011, 08:19:17 PM
Thanks for the lock, but I've been completely unable to find any picture or reference to this car on any Aston Martin website.
So it'll have to be an educated guess!
It looks remarkably like the Atom in many details and proportions, and since the (1939) Atom was originally based on a SWB 15/98 chassis along with a 2-litre 15/98 engine, I suspect this is how the Atom originally looked before it was quickly modified to gain the more modern (at the time!) aerodynamic appearance that we know today.
Am I on the right track?
Again you are partly on the right track.
The puzzle car was based on a 15/98 chassis (in actual fact the first 2 litre saloon) whereas the Atom, although it carried a C-Type chassis number, was in fact a totally experimental car that was based on a chassis that would eventually become the forerunner of the Aston Martin DB1 (or 2 litre Sports as it was designated at its introduction).
The strange looks of the puzzle car was largely due to a shortage of materials dictated by the armaments drive at the time.
What is needed for the point now is the year and its nickname.
I'll unlock it again for all........
Quote from: barrett on April 23, 2011, 10:05:20 PM
This is so frustrating. I hate my memory sometimes, it is just awful. I seem to remember this having 'duck' or 'duckling' in the nickname but that has given me no results searching..... ::)
You are on the right track there Barrett. Don't forget I also need a year.
It's the Donald Duck prototype from 1938!
P.S. I actually found it without your hint barrett!
Quote from: Carnut on April 24, 2011, 06:09:09 AM
It's the Donald Duck prototype from 1938!
P.S. I actually found it without your hint barrett!
You found it eventually - well done!
I should have added that the chassis dates from 1936 and the body from 1938.
The car still exists in Germany.
Quote from: woodinsight on April 24, 2011, 07:42:29 AM
I should have added that the chassis dates from 1936 and the body from 1938.
The car still exists in Germany.
Yes; I meant to add that it was actually based on an LWB 15/98 chassis.
I actually found it on a German website so its current location might explain it; I still haven't found any mention of it on any UK or other A-M site, which is quite surprising given that it's unique and it still exists.
I think it must have influenced the appearance of the Atom which followed only a year later; so many of the details are so similar. Or maybe it was just designed by Claude Hill as well!
This was Claude Hill's first attempt at a new generation of Aston Martins under the patronage of Gordon Sutherland who was at the helm of the company at the time.
To quote from the late Inman Hunter's excellent book "Aston Martin 1913-1947" -
It was Sutherland's idea to make a body frame an integral part of the main structure of the car, by extending it up and over, rather similar to the roll cage in a modern rally car.
As a basis for these experiments, the first 2 litre saloon (chassis no: J6/703/LS) that was poorly received at the 1936 Earl's Court Show, was stripped of its coachbuilt body in 1938 and a tubular skeleton structure was mounted on the chassis, providing tremendous solidarity and torsional rigidity.
Unfortunately due to the scarcity of materials dictated by the armaments drive, this superstructure had to be fabricated from square section electrical conduit. This restricted the contours of the new body, which looked an oddity and was immediately christened 'Donald Duck'.
Other innovations included a centrally-mounted fuel tank, providing exceptional luggage capacity, and a form of through-ventilation by means of a rear-opening window and air intakes on the roof above the windscreen.
With a special 4.25 axle, twin Zenith carburettors and Lockheed brakes, it was a very pleasant car, quiet, refined and fast, according to those privileged to drive it. It was timed at 90mph over the half-mile at Brooklands.
Quite undeterred by the car's appearance, Sutherland declared 'If the original 2 litres had been half as good, Aston's commercial future would have been assured. It came a year too late, but it did teach us where our future lay'.
Claude Hill's subsequent work was on the new C-Type Speed Model and the Atom saloon prior to WW II.
A view of the car a few years ago undergoing restoration in Germany.
Another picture