Barrett's #391 - Solved - Leslie Ballamy's 1935 Ellembee Special

[barrett]

It's been a couple of days so I'll unlock this now... the solution should now be obvious

[Djetset]

I hate to step in and steal someone else's point, but this wouldn't be the L.M.B. Epoch would it from 1936?

[Carnut]

It's been a couple of days so I'll unlock this now... the solution should now be obvious

Sorry but I've been working on it.
There's scant information on the 'Net so can't say for definite what it is.
It's not the one and only Epoch made (or was it just a drawing?) because that was a 4-seater.
There are various Ballamy cars from the 1930s - the Ellembee and LMB Special for instance but I think this one must be the Austin 7-based Doodle-Bug.   I can't find anything else which might fit.

[barrett]

Quite right, it's not the Epoch -

It is one of the ones mentioned by you, Carnut, so locked again - pick one!

[Carnut]

Quite right, it's not the Epoch -

It is one of the ones mentioned by you, Carnut, so locked again - pick one!

Thanks.  I guess it's not the Doodle-Bug then..
So can you leave this with me for a day or two please and I hope to verify which of the other two it is?

Many thanks.

[barrett]

Yep, you're nearly there so it's locked until you can answer! (Your postman will bring the answer, don't worry)

[Carnut]

Yep, you're nearly there so it's locked until you can answer! (Your postman will bring the answer, don't worry)

[Carnut]

OK, got it!
I'd overlooked that the Doodlebug was Ford Model Y / 10 based and the puzzle car is clearly Austin-based, so it couldn't be the Doodlebug; nor could it be the LMB Special as that was Ford V8-based.
So by a process of elimination it had to be the Ellembee, though I wanted to see it in writing before giving my answer: the 1935 Ellembee Special, based on a 1928 Austin Chummy.
I don't know where you managed to find that good-quality picture though; I still haven't seen it anywhere, though it and another picture (both not good quality) do appear in the Ballamy book.

[barrett]

That's the one, well found.

Just realised I may have thrown some people off the scent earlier as I said I didn't think it was Austin-based (as all his other cars of the period were Ford-based) and I thought this one had the Ford 10hp engine in, at least. Sorry if I accidentally mislead anyone!

I purchased this photograph earlier in the year. As far as I know it's not been published before, but its obviously from the same set of images that are used, poorly, in the book. Tony Russell had never seen it, either

[nicanary]

This photo was in a 1946 issue of Motor Sport magazine, and supposedly shows the LMB Special.  However, it looks too small to be the V8-engined car, and that radiator shell looks mighty familiar. The rear bodywork doesn't match however. It's just that I reckon they could be one and the same car as the puzzle subject.

[Carnut]

No, it's neither the LMB Special nor the Ellembee Special as it's the Ford-based Doodlebug...
I won't be posting that as a puzzle then!

[nicanary]

No, it's neither the LMB Special nor the Ellembee Special as it's the Ford-based Doodlebug...
I won't be posting that as a puzzle then!

AARRGGHH! Sorry. That's another wasted potential puzzle.........it's hard enough to find new ones as it is.

Better this way, though, than someone cheating  .

(Motor Sport always were prone to errors which they (that is, Bods) would not own up to. The latest issue mentions a Citroen DS90.)

[Carnut]

That picture was actually captioned "L.M.B. Special" but whilst it is an LMB Special it's not what is usually referred to as the LMB Special.  It is the Doodlebug as you can see from the picture below:

[nicanary]

An attempt at an Alfa Monza radiator shell.

[Carnut]

An attempt at an Alfa Monza radiator shell.

I believe it might actually have been taken from one..