What's this? Name of car, name of builder, year and engine used for a point
Up
Very nice proportions - is it British and based on a mid-30s Morris 10-4?
British, but not Morris 10/4 based
Austin-based?
Vale Special?
I don't believe it is Austin-based, and it's not a Vale
I thought there was a touch of Vale about it, but it's too short in the wheelbase. Perhaps, like the Vale, it has Triumph parts.
Barrington
not Triumph or Barrington
Standard-based?
Cambridge 1934
No and No
Up again
Is it made by a well known manufacturer or is it a home-built one-off?
It's a one-off, but built by somebody quite well-known who later build and sold cars commercially
Did he build and sell competition cars?
Interesting question. He was mostly involved with competition cars, but the cars he marketed himself were road going
I can't find a photo of the younger man, but is this John Britten?
Not him. In fact, I don't know if that is the constructor at the wheel
People involved in motor sport but who built cars for the road are few and far between - long shot - Frank Costin?
(Slightly) less well known, but you're heading in the right direction
John Sprinzel?
Jem Marsh?
Not either of those
Neville Trickett?
Nope
How about Len Terry?
Not him either
Surely not Colin Chapman?
.....the young chap looks like Tony Crook. Perhaps they used the same barber.
Not either of those - less known, certainly
Ralph Broad?
Not Ralph
One of the Walkletts?
No
Were the road cars marketed by this man based on the Austin/Morris mini?
No!
Powered by Hillman Imp?
No it pre-dates the Imp by a couple of decades
Quote from: barrett on October 31, 2017, 05:16:01 AM
No it pre-dates the Imp by a couple of decades
Sorry - I meant was the road car he built powered by Imp, but clearly not anyway........
I suspect the puzzle car is Ford sidevalve powered.
ah right, of course.
Side valve Ford is the way to go
I'm going to try a different tack - you say the builder is reasonably well-known in motor sport. Was he a driver?
He did drive, but he's not famous particularly for his own competition record.
He is very well known - every puzzler knows his name, and was an important figure in the pre- and postwar specials/tuning world...
Surely not Sydney Allard?
Derek Buckler?
Not them!
Leslie Ballamy?
Yes! Locked for you...
Argh! I thought of him last night and then forgot!
It's been a couple of days so I'll unlock this now... the solution should now be obvious
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?
Quote from: barrett on November 03, 2017, 05:50:47 AM
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.
Quite right, it's not the Epoch -
It is one of the ones mentioned by you, Carnut, so locked again - pick one!
Quote from: barrett on November 03, 2017, 06:34:23 AM
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.
Yep, you're nearly there so it's locked until you can answer! (Your postman will bring the answer, don't worry)
Quote from: barrett on November 03, 2017, 07:25:35 AM
Yep, you're nearly there so it's locked until you can answer! (Your postman will bring the answer, don't worry)
:thumbsup:
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.
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
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.
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!
Quote from: Carnut on November 03, 2017, 07:05:04 PM
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 ;D.
(Motor Sport always were prone to errors which they (that is, Bods) would not own up to. The latest issue mentions a Citroen DS90.)
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:
An attempt at an Alfa Monza radiator shell.
Quote from: nicanary on November 04, 2017, 12:10:58 PM
An attempt at an Alfa Monza radiator shell.
I believe it might actually have been taken from one..