A veteran's renovation.
Every now and then, photographs turn up that leave more questions unanswered than answered, and that's definitely the case with the following collection. These have been sat in a file here for years, and it's high time that their secrets are revealed. I suspect they date to the 1950s, a number of them have the name E.I. Baxter written in ink on their reverse. The first two images show an early car's chassis on its side, hanging up on a sturdy chain winch readied for renovation. By this point the body had been removed, leaving the engine, transmission, steering gear and both axles in place, along with the distinctive cooling arrangements at the foreward end of the chassis. The dual chain drive mechanism can clearly be seen driving the rear axle.
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There then follow two photographs of the veteran car's engine, revealing a great many of its details, not least the exposed valve mechanism.
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Here's a closer look at the engine sat within the car's chassis.
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Other photos - but of different cars?
Accompanying the above photos are the following pictures. The first is of a restored chassis with all its running gear in position. There are a great many similarites between this chassis, and the un-restored example shown above, but there are also differences - not least the style of wheels fitted. In the 1950s it wasn't unknown for restorations to include significant alterations to a car's original specification, changes that most likely wouldn't be made today. Is it the same car, or are the differences too great?
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Next, this rear view shows a veteran-era car in unrestored condition. But is it likely to be the same car? There's a transverse leaf spring in evidence here that doesn't show in any other other photos, and the fuel tank arrangement is different, so my guess is that this is a different car altogether. There's also a tantalising glimpse of a 1930s/1940s van dumped over to the left. Update Bill dropped me a line to say: "Rear view of 5n3 is a De Dion Bouton. The De Dion tube rear suspension and round tube frame are apparent. Others I am still viewing."
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Mystery engine.
Also from the same source is the following snapshot of an early motor-car's engine. There isn't much to go on here, but maybe someone recognises it? I also have a photograph of a restored 1905 Peugeot heading out on a run in the late 1950s, could it be from that? Certainly, whoever put together this collection of images was very keen on veteran and early vintage cars.
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Other veterans on OCC.
There are many references to veteran and early vintage cars across OCC, here are a few sample pages: Photos of the London to Brighton run, two contemporary photos of Argyll cars, and photos of two early cars and a wonderful powered tricycle here.
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Return to Page 21 in the motoring image archive, or visit the main index of vintage & classic photographs here, where there are thousands of original vintage and classic car images to view.
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