British and European Car Spotters Guide - 1929

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1929 British and European Car Spotters Guide


The late 1920s and the early 1930s are generally acclaimed as being outstanding years as far as motorcar bodywork was concerned. By this time, designers had gone a long way towards perfecting the art of producing a pleasing body shape and assembling the various components for the best possible effect. The builders employed craftsmen of great skill and experience: men who were not simply metal workers but who would try to obtain the most stylish car that they could build from the designer's specification. The addition of a slight curve or a chamfer was all that might be necessary to make or break a good design.

The Bentley Speed Six is a well known car of this period. This car won the company's last two races at Le Mans in 1929 and 1930, and was thought by many people to be the best of the old-style Bentleys. Possibly, the long bonnet and the radiator encouraged the designer to produce appropriate coachwork. The Mercedes SS 38/250 open tourer was a similarly well designed car, and it is interesting to compare the two. The lines of the two cars were very similar, but it would be unlikely that they could be confused with each other. The Mercedes looked a little less fussy, having only two doors instead of the four of the Bentley. It also retained a better-defined line along the edge of the bonnet and the top of the doors. The rather flamboyant sweep of the Mercedes' wings - front and rear - and the rake of the windscreen complemented the capable and solid-looking body, and gave it an air of power and speed.

The Bentley, on the other hand, with its bonnet louvres and a less-flamboyant sweep to its wings, was somehow more genteel. The straight line along the bonnet and door tops still existed, but was not artificially pronounced by any other design feature. The windscreen, although raked, was more vertical than that of the Mercedes and did not clash with the upright radiator. In all, the Bentley achieved a degree of 'rightness' and balance in every detail that has not often been obtained in other cars. In contrast, the Mercedes seemed to have been endowed with a number of features that produced the necessary impression.

1929 saw the joining of Hillman and Humber; Humber would become a fully owned subsidiary of Rootes in 1932 (Rootes also acquired Hillman). Two new sixes were launched; the 2.1-litre 16/50 and the 3.5-litre Humber Snipe.
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UK

Alvis 16·95 HP Silver Eagle

  Also see: Alvis Road Tests and Reviews
 
The Alvis 16·95 HP Silver Eagle was first introduced in 1929 and continued into the thirties with detail improvements. Its six-cylinder engine had pushrod-operated overhead valves and a cubic capacity of 2148 cc (67·5 x 100 mm). Wheelbase was 10 ft 3 in and the 1931/32 four/five-seater Tourer version cost £595.
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1929 Bentley Speed Six
UK

Bentley Speed Six

  Also see: The History of Bentley
 
Many believed the Mortimer-bodied Speed Six Bentley was an example of how to ruin a style that near perfect. We agree.
1929 Isotta Fraschini
1929 Isotta Fraschini.
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