CORD 810/812!!

Blog by Gmy.

Origin by USA

First manufactured in Year 1936 until 1937

Engine installed 4.7 I (289 cid) V8

Top speed of 93 mph (150km/h)

A readers' poll in a well-regarded American classic car magazine awarded the title of the 'Single Most Beautiful American Car' to the hugely impressive Cord 810 sedan.

CITROEN TRACTION AVANT!!

Blog by Gmy.

Origin by France

First manufactured in Year 1934 until 1957

Engine installed 1,303 cc, 1,529 cc, 1,628 cc, 1,911 cc Straight Four; 2,867 cc Straight Six

A mid-range engine could reach 70 mph (115km/h)

The new monocoque body was treated with widespread suspicion when the Traction Avant was launched, with traditionalists believing it lacked strength - so to confound doubters Citroen arranged an impressive crash test in which the new vehicle remained in one piece after being pushed over a cliff.

CHRYSLER CL CUSTOM IMPERIAL!!

Blog by Gmy.

Origin by USA

First manufactured in Year 1933

Engine installed 6.3 I (385cid) Straight Eight

Up to 100 mph (161km/h)

This will be a really tough nut for 'must drivers' to crack - only eight of the superb LeBaron Custom Imperial phaetons are known to survive.

CHEVROLET MASTER!!

Blog by Gmy.

Origin by USA

First manufactured in Year 1934 until 1936

Engine installed 3.5 I (216 cid) Straight Six

Top speed of up to 85 mph (137km/h) depending on model

Chevrolet's chosen slogans for early Masters included 'The most finely balanced low-price car ever built' & 'The only complete low-priced car' - posting the question of just what it was that vehicles supplied by the mass-market competition failed to bolt on.

CADILLAC SIXTY-SPECIAL!!

Blog by Gmy.

Origin by USA

First manufactured in Year 1938 until 1941

Engine installed 5.67 I (346 cid) V8

Top speed around 90 mph (145km/h)

The rarest Sixty-Specials were three one-offs dating from 1938 - two four-door convertibles owned by General Motors executives & a lone coupe. It is thought that there were no more than a dozen custom bodies fitted between 1938 & 1941.

CADILLAC SIXTEEN!!

Blog by Gmy.

Origin by USA

First manufactured in Year 1930 until 1937

Engine installed 7.4 (452 cid) OHV V16

The sportiest models could reach 100 mph (161km/h)

The possibilities for customizing these plush V16 models were endless - as illustrated by the fact that Prohibition-era gangster AI Capone was able to request a gun cabinet when ordering one.

BUICK CENTURY!!

Blog by Gmy.

Origin by USA

First manufactured in Year 1936 until 1942

Engine installed 5.2 I (320 cid) Straight Eight

Top speed around 98 mph (158km/h)

The Century was the fastest Buick of its generation, & this speedy vehicles was nicknamed "The Banker's Hotrod".

BUICK ROADMASTER!!

Blog by Gmy.

Origin by USA

First manufactured in Year 1936 until 1958

Engine installed 5.2 I (320 cid) OHV Straight Eight

Top speed of 90 mph (145km/h)

In the GM 'family', carefully structured to appeal to all levels of buyer, Buick occupied the Number Three slot behind Cadillac & La Salle, but ahead of Oldsmobile, Pontiac & Chevrolet.

BUGATTI TYPE 57!!

Blog by Gmy.

Origin by France

First manufactured in Year 1934 until 1940

Engine installed 3,257 cc DOHC Straight Eight

Up to 125mph (200km/h)

The Type 57 was Jean Bugatti's triumph... not only was he the designer but he also took charge of production, as father Ettore was at the Paris office supervising the money-making contract to produce railcars for the French government.

BUGATTI TYPE 55!!

Blog by Gmy.

Origin by France

First manufactured in Year 1932 until 1935

Engine installed 2,262 cc DOHC Straight Eight

Top speed was 112 mph (180km/h)

Jean Bugatti's subline roadster body is recognised as one of the most elegant ever to grace an automobile - ensuring that the few surviving examples have taken their place right at the top of the classic car pricelist.

BUGATTI ROYALE!!

Blog by Gmy.

Origin by France

First manufactured in Year 1927 until 1933

Engine installed 12,763 cc Straight Eight

Capable of 100 mph (161km/h)

Economic disaster eventually turned to a modest triumph when Ettore Bugatti cannily recycled unused 'Royale' engines to power a new line of railcars.

BUGATTI TYPE 44!!

Blog by Gmy.

Origin by France

First manufactured in Year 1927 until 1930

Engine installed 2,992 cc Straight Eight

Top speed around 85 mph (137km/h) according to body type.

The most unusual Type 44 was the wooden-bodied fire tender constructed on a Type 44 chassis used at Bugatti's Molsheim factory in the late 1920s & 1930s - whether or not it was ever put to the test is not recorded.

BUGATTI TYPE 35!!

Blog by Gmy.

Origin by France

First Manufactured in Year 1924 until 1931

Engine installed 1,991 cc or 2,262 cc Straight Eight

Varied according to model, with around 90 mph (145km/h) being the norm.

When a customer had the temerity to complain that brakes on his Type 35 left something to be desired it is said that Ettore Bugatti disdainfully replied 'I make my cars to go, not to stop'.

BMW 328!!

Blog by Gmy.

Origin by Germany

First Manufacture in Year 1936 until 1940

Engine Installed 1,971 cc OHV Straight Six

The race-winning 328 Mille Miglia of 1940 achieved a top speed of 139 mph (224km/h)

There is a British element to this German success story - BMW sold the 328 in rolling chassis form to the British Frazer Nash company who added bodywork & sold it as the Frazer Nash-BMW 328.

BENTLEY 8L!!

Blog by Gmy.

Origin by UK

First Manufactured in Year 1930 until 1931

Engine Installed 7,983 cc Straight Six

Over 100 mph (161 km/h) with the heaviest limousine coachwork.

With their exemplary build quality, many of the Bentley 8Ls that were manufactured are still around, but such is their cachet that well-restored examples sell at auction for up to $1.5 million.. and beyond.

AUSTIN 7!!

Blog by Gmy.

Origin by UK

First Manufactured in Year 1922 until 1939

Engine Installed 747 cc Straight Four

Most models had a top speed of 50 mph (80 km/h)

The Austin 7 name had such resonance that the company recycled it twice after World War II - firstly on A30 models of the early 1950s & then on the mould-breaking Mini in 1959.

AUBURN SPEEDSTER 851!!

Blog by Gmy.

Origin by USA

First Manufactured in Year 1935

Engine Installed 4.6.1(280 cid) Flathead Straight Eight

Top speed of 103 mph (166km/h); 0-60 mph(97 km/h) in 15 secs

The Auburn company's art deco former headquarters building in Auburn, Indiana, is now a National Historic Landmark that houses the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum.

ALVIS SPEED 25!!

Blog by Gmy.

Origin by UK

First Manufactured in Year 1936 until 1940

Engine Installed 3,571 cc OHV Straight Six

Top speed of arounding 90mph (145km/h)

The end of the line for the Speed 25 came in late 1940, production ceasing abruptly when the Luftwaffe bombed the Alvis factory in Coventry - & when the company resumed car manufacture in 1946 it was with the solid but much-less-glamorous TA-14.

ALFA ROMEO 8C 2900B!!

Blog by Gmy.

Origin by Italy

First Manufactured in Year 1935 until 1939

Engine Installed 2,905 cc DOHC Straight Eight

Top speed of arround 120 mph (175km/h), depending on bodywork.

Finding an 8C 2900B Spider for that thrilling 'must drive' moment won't be easy - only 30 were ever made (20 short wheelbase, 10 long wheelbase) & anyone lucky enough to won one guards it like Crown Jewels.

ALFA ROMEO 8C 2300!!

Blog by Gmy.

Origin by Italy

First Manufactured in Year 1931 until 1935

Engine Installed 2,336 cc Straight Eight

The boat-tailed Monza racing version was capable of 140 mph (225km/h).

If you can't find one to drive, at least try listen to one - the throaty roar of Jano's 8C engine is unmistakable, having been described by one over-enthusiastic fan as 'a symphony in which wach gear tooth & roll bearing plays a note'.

ALFA ROMEO RL!!

Blog by Gmy.

Origin by Italy

First Manufactured in Year 1922 until 1927

Engine installed 2,944 cc Straight Six

The sporty Zagato achieved a top speed of 93 mph (150km/h).

One of the drivers who formed the successful 1923 Alfa racing team - which used a modified version of the RL series, the RL TF (target Florio) - was a talented young fellow named Enzo Ferrari.