The Voisin C14: A Masterpiece of Art Deco Design and Innovative Engineering
During its production from late 1927 to 1932, the Voisin C14 chassis emerged as one of the brand’s most prolific models, with a total of 1,795 units manufactured. Renowned for their stunning aesthetics, many C14s boasted custom bodies inspired by the Art Deco movement, including the iconic Chartre Demi-Berline designed by Andre Lefèbvre for Voisin. Continue reading »
From Boat-Tail to Muscle Flanks: The Revolutionary Design of the 1971 Riviera Muscle Car
The year 1971 marked a significant milestone in the history of the Buick Riviera, an iconic luxury car produced by General Motors (GM) since 1963. Under the direction of GM’s chief styling director, Bill Mitchell, the Riviera underwent a radical redesign that introduced flowing and dramatic “boat-tail” styling, which was penned by Jerry Hirshberg, the future head of design for Nissan. Continue reading »
The Timeless Beauty of the Talbot-Lago T150 CSS Series by Figoni
In 1935, Talbot-Lago emerged as a company following the dissolution of Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq. Its founder, Anthony Lago, aimed to manufacture a collection of high-end and extravagant sports cars. Initially, these cars used six-cylinder engines, but later models incorporated eight-cylinder engines and occasionally more affordable options to boost sales. Continue reading »
Matra Sports Jet: The French Sports Car Gifted to Yuri Gagarin
The Matra Djet is a renowned French sports car that was originally designed and sold by René Bonnet. The car was first introduced in June 1962 under the name René Bonnet Djet, and it was the world’s first rear mid-engined production road car. Over the years, different versions of the car were produced and sold under various names that included Matra-Bonnet Djet, Matra Sports Djet, and finally, Matra Sports Jet. Continue reading »
Beautiful Photos and The Story of Edsel Ford’s Model 40 Special Speedster
In the early 1930s, Edsel B. Ford, the President of Ford Motor Company, commissioned his styling chief, Eugene T. “Bob” Gregorie, to create a unique roadster with limited production potential. Gregorie sketched various alternatives before building a 1/25th scale model, which he tested in a small wind tunnel. The resulting car, based on the 1934 Ford (also known as Model 40), became known as the Model 40 Special Speedster. Continue reading »
The Fend Flitzer: The Invalid Carriage that Paved the Way for Messerschmitt Kabinenroller Microcars
The Fend Flitzer was a three-wheeled vehicle designed and built by Fritz Fend in Rosenheim, Germany in 1948. Fend, a former aeronautical engineer and technical officer in the Luftwaffe, initially produced a tricycle invalid carriage with a front wheel that was steered by handlebars and powered by a mechanism actuated by pushing back and forth on the handlebars. Soon after, the tricycle was offered with a 38 cc Victoria two-stroke proprietary engine normally used for motorizing bicycles. Continue reading »
The Rhino: An Inventor’s Visionary Solution for Off-Road and Highway Transportation From The 1950s
Rhino’s tilting hemispheroidal wheels adjust to variable heights on uneven terrain.
Back in 1954, inventor Elie Aghnides was struck by an idea that would revolutionize the way we think about off-road vehicles. As he watched a caterpillar tractor muscling dirt around in New York City’s Central Park, he couldn’t help but wonder why such a powerful machine was limited to a maximum speed of 25 mph and plagued by frequent tread breaks. Continue reading »
Customizing the 1940 Mercury: A Classic Car with Endless Possibilities
The 1940 Mercury is a classic car that has been widely appreciated for its unique design and customization potential. Introduced by Ford Motor Co. in 1939, the Mercury was positioned between the low-priced Ford V-8 and the luxurious Lincoln Zephyr V-12, filling the gap in the market for a mid-range vehicle. Continue reading »
The Miniature Magic of Anthony Ryan Schmidt: How a Teenager’s Passion for Toy Cars Became a Phenomenon
If you’re scrolling through social media and happen to come across a photo of a stunning vintage car on a street corner, think again. You might just be looking at the work of Anthony Ryan Schmidt – a talented teenager from Seattle who has made a name for himself in the world of photography with his toy car creations. Continue reading »
The Futuristic Hispano-Suiza H6B Dubonnet Xenia: A Unique Luxury Car from a Bygone Era
Imagine cruising down the road in a car that is unlike any other. That is precisely what French pilot and racing car driver André Dubonnet did in 1938 when he commissioned the Hispano-Suiza H6B Dubonnet Xenia. The Spanish automobile manufacturer Hispano-Suiza built this one-of-a-kind luxury car on the chassis of the H6B and gave it a distinctive new look. Continue reading »
Weird Advertising for a Weird Car: Balloon-Wheeled Citroen DS, 1959
Back in 1959, Citroen’s communication department was on a mission to prove to the world that their ID and DS models were in a league of their own. And what better way to do that than to take a car, perch it on four balloons, and float it in the middle of a lake? It’s like they always say: “When you want to showcase comfort, just combine air and water and hope for the best!” Continue reading »
Stunning Vintage Advertising of 1948-49 Futuramic Oldsmobile
The Oldsmobile Series 70 was a full-size midrange automobile produced by Oldsmobile between the 1939 and 1950 model years. During this time period, Oldsmobiles occupied an unusual “middle” position in General Motors’ hierarchy of automobile brands. While Chevrolet and Pontiac were budget-priced models, and Buick and Cadillac were the luxury brands, Oldsmobiles fell somewhere in between. Continue reading »
The Tatra 97: A Futuristic Mid-Size Car That Met an Untimely End
The Tatra 97, or T97, was a mid-size car built by Tatra in Kopřivnice, Moravia from 1936 to 1939. Despite its futuristic design and unique features, only around 500 units were produced. Unfortunately, the car’s production came to an abrupt end due to the outbreak of the Second World War, specifically the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany. Continue reading »
1941 Chrysler Thunderbolt Concept Car Pictures
The Chrysler Thunderbolt concept automobile was a revolutionary design when it debuted in the 1950s. It was made of aluminum and featured a retractable, electrically powered hardtop roof, as well as concealed headlights and enclosed wheel wells with no A-pillars. Continue reading »
Beautiful Photos of the Goggomobil Dart
The Goggomobil Dart, a microcar developed by Sydney-based Buckle Motors Pty Ltd., was an innovative vehicle that combined the chassis and mechanical components of the German Goggomobil microcar with an Australian-designed fibreglass body. Continue reading »
The Rise of Original Paint, Rust, and Patina: How Volkswagen Fanatics are Embracing the Unrestored Look
In recent years, there has been a significant shift in the automotive world towards cars with original paint, rust, and patina. This change in perception, which initially took hold within the global Volkswagen community, has led to a growing interest in cars that are not fully restored, but instead maintain their original, well-worn appearance. Continue reading »
Bertone and Citroën Collaborate on Futuristic 1972 Citroën GS Camargue Concept
The Citroën GS Camargue was a concept car based on the Citroën GS, presented as a two-door coupé with 2+2 seating. It was designed by Bertone. It used GS mechanical components, and was the same overall length, but 6 cm (2.4 in) wider. It was presented in 1972 at the Geneva Motor Show. Historically, this is the first collaboration between Bertone and Citroën, which later produced the successful BX. Continue reading »
This Is a Real Wheelchair Car from 1956
Harold Young of Downey, California, has a car designed expressly for wheelchair users in 1956. The driver gets in and out without help. Controls, including a push-stop, pull-go lever, are designed for the handicapped. Continue reading »
This Lamborghini Countach Limousine Was a Car and a Half, Quite Literally!
It could happen only in America; where else would anybody create a stretched Countach lookalike with four doors? Continue reading »
The Messerschmitt KR200: A Sunny Day out In Germany’s Two-Seater Tandem Bubble Car, 1959
In 1952, German aircraft engineer Fritz Fend (April 14, 1920 – November 22, 2000), a former technical officer with the Luftwaffe in World War 2, took his design for a Kabinenroller (Cabin Scooter) to the Messerschmitt aircraft corporation. Continue reading »
Cars of New York City: Snapshots from The 1970s and Early 1980s
About 13 years ago, Andy Blair decided to send off batches of these hidden gems for digitizing. Once in the digital domain, he spent months enhancing the images taken so long ago. “Talk about a labor of love!”, he says. A friend mentioned Flickr to Andy and after checking it out, he tentatively decided to start uploading. Continue reading »
Amazing Photos of the Fiat 8V
The Fiat 8V, or “Otto Vu”, is a V8-engined sports car produced by the Italian car manufacturer Fiat from 1952 to 1954. The car was introduced at the 1952 Geneva Motor Show. The Fiat 8V got its name because at the time of its making, Fiat believed Ford had a copyright on “V8”. Continue reading »
Inside a Porsche Factory From the Early 1970s
The body of the Porsche 356 was manually manufactured at the Reutter bodywork. The car body cover itself was attached to the chassis frame welded to several parts. The joints were filled with soft foam (which was a very tedious and time-consuming process) and then sanded. In 1965, the production of the Porsche 356 finished. At the end, they were already making 25 body-pieces a day. Continue reading »
Amazing Photos of the 1948 Panhard Dynavia
Before the end of World War II, French automaker Panhard et Levassor foresaw that post-war demand for their typically large and expensive cars would be limited and that a smaller less expensive model would be needed. Designer Louis Bionier began development of a small two-box “voiture populaire” (people’s car) that would be powered by engineer Louis Delagarde’s new air-cooled two-cylinder boxer engine driving the front wheels. Continue reading »
Volga-Atom: How in The USSR Created a Car with A Nuclear Reactor
Up to the Chernobyl accident, the development of the Soviet Nuclear Energy went with confident pace. Nevertheless, many ambitious projects by the Soviet nuclear scientists as a result reject. According to one of the versions, such fate in the 1960s has suffered a six-way car with an atomic engine.
The Soviet inventive thought lagged behind the American, while in 1958 the second secretary of the USSR Embassy in Washington did not see Ford Nucleon at the industrial exhibition. According to a number of sources, the Soviet analogue of the atomic machine began with Nikita Khrushchev’s light hand. Continue reading »
