Printable View
[QUOTE=NicFromLA;820948]No question the car is stunning. Also, provided the engineer was a good carpenter the car is probably very light too (wood is much lighter than steel). However, I question the wisdom of using wood to cover an engine.[/QUOTE]
there is probably a thin sheet of steel covering the inside of teh hood/bonnet, or something of that nature.
[QUOTE=henk4;827285]My suggestion would b to contact the Blackhawk Collection in Danville, Califronia, the owners of the car. If you explain for what you would the info, they might be forthcoming. For contact details, just google for Blackhawk.[/QUOTE]
Already try that but they didnt reply to my email :(
[QUOTE=zoombie;827374]Already try that but they didnt reply to my email :([/QUOTE]
That's strange. Maybe you can actually try the old way of sending them a letter and address it to Don Williams, the owner of the collection.
[QUOTE=henk4;827376]That's strange. Maybe you can actually try the old way of sending them a letter and address it to Don Williams, the owner of the collection.[/QUOTE]
I wrote to the guy who is in charge of the bookstore, hoping that he could provide me some info or maybe point me in the right direction with a particular book. He didn't reply. Thanks for your idea but I don't like my chances with the owner, surely he must gets thousands of letters, I doubt that he will goes out of his way to help me.
The museum have a library that can find information for you but they charge you $25 pr hr. :(
[QUOTE=zoombie;827380]I wrote to the guy who is in charge of the bookstore, hoping that he could provide me some info or maybe point me in the right direction with a particular book. He didn't reply. Thanks for your idea but I don't like my chances with the owner, surely he must gets thousands of letters, I doubt that he will goes out of his way to help me.
The museum have a library that can find information for you but they charge you $25 pr hr. :([/QUOTE]
We have a book on Hispanos at home, but I won't be back there until September 6th....
well, im right up the road from the museum again. and i have free admission due to my military service. i plan on going down there and snapping a few more, and maybe i can convince someone to let me snap some shots of the interior. i'll also try and get some more of the areas you were interested in.
could you take a few shots under the hood? :)
I would like to see that magnificent six.
i cant promise anything
Thanks to all those have try to help, appreciated :)
cmcpokey - it be great if you could do that :) maybe you can ask the museum staff where i can get more info on this car.
henk4 - i just bought a book called "Wood details - Autofocus" it suppose to contains info on this car, not sure how much thought. What book do you have ? Does it details drawings of the cars ?
i'm trying to get my hand on the franklin mint model of this car but keep missing out on Ebay :(
This is a great car but it looked even better in the 1920s before it got the heavy looking wings (fenders). I'll see if I can find a picture of it to post
Here's a bit of history
The Tulipwood Hispano was built in 1924 on the order Andre Dubonnet (the French drinks magnate), based on a Boulogne type chassis with a lightweight body built by Nieuport-Aviation. The car was built with the express intention to race it in the 1924 Targa Florio and it did remarkably well given the nature of the roads and the size of car. Dubonnet had six tyre bursts and still managed to finish 6th in the race and fifth in the Coppa Florio.
The engine is a straight six 8 litre developed in 1919, the design of which is based on the wonderful World War 1 V8 12 and 18.5 litre aero engines (as used in SE5s, SPADs Sopwith Dolphins, Bristol Fighter etc) with single overhead camshaft.The car was subsequently lowered and fitted with road equipment and bought by Keiller (of Scottish marmalade fame) and in that form the car was sublime.
It was then bought by Forrestier-Walker who owned it till 1955 when it passed to Albertini who did the restoration fitting the heavy wooden wings, copper plating the wheels and fitting a copper undertray and dumb iron valence. It's a matter of taste but I prefer the original look.
Interestingly, the car is not actually made of tulipwood but a form of mahogany as has been shown by later investigation, but the name lives on.
Thank you and welcome to UCP. That is an interesting piece of history. Are you a marque expert or somebody with genuine interest in classic cars?
Pieter
Thanks for the welcome Pieter
Yes I am interested in vintage and classic cars and know a bit about Hispanos. I recently built an aero-engined special using the 18.5 litre version of the V8 engine fitted into a vintage Rolls Royce chassis and I liked the Dubonnet car in its early form so muchthat I used it as inspiration for the body. I'll try to post pics of the cars if I can work out how to do it
Paul
[QUOTE=twincam;833543]Thanks for the welcome Pieter
Yes I am interested in vintage and classic cars and know a bit about Hispanos. I recently built an aero-engined special using the 18.5 litre version of the V8 engine fitted into a vintage Rolls Royce chassis and I liked the Dubonnet car in its early form so muchthat I used it as inspiration for the body. I'll try to post pics of the cars if I can work out how to do it
Paul[/QUOTE]
thanks, the pics work:)
That is a brutish machine that you have there....so that body is scratch built?
Yes the bodywork is coach built. I did the designs based on the Dubonnet car and then took the drawings to a very competent local coach builder. We dummied it up in welding wire to make sure it looked really right and then he made the body, wings and fuel tank, and made a superb job of it.
Despite the considerable power, the car drives really well and is surprisingly practical. It starts, it stops and it goes round corners!