I would give my right testicle to own this car, yet it was

built (at least mechanically) by company I'm not all that

smitten with and frankly, I consider to be over rated.

The car I'm thinking of is, in my opinion, NEAR perfect as

any car can ever hope to get while retaining it's B-pillar.

It was born as a ragtop, then a few years later rebodied

in Belgium... as far as who commissioned the newer more

exotic body, a fire destroyed any records of that info.

Here's a short list of features that make it unique:

1. fastback roofline

2. tailfin

3. approx 18 feet long

4. in 1991 a Japanese car collector paid $1.5 million for it

5. elegant wheel skirts

6. bullet shaped headlights

7. very large and formal grille

8. its doors are almost perfectly circular in shape

9. steeply raked windshield

10. futuristic wheel covers

11. it was at one point, painted gold

12. red interior with matching red luggage

13. if you were to do a tune-up you'd need 12 spark plugs

14. no, it's NOT a Tatra

Edited February 6, 200917 yr by Sixty8panther

12. red interior with matching red luggage

isn't this supposed to give it away? but i can't remember where i saw this.

Not really, that's not at all an ultra-rare occurance in a car of this sort.

Even the 1990s ultra-exotic, BMW-powered McLaren F1 had a set of

matching luggage, it all fit perfectly into the car's side compartments,

almost like a PeterPan bus... only PeterPan busses weigh a lot more

than 2600 lbs. and can't go 231 MPH, at least not stock.

-

Edited February 6, 200917 yr by Sixty8panther

Anything can go 231mph if you put enough muscle behind it.

I would give my right testicle to own this car, yet it was

built (at least mechanically) by company I'm not all that

smitten with and frankly, I consider to be over rated.

The car I'm thinking of is, in my opinion, NEAR perfect as

any car can ever hope to get while retaining it's B-pillar.

It was born as a ragtop, then a few years later rebodied

in Belgium... as far as who commissioned the newer more

exotic body, a fire destroyed any records of that info.

Here's a short list of features that make it unique:

1. fastback roofline

2. tailfin

3. approx 18 feet long

4. in 1991 a Japanese car collector paid $1.5 million for it

5. elegant wheel skirts

6. bullet shaped headlights

7. very large and formal grille

8. its doors are almost perfectly circular in shape

9. steeply raked windshield

10. futuristic wheel covers

11. it was at one point, painted gold

12. red interior with matching red luggage

13. if you were to do a tune-up you'd need 12 spark plugs

14. no, it's NOT a Tatra

Back in the 1970s, this car came to my home town as a side show to the travelling carnival. It was, at that time, painted gold (as I recall, it was "painted WITH gold"). It is a 1925 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Aerodynamic (Jonckheere) Coupe.

Wow, that really is a gorgeous vehicle. And I don't even like that style of automobiles.

Yup.... 1925 chassis, 1934 body:

Feast your eyes on THIS:

I love the way the windows "open", they don;t roll down

so much as they "rotate out of the way". This has to be

one of the best looking European cars ever. x million

.

.

.

I'll post more pics. later... (I'm at work, can't f*** off)

.

.

.

So that's what the batmobile would've looked like in the early 1900's.

To each their own I guess.

Aside from the frontend of the car, I see nothing special about it.

Interesting old car...the styling reminds me of the Batmobile from the '40s comics. With that monster steering wheel, I couldn't imagine it would be very pleasant to drive today.

The shape reminds me of other teardrop shaped, finned designs of the era, esp. one from Talbot-Lago. I have Hot Wheels of it, not sure the name of the car (Atlantique?).

In a design with some similiarities, I love the Chrysler Atlantic concept from the '90s..I wish they had built that car... I much prefer it to the Viper as far as outrageous Chrysler cars go.

Edited February 6, 200917 yr by moltar

Moltar:

You're thinking of the Talbot Hot Wheels car I bet.... I have

about a half dozen of them all in different colors.

The Bugatti Type-57 "Atlantic" is also gorgeous!

I've only ever seen one in person, it was at the Museum

of Fine Arts, the Ralph Lauren collection.

I think the circular doors are very cool. The car itself has that timeless look to it. It would be able to get away with being a modern retro car and not look old...if you know what I mean.

It's really a dramatic car....very Art Deco (I love Art Deco design..). For a modern car with a wild, classic dramatic shape, I'm really loving the look of the Morgan Aeromax, in profile and from behind. And yes, the Talbot Lago HW is what I was thinking of...I've got a bunch in different colors also.

Morgan Aeromax:

Edited February 7, 200917 yr by moltar

Pretty neat- totally distinctive. Round door is very unique, even if gimmicky.

Of course, it's not a Rolls in any visual sense- only the grille suggests it.

But as a custom one-off, well done. I like it.

It's funny..i kept looking at the pics of this car, thinking it looks familiar..then I read in the article that it's in the Petersen now, so that's where I saw it a couple years ago.

I agree with you guys....

DF: Yes, it is timeless and would look great

done up as a retro EFIJI style car.

---

Moltar: Yup.... Art Deco 1930s cars are

the only thing better than 1950s chrome

& tail fin encrusted yachts & muscle cars.

---

Balthazar: Nice to see you approve of this

design, I always find your opinion insightful

and was wondering what you might pick

apart on this car, which I think is fantastic.

Moltar: As far as the Aeromax... not a big fan of

the nose, I have to agree with one Automotive

journalist who said it looked as if it ran into a

telephone pole, The split-window-boattail rear is

quite interesting & worth mentioning.

Moltar: As far as the Aeromax... not a big fan of

the nose, I have to agree with one Automotive

journalist who said it looked as if it ran into a

telephone pole, The split-window-boattail rear is

quite interesting & worth mentioning.

Yeah, the front end of the Morgan Aero and Aeromax is rather off-putting, with cross-eyed headlights. But I love the profile (long hood, boattail) and rear of the Aeromax...

If they fixed the front it could be quite a looker, this is better still:

I agree, it's even cooler than the Viper, esp if the gave it a

OHV straight-10! & produced it.

When I first saw this car as a kid, in C&D & R&T my jaw literally fell

to the floor, & I hadn't developed an appreciation for 1930s cars yet.

(BTW, it was straight eight powered!)

-----

Here's four photos of the Round Door from 4 decades:

Edited February 7, 200917 yr by Sixty8panther

If they fixed the front it could be quite a looker, still this is better still:

I agree, it's even cooler than the Viper, esp if the gave it a

OHV straight-10! & produced it.

When I first saw this car as a kid, in C&D & R&T my jaw literally fell

to the floor, & I hadn't developed an appreciation for 1930s cars yet.

(BTW, it was straight eight powered!)

Ya, it's quite the design...I have a couple Matchbox diecasts and a 1:25th model of the Atlantic.

The first time I ever noticed '30s-40s designs was when I was about 10 years old, 1980, and my Dad got me the Monogram 1:24th scale models of the '36 Cord 812 convertible and the '41 Lincoln Continental convertible. They were car designs he loved as as a teenager when they were new cars. Then I built other Monogram classic kits of the '31 Cadillac and a Duesenberg... I still have those kits stashed away somewhere..

Edited February 7, 200917 yr by moltar

Rolls definately looks the best by far in black with the fender skirts on & the frt bumper off.

White & the gold did not do it any favors. Looks like the '90 version had a different, flatter grille, too.

Yup.... the bumper is interesting but the car looks best SANS.

As far as die-cast cars & resin kits, I've got a "few"

My Bugatti die-cast is an already assembled 1:24 in metal,

painted that gorgeous powder-blue that is associated with

Bugatti's race cars.

Speaking of Bugattis, I saw an article over the weekend on Autoblog about a 'barn find' Atlante from the '30s...pretty dramatic design.

Edited February 9, 200917 yr by moltar

Yea- one of 17, sold at auction for $4.4M. Owner left it in his estate, parked since '61 IIRC. Meh; so many of these european coahcbuilt cars have 'unfinished edges' to them I find it impossible to overlook (but not the Rolls of this thread). Bugatti's very deep-set grilles always looked unintentional to me- I have never been able to warm up to them.

I personally love the Bugatti grille in most, but not all of their

designs, the Atlantic esp. I think had near perfect lines. From

up close the Type-57 Atlantic is gorgeous. Fantastic detailing

& world class craftsmanship.

The only real Atlantic I ever saw was Ralph Lauren's, which I

would imagine is also over-restored.... just a guess.

Edited February 10, 200917 yr by Sixty8panther

The above bugatti's grille is pushed back into the car a foot & a half, well behind the headlights. It's barely viewable even at this quarter view. Obscures the vehicle's ID & 'face', and envokes the image of a car impacting a pole. Requires a utilitarian 'spreader bar' to keep the fenders from vibrating too much, and nessitates bland flat sheetmetal panels to close off the front fenders to the grille. It's just... wrong on many levels.

I'm would like to think the exposed, riveted sheetmetal edges were a stylistic choice rather than a construction neccessity, because I actually like the rivets... but I'm doubting it.

Not sure why the front fenders are higher than the rears- weird. Headlights are kinda just... plopped there.

Body is militairly slab-sided, and I don't care for the visual tension the side glass makes touching the radius of the rear fender at some angles.

Choices though these may have been, they are not examples of what I would call fantastic styling.

-- -- -- -- --

Define 'detailing', 68, please. To my eye, there is far more of it, -say- here:

Edited February 10, 200917 yr by balthazar