Author Topic: SOLVED: Djetset 675 - Vanden Plas saloon proposal by Laurence Pomery (and ERA?) (Read 1798 times)

Djetset · « **Reply #50 on:** September 23, 2014, 02:14:57 PM »

Not Roland Fox. The name I am looking for is rather better known.

ropat53 · « **Reply #51 on:** September 23, 2014, 02:47:39 PM »

I haven't been able to find a picture of this car

and the ERA prototype keeps popping up

.
It wouldn't happen to be by my fellow countryman Ricardo "Dick" Burzi? He was connected with Austin, but so was Vanden Plas.

Djetset · « **Reply #52 on:** September 23, 2014, 02:55:58 PM »

Sorry, but it's not Ricardo 'Dick' Burzi.

Carnut · « **Reply #53 on:** September 23, 2014, 03:24:03 PM »

Vignale?

Djetset · « **Reply #54 on:** September 23, 2014, 03:48:17 PM »

Not Vignale, but an admired individual.

nicanary · « **Reply #55 on:** September 23, 2014, 03:51:00 PM »

Michelotti?

targhediferro · « **Reply #56 on:** September 24, 2014, 12:42:09 AM »

Flaminio Bertoni?

Djetset · « **Reply #57 on:** September 24, 2014, 03:03:15 AM »

None of the above.

oko94 · « **Reply #58 on:** September 24, 2014, 03:08:30 AM »

Are we looking for an English designer ?

Djetset · « **Reply #59 on:** September 24, 2014, 03:14:30 AM »

Yes, he was English, but not a designer in the traditional sense.

Paul Jaray · « **Reply #60 on:** September 24, 2014, 04:26:43 AM »

Like Issigonis?

Djetset · « **Reply #61 on:** September 24, 2014, 04:29:30 AM »

Sort of like Issigonis, but not him.

Carnut · « **Reply #62 on:** September 24, 2014, 05:13:45 AM »

This is intriguing!
There's so much mis-information around on the 'Net that I don't know what's right and what isn't.
What strikes me is that there was either plagiarism going on or the 2 cars below were designed by the same person; I know one is only a model whilst the other is a full-size mock-up, but such are the similarities between these two cars that they are effectively one and the same car, except that one is the ERA designed by David Hodkin and the other is your puzzle car!:

nicanary · « **Reply #63 on:** September 24, 2014, 05:33:29 AM »

Yes. I was also confused......

oko94 · « **Reply #64 on:** September 24, 2014, 05:38:15 AM »

Count me in the confused camp as well.

Hiawatha · « **Reply #65 on:** September 24, 2014, 02:15:23 PM »

Can I join the band?
Confused from Italy..

wingroad · « **Reply #66 on:** September 24, 2014, 02:40:17 PM »

I thought it was the ERA prototype in model form, so I went to specsavers for an eye test !

Djetset · « **Reply #67 on:** September 24, 2014, 03:01:23 PM »

Well, I seem to have stirred up a real hornet's nest here, as these are undoubtedly one and the same car, as constructed by coachbuilders Vanden Plas!

My information sources are two authoritive published works, and not the internet. The name I am looking for would have almost certainly known and worked with David Hodkin of ERA fame. However, my sources suggest that this car was conceived by another great sage of the post-war British motoring scene, who is not David Hodkin

wingroad · « **Reply #68 on:** September 24, 2014, 04:16:49 PM »

Laurence Pomeroy ? (Junior)

ropat53 · « **Reply #69 on:** September 24, 2014, 04:33:39 PM »

Rex Fleming?

Djetset · « **Reply #70 on:** September 24, 2014, 04:39:53 PM »

Yes, that's the man. Pom Junior conceived this unusual car for The Motor magazine, which he edited from 1945-60 and asked Vanden Plas to build it. A strange choice indeed!

So, one point to Wingroad, with a bonus point to Oko94 as this puzzle created so much debate. It will be interesting to know the full story behind this project, and the ERA connection.

barrett · « **Reply #71 on:** September 26, 2014, 03:26:59 PM »

Right, hopefully I can make some sense of this.

This the last design on the BMC/ERA Project 378 'Maximin' platform and was styled by Dick Burzi.

Pomeroy was the spark that set the entire project in motion although he didn't 'commission' the car as such, nor did he have any input in its design. He suggested to Leonard Lord a variety of criteria that together would make a world-class car from Austin in a time when they (and the British motor industry in general) were seen as lagging behind Europe in technological advances.

The design and engineering work was sub-contracted by BMC to ERA under David Hodkin, who designed and built an advanced air-cooled engine and automatic transmission system mounted on a platform chassis riding on self-levelling air suspension. the original cars was merely a running chassis frame, the second had a crude cobbled-together body, the third a very up-to-date body which was badged as an Austin. the final car had Burzi-styled coachwork and was built by VDP, who were short of work at the time.

More photographs of the finished VDP car and the other two prototypes can be seen in Woodinsight's puzzle for BMC/ERa Project 378.

Hope that clears it up!

Djetset · « **Reply #72 on:** September 29, 2014, 07:15:53 AM »

Excellent. Thank you Barrett, your note really helps to make sense of this whole, rather confusing project. A BMC air cooled engine would have been an interesting one!

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Author Topic: SOLVED: Djetset 675 - Vanden Plas saloon proposal by Laurence Pomery (and ERA?) (Read 1798 times)