Through a very strange coincidence, yesterday at the Beaulieu autojumble I was introduced to Rodolfo Iriate, the gentlemen that founded Rotors Cars, and built this Benjamin. He is currently in England for the that event, plus the Goodwood Revival later this week.
He confirmed that he has built around 30 Benjamin replicas to date at his workshop, based just north of Buenos Aires. He uses the Argentine-built Siam Di Tella (a 1960s BMC Farina, made in Argentina in the '60s in Riley and MG versions) as the unlikely mechanical base for this car. He built his first Benjamin in the late 1990s, and the replica is still available to order today, along with amazingly accurate replicas of pre-war Delage and Delahayes, plus the Rotor Cars aluminium Jaguar C-type and Lotus Eleven replicas.
He knew about the '1948' car pictured in this puzzle, but confirmed that the 1948 date was incorrect, as it is one of his Rotor Cars Benjamin 1500 replicas, that he built around 2004, so perhaps the heading can be update please to remove the 1948 date, and mention Rotor Cars Benjamin 1500. Thanks
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Mr Iritate was a very pleasant, friendly man, aged about 80, and he now runs Rotor Cars with his son, who looks after the business on a day-to-day basis.
