Solved NIC#1074 - Bugatti-Mercury (ex-E G Greenhall) (NOT PROVEN)

[D-type]

Is the engine from Australia?

[tobytwirl]

Is the engine from the USA?

[tobytwirl]

Is it a pre-war car?

[nicanary]

It's an American engine. I don't know the exact date that this car was re-engined, but I think it is almost certainly post-war.

The chassis is pre-war.

[tobytwirl]

Hudson engine?

[tobytwirl]

Lancia chassis?

[nicanary]

Neither Hudson nor Lancia.

[tobytwirl]

Looks too small for a Lincoln V12 but it's not a Ford V8 is it?

[tobytwirl]

Is the chassis French?

[nicanary]

A double-whammy! Yes the engine is Ford, or sort of , so I'm sure you'll soon work out the make. Plus the chassis IS French.

Not long now... LOCKED for Tobytwirl.

[tobytwirl]

I cannot find this car,so I

[tobytwirl]

I cannot find this car, so I have to guess. The engine is probably a Mercury V8 but the chassis is more problematic. The car looks quite small so unlikely to be a Delage, Delahaye or Talbot Lago chassis, but those brake drums are big - suggesting a bigger car perhaps with a shortened chassis, or an ex competition car. I'll try Salmson.

[nicanary]

I cannot find this car, so I have to guess. The engine is probably a Mercury V8 but the chassis is more problematic. The car looks quite small so unlikely to be a Delage, Delahaye or Talbot Lago chassis, but those brake drums are big - suggesting a bigger car perhaps with a shortened chassis, or an ex competition car. I'll try Salmson.

Yes, the engine is a Mercury.  It's not a Salmson but it is indeed a former racing car. Still locked for you - it's easier than you think.

[tobytwirl]

Bugatti?

[nicanary]

Bugatti?

Indeed. You got there.

It was advertised for sale in the 1950s as the ex-E G Greenhall Bugatti-Mercury and was a Type 35B fitted with a 4375cc Mercury engine. I think it's a lovely-looking thing.

[tobytwirl]

Agreed -  I wonder where it is now?

[Wendax]

They probably took the engine and reconstructed a Mercury around it, or something in that manner... 

[nicanary]

They probably took the engine and reconstructed a Mercury around it, or something in that manner... 

There was at least one other of this type in the 1950s because records show one driven by T G Moore. Unless it was the same car of course. We'll never know.

[tobytwirl]

Do you have any more photos of the car, it is virtually identical to a Riley Sprite from the side.

[nicanary]

Do you have any more photos of the car, it is virtually identical to a Riley Sprite from the side.

No, unfortunately. The puzzle image was taken from a period advertisement, and there is always the chance that the garage sent the wrong copy to the printers. I am sadly aware of that. I must admit it is a bit dubious, and I have taken the ad as fact in good faith. Then there's the possibility that the builder married a Sprite body to the Bugatti chassis. The possibilities, whilst not endless, are there for us all to muse over.

I think I'll put a proviso on the puzzle heading.

PS I've just re-checked the ad. It was by Chiltern Cars, who always had an interesting and eclectic range of stock. The ad did not contain any other cars which were not pictured which would fit the bill of a Riley, if you follow my drift. I had wondered whether they had submitted the copy for the Bugatti-Mercury incorrectly attached to a photo of a Sprite, but it appears not.