This 1925 Hispano-Suiza H6b Landaulet looking for a parking space in Cerrillos, NM, during the 2013 Santa Fe Concorso. A fascinating car, built for Andrew Mellon, US Secretary of the Treasury under no fewer than 3 US Presidents. The car, body by Kellner of Paris, was powered by a 6.6 liter, OHC straight six that was basically one half (plus 2 cylinders) of the Hisso V-8 engine that had powered Spad aircraft in WWI. Its four-wheel power brake system was used, under license, by Rolls Royce for many years. The car was retrieved in more or less derelict condition from the estate of Mellon’s chauffer who had been given the car when he retired. Restoration ensued.
Photos by Charley Seavey
gv edit 12/1
Charley Seavey has done a number of Galleries for us in the past, and his photo archives are not yet depleted by any account. Here, we see that cars in this gallery are mostly pre WWII and were built for the rich and very rich. What Seavey eyes is the touches of quality, size, and luxury that are conspicuously absent from more mundane vehicles and in themselves great examples of conspicuous consumption.
Charley Seavey’s previous work for VeloceToday can be accessed via the links following this gallery.
Radiator cap on the 1925 Hispano-Suiza. Elegant, or what?
A great boattail design, this on a 1936 Auburn Speedster at the Santa Fe Concorso, 2015. The 1935/36 Speedster was designed by Gordon Buehrig, who also designed the Cord 810, and the 1956 Lincoln Continental Mark II. The engine was a supercharged straight 8 that pushed the 1935 version to 70 American Speed Records. Only 250 of the boattails were produced 1935/36. This one was registered in the UK as late as 2013.
A 1931 Bentley 4/8 liter Le Mans on the Santa Fe Plaza one morning during Concorso. Bentley originally built these with a four liter engine, but W.O. decided that didn’t have enough umph and stuffed an 8 liter six into ten of the original 4 liter chassis builds. This is one of them. Top speed of 120mph, at 10 mpg (cough, cough). The Le Mans name acknowledges the 5 Bentley wins at Le Mans between 1924 and 1930. Which led a jealous Ettore Bugatti to observe that “Monsieur Bentley builds the world’s fastest trucks.”
A 1934 Bentley roadster local to Santa Fe or Northern New Mexico. I have a couple of sequences of this car shot in 2007 and 2009, this one being from July 4th, ’09. This Bentley series was clearly aimed at high end luxury rather than their usual sports car approach. They were all sold as bare chassis/engine with coach builder being up to the buyer. Unfortunately my notes from the time are silent on the topic of body builder. The 3.5 liter versions, of which this is one, had a somewhat enhanced straight six based on a Rolls Royce engine, putting out 110 hp. 1,177 of the 3.5 liter cars were produced. In 1936 Bentley increased the displacement to 4.25 liters. A total of 1,234 of those were sold. James Bond…ahh, Sean Connery may be seen driving a 4.25 liter Bentley in the 1983 Never say Never Again. Which is certainly the worst title of the Bond movies.
1947 Bentley Mark VI Coupe. This has a James Young body, one of only 53 made. Young’s design was referred to a “semi-square,” with seating for four or five people. It incorporated what was called then a “Sunshine” roof- what we now know as a sunroof.
Bentley 1951. Seen in the parking lot at the 2013 Santa Fe Concorso. Not entered in the Concorso, just visiting and acquiring mud spatters along the way. The Mark VI was the first car from Rolls Royce with all steel bodywork, which turned out to be both a strength and a weakness. The weakness being the somewhat inferior steel forced on RR by post-war government controls. I’m guessing at the 1951 date based on some image searching on Google. The number plate CR 999 came up blank in the UK plate searching thingy. My notes at the time say “Glad to see the old beastie being driven.” 5208 Mark Vs were produced, 1946-1952.
1957 Bentley S1 Continental Coupe at the Santa Fe Concorso, 2014. Showing a nice blue ribbon. One of only 32 of this model built with left hand drive. At the time reputed to be the fastest coupe in the world at 120 mph. This from an inline six and a three speed automatic transmission. I have to wonder what Sir William Lyons might have had to say about that.
1931 Cadillac series 355 All Weather Phaeton. A 353 cubic inch V8 putting out 95 horsepower in a 4685 pound car probably means that speed was not critical. Caddy sold 10,717 series 355s in 1931. While there were V12 and V16 Caddies this was still a Rich Guy car. Santa Fe Concorso, 2016.
And here we have a top of the line Cadillac, a 1931 series 452A V-16 convertible, seen at a local car show in 2019. This was the era when Rich Guys often bought a bodyless chassis/running gear and had custom bodies created. Cadillac short-circuited that by having an assortment of semi-custom bodies available from the recently purchased Fleetwood Metal Body, and Fisher Body coachbuilding firms. Those names should sound familiar. I’m not sure, and none of my pictures lend a clue as to who built this body. Handsome car, for sure.
Cadillac V-16 grill emblem. They wanted to make sure you knew.
1942 Cadillac Town Brougham Derham. Originally a Caddy Imperial Sedan, the custom body was built by Derham in Rosemont, PA. Originally planned for a run of 60 cars, only two were built when WWII brought domestic car production to a roaring halt. This one at the LeMay Museum may be the only one extant. It was originally produced with blacked out chrome trim because of the wartime restrictions. The brightwork has clearly been restored on this one. Look carefully and you can see the reflection of the steering wheel in the privacy window separating the chauffer from the owners, the owners being personal friends of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
The rear seats in the 1942 Caddy with the privacy window protecting the occupants from the weather and prying ears.
The chauffeur’s quarters in the 1942 Cadillac. Given the presence of a clutch pedal, a three on the tree manual transmission seems likely. I’m guessing the seatbelts were not standard equipment in 1942.
Crane Simplex 1917. This car was ordered by John D. Rockefeller Jr. as a birthday present for his father. Which I think establishes its Rich Guy luxury travel credentials. A Model 5 with seven passenger touring body by Brewster. At the LeMay Museum.
This is a 1929 DuPont Model G Speedster, complete with Lalique Tete d’Aigle hood ornament. “DuPont?” Oh, definitely Rich Guys. The company was founded during WWI to build marine engines for the Allies. Post war the company turned to building very high end automobiles. The Model G shown here was introduced in 1928, featuring a 5.3 liter Continental straight 8 engine producing 125 hp. Between 1919 and 1931 625 DuPonts were produced. The company went bankrupt in 1932 and was absorbed by the Indian Motorcycle Co when E. Paul DuPont purchased the motorcycle firm. Santa Fe Concorso, 2014.
The very definition of boattail on the 1929 DuPont Model G. The 2014 Santa Fe Concorso may stretch the truth a bit in stating that the DuPont company campaigned 4 cars at Le Mans in 1929. There are mixed reports. Apparently the French disqualified the two seater version because the engine was too big. DuPont tried to convert them all to four seaters, only one of which was completed and started. It DNFd at 20 laps with a shot transmission. Another was entered, but never arrived.
1930 Duesenberg Model J. I’ve probably said it before but I think the Auburn-Cord-Duesenbergs were the greatest American cars ever. There were about 20 coachbuilders who provided bodies for the Model J chassis. This one, at the LeMay Museum, has a Murphy body. Murphy was Duesenberg’s largest body provider.
No article about upper end traveling would be complete without a Packard or two. On the Santa Fe Plaza during the 2015 Concorso. 1919 Packard 3-35 Brougham Landaulet, very likely the only one of its kind-Landaulet style. A custom all aluminum body is by Graff Motor Coach Works of Chicago. It stands 6’9” tall and has brakes only on the rear wheels. The chauffer had to be very, very, careful. The 424 cubic inch V-12 engine only produced 95 hp, but with a 5 inch stroke plenty of torque would have been available.
I’m including this 1930 Packard 740 Roadster mainly because the driver at the 2014 Santa Fe Concorso was its owner, Margaret Dunning, who was 104 when this pic was taken. Meditate on that for a while. This is the “opulent” Custom Eight version of the Packard Eight series. Powered by a 385 cubic inch straight 8 producing 106 hp. I tried a couple of times to talk to Ms Dunning but there was always a scrum around her and I backed off.
This one is a 1938 Packard 120 cabriolet with custom body by Graber in Switzerland. The little used car eventually found its way to the US, got a ground up restoration, and won first in class at Pebble Beach in 2011. While it looks black, it is a very dark green. While the 120 series was not top of the line at Packard this one off certainly is. A beautiful car and my pick as coolest car at the 2014 Santa Fe Concorso.
This sort of vestigial suggestion of a boattail was one of the great design bits on the 1938 Packard Cabriolet.
Pierce Arrow, 1907. Officially the Great Arrow model. Pierce Arrow started as a bicycle producer, they started on cars in 1900. In 1904 they changed direction to build the larger, luxurious Great Arrow, with a 3.8 liter, four cylinder engine based on a Mercedes. This 1907 Great Arrow was discovered as an apple cart in eastern Washington state and was eventually restored to original condition. The family took it on a 9600 mile coast to coast trip collecting decals from every state through which they drove. This one is at the LeMay Auto Museum in Tacoma, Washington. Well worth the trip if you are near there.
1927 Rolls Royce Phantom I Dietrich Cabriolet, on the Santa Fe Plaza, July 4, 2012. This one gets around as I found pictures of it at several widely separated car shows.
Controls of the ’27 Rolls. I’ve notice that several of the cars in this group have the instruments centered on the panel rather than right in front of the driver. Alternate RHD/LHD versions? Or was this just standard at the time? And does anybody know what is going on with the pedals? Are those little red thingys original or some after market add on? And…pre-selector gearbox?
This 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental Drophead Sedanca Coupe by H.J. Mulliner was at RM Auto Auctions, Scottsdale, AZ, 2014. Powered by a 120 bhp, OHV inline six-cylinder engine of 7.6 liters. Can you say torque? I thought so. And what the heck is a semi-expanding carburetor? Only 281 of these Phantom II Continentals were built, 125 with left hand drive. I have to wonder what kind of shenanigans acquired that plate number.