crystal radios in WWII

To Paris with Portfolio: Gijsbert-Paul Berk

June 30, 2020 By pete

I was great a fan of Bugattis. This was one of the reasons why I designed this Coupé de Ville body for a Type 57 chassis. Of course I was inspired by the prewar designs of Jean Bugatti but tried to give the car a more modern appearance. I used the horse- shoe symbol not only as a fake radiator for the cooling intake but also as headlight covers. I did send a photocopy of these drawings to Monsieur Pierre Marco, then the Managing Director of Bugatti. However I never got a reply. [Note that the headlight arrangement bore a striking resemblance to the last Saoutchik to be produced, the Pegaso SIII. Ed.]

By Gijsbert-Paul Berk
Photos and drawings courtesy Author unless otherwise noted

From the Archives, November 2014

Read Part 1

As related in Part 1, I wanted to work as am automotive designer, and became very interested in Bugattis. In fact I had the chance to restore such a car. In 1949 one of my friends discovered in the port of Rotterdam a Bugatti type 40 roadster with a Bordino type or boat tail factory body. [Read more…] about To Paris with Portfolio: Gijsbert-Paul Berk

A Past Recalled: Gijsbert-Paul Berk

June 23, 2020 By pete

We asked Gijsbert-Paul Berk to tell us about his visits to Saoutchik and Franay in the early 1950s, as mentioned in Peter Larsen’s three volume book on Saoutchik. One question led to another and soon we had a very interesting article about a very special man.

From the Archives, November 2014

Story by Gijsbert-Paul Berk

Thank goodness for Sir Peter Ustinov. The versatile British actor was known to many car buffs of previous generations, even those with little theatrical interests, thanks to his hilarious Riverside recording of the Gibraltar Grand Prix and other records. However only intimates were aware that Ustinov himself was a lifelong car enthusiast with a penchant for classic automobiles and sports cars. [Read more…] about A Past Recalled: Gijsbert-Paul Berk

Gijsbert-Paul Berk Remembers

November 18, 2014 By pete

This rendering for an open sports roadster on a Delahaye 135 MS chassis I made for my interview with the coachbuilder Pennock in The Hague, who worked for the Dutch distributor of the French make. I admit that the nose was inspired by that of the Jaguar XK 120. Because I knew that this car was well liked by Americans, a potential export market for such a car. But the crease in the wing line was an adaptation of that on the mudguards of the very classic Pennock convertibles, originally designed by Chapron..

We asked Gijsbert-Paul Berk to expound upon his visits to Saoutchik and Franay in the early 1950s as mentioned in Peter Larsen’s 3 volume book on Saoutchik. How did that come about? One question led to another, And of course, like many of us, we find that his love of cars started when he was very, very young. Unlike most of us, however, as boy he built his own radios and hid them in books. Read on.

Yes, he’s quite mad, we are sure of it…

Thank goodness for Sir Peter Ustinov. The versatile British actor is known to many car buffs of previous generations, even those with little theatrical interests, thanks to his hilarious Riverside recording of the Gibraltar Grand Prix and other records*. However only intimates were aware that Ustinov himself was a lifelong car enthusiast with a penchant for classic automobiles and sports cars. In his endearing biography Dear Me, Ustinov reveals that as a young boy he honestly believed that he was a car. “I was an Amilcar,” he wrote. There are probably a number of subscribers to VeloceToday who recognize such a mental aberration from their own childhood; I, for one, found Ustinov’s admission very reassuring, because I remember going to school, always running and making brumm, brumm sounds, like changing into a lower gear for each street corner. Most adults along the route looked at me with bewilderment, certain that this small boy was quite mad.