Every now and then a car like this pristine 1935 Amilcar Type G36 Boattail Roadster comes up for auction with an estimated hammer price below the value of my house. This causes no small amount of consternation for me as I begin the process of convincing the 6 year old boy who still lives…
Facel Vega was a French automobile manufacturer that lived from 1954 till 1964, despite this relatively short lifespan it had significant influence on automotive design throughout the era and beyond, with many of the company’s styling queues appearing on cars from other marques in the years after it shutdown. The model you see here is…
This 1936 Delahaye 135 S is one of only sixteen ever made and one of only seven to survive to the modern day, the “S” suffix denoted the sporting credentials of the 135 and stood for either “Special” or “Surbaissé” depending on who you talk to, what mood they’re in and the current phase of…
This 1927 Amilcar CGSS represents remarkable value in the currently skyrocketing vintage car market, sometimes referred to as the “poor man’s Bugatti” the Amilcar CGS and CGSS were exceedingly popular sports and racing cars during the 1920s and early 30s. An Amilcar CGS won the world’s first 24 hour endurance race (the Bol d’Or) and…
France’s Laguiole region has been renowned for its excellence in elegant knife making for centuries, each blade is handmade and features the signature Napoleonic bee decoration on its spine. Made from 440 stainless steel and with a blade length of 7cm (2.75 inches), these are ideal everyday-carry pocketknives for those who live in countries with…
This new BMW Custom by Blitz Motorcycles has been called the “French Bobber” and very much in the style of the team at Blitz – it looks like something that’ll make the purists wail, gnash their teeth and don garments of sackcloth. Interestingly, the bike started life as 3 separate motorcycles – a BMW R80/7,…
The somewhat lengthily named 1936 Delahaye Type 135 Competition Court Teardrop Coupé by Carrosserie Figoni et Falaschi is one of my favourite examples of automotive design from Giuseppe Figoni (also known as Joseph Figoni), a man who’s prowess as a coach builder flourished once it was joined with the business acumen of fellow Italian and…
Blitz Motorcycles is a French custom motorcycle garage that has the fascinating ability to completely polarise the people who see their bikes into two distinct camps. On the right you have the people who think that the bikes don’t look shiny enough, don’t have enough chrome and don’t look much like the always-polished-rarely-ridden bikes we…
This bike is a Harley-Davidson Sportster custom by Art of Racer, it’s based on a 1991 Sportster though the only parts of the original bike are the engine, transmission and carburettor. That rather unique looking frame, modified springer front-end, suicide clutch, saddle, handlebars, rear fender and fuel tank are all custom creations.
Personally, I think the 1930 Dollar 350cc S3 pictured above and below is one of the most handsome motorcycles from the early ’30s, the attention to detail is phenomenal and that engine/exhaust/carburettor set up is just beautiful.
Monet-Goyon started life in 1916 as an un-powered tricycle manufacturer for disabled servicemen injured in WWI, by 1919 they were building in-wheel powered motorcycles.
This photograph is from the film “The Girl on a Motorcycle”, a 1968 British-French film starring Alain Delon and Marianne Faithfull.
