One of the world’s leading classic car exhibitions, Retromobile, continues in Paris this week where Fiskens’ impressive stand has been home to ten significant historic automobiles. And while the number of 1950’s sport racers and 1960’s GTs often prove most recognisable, it’s the diversity of cars on display which has made this year’s stand so striking.
The trio of British pre-war cars on show prove the point, with an Invicta 4.5 Litre Low Chassis S-Type, Lagonda LG45 Rapide and Alvis 4.3 Litre Short Chassis Vanden Plas Tourer – not to mention an extremely rare Squire – catching the eye amongst their more ‘modern’ racing counterparts.
The oldest car on display with Fiskens is the Invicta 4.5 Litre Low Chassis S-Type (chassis S42) which garnered a reputation as one of the great pre-war sportscars that challenged other more established marques with its innovation and design.
A pioneering thoroughbred chassis that was under slung at the rear and swept up over the front axle, along with the powerful 4.5 Litre Meadows engine, made the Invicta a highly capable racer which achieved success across Europe in the hands of Raymond Mays and Sammy Davis. Indeed, Donald Healey was the outright winner of the 1931 Monte Carlo Rally in his Low Chassis S-Type.
Delivered in 1931, S42 (also known as ‘Sandstone’) was owned by the legendary Sound of Music actor Christopher Plummer and later, in the 1950s, competed at the Prescott Hill Climb. The original Carbodies bodywork and interior were restored in the late 1990s while the engine was subsequently refurbished for the present owner.
Another of the cars on display to share a racing heritage is the Lagonda. After their victory at Le Mans in 1935, the British marque was keen to transfer the lessons learned into their road cars. The acclaimed Rapide, amongst the world’s fastest four-seaters of its time, was the result.
Built in 1937, chassis 12203/G10S was the 12th of only 25 LG45s. Still maintaining its original body, the car underwent a complete restoration in the early 1990s and has more recently been maintained by DLG Coachworks, as well as having competed in a retrospective Mille Miglia.
If the Lagonda was one of the fastest cars of its day, the particularly rare Alvis 4.3 Litre Short Chassis Vanden Plas Tourer from 1937 was amongst the most beautiful.
The rakishly elegant four seater incorporated a fold-flat windscreen, encased spare wheel, sloping tail, louvred bonnet sides and cut-away doors, the body cleverly punctuated by a belt line that emphasised its low build and delightful stepped edges to all four wings.
While most owners restricted their Alvis’ use to the road, this particular example – DHP 233 – bucked the trend by competing in the 1938 Light Car Club Three Hour race for sportscars over the Campbell Circuit at Brooklands in the hands of George Hartwell and R.S Newton.
With only four owners from new and having not been offered for sale since 1983, this Alvis is an excellent example of a very sought after model with a most interesting history. It has long been held that just twelve Alvis 4.3 Litre Short Chassis Vanden Plas Tourers were built and supplied, with only eleven known to have survived to this day.
Visit the Fiskens stand, no.J58, from 2-6 February.
Retromobile Opening times:Saturday 5 February: 10h - 19hSunday 6 February: 10h - 19h
