Some new announcements from Autocult (with a little background)...
1939 Mercury Paragon
When the name Albrecht Graf von Goertz is mentioned, most car enthusiasts immediately think of the beautiful BMW 507, with which he created a milestone in global vehicle construction.
But until this was the case, the nobleman went through some professional stations in his life. He designed his first vehicle as early as 1939.
At the time, he had his ideas implemented in original size at Francis Griffen’s small workshop in Glendale, California. The redesigned sheet metal car body was put over the chassis of a Mercury. The then 25-year-old Albrecht Graf von Goertz created a two-door car with strongly pronounced fenders, integrating the front of a Mercury and using the rear ones of a Lincoln. Also from the Mercury are the two headlights on the front fenders. He affectionately gave his creation the name “Paragon”.
The lines were characterized above all by strong curves – as well as on the fenders as on the semicircular, elongated roof.
Albrecht Graf von Goertz had never commented on his unique piece – not even later on – so it is not certain what purpose he wanted to achieve with this design. However, the idea that he wanted to launch his Paragon in a series should not have been far-fetched. It was not for nothing that he campaigned to exhibit his car at the San Francisco World’s Fair in 1939. However, the entry of the USA into the Second World War prevented further planning, as he had to enter the military service as a naturalized citizen of the USA.
1926 Renault Type LO Camion Pompier
It was throughout the 1920s in which numerous fire brigades discovered the motorized vehicles for themselves and continuously replaced the horse-drawn carriages that had been used until then. This was just as true in Germany as it was in France. At that time, however, there were only a few companies that specialized in the requirements and wishes of fire departments.
First and foremost, niche suppliers conquered a new group of buyers, but of the larger plants, the Renault plant also decided to serve this clientele.
It was company boss Louis Renault himself who took care of the needs of the public administration and also became aware of the demand of the fire brigades for modern means of transport for firefighting.
As the LO model, Renault offered its fire truck as standard in the range of products.
As it was customary at the time, Renault designed the body of its fire engine with no doors and no roof. Four men took a seat on a spartan double bench seat made of wooden strips arranged parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, while the driver and front passenger sat relatively comfortably on an upholstered bench seat as usual.
These seats took up a lot of space, which meant that the necessary extinguishing utensils had to be distributed elsewhere. The drum with the hose was mounted at the rear end – as it was still the case many years later. For the fixed hose pieces, on the other hand, the Renault technicians found a clever solution – they were fitted along the long-drawn-out front fenders.
And in their Avenue43 series, the 1956 Chevrolet Corvette Impala XP-101 in two color options:
And finally, a teaser for the model of the year with a digital book (a nice enhancement).
