Category Archives: Shows and Museums

Geneva International Motor Show 2024

By Fabrizio Panico

Text and photographs copyright of the Author(s) unless otherwise stated.

Here are a few photographs that I took recently at this year’s Geneva Motor Show.  It was a ‘weak’ show with only Renault and a few Chinese brands attending in addition to old car displays and hypercar displays. Perhaps not worth the cost of a flight, but I was curious to see the Palexpo again as were 168,000 visitors to the show.

Here in alphabetical order are some of the displays that caught my eye:

AlfaRomeo-Montreal-1970

AstonMartin-Valkyrie-2021

Bentley 4,5 litre tourer Le Mans 1927

BMW Isetta 600 1958

Bugatti type 41 Royale roadster Esders recreation 1930 built 1990

Ferrari 296 GT3 2022

Ford USA Mustang Shelby GT350 1965

Jaguar XK120 coupé‚ 1951

Kimera Evo 38

Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo Gr5 1980

Lucid Sapphire

Maybach Zeppelin DS8 1934

MG K3 1933 (3)

Peugeot 203 Commerciale 1950

PicPic M IV limousine 1914

Renault 5

Renault Matra Espace Williams F1 1984
Voisin C25 Aerodyne 1934

A rather eye catching display

Set of Dacia models available from Dacia Dealers

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Egeskov Castle – NSU 1962

By Eugen Pedersen

Text and photographs copyright of the Author(s) unless otherwise stated.

This appears to be an NSU Prima Scooter. NSU made scooters which were based on Lambretta technology licenced from 1951 onwards. Like their motorbikes their scooters were finished to a high standard.

NSU ceased making scooters in the early 1960s as their car division was growing with the success of the Prinz.

Author’s photograph

Period advert for NSU Prima from ebay sales posting

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Egeskov Castle – 1962 Lambretta

By Eugen Pedersen

Text and photographs copyright of the Author(s) unless otherwise stated.

Lambretta Scooters like the one pictured were made in Milan by the Innocenti company.  The original designer retained by Innocenti to design a practical lightweight machine suited to be driven by men and women was D’Ascanio, an aeronautical designer, but he fell out with Innocenti over the chassis design. Innocenti wanted steel tubing produced by his factories to be used and D’Ascanio wanted to use a pressed steel backbone. The upshot was that D’Ascanio walked out and went to Piaggio where he designed the Vespa.

In the meantime Innocenti retained two other aeronautical designers Cesare Pallavicino who worked on the scooter’s design and Pier Luigi Torre who was responsible for the engine and organising the mass production. The Lambretta went on to sell well worldwide and in 1972 an Indian Company took over all production rights and made and sold scooters until the late 1990s. Today a new Innocenti company based in Switzerland has taken the rights to the Lambretta name back. The new Lambrettas are a totally new design created in Switzerland to meet modern emissions and safety standards but built in Thailand.

The Lambretta in the Castle’s collection is in a lovely condition and looks ‘showroom fresh’.

Author’s Photographs

Period Advert for the Lambretta associating it with an upmarket Fiat Coupe and travelling by Jet

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Egeskov Castle – 1962 Isetta

By Eugen Pedersen

Text and photographs copyright of the Author(s) unless otherwise stated.

Two BMW Isettas grace this collection both looking almost new. The white one is stated as being made in 1962 which was the last year that BMW made the Isetta having made over 160,000 of them from 1955 onwards. It was replaced by the more conventional 700 in their range. The BMW Isetta was derived from the Italian ISO model but BMW re-engineered it so heavily there are no interchangeable parts between the ISO and the Isetta.

BMW used a 250cc single cylinder four stroke engine of their own design to power this car

The Author’s Photographs

Image of original publicity material from BMW.com website

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Egeskov Castle – 1962 Humber Hawk

By Eugen Pedersen

Text and photographs copyright of the Author(s) unless otherwise stated.

Tucked away amongst other unrestored cars is this Humber Hawk which was Rootes Brothers luxury car competing in the executive market and one step below the range topping Humber Super Snipe. By the time this car was produced the Hawk had disk brakes and the 2.2 litre four cylinder inline engine driving the rear wheels through either a column mounted manual or automatic gearbox.

The Author’s Photograph

Stylish period brochure page as shown by eBay vendor. The Rootes Brothers advertising frequently made the cars look lower, wider and longer than they were in the metal as they do for the Hawk above.

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Egeskov Castle – 1956/57 Fiat TV (Updated)

By Eugen Pedersen

Text and photographs copyright of the Author(s) unless otherwise stated.

Editor’s Note: It would appear that the date ascribed to the car in the Museum is in error and consequently this article has been re-written. Fabrizio Panico tells us that this is a ‘Fiat 1100 TV trasformabile (from 1955-1957) and not a 1500. It is a quite rare car, only 571 were built, but it’s design and assembly was from the “Carrozzerie Speciali” section of Fiat, not Pininfarina.  In 1957 it was replaced by the 1200 trasformabile with a slightly different front bumper. In 1959 a completely new 1200 cabriolet was presented by Pininfarina‘.

This Fiat 1100 TV sits unrestored in the museum collection with it’s red paint matt and far from shiny.


Author’s Photograph

Period advert of the 1100TV

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Retromobile 2024

By Fabrizio Panico

Text and photographs copyright of the Author(s) unless otherwise stated.

Here a few pictures from my visit to Retromobile held in Paris. As usual side-by-side with the Retromobile Show there were several auctions of vehicles: Bonhams, RM Sotheby’s, Artcurial and Osenat.

Retromobile itself was a delight. Lots of things to see. From the MG Centenary display to Renault’s ring of record cars around a Caudron Rafale airplane, from the Montlhery Autodrome show to the Club des Teuf-Teuf showing pre-Great War Renaults, the Skoda array of prewar Superbs, the Paris-Dakar rally cars, the National Automobile Museums display and so on. Sadly, Stellantis was conspicuous by its absence this year.

There were also lots of scale models, automobilia, publications, military vehicles, motorcycles etc. Surely an event not to be missed, I hope to be there in 2025!

Bentley Speed 8 LeMans 2003

Berliet VRD19 1934

Bond Bug 700ES 1970

Buckle Motors Goggomobil Dart 400 Sports 1960

Caudron Renault Rafale C460 1934

Maserati DOMO

SuberFactory AutoUnion

DinkyToys

Fiat 1100 E coupe Vignale 1953

Leyland Thomas number one 1922 recreation 1992

Ligier JS2 GT 1973

Lorraine Dietrich type VHH 1910

Lotus Eleven 1957

Maserati type 26 1928

MG B GT sectioned 1965

MG EX 135 record car 1934 1937

MG EX 181 record 1957

Peugeot 404 coupe‚ record diesel 1965

Renault AK90 Grand Prix 1906 recreation

Renault type BK torpedo 1911

Skoda Superb 1936

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Egeskov Castle – 1962 Bedford

By Eugen Pedersen

Text and photographs copyright of the Author(s) unless otherwise stated.

A Bedford TJ truck can be found at the museum. This normal control truck was introduced in 1958 and was especially popular as an export outside the UK. In the UK the forward control TK was much more commonly seen.

The TJ was powered by a range of petrol and diesel engines including the straight six petrol engine also seen in the Vauxhall Cresta.

Here the TJ is clearly an export market vehicle as it is left hand drive and it is fitted with a variety of items never seen on the UK roads like the indicators extending from the cab doors and the width marker posts extending up the front wings.


The Author’s photograph

1965 Bedford Truck Brochure cover – from transpress.nz website

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Egeskov Castle – 1960 Fiat 500 Furgoncino

By Eugen Pedersen

Text and photographs copyright of the Author(s) unless otherwise stated.

This Fiat 500 van is in lovely condition. Small but very useful for deliveries in crowded old cities. It was powered by the standard twin cylinder engine of just under 500cc. The van was based on the Giardiniera estate car with panelled in rear windows and no rear seats.


The Author’s photographs

Another van in preservation – from the 500FORUM.de website

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Egeskov Castle – 1960 Cadillac

By Eugen Pedersen

This Cadillac Coupe from 1960 is a later model from the first generation of the 62 series. All 1960 Cadillacs had smoother, more restrained styling. This included a full-width grille, the elimination of pointed front bumper guards, Less chrome trim, lower tailfins with oval shaped nacelles and front bumper mounted indicator lamps.

The Author’s Photographs

Period Brochure entry for the Coupe from Free Car Brochures on the Internet

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