(Most) Voisins make me smile -- they're like caricatures, or practical jokes. I have to imagine giggling Frenchmen putting the pieces together.
Yup, and I can hear them saying: "just wait until they see this big industrial bird radiator cap".......
Hey Tony, Gabriel Voisin has kinda always reminded me of a french Ed Roth! Kinda out there, and big on things aeronautical, he once built a vehicle who's waterpump was powered by a propeller! I think he was big on sleeve valve engines, too. Hey, The raditor caps on Voisins do look like the efforts of some juinor highschool kids' metal shop project, but than I'm told that the ''flying bird'' on Duesenberg radiator caps was created by soldering two pieces of br*** together, sawing out the wings, letting in the grooves, then plating them. The Islero has to be my all time favorite Lambo, but no where near as swoopy as a 350/400! " Beware the irrational however seductive "
1960 Jaguar E2A Prototype....... '67 Jag E-Type vintage racer....(build cost $200K, winning bid $98K).
Here's some more 1937 Kurtiss Tommy Lee Specials. Swoopy, Yes but also an extra cool factor with an Offy engine, HAMB friendly? I think so.
Some freakin' amazing cars have been posted here so far. But yesterday I visited the Simeone Museum in Philadelphia and saw some really swoopy cars in person. Here are some I saw. Cool, huh?
It would be interesting, if someone had the time, to go through the 344 posts on this thread so far and tabulate the number of pictures of 'swoopy cars' posted so far that are American vs. the number that are European.
Fat lady hasn't sung yet, but gotta give this thread CPR. Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 Aerodynamica Spyder...... I'm trying to like this, school is still out..... 1957 Maserati 450S Costin-Zagato Coupe.....
I'm surprised that after skimming through the whole list I never spotted an Alfa Romeo Sprint Speciale in the bunch. Here's a nice example of one.
Remove the suggestions of Mercedes 300SLR and Jaguar D-type, and you've got a Marcos. Frank Costin must have had that shape in his head for a while by then.
I must confess that many of the European cars posted here are beautifully swoopy. But to even the score, here's a few swoopy American customs I've seen around Pennsylvania.
You may already have heard this story, but here goes -- Costin designed this car for Moss to drive at Le Mans. Zagato was selected to build it, but apparently thought that Costin didn't know what he was doing, and built a very different body than what Frank had specified. He was very upset about it, and Moss hated the car -- said it was one of the worst cars he had ever driven. At some point during this car's history, it was cut in half crosswise and changed in length -- I think it was lengthened for a new owner, since Moss wasn't very tall. It was later restored, and was cut up again and reverted to its original length. Rick, Rick... have some coffee. That's not a Lusso, it's a 250 SWB Berlinetta. I think they shared the same ch***is and basic running gear, but were completely different bodies. The Lusso was a touring car (hence the name) and the SWB was a comp car. Both cool, of course. I don't get that at all. Frank designed both cars, yes, but I don't see any similarity between their shapes (well, they're both fastback coupes with covered headlights. Otherwise...). Interesting that the Maserati, the Marcos, and the Lotus were all Costin designs. Take your pick..... Thanks for evening the score a bit!
Tony, have some decaf .....this was my source on the Ferrari 250 SWB: the 1960 Geneva Motor Show, Ferrari introduced a touring version of their potent SWB race [COLOR=#009600! important][COLOR=#009600! important]car[/COLOR][/COLOR] and many owners could then buy near-copies of the cars they saw on the tracks for weekend drives. Ferrari underlined performance potential of these cars by giving them all odd-numbered ch***is numbers which were typically reserved for compe***ion cars. The SWB was the first Berlinetta body that was suitable for production on the 2400mm short-wheel-base ch***is. Sergio Pininfarina called it the first of our three quantum leaps in design with Ferrari. Ferrari offered the SWB in distinct specification which would be suited for for the demands of the racetrack, highway or sometimes both. Cars varied to suit individual customers requirements. Some of the very fastest models were called compe***zione and used lightweight aluminum-alloy bodies, while the lusso road-going version had a fully trimmed interior, softer springing and steel body. The engine was a version of the Ferrari V12 used on earlier 250 GTs, but for 1959 it used the 'outside plug' cylinder head with 12 intake ports. Generally this produced 250 to 280 bhp depending on state of tune. Early versions had drum brakes while Dunlop discs were used to the model in 1960. Like these early 250 GTs, the SWB enjoyed a string of success on the track which led to continual development that culminated with the 250 GTO. Right before the GTO was released, Ferrari was preparing SWBs with very light-gauge aluminum and near 300-horsepower engines for exclusive factory use. Known as the SEFAC hotrods, these were the ultimate derivative of the SWB before being replaced by the much more aerodynamically efficient GTO. Sources & Further Reading 1. Anselmi, Angelo et. al. Making a Difference, Le Edizioni Dell Opificio: 2006.
Well, I apologize. From the foregoing, it appears that the SWB was called a "compe***zione" if it was alloy-bodied, and "lusso" if it was steel bodied. I have never previously heard the term "lusso" used to describe any SWB, although I think it just means "luxurious" in Italian. Obviously you're aware that there was a 250GT model CALLED a Lusso, as you showed it correctly identified in an earlier post: Small wonder that there are Tifosi who spend their time debating Ferrari minutiae. Live and Learn.
This thread is chock full of swoop and like 50% of the pics are from Pebble, proving once again that Pebble is the greatest car show on earth !
That was sick this is one of my favorite threads on the hamb I love it, pure *** on wheels. Many of my all time favorite cars in this thread.
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