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A Crossley being unloaded in the harbour of Rotterdam
Who can help us solve this mystery?
Vincent, one of our readers pointed this video, 'Rotterdam in 1925', out to us. If you forward it to 14:12 min you will see a car being unloaded from a ship. Seeing 'Crossley' written on the side of this PreWarCar, we asked Tom Fryars if he could tell us more about the car. He recently published the book 'The Rise of the Sidevalves' about the make.
Tom told us that the car is an Edwardian Crossley. The model was named the 'Shelsley' and will date from 1913 or 1914. Therefore, we are concerned that the date of 1925 may be incorrect because this type of Crossley was not sold to the public after the Great War.
He added to this, “Just three of these cars are known to survive. Cecil Bianchi the famous Crossley racing driver won at Shelsley Walsh with a 15 hp Crossley on the 22nd of June 1912. This win was celebrated by Crossley Motors by naming the successor to the 15hp, the 'Shelsley'. This was the first Crossley to be fitted with the new style of radiator. The car was a true 'sportswagen' to use period terminology, and was a light, purpose-built sports car, a contemporary of the Hispano-Suiza Alfonso, but fitted with an engine of a more modern design. The Shelsley shown in the film has the 'Crossley' script emblazoned on the bonnet, which would be unusual if it had been destined for a customer. Crossley often, but not always, fitted their own bodies to Shelsleys. So this particular Shelsley chassis remains a mystery. If only we could read the label attached to the radiator.”
This helps us a little further, although there are still a lot of unanswered questions… Is there anyone who knows more about the particular Crossley in the video? We would love to find out if it is maybe still around.
Publiziert:
Montag November 23rd, 2020
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Kommentare
Tom Fryars
23 November 2020, 21:14
Quite right, if the Crossley had front brakes it could have been built between 1909 and 1912 or after the introduction of four wheel brakes in the early twenties.
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Mike Clark
23 November 2020, 21:06
What a superb film - with due respect to the Crossley - the ships are also amazing!
Mike
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Mike
Philip Lucking
23 November 2020, 16:16
What a wonderful period film !
The Shelsley was a true sports car of the period in the same catagory as the Hispano Suiza Alfonso. The "V" radiator which Crossley became known for was introduced for the first time on this model only. The influence came from German manufactured Grand prix and sporting cars cars, prior to 1913. Harold Lambert (Brother of Percy, 100 miles in the hour fame) also raced and prepared 15Hp Crossley cars (As well as other makes such as Mercedes & Bugatti) at Brooklands and was a cutting edge coachwork designer for Crossley motors. Based in 1913 at Jarrotts and Letts London, he created the "Sporting" Shelsley 2 and 4 seater models. In 1914 he also designed the 25/30 "Trout" nosed car (Based on the larger 20/25 model ) but due to the start of the First World War, this was not advertised until 1916 and finally put in production late 1918 for the 1919 season, initially using up unused chassis stock from war production.
The Shelsley model was also adapted during the War period in small numbers as "Fast" ambulances ! The car in the film is very likely to be a Show chassis, either for a dealers show room or an exhibition. The hanging sign could well be a trade plate. Crossley tested all of their finished products on the road prior to chassis numbers being assigned to each vehicle. So driving a bare chassis was quite normal for the works. The most likely date for this chassis in the film and judging by the hats being worn was circa 1913 to early 1914, and less likely to be in the 20's.
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The Shelsley was a true sports car of the period in the same catagory as the Hispano Suiza Alfonso. The "V" radiator which Crossley became known for was introduced for the first time on this model only. The influence came from German manufactured Grand prix and sporting cars cars, prior to 1913. Harold Lambert (Brother of Percy, 100 miles in the hour fame) also raced and prepared 15Hp Crossley cars (As well as other makes such as Mercedes & Bugatti) at Brooklands and was a cutting edge coachwork designer for Crossley motors. Based in 1913 at Jarrotts and Letts London, he created the "Sporting" Shelsley 2 and 4 seater models. In 1914 he also designed the 25/30 "Trout" nosed car (Based on the larger 20/25 model ) but due to the start of the First World War, this was not advertised until 1916 and finally put in production late 1918 for the 1919 season, initially using up unused chassis stock from war production.
The Shelsley model was also adapted during the War period in small numbers as "Fast" ambulances ! The car in the film is very likely to be a Show chassis, either for a dealers show room or an exhibition. The hanging sign could well be a trade plate. Crossley tested all of their finished products on the road prior to chassis numbers being assigned to each vehicle. So driving a bare chassis was quite normal for the works. The most likely date for this chassis in the film and judging by the hats being worn was circa 1913 to early 1914, and less likely to be in the 20's.
David GREEN
23 November 2020, 13:48
The ship appears to be the 'Lacock Abbey' but I can find no record of it anywhere. The car has no front-wheel brakes, entirely consistent with the suggested date.
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