About Quiz #410... Amilcar CGS3 plus, plus, plus... Derby radiator

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The Saturday before Xmas we gave you a nearly impossible riddle (also see more photos there) to solve.  To identify the car of Mr. Hesselman, pictured above. And to be honest we weren't too sure about it ourselves. To start we only had the word of the long time owner,  who without a nanosecond of hesitation said "Amilcar !! ". I asked him what made him so convinced as there is not too much Amilcar visible when you inspect the intriguing barnsleeper. As evidence he claimed to have visited the Amilcar works back in a distant past and he also produced a letter saying that an Amilcar he owned was invited in 1973 for the carnival parade of a nearby village. Period! Case closed..?

Alas upon closer inspection of chassis and the three seater boattail body we came to the conclusion that at least these parts are with near 100% certainty Amilcar CGS3. Also the X-crossmembers meant to carry the headlights but currently not in function are very much CGS. A few loose items scatteted in the interior also point towards Amilcar. But that's it.  The engine-gearbox assembly is  of a different origin, it is marked CHAPUIS-DORNIER, an engine that was quite popular with other cyclecar manufacturers like BNC (see recent advert).

The heavily modified front and rear axle assemblies are a chapter on their own. The front axle is identified by Craig little as Citroën B12 and we have no reason to question his claim. Several competitor say that the rear axle may be Amilcar. Possible, but at least the quarter eleiptic leaf springs have made place for an exotic homecooked half eleiptic approach. Brake drums don't look very Amilcarish either. Finally that very clear V-shaped radiator. Mentioned are Citroen,  DFP (Doriot, Flandrin & Parant), Voisin.  Your editor also considered french Derby, early BNC but we are still not convinced. Anybody who can jump in on this? 

It was obvious that Jos Cox was best in his assesment. He is right on chassis, engine and body. Congratulations Jos with this first win of the year 2016! 

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