Filter

An unknown German aircooled car



An email from Christian Günzel came in. With attached this photo of a small but very crowdy 'family' car and he would like to know what it is. Quite often we receive this kind of photos, which we really enjoy. Sometimes they come with no information at all, but Christian gave us something we were a bit surprised of; the owner of the car. Namely, 'Emaillierwerke Vieweg & Förster, Penig, Saxony, Germany'. 
When we googled this name, we found a message that the company was founded on May 5th, 1903. This would mean the photo was taken after that date. But would the car be of 1903?
It looks like it is an air-cooled engine, and the license plate is visible. 
Christian thinks it is a Piccolo.
They made those little Voiturettes with air-cooled engines from 1904 until 1912. But we are not sure if they in the beginning already had a bonnet. 
Well, you know probably exactly what it is. Please, share your thoughts with us.

Enjoy your week.

If you have a good mystery photo, please send it in >click<

Publiziert:
Sonntag Juli 23rd, 2017
Unbekannt
01 August 2017, 10:20
Sometimes it takes some more time, especially in the holiday season. During the past days I finally found some time to take up this mystery and my conclusion is that it can only be a Piccolo.
First of all the protection screen in the front entrance of the bonnet has of course the typical Piccolo shape, though the bonnet itself is non-typical for the Piccolo. Still I could find a a few examples of ca 1907 with more or less similar louvres, though the bonnet was slightly longer and fitted more closely around the frontal protection screen. The steering column arrangement with the typical downward bending steering wheel spokes as well as the lever arrangement is exactly identical to that used in the Piccolo cars. The shape of the dumb irons and wheel hubs fit well, and even the body seems to be fairly identical to the period (ca 1907 to 1909) bodies fitted on the Piccolo.
Circumstantial evidence is the fact that Penig is not too far from Apolda (slightly more than 100 kms) and that the owner was an industrialist, who, besides being a client, could even have had a business-relationship with the Piccolo factory.
Though dating of the car is difficult because of lack of similar examples, my idea is that we see a transition model between the earlier model with the curved dash and the later models with the more conventional bonnet, with a likely production date of 1906 or 1907.
Weiter lesen
Unbekannt
25 Juli 2017, 11:08
Thanks for the answers. This bonnet is untypical for Piccolo. Meanwhile I think is could be NOT Piccolo. This picture is from about 1910.
Weiter lesen
Unbekannt
25 Juli 2017, 06:47
According the future shape for the radiator, I think, that is a 1905 " Wanderermobile " from Wanderer-Werke, with Two cylinder air-cooled engine.
Weiter lesen
Unbekannt
25 Juli 2017, 04:13
the radiator definitely is not from a Picolo ( they had round ones) , maybe its an early Sperber?
Weiter lesen
Unbekannt
24 Juli 2017, 07:51
Well, this is definitively a beautiful shot of an early (most probably) German car. Yet, I have my doubts, whether it's an Apollo, as Christian suggests.

Indeed, the car bears a certain resemblance to the aircooled Apollo cars that were built by the Ruppe & Sohn AG in Thuringia and were equipped with an engine cover starting from 1907.

However, the rather small air intake appears odd, as do the vertical cooling ribs (?) in front of the bulkhead. Furthermore, the car in the picture lacks the large flap on top of the engine hood that could be opened, in order to improve the airflow around the engine.

Hence, I could imagine that this picture shows a car from another German small-scale manufacturer from the pre-WW1 era, most of which have fallen in complete obscurity and are hardly documented in the automotive literature - which is a pity.
Weiter lesen
Unbekannt
24 Juli 2017, 04:08
In 1906 Piccolo got bonnet and a dummy radiator according to H. H. von Fersen.
The louvers are very characteristic for the Apolda company's products.
Weiter lesen
Unbekannt
24 Juli 2017, 00:25
It certainly looks very much like a Piccolo! I am not familiar with this type of bonnet, but a lot of details says PICCOLO. It seems to have the longer wheelbase, like the cars produced 1907-1910.
Weiter lesen

Kommentar abgeben...


Melden Sie sich an, um Ihre Reaktion direkt zu veröffentlichen

Bilder zu Ihrer Reaktion hochladen