Filling up your Amilcar

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Aren't these just the photographs to induce an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia, even if we weren't alive when they were taken? Empty roads, a bright, sunny day and a pretty village garage are three things which combine to make the perfect conditions for motoring. Give us unspoilt roads, a bit of sunshine and a pre-war car and we'll be very happy indeed, and especially so if the car in question is something like this 1928 Amilcar CGS.

We're not Amilcar experts, but we're familiar enough with the marque to have a reasonably good idea of what it'll be like to drive - light, lively, responsive and a lot of fun. We've no doubt that, shortly after these pictures were taken, the owner sped off in a cloud of dust with an irrepressible grin spread across their face.

This photograph is slightly unusual because we see the Amilcar not in its native France, but somewhere in England, where it was sold new. The PX number plate denotes a West Sussex registration, although it could be anywhere in the country. It's hard to know exactly when the picture was taken, too. It could have been taken on the day the Amilcar was bought, or it might date from 30 years later, by which time it could have been on its eighth owner. We'd expect it to be looking a little scruffy after 30 years, though, but it seems to be in pretty fine fettle.

Supposing it did spend all its early life in West Sussex, we can scarcely think of better territory for a sporting voiturette than the South Downs, with all its undulating hills. If this is a post-war photograph, it might even be that the Amilcar and its occupants are on their way to catch one of the first races at R.A.F. Westhampnett, a.k.a. the new Goodwood Motor Circuit.

We believe this car still survives, although it hasn't been on British roads for 25 years, so we're sure somebody out there knows a bit about its history. We might also ask, where is it now?

Words: Zack Stiling; photograph: Tim Harding Collection
 

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