About what is it? Quiz #466: Martini

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I'm glad the majority 'voted' for Martini, because that is of course what it is. The car is a rather unusual example of the well-known voiturette, which made its racing appearance during the Grand Prix des Voiturettes on July 6^th 1908 in Dieppe. The Martini team wasn't very successful then because none of the cars made it to the finish. A better performance was shown during the Coupe des Voiturettes in September in Compiègne, where they became second in the Coupe la Régularité (behind the winning Sizaire & Naudin team) through winning the multicylinder class, won the Coupe Grégoire for fastest multicylinder car and the Coupe Delage for a racing car closest to commercial car production. With a size of 62x90 mm and 1087 cc the engine produced 12 HP. From 1910 the engine size was increased to 1270 cc, but two years later the model disappeared from their programme. The slightly higher bonnet than the original 1908 voiturette suggests that this already could be the larger version, but I do not know that for sure.

Looking at the answers and adding up plusses and minuses I must admit it was a close finish. On the basis of my calculation, I declare Henk Visscher the winner this time with his complete and correct description in exactly 100 words. Congratulations! The other participants gathering points were Alan Spencer, Gerd Klioba, Fried Stol, Frits Hegemann and Fredi Senn.

On the press photo the successful Martini team after the Coupe des Voiturettes (from La Vie au Grand Air, 10 October 1908).

After dividing all the points, this is the current top 5:

1. Gerd Klioba

2. Henk Visscher

3. Alan Spencer

4. Luc Ryckaert

5. Fritz Hegemann

Words and photographs by Ariejan Bos.

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