1st Concours d'élégance Paleis Het Loo 1999

The "speedster" name for a 2-seater sports car with a streamlined body shape ending in a boat tail rear will mainly be associated with the Auburn marque by the lovers of classic American cars. Auburn, under the strict guidance of the illustrious E.L. Cord, managed to produce a series of high quality, luxurious and attractive cars from the late 1920s on through the first half of the 1930s. Most famous of all became the Speedster models: stylish and sporty cars, powerful with high top speeds guaranteed.
The 1929 Auburn 8-120 Speedster model shown here is one of the first range of Speedsters built from 1928 to 1929. This version was later surpassed by what's now a true icon: the 1935/36 model 851/2 Supercharged Eight boattail speedster.
Nevertheless this model is impressive too. It was very popular in its day and for a luxurious quality car relatively affordable, which resulted in sales figures well beyond 2,000 cars. It had a 4 litre, 8-cylinder inline engine that produced up to 125 hp and was built by Lycoming, also part of the Cord empire.

Things looked very bright for Auburn at the start of the 1930s; sales were on the rise and profits were good. But pretty soon all this turned around. The economic crisis hit Auburn hard, and combined with some bad model policy decisions this lead to the demise of this once great marque in 1937.
The model that should have saved Auburn appeared in 1935 and was named 851. It was available in a wide range of body types and trim levels with sleek and elegant styling by Gordon Buehrig, while the new straight 8-cylinder engines were designed by August Duesenberg in conjunction with Lycoming. Although these cars were appealing and offered much value for money, the Auburn management was in disarray and the Cord empire crumbling. All this confusion overshadowed the quality of these cars and no profit was made. The series continued in 1936 as the 852 range and then the company folded, with 7,160 cars registered between 1935 and 1937.
The 851 5-person phaeton sedan on the picture shows you the extravert beauty of these cars. Engine is a 8-cylinder unit with a displacement of 4586 cc and 115 hp (150 hp with supercharger).

What would a concours be without Bentleys? For many people they define classic English motoring. This 4.5 litre model with conservative open tourer bodywork fits this description well.
The car might look dull and bulky now, but it was remarkably potent and a feared competitor on the racing track in its heyday. The 4.5 litre model derived from the 3 litre model, Bentleys first production car. It had a big 4-cylinder 4398 cc engine, producing 100 hp @ 3500 rpm. This well engineered machine featured overhead camshafts and double SU carburetors. The model was produced from 1927 to 1931 and won a number of famous races like the Brooklands 500 miles race in 1927 at an average speed of 170 kph.
Most famous of all 4.5 litre models was the supercharged version ("Blower Bentley") which saw a limited production in 1929, much to the dislike of W.O. Bentley himself. A big Rootes compressor was fitted up front which boosted the power output to 175 hp @ 3500, unfortunately at the cost of reliability.

Another famous Bentley is the Speed Six, here with stylish drophead coupé bodywork. The Speed Six models replaced the original 3 litre models on the track in 1926, where the Speed Sixes were the sporting form of the similar 6.5 litre models.
Bentley Speed Sixes won the Le Mans 24 hour race in 1929 and 1930 and were produced up to 1931. These big cars were powered by equally big 6-cylinder inline engines with 6597 cc displacement and up to 180 hp @ 3500 rpm (147 hp @ 3000 rpm for the standard 6.5 litre models). About 373 Speed Sixes have been produced of which a large number have survived to this day, thanks to the high standard of engineering of these cars.

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