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Tampa Bay Automobile Museum - Part 2




PART 2 OF THE TAMPA BAY AUTOMOBILE MUSEUM






WILLYS KNIGHT MODEL 56 

Seemingly out of place in this collection,  this 1928 Willys Knight was purchased by the Cerf family because it introduced the sleeve engine.  Gear heads will know what that is, but damned if I do.  Apparently it was somewhat innovative and the engines were durable.  Manufactured in Toledo, the WK stopped making luxury cars in 1932 and began making the inexpensive Willys marque.  I didn't spend a lot of time on this one since you can find them sometimes at car shows, and my focus today was on the rare ones I have never seen, or heard of before.  



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                         1955 CLAVEAU 56










Built by Emile Claveau for the Paris Auto Show in 1956, this little prototype was exhibited and never tested.  In fact, Claveau never even installed a gas tank.  A French collector found it in a salvage yard and was purchased by the museum.  A gas tank was installed and if you follow the link below will find a video with it running around the Museum block.  This was the only car they made.  50 years after it was exhibited it finally got its tank and was on the road.


Click Here for Information on Emile Claveau and his Prototypes
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HANOMAG KOMISSBROT







The German Komissbrot was an attempt to design and make an affordable "people's car" which Volkswagen would succeed in doing a a few years later.  Komisbrot is "military bread" and the design of the Komissbrot resembled it, so the name stuck.  Hanomag was a manufacturers of steam locomotives, trucks and tractors, and the car area never made them much money.  By the way, Hanomag through the years merged and became the early seed to the current Komatsu company. 

It was one of the first cars to get rid of the running board and to integrate the fenders into the car body.  This would be referred to as "envelope style" of design, that exists today.  As you can also see, it was a rear-engine car and chain driven.  Looks to me like VW copied a lot of this car to come up with its "Bug".


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1924 AVION VOISIN C7 CHASTNESS












One of my top 5 favorites, this hulking beast is elegant class.  Starting from the almost comically huge hood ornament, to the klaxon horn sticking out of the coach area, to the oversized luggage compartments on either side on the running boards, this car is simply stunning.  The coach is made of wood and the roof has been covered by leather.  It looks like a tank, and notice the rhomboid lines of the coach area.   I love this one.  

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