You likely know the France marque Delahaye for producing some of the most achingly beautiful automobiles of the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s, but did you know that they also built their own interpretation of the Jeep for the French Military?
The VLRD (Véhicule Léger de Reconnaissance (Delahaye)) was introduced in 1951 as a locally-produced option to the American Jeep. Sadly for the financially strapped company, the 2-litre VLRD was considered too complicated and expensive and the French Government transferred the contract for their supply to the competing marque Hotchkiss. Delahaye and Hotchkiss would merge a few years later, and the whole baguette would later be sold to a company called Brandt, which sealed the death knell for each.
Last Call indicates the end of Hooniverse’s broadcast day. It’s meant to be an open forum for anyone and anything. Thread jacking is not only accepted, it’s encouraged.
Image: i1os
Last Call: Dela-Who? Edition
About
-
Okay, so my family at one point in time owned a 2001 PT Cruiser with a stick shift, sunroof, and leather-and-suede seats. It is a car that I still miss dearly; it was the closest thing we had to a luxury car, and it was the car that my dad used to teach me to drive stick.
So guess what Mr. Regular reviewed today?
Strap in everybody, it’s 17 minutes long and half of it is literary theory. WILDCARD, BITCHES! YEE-HAW!-
i love RCR! they did an A32 Maxima last week. one of those was my first car, a beige 97 SE with a 5-speed, and gosh did that video make me want another. even when Mr Regular is just so-so on a car, it’s rare that i don’t feel some sort of fondness for the car when he’s done.
this PT Cruiser review was a particularly good one. RCR at its best.
-
-
Only the French could give a Jeep such a hang-dog expression.
-
Just look at their dogs!
http://thehappypuppysite.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/french-bulldog-modern.jpg -
…and a very robust reverse gear?
-
-
Mechanical complexity also made the Italian government switch from the Alfa Romeo Matta to the Fiat Campagnola.
Here’s a Matta snow cat to blow your mind.
http://www.registroalfaromeomatta.it/foto/Mattisti/rotoramp1.jpg-
Where did it go wrong that the European copies managed to be too mechanically complicated? The Russian inspirational copy is still being made, even though they had announced to seize production last year.
http://bright-cars.com/uploads/uaz/uaz-469/uaz-469-03.jpg-
They’re not ceasing production, it’s being rebranded as “Spintires augmented reality version.”
Sure beats Pokemon Go-
They’re targeting a higher death-per-minutes-played-ratio though.
-
-
“Where did it go wrong that the European copies managed to be too mechanically complicated?”
In case of the Alfa, they actually used the cheapest engine available in their parts bin. The problem was that it was an aluminum head twin cam, which they then fitted with a dry sump.
-
-
-
So, yesterday I got a (short) ride in this. Guy at church just picked it up on Saturday. It only had about 125 miles on it, so he was trying to be a little gentle on it.
Fantastic car and a fantastic color. -
I think Delahaye built trucks too, which might help explain things. Never seen this one before though
-
This is supposed to be a well-known classic, so excuse me if everybody’s seen this. But I didn’t know about it and I think it’s remarkable: A busy urban day in Soviet Russia in 1928, filmed by Dziga Vertov, this little movie is said to be the origin of a lot of modern camera tricks and techniques. It’s fantastic to watch, and shock full of cars, busses, trams and other mechanicals of its era:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z97Pa0ICpn8 -
France (and Belgium and others) are using a license built MB G-Class. It is made by Peugeot and has a 2.0 L Diesel from PSA-Peugeot. I like it, because it has plug-in doors, folding windshield, easy change headlights and other clever items which the original MB-G is lacking. Plus better consumption and higher top speed.
Leave a Reply