Automobile catalogue - Contacts

Work is completely done on World in Motion 1939. Started in September last year, it has finally lasted until 4.30 pm yesterday.

Further announcements will follow regarding the release of the ebook, but in the meantime here are some contacts:

To write to us: belvedere.publishing@gmail.com

To follow us: https://belvederepublishing.wordpress.com/

To like us:  http://www.facebook.com/belvedere.publishing
                   (Belvedere Books' World in Motion)

Automobile catalogue - Some news, and a first glance at it!

Only some finishing touches remain, then World in Motion 1939 will be complete.

The work on the last coachbuilders, which I mentioned here last week, is finished. I added four pages of information regarding Australian automobiles, which represented quite a lively industry, even years before Holden launched the very first national model on the market. Today I have a few things to write about Canada, then Latin America. Various corrections will follow and then, finally, my work will be over, almost nine months after I started. As the book virtually has its final shape, I uphold my previous estimation of about 300 pages.

Tentative date for the publication - first half of June, as a reminder - again remains unchanged as everything follows its course perfectly.

And as a bonus, you can have a look at the cover:

Automobile catalogue - Update

Work continues on World in Motion 1939. Initially planned to count approximately 230 pages, extra information has now pushed up the expected mark to around 300 pages. The book will not only include all manufacturers (they are all finished), but also coachbuiders - that is, for those of you less familiar with the automotive industry of the years past, companies building one-off bodies on a bare chassis at the request of the customer. For the latter, the major part is already written and included in the book, with the exception of Great Britain, which had many such firms at the time and that I barely started working on.

As of now, the book's scheduled release date remains unchanged.

Automobile catalogue - soon to be released

It has been an extremely long time since I last wrote in this blog - as for the motives, I already expressed them at length.

The excuse for this new post, which ends such an extended period of silence, is for an announcement. Not having posted here for years does not mean that I have been away from model cars collecting or, more generally, that my interest in vintage automobiles has waned.

Some of you may have visited my other blog Automobiles of the World, equally abandoned for the very same reasons, in which I had started to list automobiles in a brand-per-brand, year-per-year format. Based on a similar concept, I am glad to announce the imminent publication of World in Motion 1939, which details the world automobile production during the said year, country by country, from the mainstream manufacturers to the lesser known brands and prototypes that have emerged during that time.

This work will be available as an ebook. Tentative date for its release is the first half of June 2015. Further information will be provided as this date draws close.

I give up!

Well, I still cross my fingers that it won't be more than temporary, but...

For those of you who are themselves Blogger users, I don't know what your own opinion about their new interface is. "Introducing the completely new, streamlined blogging experience that makes it easier for you to find what you need and focus on writing great blog posts." What a promise. As of me - call me stupid if you fancy it - mastering it is beyond my capacities, so I simply prefer to give up.

That's months already since they introduced this crap. I never asked for it then, but I got it anyway, and out of curiosity I tried it. Unusable. You may think differently - good for you - but because of the design of my blogs (similar presentation for every post, multiple links between the said posts, etc.), I constantly need to open multiple "edit" pages and navigate between them to update them, copy links, etc. Not possible anymore: from the "posts" page, no more right click is possible, so basically, you write or edit one post at a time - unmanageable. Adding pictures? A mess. Positioning and resizing of these pictures? I still didn't find how to easily do it. And so on...

Let's be honest... Actually there was one improvement: the new interface uses Microsoft-like keyboard shortcuts, as Ctrl+I to have the selected text in italic, or Ctrl+B for bold. Let's all clap our hands to show how grateful we are to the geniuses who brought us such a revolution in blogging. That's this kind of stuff which makes you deserve to have your mug on a post stamp one day.

Fortunately, there was still an option allowing you to return to the old interface. What a relief! Alas, as what happens everytime a major site has decided to adopt a "new look" that's supposed to be SO much better than the old one, they always make the change gradual and voluntary in appearance, before letting no other choice than the one they've made for you in advance. So, starting today and either you like it or not, it's the new interface for every Blogger user, period.

Instead of this post, you were supposed to read the whole story of the Hudson Jet on Scale Model Fan's related blog, Automobiles of the World. The text is ready, the pictures are uploaded. Up to yesterday, it should have been a ten-minute affair to put all this online. After something as fifty minutes, and not able to get anything close from the result I wanted, I've thrown the towel. Frankly, I don't return from a day at work with any willingness to struggle with this thing, though it is presented by the great minds at Blogger as a sizeable step toward increased simplicity. So, it's bye-bye to all, and my warmest thanks for having visited this blog, or still visiting it in the future. We'll see each other again when Blogger will either recover from their momentary madness (yes, momentary, for ironically I used to praise its ease of use), or on another site than this one. In the meantime, I'll occasionally pay a visit to answer any possible comment, but that'll be all.

BMW 507

Welcome (or welcome back, as some of you recently unsubscribed/subscribed again to this blog and I have to admit that I've lost track of some of you) to escala43, A.Sivianes, rosslann and Totò. Enjoy your visit(s) here!

A little history

The BMW 507 was another idea from the man who single-handedly made the small Volkswagen Beetle a huge yet unexpected success in America: Max Hoffmann. BMW having nothing more to offer in the U.S. than its baroque 501 and 502 models during the early Fifties, Hoffmann insistently requested a more appealing model for this particular market. BMW had increasing financial difficulties at the time and finally accepted, seeing its salvation in the potential American sales. The Bavarian company answered the call with not just one, but two new models: the elegant 503 coupe and convertible, and the striking 507 roadster. Both cars had been penned by Albrecht von Goertz.

Apart from its stylish body, the 507 tried to make good use of as many parts as possible from the existing BMW models, in order to keep production costs relatively low. Still, it was deemed necessary to enlarge the 2.6-litre light-alloy V8 engine on hand to 3.2-litre in order to reach the level of performance expected from such a car. Fed by two Solex carburettors, it was rated at 150 hp, propelling the 507 at 200 kph.

Alas, despite all the efforts from BMW’s engineers, the cost per unit of this wonderful automobile somehow got out of control. Mainly made from aluminium and other light alloys, the 507, which body was entirely hand-formed, would ultimately sell for about twice its intended price… A commercial success was hard to forecast and, though the car was an excellent image-builder, providing BMW still needed one, its maker could not afford more financial loses. Introduced in 1955, produced from 1956, the 507 retired three years later, simultaneously with its cousin the 503. Their combined production did not exceed a few hundred copies, which did nothing for the company but aggravating its problems. In the end, BMW was not saved by these supercars, but by their exact opposite, as the company started to produce under licence the tiny Isetta, the Italian bubble car.

About the models

Model: BMW 507
Year: 1955
Maker: Motor Max
Scale: 1/24
Distributed by: Motor Max
Acquired: brand new, in December 2005, in Manila, Philippines

Simple, even perhaps crude as Motor Max knows as to produce die-casts, but this time at least, it’s quite well assembled. One last remark: the windshield appears somewhat tall. My rating is 11/20.

















Model: BMW 507
Year: 1956
Maker: New Ray
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: New Ray, "Auto Model Kit" series
Acquired: brand new, in September 2003, in Manila, Philippines

New Ray also proposes this model, as poor as usual: 8/20.









Model: BMW 507
Year: 1957
Maker: Del Prado, or whoever builds models for Del Prado
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: M-Smart
Acquired: brand new, in February 2007, in Shenzhen, China

Finally, this die-cast has been offered by M-Smart, which actually got its hands on a stock on unsold Del Prado press models. And guess what? It is very well made for the price, accurate and fitted with good-looking wheels - only the headlights could have been much better. It deserves a 12/20.