More motor vehicles I like

In keeping with the premise that people have a wide range of taste in cars, finding them appealing for a variety of reasons the cars listed below are special for reason of early engineering excellence and beauty.

Today the variety of models available is astounding, yet some older cars have left an indelible imprint on lovers of engineering when at it's pinnacle.

Feel free to list the car or cars that you like in the comments below.

Some of the earliest cars have fascinated me to the point that I spent 5 1/2 years working part time on one renovation, and it was not even my car!

In the 1970s my best friend had the most exotic car I have ever worked on and the biggest engineering challenge of my life.

It began when he bought yet another racing car and ran out of garage space at home to keep all his cars. It just so happened that I had moved house to a location close to him and the new house had a large 4 car garage. I took two of the cars, and with space to spare, they stayed there unrestored for almost 2 years.

My friend then purchased a new home with a huge workshop and garage combined and we were able to start restoring. The French 5 litre Ballot took 5 1/2 years to complete.

Some of the race cars such as the Ballot had twin overhead camshafts and dry sump lubrication before 1920, others like the Fiat were enormous. The early years of the automobile were exciting times, with famous people risking money and reputation on their investments in racing cars and exotic limousines, it was a time of great romance.

Some of these cars a very rare and expensive. A couple are cars that never reached production or did so in very limited numbers.

This first car to deserve a place in my list is the world renown Bugatti Royale from the Harrah collection which is now disbanded. I discovered where the car is now and the latest owner only yesterday from the link below.

Bugatti have set the benchmark for the superb finish of their cars. Not just the body, but motors are always beautifully crafted. Their racing cars had the entire motor decorated with machine turning, with the pattern extending to the firewall. Their small racing car was incredibly fast and reliable, winning races over many years.

Only 6 of these monsters were ever built, or 7 if you include a superb replica that used genuine Bugatti parts in the build.

Here is a link to photos and information about the other body types. Take a look, they are all magnificent automobiles.

Bugatti Royal pics and data.

The Gt 40 was ford's answer to Ferrari. Ford tried to buy Ferrari but they would not sell.

Ford enlisted the expertise of Carol Shelby to build a car that could beat the Ferrari. The GT40 was the result, and Ford beat Ferrari much to the displeasure of Italians at the time! The new GT40 has been troublesome for Ford as witnessed on Top Gear, with electrical problems plaguing Jeremy Clarksons new Ford to the point of despair.

Delahaye have made some of the worlds nicest rolling sculpture including this beauty with solid glass roof, and real gold trim and crystals knobs on the dashboard. I have not seen this car since 1977, but who knows? I may find out where it is from a reader as I did with the ex-Harrah's Bugatti Royale.

The grill and mudguard treatment was kept across so many different and beautiful body styles, so you can pick a Delahaye by it's distinctive use of chrome on the fenders and odd shaped grill.

This Bugatti was in a museum on the weast coast as I recall, and it certainly seems to be rare. I have the details in an old diary but as I recall it had a typically small motor and went rather well despite that. This really is an unusual car for this great make.

I remember it to be a 1957 model which made no sense to me at the time, but I will write more about this car when I find the data.