Another beautiful Italian designed automobile, the Alfa Romeo 8C2900B Touring Berlinetta was one of the most sophisticated, technically advanced sports cars of its era, rivaling even Bugatti with its elegant blend of advanced styling and engineering (paraphrased from the gallery placard).
I thoroughly love the Batman-like styling and modernist sweeping curves - check out those hood lines and louvers on the sides, not to mention the fabulous oval grill. The rear wheel-covers are out-of-this world! And it has to be one of the most beautiful sedans from the rear.
Next up, the 1937 Dubonnet Hispano-Suiza H-6C "Xenia."
Built by Mercedes-Benz from 1935 to 1940, the 540K Special0Roadster the Friedrich Geiger designed car was a development to the 500K, itself a development of the SSK.
This is really a spectacular example in pristine condition. According to Wikipedia they only produced 58 of these as roadsters, so this is indeed one of the rarest cars. I love the long lines, sweeping finders, chrome accents and exposed side-exhaust piping. I also love the lines of the rear bumper - they just don't make anything as elegant...
Next up: 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C2900B Touring Berlinetta
The next installment to the Auto Exhibit at the High...
1934 Packard LeBaron Runabout Speedster
One of 4 build Roundabouts built (of 960 total built V12s mostly coups) - I love the "suicide" doors and pontoon fenders. This car was indeed a thing of rare beauty. Can you imagine tooling around with the top down and visiting all the clubs? I took a lot of photos so bear with me...(some are a little blurred - lots of elbows to joggle the camera).
Next up, the 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special-Roadster....
The next car we saw was this Pierce-Arrow - I loved all the red detailing - the wheels, stripes, etc. You can sort of see the bicycle manufacturing heritage of the original founding George Pierce. As one of only three survivors of this model, it was indeed a treat to view it in-person. Notice the beautiful woods used in the interior - makes the woodworker in me giddy...
I had the opportunity to visit the High Museum in Atlanta while "The Allure of the Automobile" was exhibiting. If you know me personally, you'll also know that besides modernism I have a fondness borderline-ing obsession with classic automobiles. This exhibit brought both of my interests together and resulted in my taking a rather excessive number of photos, which I'll feature as separate articles in my ModusModern blog.
From the High Museum of Art pamphlet:
The Allure of the Automobile
March 21 - Jun 20, 2010
Built from the 1930s to the mid-1960s, the eighteen rare and limited-edition cars in this exhibition represent the best of the best - luxurious, one-of-a-kind designs from legendary car makers such as Alfa Romeo, Bugatti, Cadillac, Duesenberg, Ferrari, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Packard, Porsche, and Tucker. Former owners of some of these award-winning autos include Hollywood legends Clark Gable and Steve McQueen.
I attended the exhibit on 2010.06.20 - it had been extended by a week or so. The exhibit was quite crowded so it was very challenging to get photos of everything I would have liked (counting back through my photos I seem to have missed on car) - I hardly got any photos of some cars like the Tucker 48. I took many photos of others as I had more opportunity to get unobstructed views. You'll find that I have an afinity for certain details and the justaposition of shapes - there are several close-ups. I also tried to take images of the display plackards but the glare from the lighting made it difficult - I don't believe most can be read (I've included those that are nearly legible). Enjoy!
1935 Duesenberg JN Roadster
Walking into the main hall the first automobile you see is the 1935 Duesenberg JN Roadster. I believe this is the car mentioned in exhibit literature that was a gift to Clark Gable from his wife Carole Lombard. I took many photos of this car as it is quite beautiful. There's also a YouTube video I found and added at the end of artist Alan Johnson who applied pin-striping during the restoration.
