Unusual French parcel delivery vehicle

Very sensible design!
Found on http://www.roadtransport.com

1939 Matford, joint venture between French maker Mathis and Ford (i'd never heard of it before yesterday!)

The Matfords were a joint venture between French maker Mathis and Ford. They came with either V-8/60 or V-8/85 power.

Thanks to Chris for the link to this photo! : http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2786/4107859301_0218eec28c_o.jpg

Frank in the Netherlands needed help identifying this car, what make model and year? Chrisoncars.com knew immediately what it was! Power of the WWW!!

It has a unique hood ornament that isn't in the Hood Ornament ID Guide http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2010/08/hood-ornament-identifiaction-guide.html

Chris http://chrisoncars.com/ knew exactly what this was

Hi Jesse,
The mystery car on your blog is a ’39 Matford. The Matfords were a joint venture between French maker Mathis and Ford. They came with either V-8/60 or V-8/85 power. I think this one would’ve been a 60 car. There are photos of other Mathis cars that have a more ornate grille. Those probably got the 85s. How I know this shit, I have no idea.
Regards,
Chris

‘39
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2786/4107859301_0218eec28c_o.jpg
http://www.autogallery.org.ru/k/ma/43camatfordLuftwaffebeiKrosnoinPolen_Baydeww2.jpg

’38 was very similar
http://www.autogallery.org.ru/k/ma/matfordli_Baydeww2.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4019/4565088824_41b3988392_o.jpg
http://imcdb.org/vehicle_224302-Matford-V8-13CV-F82A-1938.html

Here’s a shot of the ’37 ornament:
http://www.autogallery.org.ru/k/ma/37matford_Bay.jpg

I found a cool website, Mega Moto... I think you are going to love the variety and unique things they post there, here's a sample

the cool tagline of Mega Moto is : Cars, Trains, Motorcycles, Planes, Airships & Other Awesome Modes of Conveyance

A WW1 mobile carrier pigeon coup... yes, that was the best communication technique they had available in the field of battle .

I've posted somehting about this before, and just can't recall what... beyond there was just one that made it through the years and still exists, was a 1920's car but only on 2 wheels, the little buggy wheels are for holding it up at stops

Brockhouse Corgi WW2 camp scooter

1938 Phantom Corsair http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2009/03/1938-phantom-corsair.html

Volkswagen museum bus... I hope to find out more about this

Jack Conrad's band... wow, very cool!

Not sure yet what scoooter this is... looks slightly like a Salisbury

the photography of Gaston Jacquin 1935

A lamboghini and wonder of beauty, the 1963 350 GTV

Above, 1971 Star Streak motorhome

Above, something called the Stiletto

1955 Packard Request

1955 Flajole Forerunner

1915 Senate Subway Railroad under the nations capitol, Washington DC

1924 Amphibious Fusetti

Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion, one of two to survive, probably number 3 of the trio Fuller made. One was found in the backyard of a Arizona suburb in the early 70's by a Car Life reader after they did a story on the Dymaxions, by a fan of Fullers interesting cars. It wasn't bought by a collector, though Harrah's buyers tried, a couple college students got money together and then let it be shown in Museums in the US... more on this story in another post.

One cool puller, looks like a trailer truck

Above isn't labeled, but looks like a barn find custom

Above the Helica

Above, the 1948 Davis

1910 Ford on Forest Service patrol

One of the fabulous streamliner beer delivery trucks

Above, the Lincoln Futura that Barris based the Batmobile on

Above is a replica by Andy Saunders of the below concept car, the 1958 Ford X 2000

Go see what else they've got! http://megamoto.tumblr.com/

Found in a barn, sound familiar? This car isn't familiar though, its a 1932 french Helicron

Images via: http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z11262/1932-Helicron-No-1.aspx where you can also read much more about it and see a full gallery of dozens of photos taken at the 2008 Meadowbrook Concours http://jalopnik.com/399836/1932-helicron-or-the-pedestrian-hunter

In the late 1930s this one-of-a-kind Helicron was placed in a barn and forgotten. Rediscovered in 2000, rebuilt, and reintroduced to the world with its original Rosengart chassis, suspension, and brakes. Unfortunately the original motor has been lost to time but it has since been fitted with a 1980s Citroen GS 4-cylinder motor... Although the manufacturer is unknown, it's believed that this car was built in France 1932

Following the first World War it was not uncommon for recently displaced airplane engineers to look towards the automobile industry for employment. As in this example, a few entrepreneurs developed propeller-powered cars with the notion that propeller power was an efficient means of moving a vehicle. See the 1922 Helica: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2007/03/1922-helica-propeller-driven-car.html

On this car, when the wooden propeller is spinning at full speed and efficiently, this little 1,000-pound boat-tailed skiff can hit freeway speeds exceeding 75 mph. This is the one and only Helicron in existence, owned by Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, TN.

Video of it here: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2484981/1932_helicron/

Three wheeled tractor trailer rig

FAR was a French truck manufacturer, affiliated to Chenard-Walcker. It was founded in 1919 and ceased manufacture in 1970. Among the company's products was the 'Pony Mécanique', a three-wheel tractor built under licence from UK company Scammell, from 1937 to 1970.
Via: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FAR_(Tracteurs_FAR)

Seem familiar? http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2009/01/adaptation-and-innovation-to-avoid.html

Emile Claveau, a designer of innovative cars..

this is the 1932

this is the 1956.

For a short bio, and full story: http://www.tbauto.org/claveau/ from the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum in Pinellas Park, Florida website.

For a online gallery of the vehicles at the Tampa Bay Auto Museum: http://flickr.com/photos/forwardlookguy/sets/72157601481866394/

I stumbled across this from http://www.kitfoster.com/archive/2007_04_01_archive.html

Alain Cerf is a man with a mission. Designer of packaging equipment made by his company Polypack, Inc., in Pinellas Park, Florida, he is understandably interested in innovative machinery. As a collector of automobiles he favors those with distinctive engineering: front-wheel drive, rear engines, unusual engines and suspensions. A native of France, he has a particular fascination with his countryman Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot.
Alain has ensconced his collection of cars at his Tampa Bay Automobile Museum, an eclectic assembly of engineering masterpieces. Not surprisingly, many of them are French, including the groundbreaking Citroën 2CV, a Peugeot Darl'Mat, Voisin C7, Amilcar Compound and the last car of Emile Claveau.