Bluebell

[Graham Serretta]

I found this old print while going through old family archives recently.  It's a picture of my mother Ray, (now 90) and me taken in 1946 (I think) with the family car, which was called "Bluebell".   Before I tell you the make and model, I'll leave the floor open to the auto detectives for a while, to see if any of you can come up with the correct details.

[martolod]

well it's a Mercedes Benz

[Graham Serretta]

Yep.  But which one?

[Todd G]

A 130H would be my guess.  Rear mounted, water-cooled, 4 cylinder motor, made only a couple of years in the mid-1930s.  May have been the inspiration for the VW beetle according to this site:

http://www.tbauto.org/cars/mercedes_130h.htm

[Graham Serretta]

Todd, you win the cigar.  It's actually a Mercedes Benz Mod. W23 - 130H of 1935.  Here is a factory catalogue photo and an illustration of the rear axle layout.  The entire engine mass was behind the rear axle.

[Major Black]

Sweet car, beautiful photo of you and your mom.

I can see it being the inspiration for the Beetle.

[br1078lum]

Now, if they had only put suicide doors on the Beetle...

PF

[radiophoto]

Graham, what a lucky find!  Your mother was lovely, and you were a cute little tyke.  I imagine Mercedes Benzes were fairly expensive even in the 1940s, so there must've been some money in your family.  "Bluebell" was a rare beauty.