Hotchkiss Fan

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Sir,

I was grateful for that excellent Hotchkiss article. I have had that roadster CUL 597 for 27 years. The French love it for its rude number plate.

I also have the ex-works, ex-Dudley Folland and Guy Griffiths team car FUN 999 – a 1938 GS3 Modane. Maybe the one you tried in September 1939?

It is strange to contrast the current value of this superlative car say £25,000 with that of my S type Invicta (GO 6765) at Coys at £150,000. The Invicta struggled to reach a top speed of 95mph, a kind of engine on wheels. No comfort, raucous outside exhausts, suspect handling and unpredictable brakes.

The Hotchkiss offered superior performance with the silence and added comfort of a full four-seater saloon and yet still gave away a whole litre in capacity.

Nobody could more perfectly define the consummate idiocy of the buying public. As Douglas Jamieson once said to me “to sell, it has to be sexy”.

I am, yours, etc. Colin Buckwater, Brettenham, Suffolk