1919 Farman A6B Super Sport

Henry Farman was quite a personality: intrepid pioneer aviator, the first to make a circular flight of more than a mile in public; early aeronautical entrepreneur; airline operator; and, after WW1, car manufacturer. The Farman A6B chassis, was an extremely high-quality design, but also very expensive. Having an aluminium engine and extensive use of aluminium in the bodywork, the cars were heavy, weighing in at 2.5 tonnes. Only 120 A6Bs were made between 1919 and 1930, and the company abandoned car-making in 1932

The lines of this A6B are graceful and rather advanced for 1919. There is no hiding the fact that the car is tall and looks heavy, but the flowing lines of the wings and the straight waistline are to its advantage, giving it the appearance of a car made ten years later. The boat-tail shape is unusual on a car with four seats; usually boat-tail speedsters were two-seaters. The lavish use of aluminium may account for the fact that only 4 cars are known to have survived; cars with extensive aluminium content were prized as scrap during World War II and so were often broken up and melted down for war material.

These extracts are taken from Auto Legends: Classics of Style and Design by Michel Zumbrunn, text by Robert Cumberford which was published in October by Merrell