The Matthews book says that's Mr. Pope in the bottom picture.

But if you match the brightness of the wires and of the remaining bodywork and then compare it with the first two pics, you'll see it's definitely brighter than the bodywork while on the later the shade is about the same on body and wheels. On other pics that's even more obvious.

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Nothing is too beautiful... nor too expensive!

You have a point, but they aren't chromed either IMO - compare with the headlights which always have been chromed AFAIK. I think it's just in that pic the colors aren't really reflected that well.....I mean the whole car certainly doesn't look dark blue in that pic.

As I understand it, when originally owned by Pope, the car was a lighter sapphire blue.

a photo of 57374 - one could mean that the instruments always the same was

In the Matthews book, Russell says the Lauren restoration returned the dash board to its original configuration.

He further notes: "The exterior [when received at his shop] was the well-known blue, although not the original shade. The interior was a yellow leather including a leather headliner. The carpets were royal blue with yellow binding, and it had a burl walnut dashboard..the work that had been done over the years had been primarily re-spraying and re-trimming." He adds:
"We were sure the dashboard we received was not the original, so a new dashboard was made."

The restored Lauren dash:

I take it that the two color photos on the last page show the original tone... Whatever, the whole car looks considerably brighter in that one pic, which I guess is just some anomaly with the original camera equipement and doesn't indicate respray or changed wheels of the car.

Just a further note. In Paul Russell's article on the restoration of the Pope car, he mentioned, upon digging into the car, they found original materials including the fact that the original upholstery was tan goat skin with a tan broadcloth headliner. Additionally, his restoration depended on volumes of photography of the original car supplied to him by Erik Koux. What shade of tan? Hard to say. Based on the photo of Pope and his car above, it must have been a darker shade of tan.

A couple of other things, Herman, based on your original question.

• From what I've learned, the original Pope car had a wiper above the windshield on the driver's side and below the windshield on the passenger side. A subsequent owner put them both at the bottom, then another owner put them back as original. Lauren kept them both at the bottom.

• The shade of the original sapphire blue is almost impossible to determine, but I've checked paint swatches and "sapphire blue" looks very much like the Gauloise-inspired Bugatti blue, though Matthews describes it as a "Rich" sapphire blue, and therefore not too far off from the French blue when Lauren got the car.

• Another detail to note is that, when in Pope's possession, the car had only a single red taillight on each side and not the 2 per side as in the Lauren version.

I would simply say that for history and a wealth of photography, it's hard to beat the Matthews book.

PS: What kit are you using for your replica? If it's the Bburago 1:24 metal kit, you have my sympathy. There's a lot that can be done with it, but the engine compartment is pitiful, and is notable for its lack of the water manifold.

OK, I guess most questions have been solved, and construction can start. Will post in another thread about that.

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Vive la Marque !!

We seem to have posted at the same time, so you may have missed my post prior to this one. You might want to look at it.

My plan was to combine the Bburago body with a modified chassis/engine from the Franklin Mint Atalante. They have an identical wheelbase.

Your plan of combining the Atalante chassis with the Bburago body is appealing.

But this time it is the 1:12 Gouel Atlantic. There is a lot to improve on that kit, although the basics are there.

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Vive la Marque !!

Is that available as a kit, or are you going to modify the built version? Good grief, how much does that thing cost? Evidently, he's sold out.

I paid some 600 euro. It is a kit.

Very nicely made, but it has its flaws. Some of the hardware is a bit coarse/large, the dash is wrong, and the radiator has a bad fit. Interior detail is limited, and the fin is way too high aty the windscreen.

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Vive la Marque !!

600€?? Good God!

I myself have the referred Bburago 1:24 which has a nice body but extensive interior and engine work to be added. The water manifold isn't there nor the ignition cables, the compressor and intake manifold is crude, the engine block has large union joints... oh well, I'll just try to make it better!

And BTW, I know what those screws on the bonnets are for: they serve as bumpers when you open them up, so that you don't scratch the paintjob! If you notice, the screws are perfect match on either side of the fin.

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Nothing is too beautiful... nor too expensive!