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Westbury
United Kingdom
2017 Posts |
 Posted - 08/01/2021 : 17:20:40
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Whilst I was sorting through my collection of car files this afternoon I suddenly realised I cannot recall ever seeing actual period ( prewar ) pictures of MGs taken in colour.
I wondered has anyone come across such photographs? Even better, it would be great to see some posted here on the Forum.
Chris |
Edited by - Westbury on 08/01/2021 17:23:41 |
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Cris DaBica
USA
48 Posts |
Posted - 08/01/2021 : 23:44:24
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| At an NEMGTR meet back in the ‘80s I recall seeing a slide show that featured color images taken by George Monkhouse of the record breaking attempts on the Autobahn. |
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Westbury
United Kingdom
2017 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2021 : 07:41:53
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Hello, Christian.
Thanks for that information, I know George Monkhouse was a leading photographer at that time and I have seen colour pictures of his but mainly Mercedes and Auto Union Racing Cars on the Continent. He was a great friend of Richard Seaman who drove for Mercedes but I haven’t seen any MG photographs. I will try to find the pictures you mention.
Regards,
Chris |
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Westbury
United Kingdom
2017 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2021 : 08:46:54
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Hello, Forum.
A photograph of Reg Parnell in his K3 at Brooklands prewar.
Kindly supplied by Oliver Richardson.
Chris
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Simon Johnston
United Kingdom
6145 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2021 : 09:14:57
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Chris,
Do you know what date that photo was taken? It would seem that Kodachrome and Agfacolor Nue didn’t appear until 1936 and the first colour print film, Kodacolor, appeared in 1941
Simon J
J3437 |
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Westbury
United Kingdom
2017 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2021 : 09:38:33
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Hello, Simon.
Oliver merely states the picture is prewar. You can see the Brooklands banking in the background.
Sorry to contradict but I have a book on Shackleton’s Expedition to the Antarctic in 1914 containing a few genuine colour pictures. The text confirms that colour photography was used.
Chris |
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Simon Johnston
United Kingdom
6145 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2021 : 09:52:51
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Chris,
I suspect that the plates Shackleton used were very specialised but colour film for the masses didn’t seem to appear before Kodachrome was introduced in 35mm format in 1936/37. Oliver’s picture looks as though it was hand coloured, a very popular technique for which special paints wee available. I remember my brother using them on pictures taken with his Brownie 127 in the 1060s.
Edit: Oliver tells me he has the negative so hopefully more information about date and film type will be discovered.
Simon J
J3437 |
Edited by - Simon Johnston on 09/01/2021 10:00:20 |
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Oz34
United Kingdom
2546 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2021 : 10:00:40
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So did he colour any pictures of the Battle of Hastings then Simon?
Dave  |
Edited by - Oz34 on 09/01/2021 10:01:25 |
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Onno
Netherlands
1046 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2021 : 10:06:57
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The Autochrome Lumière colour photography process came to the market in 1907.
So if Oliver says a colour picture is real and periode I have no doubt he is right
Onno "J,D" Könemann |
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Simon Johnston
United Kingdom
6145 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2021 : 10:12:25
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I doubt we’ll find any pre 1936 Triple-M photos. I would have thought it very doubtful that any of the very specialised colour processes of that era would have been available to the regular photographer. From what Oliver says, this may be a Louis Klementaski photo and as far as I can recall he primarily used Leica 35mm cameras for which colour film didn’t seem to become readily available until 1936/37.
Oliver tells me the photo is September 1938 by which date Kodachrome and its Agfa equivalent would have been readily available for the serious photographer.
Simon J
J3437 |
Edited by - Simon Johnston on 09/01/2021 10:20:13 |
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Colin Butchers
United Kingdom
1487 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2021 : 10:52:19
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Following his accident with Kay Petre in practice for the BRDC 500 Km race on 15/9/37 Parnell lost his racing licence and he did not race at Brooklands throughout most if not all of 1938. Cuddon-Fletcher drove K3009 at Brooklands on the 17/9/38 in the Wakefield Trophy Handicap carrying race number 1. If the driver is in fact Parnell, the event could have been 3/8/36 when he raced as number 1 in the First August Mountain Handicap.
Info courtesy of The Hawke History of MMM Racing Cars.
Colin B. |
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Westbury
United Kingdom
2017 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2021 : 11:09:02
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Come to think of it, Colin, the driver looks a little thin faced to be Parnell.
I wonder could it be Cuddon-Fletcher?
Chris |
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Simon Johnston
United Kingdom
6145 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2021 : 11:20:13
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Oliver confirms that while it is the Parnell K3, it is being driven by Cuddon-Fletcher.
Simon J
J3437 |
Edited by - Simon Johnston on 09/01/2021 11:20:33 |
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Chris Reeson
United Kingdom
34 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2021 : 11:33:13
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Interesting to put a couple of random photos from the forum through a colourizer. Not the real thing, but interesting.
Chris Reeson |
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Simon Johnston
United Kingdom
6145 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2021 : 12:19:33
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Some of us take our Triple-M photography very seriously, even colour coding our cameras to match our cars 
Simon J
J3437 |
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Westbury
United Kingdom
2017 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2021 : 13:37:01
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Found one!
H. Stuart-Wilson, MG . International Trophy, Brooklands ,May 7th, 1938.
Chris
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