Page 14 - The Kellner Affair Sample Pages

CHAPTER 4: GREASED LIGHTNING: LA STREAMLINE
W. A . Robotham was rather impressed with Sleator’s driving ability and daredevilry: “Large patches of ice had formed wherever wooded sections edging the road had kept the sun off the concrete; some of these strips of ice were over 100 yards long... Walter Sleator was determined to prove his car’s capabilities to the limit and, in spite of the hazards, averaged 112 mph for ve minutes... I followed this hair-raising Chasse in the Van Vooren (sic) at a sedate pace, profoundly thankful that there was a driver of Sleator’s ability to take the risk. Even without ice I found that driving a car at speeds of 110 mph or more on those motor roads required the greatest concentration, since one could approach the rear of a lorry with a speed differential of 80 mph, only to see it pull out at the last moment to pass another heavily-laden smaller vehicle
which had been completely obscured from view.” Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
Aftermath, February to March 1939
It is an understatement to say that all returned to France galvanized by the sheer prowess of a car where the mechanicals had only been slightly tweaked. It was plain as day that the very signi cant performance gains were due to a combination of lighter weight and the streamlined Paulin design. As John Dugdale wrote, this was “...a new aspect of motoring; it is the nearest thing to ying. Indeed, in many ways I was reminded by the sleek lines of the car of the Lockheed Electra with which British Airways had carried me so rapidly to Le Bourget the previous day. The parallel may also be
Also dubbed La Streamline by The Autocar, the car caused a sensation everywhere, including German police who wanted a “sel e” in front of Hotel Russischer Hof. (The Autocar, Will Morrison archive)
122