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Wat deed deze ex-politieauto uit Glasgow in Parijs?
Deze foto trok meteen onze aandacht. Het bijschrift luidt: “Parijs – schade uit WOII en antieke auto” en wordt gedateerd tussen 1957 en 1959. Intrigerend om meerdere redenen. De oorlogsschade aan de huizen – nog altijd niet hersteld, minstens twaalf jaar na het einde van de oorlog – lijkt rijkelijk laat aangepakt. Maar goed, mensen hadden in het naoorlogse Parijs vast andere prioriteiten.
Nee, het is natuurlijk de auto die ons echt interesseert. In de jaren vijftig al bestempeld als een “antiek”, is het onmiskenbaar een fraaie Britse tourer uit de jaren dertig. Maar welke? Een Jaguar? Lagonda? Misschien een Bentley? Of een MG SA?
Nee dus. Dit is zonder twijfel een Alvis Speed 25 met een Charlesworth Tourer-carrosserie. Wie goed kijkt, ziet dat het kenteken mogelijk CUS 5 of CUG 5 is. We probeerden de eerste optie, en tot onze grote vreugde leverde het Alvis Register direct een match op – inclusief een prachtige oude foto. Deze specifieke tourer werd in 1933 nieuw geleverd aan de politie van Glasgow. Sterker nog, het was een van vijf identieke auto’s die naar het korps gingen, allemaal met opeenvolgende kentekens.
Toen deze foto in Parijs werd genomen, was de Charlesworth Tourer zo’n 25 jaar oud – oud genoeg om destijds als antiek te gelden. Het lijkt hoogst onwaarschijnlijk dat de Glasgow-politie hem toen nog gebruikte om Schotse gangsters op te jagen.
Blijft dus de grote vraag: wat deed deze voormalige politie-Alvis eind jaren vijftig in Parijs?
Tekst: Jeroen Booij
Foto: New York Public Library
Gepubliceerd:
maandag augustus 25th, 2025
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Reacties
Trevor Wooding
01 September 2025, 08:02
CUS9 definitely still exists, it is a navy blue car that was previously owned by a friend of mine in Belgium, highly active in Alvis circles. I believe the car is now in Wales . It featured a rather nice police 'Bobby' radiator mascot.
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brian mcmillan
27 Augustus 2025, 00:32
Doug Young in Brisbane had CUS8. It is now owned in Perth.
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David Ward
26 Augustus 2025, 13:13
on the uk DVLA vehicle information site it shows that CUS5 had a log book last issued in 1988, CUS6 had the same in 2011, neither cars show a recent mot or roadtax record, all the other registrations are not showing as recognised anymore
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David Scott
26 Augustus 2025, 09:28
With regard to the "where and when", I would suggest this was, in fact 1949 or 1950 and the owner was an Army type, posted to France for some reason, somewhat "ratty" sporting cars being often owned by military types, especially RAF?
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David Scott
26 Augustus 2025, 09:00
Growing up in South London soon after the war, I can tell you that there were plenty of war-damaged buildings right up into 60s and 70s, that excellent ITV series "The Sweeney" ( still available on DvD) is largely set in South London, and you didn't have to look far to find a "bomb site", usually with a villain like my dodgy" Uncle" Jack selling completely worn-out old cars from it. It was a well-known trick of cabbies to take gullible tourists, usually americans, who wanted to see a "WWII bomb site" round to one of the any slum clearance sites as many of the bomb sites had been cleared? South London, even Blackheath where we lived after my parents and grandparents house on the Heath was badly damaged by incendiaries, was seen as much more down market than North London and thus less remunerative to restore or redevelop? To this day it's difficult to persuade a black cab to go "Sarf of der river". But it was still a brilliant place to grow up!! I was very privileged to have had such an interesting family and life there, London was undoubtedly a "foreign country" to the rest of the UK, as I found out when we left London for a modest seaside resort on the South Coast, we may as well have come from Arcturus!
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Mark Sampson
26 Augustus 2025, 04:09
The car looks quite drivable except for the top, which has collapsed from neglect. If it had been left outside for any number of years, it would show more damage. So I suspect that it had been stored in a shed for a long time, perhaps due to unavailable repair parts. Whether that storage began before or after WWII, or if the location is indeed Paris, we may never know. I hope that 68 years after this photo, the car has been restored, and is still with us.
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Anthony Green
25 Augustus 2025, 18:49
Yes, you’re right. Upon reflection, it is plausible. There were factories on the Paris outskirts that were targeted by both sides. Plus railway marshalling yards where collateral damage often occurred. I reacted a little too quickly early this morning. My apologies to Jeroen Booij and to The New York Public Library.
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Frank Mertens
25 Augustus 2025, 16:20
According to the Alvis Speed 25 register CUS 5 was delivered on June 16, 1939. Alvis Speed 25’s were not produced until 1936.
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Anthony Green
25 Augustus 2025, 07:18
With respect, the photo doesn’t look very much like Paris, despite the caption. Also, brick buildings are extremely rare in Paris, if not non-existent, and the city-proper suffered very limited bomb damage during WW2. In sum, to find a war-damaged brick building in Paris in the 1950s would have been very difficult. But regrettably I can’t offer a credible alternative…
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Ben Stephens
25 Augustus 2025, 11:08
I don’t think it is entirely implausible. Areas of Paris in the Western Suburbs which had industry were hit, both at the start and mid war by both Germans and Allies.
There are some fairly well known photos taken in places such as the Rue de Championet showing brick built buildings after the bombing. I am not sure when the reconstruction took place, but, reading books such as Paris Vagabond makes you realise it was a slow pace in places like Paris, as they cleared areas to make way for more modern housing etc.
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There are some fairly well known photos taken in places such as the Rue de Championet showing brick built buildings after the bombing. I am not sure when the reconstruction took place, but, reading books such as Paris Vagabond makes you realise it was a slow pace in places like Paris, as they cleared areas to make way for more modern housing etc.