Dutch racer emerges as French special in Italy

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Not everything is what it looks to be. How about this good looking space framed racer advertised with us here. The ad says ‘Handmade in aluminium on a tubular frame, this car is a rare example realized in France on the mechanics of a Simca 8 in 1948. The car comes with a certification of authenticity by the ASI (Italian historic vehicle federation)’. What the ASI boys not seem to know is that this red stallion actually is a nice slice of Dutch racing history. It's a Havas racer, built in the late-1950s by Hans van As of Hilversum.

The Dutch plates TT-44-33 are still on it and date back to March 1956. According to our sources Van As built his first car in that year, but that was a single seater with 500cc JAP power. An open sports car is said to have followed some years later and that looks to have been this car. There is a picture of it at the Zandvoort track in Jan Lammerse's 'Autodesign in Nederland'. It supposedly used a Porsche engine later in its life and Van As is said to have used the racer until 1960. However, it appears not to have remained a one-off as a second car, similar in style and also Simca 8 powered emerged recently in its home country and is believed to be a street version. Now, there’s a lot of guessing involved, and it would be nice to have some of the assumptions confirmed. Who helps us out?

(text: Jeroen Booij)
 

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