Very Rare Original "Coupe Internationale Des Alpes" (Alpine Rally) Car Badge. 1931
SOLD
Very
high quality, multi-coloured, gilt brass and enamel car badge, awarded for
taking part in the famous "Coupe Internationale Des Alpes" (Alpine Rally) in 1931.
This rare badge is beautifully made from gilt brass and is enamelled in no less
than 12 colours. The background of the badge bears the image of the Alps and the
foreground has the badges of the following national car clubs : The Automobile
Club of France, The Automobile Club of Switzerland, The Automobile Club of of
Italy, The Austrian Automobile Club and The Automobile Club of Germany. The rim
of the badge has the following inscription, "Coupe Internationale Des Alpes
1931 - Plaquette Souvenir - Concurrent" (International Cup Of the Alps 1931
- Souvenir plaque - Concurrent). The
reverse bears the maker's mark, "Rob. Neff - Berlin W30". Length :
102mm. Excellent condition.
A very rare and desirable item from an important, historical motoring event.
The Coupe Internationale des Alpes was an important international motor
rally which travelled through the Alpine region. It was held between 1928
and 1936 and its stages followed routes through Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and from 1931, France too. The
original course covered 1095 miles, starting in Milan and finishing in Munich. The rally
operated a penalty point system, where according to the engine capacities of
the entrants, minimum and maximum speeds were set. Failing to achieve the
minimum speed incurred penalties, whereas entrants exceeding this speed were
awarded bonuses.
The 3rd ‘Coupe Internationale des Alpes’ was held between 30th
July and 6th August
1931 (there was no contest held in 1930). This was the first year a French
stage was added to the rally, increasing the route to a total of 1468 miles.
Manufacturers competed for ‘Alpine Cups’, while individual entrants battled
for ‘Glacier Cups’. There were a total of 72 entries, 62 of which started
the race and 44 managed to finish. Of these 44, only 8 (all individual
entrants) managed to finish without penalty, thereby winning Glacier Cups.
These were: Donald Healey (Invicta), Walter
Delmár
(Mercedes) and Desiderius von Bitzy (Austro-Daimler Bergmeister) in the
unlimited class and Count Felix Spiegel-Diesenberg (Austro-Daimler ADR),
Humfrey E. Symonds (Clément-Talbot),
E A H Scholten (Lancia) and Carlo Adorno (OM) in the 3000cc class. Even
though they incurred minor penalties,
three
other individual entrants were
also
awarded Glacier Cups,
tieing
to win in the 1100cc class. These were: Helmuth Butenuth, Carl Pollich and
Frau Lilianne Roehrs (all driving Hanomag cars). No team entrants managed to
finish without penalties, however, the Greman Wanderer works team (Alexander
Graumuller, Bernhard Bau and Hans Hinterleitner) won the 3000cc class and
the Czech Praga-Piccolo works team (Jaroslav
Heussler, S Pavlovsky and
Anton
Suldowsky) won the 1100cc class. Both these teams were awarded Alpine Cups.
For a
list of the results for the 1931
Coupe Internationale des Alpes, please click on the link below:
1931 Coupe Internationale des Alpes
Inventory No. M-11
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