Promotional shoot for the ‘General von Hindenburg’ Junkers G.38 transport aircraft or perhaps the Mercedes Benz i wonder, circa 1934…
Any idea what model it is folks? The car I mean.
Credit…
Zoltan Glass
Finito…
Junkers and Mercedes…
Posted: March 31, 2019 in Fotos, ObscuritiesTags: Junkers, Junkers G.38, Mercedes Benz
Comments
primotipo... 
My research indicates it’s a Mercedes-Benz Type 380. It came with a 3.8 Litre Straight Eight which could be ordered both with or without a supercharger. This was the first Mercedes-Benz to use an independent suspension setup, with a double wishbone front axle and double-joint swing axle at the rear.
Thanks Wayne,
These ‘roadies’ are of no interest to me- but much appreciated, and I acknowledge others will want to know! Is this the sort of thing Adolf and the rest of the scum-bags belted around in?
Mark
Thanks for that Mark,
From what I can gather the car handled so well for the time that customers wanted a more powerful engine with more raw speed to exploit the superb (sic) handling. The model only lasted 2 years, from February 1933 to 1934 and only 154 chassis units were manufactured to take a four door saloon, a 2 door Torpedo “Tourenwagen”, three different styles of cabriolet and a “Sports-Roadster” and seven lightweight, open, two-seat sporting roadsters. The 380 was replaced by the 500 which could be ordered with a supercharger if you chose the 2 door cabriolet. The 500 was more likely to attract the despot that ruled Germany due to its more opulent style. The photo’s in the article were commissioned by Daimler-Benz AG and taken by Hungarian Photographer Zoltán Glass who seems to have specialised in motorsport (an amateur racer) and nudes. What a strange combination for someone with an interest in cars. Glass was a commercial photographer for Mercedes-Benz, Horch and Auto Union and covered most of the big races at the Nürburgring and the Avus circuits. Because of his Jewish background he escaped to England in 1938 to avoid the widespread violence in Germany. Glass died in 1981 and left his archive of negatives to the British National Media Museum, which has digitized the photos. Here’s a link to a story about Zoltán if you’re interested.
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/09/the-automotive-photographic-art-of-zoltan-glass/
and some of his photo’s.
https://www.gettyimages.com.au/photos/zoltan-glass?sort=mostpopular&mediatype=photography&phrase=zoltan%20glass
It’s amazing the stories you can unearth with a couple of nondescript photos (takes me back to when I worked as an Archivist for one of our major companies). I’ve even found a few more from the shoot with the 380 and a link to our shared passion.
Cheers
Wayne
Wayne,
Thanks for all of that, interesting to get the background, his work is amazing, key his name into the primotipo search engine and there are a few other articles i’ve done inspired by his shots. He had a great eye, his composition brilliant.
And as you say, he had a healthy interest in the female form, his work in that regard very much at the artistic end. It reminds me I have a few other short pieces inspired by some of his ‘wacky’ stuff that I must upload over time. Cruising thru the Getty Images archive whilst watching the telly always unearths some stunning shots from every era and Zoltans work stands tall amongst his peers across and down the decades.
Mark
Wayne, thank you for the links in you April 1 comment. Hours of pleasurably wasted time.
David
Great photos.
A little more info on Mercedes and the Third Reich. https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/23/books/books-of-the-times-daimler-benz-and-its-nazi-history.html