Re: Rattletrap?


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Posted by Jock on August 07, 2005 at 11:47:19 from 217.172.246.144 user Jock.

In Reply to: Re: Rattletrap? posted by John Wilson on August 07, 2005 at 06:44:07:

Ransome was quite a good draughtsman and when it comes to inaminate objects his drawings are pretty well spot on. Little that Ransome drew or wrote is 'accidental'. There's a good reason for everything. When he does distort reality (e.g. Sinbad's Creek in SW or the layout of the mine in PP) it is important to the development of the plot.

Rattletrap while having a strong Crossley lineage is not a spot on match for any of the cars pictured above. It is almost as if the cartoonist Rowland Emmett was given a Crossley and asked to 'improve it'. Rattletrap's bodywork exagerates the division between chauffeur and passenger. The elegant long bonnet is replaced with a short snub nose. The assymetric doors have an extra curve on the bottom and an ancient coach horn appears to be bolted on near the windscreen.

Two theories:

1) Rattletrap is a 'toy car', the elusive Crossley 10.
2) Ransome caricatured the Crossley 25/30 Manchester tourer.

I lean slightly towards number (2), but don't have any evidence that would stand up in court.





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