Gala carriage of the 1st Duke of Palmela.

It was used by D. Pedro de Sousa Holstein during his trip as Extraordinary Ambassador of Portugal and representative of Queen D. Maria II, at the coronation of Queen Victoria in the United Kingdom on June 28, 1838.

This ceremonial carriage was built by I. and C. Thrupp, is preserved in the former palace of the Palmela family, now the Costume Museum, and also participated in the historical procession organized by the Lisbon City Council in 1934.

Building a 1/10 scale replica of this carriage will be my next project, a meticulous and challenging task, as I like it.

DARRACQ

 With the construction of the display case, made of 3 mm acrylic glass, and the base, this work by Darracq is complete, and it will now be on display alongside my collection at the National Coach Museum. To all my friends who wish to see this completed work, I will be at the museum on Sunday mornings to give guided tours and show all the functionalities of each miniature. I can only thank each and every one of you for your interest in following this project; thank you all very much for that.

DARRACQ

 Today, the Darracq was completed, with only the acrylic glass display case remaining to be built. After almost a year of continuous and persistent work, and overcoming some difficulties, it is finally finished.

A little history associated with this French Break-type automobile, from 1901, entered Portugal on that date through the port of Figueira da Foz, but customs did not yet have records of automobiles, so it was registered as agricultural equipment.

The engine is a single-cylinder, 6.5 hp, 900 cm³ displacement, water-cooled. The side lights were illuminated with wax candles. It was the first automobile to travel by road between Porto and Chaves. Its maximum speed was 60 km per hour.

Some photos and a short film of the various resources; I hope you enjoyed seeing and following this work. Thank you for that

DARRACQ

 Darracq is in the final stretch, today I finished the engine hood. It was a somewhat complex job because of the engine air vents. This is a job that usually involves a louver press, but since I don't have one, I had to improvise, and it's finally finished. Here are some photos of the final part of this project. The front headlight and its electrical wiring still need to be completed due to a lack of materials.

DARRACQ

 Today, some more progress in the final stretch of building the Darracq, building the wheel hubs and doing a general rehearsal of the entire construction, including the radio control. The only thing missing is the front hood; this will be the last piece of work to be done. I saved it for last because of the space needed to house the radio and servo equipment. Here are some photos of this work.

DARRACQ

 Good afternoon to all my friends, I hope you are all well, given these adverse weather conditions that have been disrupting us all. The progress of this project of mine has also been hampered by this, but some progress has been made as far as possible. Today I come to show this progress, in the painting and installation of the radio receiver and also the copper front light, which has been a bit of a challenge to get working.

Some photos of this work.

DARRACQ

After a longer than usual break, today I'm here to show you some more progress in the construction of the Darracq, the body and some components connected to it such as the rear access door to the interior and the seat bases, along with some photos of this progress.