The exoticism of Casino Square… and an Austin Cambridge
Monte Carlo, Monaco, summer 1963
The casino at Monte Carlo may usually be the epitome of glamour, but things are a little more humdrum on this summer’s day – although PC’s resident Citroën fanatic, James, might disagree. It’s all more Austin than Aston, with an A55 Cambridge MkII, YLT 915, taking centre stage.
Registered in London in 1960, it’s obviously come far for some rounds of Roulette.
On its left is archetypical local peasant transport, a Citroën 2CV. It’s a post-September 1957 AZLP model with the relative sophistication of a bootlid. Previous versions made do without such extravagance. It’s next to a more substantial Opel Kapitän P2, showing off its very American lines and almost completely shielding an MG Midget MkI or Austin-Healey Sprite MkII. Then there’s a pale blue Peugeot 404; we wonder if its owner and that of the Cambridge checked each other’s cars out and noted Pinin Farina’s audacious recycling of ideas.
A pod of Dauphines On the other side of the Cambridge is a Simca Aronde P60 of 1958-64 vintage. Its convertible neighbour is too concealed by the Renault Dauphine in front to be identifiable. The rear-engined Dauphine’s gold script badge denotes it’s the tuned Gordini version – although that only meant 37bhp instead of 27bhp. There’s another Dauphine adjacent to the mystery open top vehicle, which looks like the standard lowlier model. Finally, there’s another 2CV, almost identical to the one further down the row.
There is one suitably exotic car here… and no, we don’t mean the Citroën DS just entering the square on the right. Note the sleek, silver shape approaching the casino steps; it’s a Porsche 356. Definitely
