23 replies to this topic

[dmj]

First Russian car manufacturer, started in 1909, IIRC. I didn't know thay made a racing car too but it exists, at least in a modelcar catalogue:

Did it ever raced? And where, if it did?
There was also a sports version, undoubtely suitable for some kinds of races:

Any more info on these interesting cars?
Something can be found here:
http://www.atlasf1.c...highlight=Russo
Can we relate any particular race to any of models shown above?

[Alexey Rogachev]

Russo Balt was a very well-known marque in motorsport in the beginning of 20th century, including many international races. There were many racing Russo Balts built - from the first one which almost hadn't any distinctive features of racing car, to the last one which was called "A racing cucumber" Unfortunately some troubles with my PC haven't allowed me to see the picture you've posted and to understand what cars you mean. Could you please send these pictures to my mailbox: sourceress@pisem.net?

[Vitesse2]

Alexey: it's not your computer! If you right click on the red cross, then left click on properties and copy and paste the address of the picture to your browser address box. Then press Go and it will appear in a new page. If you then press Back, it should appear in the thread. I have no idea why this works BTW ....

[Ray Bell]

I guess it puts the pic into your 'temporary internet files' and thus recognises them from there.

I never knew that worked like that. But it does...

[dmj]

Bizzare. You every day learn something new...

[Alexey Rogachev]

Thanks for you advice, we learn something new every day indeed. To dmj: I've received your letter and I can say that these pictures are of the first version of racing Russo Balt (the so-called S24/30 model) and of one of its latest versions (S24/60 or The Racing Cucumber). I'll send you more detailed information soon.

[just me again]

I can remember reading a story in a Danish magasine ( Motor ) about the Monte Carlo Rally.
It was about quistionnable disqulafications, and was about a russian entry driving from Moscow there was winning but disqulafied for some minor thing. I think it was in 1912 or thereabout.

Bjørn

Ps : Still sorry about the misspellings, but i am a long way from my dictionary.

[just me again]

forgot the quistion : maybe this entry in the Monte Carlo was a Russo Balt? and can somebody remember why they were disqualified

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by dmj
Bizzare. You every day learn something new...

Isn't that what you log on for?

And what life's all about?

[Alexey Rogachev]

Originally posted by just me again
forgot the quistion : maybe this entry in the Monte Carlo was a Russo Balt? and can somebody remember why they were disqualified

Yes, it was a Russo Balt S24/55 driven by Andrey Nagel, the chief editor of "Avtomobil" magazine. But I didn't know that they were disqualified. I'll look through some books to find the reason.

[just me again]

Originally posted by Alexey Rogachev


Yes, it was a Russo Balt S24/55 driven by Andrey Nagel, the chief editor of "Avtomobil" magazine. But I didn't know that they were disqualified. I'll look through some books to find the reason.

I am only 80% sure that they was disqualified, but if they was not, then they was given an obscure timepenalty so they could´nt win, because the motor club wanted a french winner.

Bjørn

[Alexey Rogachev]

Don't know... don't know... but they definitely won a special prize for the longest way to Monaco - they started in Saint-Petersburg.

[Barry Lake]

According to my very expensive new purchase, “Le Rallye Monte-Carlo au XXe siecle” (sorry, no time to find an e-grave), the early Monte Carlo Rallies were decided on, “the comfort, state and overall condition of the chassis and coachwork at the finish, the number of people carried, as well as a minimum average speed of 10 km/h per hour per day (240 km per day), to be maintained from start to finish, and finally the overall distance covered.”

In 1912, the second event, St Petersburg was one of four new optional starting points. The start date from here (3257 km to Monte Carlo) was 13 January. Start date from the closest starting point was 24 January from Turin. It says the Russian car arrived in Monte Carlo first, of all the field, on 21 January - which is three days before the last cars started!

Journalist André Nagel and Mikailoff (two dots over the ‘i’) in the Russo-Baltique were not awarded first prize because the car was judged, “too rudimentary, without comfort, and in a sorry state at the finish.”

They suffered minus 25 degrees temperatures in Estonia, almost freezing in the open car, yet averaged 16.7 km/h for the entire 3257 km. On 15 January they sent a message, “We’ll arrive if the wolves don’t eat us along the way and if we don’t freeze to death.”

They were the heroes of the event, yet were not classified at all in the results!
Of the judging panel, it is written, “…apart from three or four people who knew something about cars too many members of the jury were incompetent…”

Sounds like they should have been the winners, if it was a real rally, based on performance. But this business about condition of the car at the end also created problems as recently as the Round Australia Trials of the mid-1950s, and there have been other anomalies in the history of the Monte Carlo Rally, as we all know.

[sat]

According to book "Automobile sport in SSSR" (1976) Russobalt take 9 th place in absolute classification from 87 cars.

[Alexey Rogachev]

Yes, they were ninth. About lack of comfort and poor state of the car - rally is not Mille Miglia!

[Barry Lake]

It seems as though the book might not be as thoroughly researched as the authors would like to believe. At least for these very early years.

In fairness to the organisers of the rally, however, I don’t think we should be too critical from this distance in time. This was not too long after open road racing (city to city) had given way to road circuits. Rallies were virtually unknown - certainly as we know them today.

It sounds as though this event was created more as a promotion for Monte Carlo and was originally a novelty event rather than serious motor sport. It evolved into the latter as time went on.

[Dracula]

Russo Balt for Rally Monte Carlo had 55 h. p. engine and 50 litres fuel tank.
Andrey Platonovich Nagel won 600 franks for his ninth place and later he was decorate the Order of St. Anna. He wrote in his magazine "Avtomobil": "Our young motorfactory is the winner in this very difficult rally. I was first at Monaco only thanks to ideal work of our car and tyres."

A. P. Nagel.

Nagel also started on Russo Balt at rally San-Sebastian, where he won like at Monaco another special prize for endurance.

Here some pictures of racing Russo Balt:




Maybe later I'll find some more information of this car.

[anjakub]

Other sports successes of the Russo-Balt cars.

On the base of Russo-Balt model "S" were built racing and sport automobiles equipped with aluminum pistons. The volume of engine "S24-58" was 5033 cc (58 hp with 1800 r/min.).
Driver I. I. Ivanov on the "Russo-Balt" with this engine in the spring of 1913 in race on distance one verst (1066,78 m) with the flying start developed the speed 130 km/h.

In the summer of 1910 Andrey Platonovich Nagel (1877- 1922), editor and publisher of the Petersburg's journal "Avtomobil", after the wheel of the Russo-Balt S24-30 (third series with the ordinal number 14) earned gold medal on rally St. Petersburg - Kiev - Moscow - St. Petersburg (3000 km). Later in 1911 A. P. Nagel in the same machine won gold medal in rally St. Petersburg - Moscow - Sevastopol.
In 1912 A. P. Nagel with V. A. Mikhaylov on two place sports Russo Balt S24-55 (third series with the ordinal number 9) took part in International Rallye Monte Carlo. In Rally San Sebastian the racing journalist on his car occupied second place and obtained special prize for the endurance.

Also note the prize place of A. M. Kalabin, one of the directors Russo-Balt factory, on the model K12-20 in the race on distance one verst in Riga (August, 1912), and high results of Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov (1889-1944), factory racing driver in the verst and circuit races in 1912-1914.

[Dracula]

Nagel on his way to Monaco about 40 times slid from snowy road, so he decided to use leather belt on tyres of his car (it was first antisliding tenons in automobil's history!). Also racing Russo Balt for Rally Monte-Carlo had light-weight body, skis on front whells and popular acetylene headlights. Nagel and Michailoff on their way from St. Petersburg to Monaco passed Pskov, Riga, Tilzit, Kenigsberg, Aizenah, Karlsrue, Strasburg, Belfor, Lion, Avinion and Nizza (sorry, maybe some names of cities is not correct).
Many different photos and pictures of different modifications of Russo Balts you can find here http://www.inftech.r...es/hra00002.htm But only if you understend Cyrillic alphabet .
One of lasts Russo Balt is now at Polytechnical museum in Moscow.

Andrey P. Nagel was born in St. Petersburg in 1877. He graduated from law department of St. Petersburg's university. Later he worked at Ministry of Ways communications. In 1900-1901 he was a editor of ''Sport'' magazine, where he wrote about motorsport. In 1902 he opened ''Avtomobil'' magazine. He was one of founders of St. Petersburg's Auto Club (SPAC) and of Russian Auto Society (IRAO). He was a editor and a publisher of magazines ''Dvigatel'', ''Avtomobilnaya Zhisn i sport, ''Aero'' and of Cars Year Book. Nagel started at motor-rallys Petersburg - Paris - Venezia - Petersburg in 1908, Petersburg - Paris in 1909, Petersburg - Napoli - Petersburg in 1910. He was a populiser of Russo Balt's cars all over the world. During the First World War he worked at SPAC and IRAO. To 1920's he lived in Petrograd, later - in France. He dead as a general guide in 1939.

[Alexey Rogachev]

Anjakub and Drakula,

I'm glad to meet here on TNF such people who know the racing history of Russo Balts. Drakula, the third of the pictures in your reply is definitely taken either from three-volume book by Lev Shugurov or from Za Rulem magazine - it's by A. Zakharov.

[Dracula]

Privet, Alexey! I'm also from Russia, as you!

Third picture with Russo Balt S24-55 for Rally Monte Carlo from my post is from L. M. Shugurov's three-volume book ''Automobils of Russia and USSR'' (I volume, ILBI, 1993).

Here another picture from these book


It's a ''racing cucumber'' (Russo Balt S24-58, 1913).

[dmj]

And thanks for a nice link, Dracula... (Yes, I can read cyrillic...)

[Alexey Rogachev]

Originally posted by Dracula
Privet, Alexey! I'm also from Russia, as you!

Third picture with Russo Balt S24-55 for Rally Monte Carlo from my post is from L. M. Shugurov's three-volume book ''Automobils of Russia and USSR'' (I volume, ILBI, 1993).

Here another picture from these book


It's a ''racing cucumber'' (Russo Balt S24-58, 1913).

Thus you're the third Russian member of TNF that I know!

Shugurov's book contains a lot of very good pictures of various Russo Balts, "Racing Cucumber" is among them. I just posted all I had known to dmj - I took this information from Shugurov's article in the first issue of an annual "Automobilist" almanach. I don't remember what year it was published, perhaps 1981. Maybe you know it - a little thin book with blue & grey cover...

[Flicker]

One more interesting page about RussoBalt and 1912 Rallye Monte Carlo:

http://www.team-frl....tro/retro2.html


and two pics...