Want to look stylish? Add a Borzoi (or two)

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From the very beginning of motoring, ladies have always added elegance and beauty to photographs of motor cars. Indeed, in the Concours d’Élégance of the twenties and thirties (and in some later Concours events in the fifties and sixties), the car was almost always accompanied by a lady, as finely clothed by her couturier as was the car finely bodied by its carrossier.

But for some manufacturers, the addition of an elegant lady was simply not enough to promote their car as truly stylish. To achieve this, there was only one solution – the addition of a Borzoi!

There are examples of other breeds of dogs accompanying publicity images and advertisements – but these are most often with a family, and merely indicate that the pet can be accommodated as well. The Borzoi was completely different. It indicated very clearly that the elegant lady also had taste and discernment – and the means to buy and look after such a rare and expensive hound.

You may ask why this single image of a 1928 Chenard et Walcker proves the point. Well, this article wouldn’t have been written were it not for the discovery of two other images – one from a 1929 American Cadillac/La Salle advertisement (where the allusion to elegance and style is obvious), and one from a post-war publicity photograph of a relatively lowly Humber Hawk (where perhaps Humber was trying a bit too hard to relive their pre-war reputation).

This Chenard et is a relatively unusual model. The company presented two new 1500cc sporting models at the 1927 Paris Motor Show: the Y8 (as shown in our picture), with a fully lowered chassis, was fitted with a " tank " body, whereas the semi-lowered version, the Y7, carried either a three-seat torpedo body or a two-seater coach in laminated wood.

Both versions shared a new four-cylinder engine of 1,500cc capacity and inlet-over-exhaust valve gear. They saw success in hill-climbing and endurance racing – and were also seen in various Concours events. According to Omnia magazine, in July 1930 the tank-bodied Chenard, with coachwork by SPCA, won the prize for originality.

The ideas of elegance in motor cars have moved on since the days of this Y8 Chenard et Walcker – but the Borzoi remains to this day one of the most stylish and beautiful hounds in the world. Perhaps a present-day manufacturer will add one (or two) to their publicity, with the same aim as Chenard, Cadillac, and Humber in their day.

Words by Peter Moss. Photographs from the Richard Roberts Archive.

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