Titanic Gazette Souvenir Shop

Titanic Gazette Souvenir Shop

Titanic Gazette Souvenir Shop

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Titanic Automobiles

There is a record of one automobile in the Titanic's cargo hold. It was owned by William Carter going home to Philadelphia with his brand new French Renault (Mr. Carter survived the sinking). The Automobile was more than likely in the bow, where it was lifted into the cargo hold days before the sailing. It was where the iceberg struck, and went down with the ship. James Cameron went down to the hold in search, but came up empty handed. Today, if it still exists, the engine would be an unrecognizable mass of twisted metal, the seats would be gone, the frame would be bent with some of it gone, the lights would be imploded, the tires would be flat, the top would be mostly collapsed or gone, and the windshield would be shattered. That would be what it looks like compared to everything else, and I don't think you'd be able to find it on the first try. Unlike its portrayal in James Cameron's film, it was likely in a crate. It probably would have fallen forward due to its weight and the high angle the Titanic achieved. Today, a French Renault from 1912 goes for between 45,000 and 51,000 dollars.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

LOOKING TO PURCHASE A 1910 TO 1914
RENAULT RESTORED, PART RESTORED OR
AS A PROJECT. WOULD APPRECIATE ANY HELP IN FINDING ONE.

all in the family said...

Sorry; those cars are rare and collectible. There's none that I can find.

(c)2014 Richard L. Kent, Esq. (MichiganSilverback at gmail dot com) said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
(c)2014 Richard L. Kent, Esq. (MichiganSilverback at gmail dot com) said...

Dear Anonymous:

1. Can you swim?
2. Can you hold your breath a really, really long time?

I may have just the car for you....

Matt said...

We have an original 1912 Renault Coupe DeVille (town car) available for sale. It is a well-known car, restored to match the specifications of the Renault lost on board the Titanic. It is not a recreation, but an real 1912 Renault that used the Lloyds of London insurance claim on the original Titanic Renault as a guide. Extraordinarily beautiful and fully functional in every way. You can see more information and photos at www.vintagemotorcarsohio.com. Thanks!

BlueBomber said...

Please do some research get your facts straight or are you trying to rewrite recorded history?

The 1912 Renault that was in fact aboard the Tiainic was owned and consigned by Mr William E. Carter. HE survived, but the car went down with the ship.

He subsequently filed an insurance claim with Lloyds of London for $5000. It was paid!

I don't know where you got your information, but it is not correct!

BlueBomber said...

On another note, the engine would not "be a twisted mass of metal", nor would the lights be imploded or the glass windshield shattered. There are many photographs of the Titanic which shows many windows still intact after almost 100 years under water.

It baffles me, where you got your (much conflicted) information.

You should be embarrassed to publish such disputed facts. A simple search of Google, would spell out you many indiscrepancies.

all in the family said...

Dear BlueBomber,
I was not trying to rewrite history as you wrongly accused me of doing. I wrote that Widener owned it based off memory which as you pointed out was wrong, and I admit that I should have double checked the info. Thank you for pointing out this error and if you see any more errors, please tell me so that I can make the necessary corrections. I'd like to make this site as accurate as possible, but unfortunately the Titanic has been the subject of a mix between fact and fiction and it's sometimes hard to tell the difference. As to the car's present condition, I must stand by most of my original thoughts. The windshield might still be intact, but it's also possible it shattered when the bow plowed into the sea bed with the car being in the bottom and close to the forward area. Furthermore, my belief that the lights imploded is still retained because of the pressure of the water (which would possibly be increased in the area where it is when you take into account that it's in an area buried on the outside) and the thin glass combined make an implosion either upon impact with the bottom or on the way down very likely. There are things that have been found intact that should not be intact of course but since the car was never found, we must use our imaginations as to the condition of the car today.