The brave cabs from the Marne
11/18/2012
There are some famous cabs for hire, such as the traditional black London cab, which you can also get into with a top hat on, or the New York Yellow Cab from the Checker brand.
Few people, however, are familiar with the cab from the Marne. On the occasion of the annual Rcoleta-Tigre Hotel Schnauferl race on November 10 , 2012, rare cars were on display as always, including one of these legendary cabs from the Marne.
At the beginning of September 1914, the German troops under Moltke had advanced as far as the Marne and threatened to encircle Paris. The thinned-out French front under Joffre had nothing to oppose them. The city commander of Paris therefore ordered all the hired carriages to be requisitioned and thrown to the front line manned by soldiers. Four poilus rode in each of the 1,200 carriages, making a total of around five thousand infantrymen who decided the battle.
They were primitive motorcycles with a displacement of 1.2 liters and eight "chevaux", as they were known, and they became famous and loved, with some later ending up in Buenos Aires. The model shown in this article was built in 1911: open at the front, without a windshield, with a fabric top and a clock.
When the convoy was sent on its journey of around a hundred kilometers in 1914, it was accompanied by a company of vulcanizers, because flat feet were common on the country roads of the time - hoof nails were everywhere. More or less every driver had a crusty baguette with them, butter and sausage were procured from farms, and water was drawn from village wells for the radiator and the soldiers' dry throats. By the second day, reinforcements were on the scene - Paris was saved for the time being!
