02/22/2023
Special delivery 🚚 📦!
The L’Eclipse has finally made its way from Europe to the USA 🥳.
This coach was purchased in Belgium last year and was a complete restoration project. We knew it was a Million-Guiet et Compagnie (aka Guiet) coach with serial number 6604 but much of the original detail was painted over and we had a lot of “unknowns” when trying to correctly restore this piece. Thanks to members of the coaching community, we were able to find out one of the oldest known owners of this coach to be Chateau Chenonceau in France. It was later sold by the Marquis to Roger Louis Debut de Roseville-Adet in the 1960s. It was used by company Debut de Roseville & Hardy, for films. In the 1980s it was purchased by André Becker, a collector living in Coignières (near Paris), then in Belgium.
When we visited the restoration in Poland, only a few parts of the coach had yet to be meticulously searched for clues about its original color and any names or details that would help guide us to the original owner. Allen was excited to try and uncover one last area, the rear seat riser, for a clue. Since the coach had been painted multiple times over the years, Allen began to very careful sand to remove each layer of paint. After sanding down a couple of layers, a raised outline began to form. A little more sanding and a darker outline began to show. Little by little, we discovered the original script “L’Eclipse”!!! After finding out the name, we discovered this coach was on the roads in the 1890s in France, between Trouville and Cabourg.
We were so very fortunate to debut the *almost* completed restoration (still needs the script and pinstriping) with the Private Driving Club in Diepenheim. The idea of this coach getting to travel on European roads before bringing it home was too exciting and important given it’s history.
A long list of thank yous to the many members of the European coaching community for helping us on this really fun restoration journey! Now it’s ready for
