The Imperial Garage

A lot of information on the Imperial Garages is over on the website of the Tsarskoe Selo Automobile Sport Club, who occupy one of the former Imperial Garage buildings, they have many photos and much information, the site is in Russian and English, this link is to the English version.

http://eng.tsar-auto-club.spb.ru/main.html

ßâíûõ òóííåëåé ñêîðåå âñåãî, êðîìå àðõèòåêòîðà Äàíèíè èç êóõîííîãî êîðïóñà äî Àëåêñàíäðîâñêîãî äâîðöà íåò. À ñëèâíûå êàíàëû (òóííåëè) êàíàëèçàöèè ïî÷òè â ðîñò ÷åëîâåêà âîçìîæíû. Ëþêè ñ âõîäîì ó äâîðöà è âûõîäîì â íà÷àëå Ìàëîé óëèöû åñòü. Äî ïåðåñòðîéêè êàíàëèçàöèè ñ ïîìîùüþ òðóá â íà÷àëå XX âåêà, êàíàëèçàöèÿ áûëà ñäåëàíà èç êèðïè÷à è êàìíåé. È ñîîòâåòñòâåííî îíà áûëà ñäåëàíà äëÿ ðåìîíòà ïî÷òè â ðîñò ÷åëîâåêà.

 ðàéîíå Ñîôèè ó ÷åëîâåêà ìàøèíà ïðîâàëèëàñü â ãàðàæå â òàêîé òóííåëü. Ïðè ïåðåñòðîéêå â íà÷àëå XX âåêà ñòàðûå ñëèâíûå êàíàëû îñòàâèëè äëÿ ñëèâà äîæäåâîé âîäû.

Obvious tunnels most likely, except for architect Danini from the kitchen case up to Aleksandrovskogo are not present a palace. And drain channels (tunnels) water drains almost in growth of the person are possible. Hatches with an input at a palace and an output in the beginning of Small street are. Before reorganization of the water drain by means of pipes in the beginning of XX century, the water drain has been made of a brick and stones. And accordingly it has been made for repair almost in growth of the person.

In area of Sofia at the person the machine has failed in garage in such tunnel. At reorganization in the beginning of XX century old drain channels have left for plum of rain water.

Rob, Good for you for helping the TS automobile sport club site with an English translation.  I am so happy to know about the site....I've marked it for when the translation is finished.  Thank you for posting the info.

I noticed in the painting of the gorgeous car with Nicholas beside it,  the Imperial Crest is painted on the door of the car.  According to what I have read here on the AP Nicholas' cars didn't have crests on them. Lovely painting tho.

Gelgov, thanks once again for answering my questions, this time about the tunnels that were mentioned.  I have certainly learned a lot from your posts.

Arleen

See some new postings from Paul Gilbert:

http://www.angelfire.com/pa/ImperialRussian/blog/index.blog/1436663/nicholas-iis-automobile-collection/

http://www.angelfire.com/pa/ImperialRussian/news/462news.html

Thank you! Those were very interesting to read. I wonder how many cars could fit in the one at the Winter Palace. It doesn't look all that large, especially when you consider the carwash at the front.

whats happned with the czars automobiles after war,
 i know that lenin loved expensive car, he ordered a
  rolls royce equiped with skis for drive in heavy snow

We do know that Kerensky and the Provisional Govt. "requisitioned" cars out of the Imperial Garage. Kerensky was particularly fond of riding around Petrograd in one of Nicholas' personal cars, probably a Delaunay-Bellville. These are the last references I have ever found on the subject. Sadly, they all seem to have vanished during the Revolution and/or WWII, as there is no evidence so far (that I am aware of) that any of them still exist today.

I'm still waiting to get some more specific details, but my dad has a book with two pictures of one of Nicholas' Delaunay-Bellevilles as it appears today. I don't know who owns it or where they bought it from, but according to the book, it hasn't been changed since Nicholas owned it. I'll let you know more once my dad replies to my email.

All right, here is the information my dad sent me about the book and what it says:

"The book that it is in is Automobile Quarterly Vo. 51 #3.  You will not find it in any library or bookstore.  It is a subscription book only.  They publish 4 volumes a year.  I have subscribed to them for quite a few years now. The tsar's cars were mentioned in an article about Delaunay automobile history. The pictures I sent you are of a Delaunay-Belleville which was one of the Tsar's favorites.  It is in now housed in the Fondation Pierre Gianadda museum in Martigny, Switzerland.  This is what was printed in the book:

"The greatest Delaunay story is that of the cars used by the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II.  They were housed in four royal garages: at the winter palace in St. Petersburg, the Tsarskoe Selo and Peterhof palaces near St. Petersburg, and the Livadia Palace in Yalta.  Inside, maintenance tools were reported to be stored on white-marble plinths.

"It is not clear which Delaunay was the tsar's first, a 1906 triple phaeton or a 1906 28hp Burlington-bodied landaulet.  By 1913, the tsar had 10 Delaunays.  One of the most dramatic was a one-of-a-kind 1910 Kellner-bodied limousine notable estory roof to help ventilation.  It was too early to see high-style bodies then, but the handsome curves in the front fenders, contrasting with a polished, louvered hood, foretold what was coming in automotive design.  The limousine was painted dark blue with a cream line picked out with gold.  Inside was rosewood cabinetry.  The car was set on a 161 inch wheelbase with aial 70hp, 6-cylinder engine, especially interesting for the time with an almost square 134mm x 140mm bore and stroke.  Other features included a Sauer compressed-air self-starter.

"The tsar's automobiles led the motorization of Russia.  By 1908, there were automobile clubs in St. Petersburg and Moscow; the first automobile show was held that year in St. Petersburg.  French and German cars dominated; only one American make was there.  Just 200 cars were estimated to be in St. Petersburg, then a city of 2 million, with a half dozen on the streets at any one time.  That fact provides context for the two Delaunay touring cars that arrived in Moscow on May 19, 1908, timed with the end of a St. Petersburg to Moscow race.  For photographer Maurice-Louis Branger, the cars stopped at landmarks in the city such as the Kremlin gates and St. basil's Cathedral.  Just their presence was an extraordinary event."

As I suspected. the Car in the photos is not one of the Emperor's Delaunay Bellevilles.  It is "a" Delaunay, but not "the Emperor's"...We also know now that the first one was the Lanaulet. The second was the triple phaeton...

None survived the Revolution and Bolsheviks.

Hmm, well, I guess my dad might have confused which article the photos went with. But by googling the Fondation Pierre Giannada and Nicholas II together, I come up with a few results that say that the museum has one of Nicholas' cars. Such as in the below article:

http://www.fodors.com/world/europe/switzerland/valais/review-161073.html

We have the garage lists of Nicholas II. they think they have one of his cars, but do not.  We hear from people regularly who say they do, but do not. Last year we heard from a famous car museum in Las Vegas, who thought they had one too.  Think about this: Just "how" could one of his cars gotten out of the county? The Bolsheviks confiscated everything of his for their personal use...they didn't sell any...so how could one have gotten out?

The Imperial Garage I found was behind three blocks of flats where the road curves just beyond the Alexander Palace. It was well hidden away by later development and I despaired of finding it. I managed it in the end but could not get close as there is a padlocked gate.

Still I found it and thats the main thing. 

Photo taken by me and being posted by Emmy Lee - coming soon!!!!
Alan

Right here!

Would be neat to see that restored with a museum of Imperial motor coaches or something along that line.

Thanks,  EmmyLee

That's amazing  Alan...did you have maps to help you find places? How did you do it? and how far is it from the Palace?
What an imposing building!

Would be neat to see that restored with a museum of Imperial motor coaches or something along that line.

good idea!

I studied an number of aerial maps of the locality plus information found on this website before I left the UK. I printed a number of maps that I found on various sites and went armed with a lot of paperwork.
I realised there was one garage somewhere behind some blocks of flats (there are three blocks) and just had to wander along at the back of them looking for anything like a picture on this site.
I imagined that someone would want to know what i was doing but the situation did not arise.
It was trial and error and I would have been very disappointed if I had not found the one I did.   
Alan