VETERAN CAR GUIDE body, was conservative on launch day, but positively anachronistic by 1906. Nevertheless, it sold well in Scotland, where it coped admirably with the poor quality, undulating terrain. The company merged with Aster in 1927.
Aster The Aster company, established in Paris during 1898, was a well-known manufacturer initially of engines and, subsequently, of a wide range of components from spark plugs to chassis. In 1898, the Begbie Manufacturing Company of Wembley, was licensed to make engines. Engines of all types were supplied to many other tricycle and motor car manufacturers, including Argyll, Dennis, Swift and Gladiator. An Asterbranded quadricycle was exhibited in 1900 at the Paris Salon and a 12hp model with a British made chassis was on display at the 1903 Crystal Palace Exhibition. Complete car production was never a feature of the company’ s output.
Autocar Autocars were built in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, USA from 1900, following the re-location of the original Pittsburgh Motor Vehicle Company. The first Autocar was a two-seater runabout with a 3hp single-cylinder and chain drive. The following year’ s 6hp, twin-cylinder car may have been America’ s first shaft-driven car with more than one cylinder. For 1904, the Autocar was equipped with an 11hp horizontal-mounted flat twin engine, and three-speed transmission. Early Autocars had left-hand tiller steering, and when wheel steering was introduced on the 1905 model, the wheel remained on the left.
Baker Electric The Baker Motor Vehicle Company was founded in 1899 by Walter C. Baker, with support from his fatherin-law, Rollin C. White, who later produced cars and trucks under his own‘ White’ brand. Baker had been engaged in electric vehicle development since 1893. The first Baker Electric was a tiller-steered two-seater
1903 Autocar. runabout, which was followed by a better equipped Phaeton Stanhope that was distributed until the end of 1904. Early Baker electric models had a range of 50- 100 miles on a single charge and could reach speeds of up to 23mph. The vehicles were known for their comfortable interiors, and often had leather fenders. Examples of the marque were part of the White House fleet in Washington.
Barré Barré was an automobile manufacturer based in Niort, France. At the 1899 Paris Salon, the company exhibited a light car with a 4hp Gaillardet engine, two-speed transmission and belt drive. For 1901, their vehicles were equipped with a choice of single cylinder De Dion Bouton engines, two-cylinder units from Aster, or four-cylinder ones from Buchet. From 1903, core components were sourced from Lacoste et Battmann, including tubular chassis for the smallerengined vehicles, and the larger engines were housed in wood and flitch plate frames. All had three-speed gearboxes with direct drive on top and shaft drive.
Bayard / Clément-Bayard Adolphe Clément( latterly renamed Clément-Bayard after the Chevalier Bayard) resigned from the boards of both Panhard and Gladiator in order to form Voitures Bayard in 1903. The cars were known as Clément-Bayard or Bayard-Clément, or simply referred to as Bayard in the motoring press. The company made a full range of cars – 6hp singles, 7hp twins and 14hp, 20hp and 27hp four cylinders, all with shaft drive. It made all the parts for its own vehicles, except the tyres, using largely American machine tools. Racing cars with engines up to 100hp( 16,786cc) were made and competed with some success.
Benz Karl Benz was a motoring pioneer who made the first petrol-engined car to run successfully. His factory was at Mannheim, Germany where the 1.5hp, two-speed Patent-Motorwagen went into production in 1888. The growth in engine capacity along with a license arrangement with Emile Roger of Paris, aroused significant interest. In 1893, a four-wheel model was launched, which was available with an array of heavy coachwork. The company’ s fortunes were transformed with the arrival of the‘ Velo’ in 1894, with its 3hp horizontal, rear-mounted engine, belt and pulley transmission, wire wheels, and two-seater body. The car was outdated by 1900 and sales dropped. Efforts were made to revive interest initially with the addition of a dummy bonnet, and then a new look arrived with the launch of the Benz Parsifal in 1902, with its twin cylinder, 2,250cc engine.
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