VETERAN CAR GUIDE
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 The car was outdated by 1900 and sales dropped.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 twincylinder, 2,250cc engine.
Berliet Marius Berliet started experimenting with automobiles in 1894 at premises in Lyons, producing small numbers of single-cylinder, horizontal-engined tandem cars in 1900( apparently because the workshop had a narrow door), followed by front-mounted twin and four-cylinder, chain driven vehicles in 1901. In 1902, Berliet purchased the premises of Audibert-Lavirotte, and by 1903, the company had an agency in Paris, from where a range of four-cylinder, steel chassis machines with distinctive honeycomb radiators were advertised. Berliet had a reputation for manufacturing high quality, large engined motor cars, frequently clad with luxurious open and closed coachwork.
1898 Benz
Bertrand The Bertrand company, located on Avenue Malakoff, Paris, was founded in April 1900, and had ceased to exist before the end of 1902. It was one of a number of firms in the city that assembled its vehicles from components bought in from the main manufacturers: P. Dupressoir supplied the rear axles, and De Dion Bouton supplied the engines and ignition in the early days; later, in 1901, there were also engines available from Aster and Buchet. The overall design of the vehicle with its belt driven transmission, two engine speeds, and rear, inboard band brakes, was specific to Bertrand.
Bolide Bolide was the brand name given to motor vehicles that were distributed by Lefebvre, but the chassis, gearbox and axles were purchased by the company from Lacoste et Battmann. The latter, based in Paris, manufactured a large range of motor vehicle components that other companies purchased to support the assembly of their vehicles.
Brennan The Brennan Motor Manufacturing Company of Syracuse, New York, USA was a manufacturer of automobile engines, used by a range of other motor car companies. It is believed that the company prepared custom-made complete vehicles for some customers, during the period 1902- 1908, which were branded with the‘ Brennan’ marque. In the competitive American market that existed at this time, it was always unlikely that a small firm could succeed against organisations such as Ford, Cadillac, and Oldsmobile.
50 The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run