VETERAN CAR GUIDE
three speeds, appeared. In 1901, Henri Brasier left Mors to join the Richard brothers. His arrival heralded a new regime of larger cars on Panhard lines, with two or four-cylinder engines in four models, from 10hp to 40hp. At first, they were chain driven, with tubular frames on the smaller cars, but by 1904, all frames were pressed steel. The company offered a 5.5hp single-cylinder voiturette for the British market in 1903, called the Pony Richard; probably a stock clearance exercise. The company gained great kudos from its victories in the 1904 and 1905 Gordon Bennett races, with their 9.9 litre, 80hp and 11.2 litre 90hp machines.
1904 Humberette
employees were making 25 cars a day. By 1906, it was making 100 cars a day.
Franklin The H. H. Franklin Manufacturing Company, located in Syracuse, New York, made motor cars between 1902 and 1934. The first cars were designed by John Wilkinson. From the outset, air-cooled four-cylinder engines were preferred that were transversely mounted in a wooden chassis. Engines for 1903 and 1904 cars were of cast iron design including the base and cylinders. Aluminium was not used in the engine for these early cars. The early cars had a simple twospeed planetary transmission system and semi-elliptic suspension front and rear. There were 219 cars made in 1903 and only nine are currently known to exist. The bodies of the 1902 & 1903 cars were made by the John Leggett Carriage Company in Syracuse. The sides of the body have a swooped section that resembles a sleigh.
Gamage Aster Gamage’ s of Holborn, London, was a famous department store. It offered cars and a wide range of motoring accessories for both vehicles and occupants between 1903 and 1904. All the vehicles were sourced in from Lacoste et Battmann in Paris and were badged as‘ Gamage’ on arrival at the store. All vehicles had shaft drive and three-speed gearboxes, and there was a choice of De Dion Bouton or Aster single or twincylinder engines.
Georges Richard Situated at Ivry-Port, Seine, France, the Richard Company made photographic equipment and then bicycles. Motor vehicles were made from 1897, when a Benz-type machine, complete with belt drive and
Gladiator The Société Gladiator, Seine, France, was founded by Paul Aucoq and Alexandre Darracq to make low-cost bicycles, which attracted the attention of a British consortium that included Harvey du Cros and Ernest Hooley. Light car production was underway by 1898, and by the following year Aster engines of 2.5hp and 3.5hp had been installed in the front of the tubular chassis, with a two-speed gearbox and chain drive to the rear axle. They were also sold as Clément because Adolphe Clément was on the board until 1903. By then, Gladiator was making 1000 cars a year, of which 80 percent were sold in England. From 1903, larger 10hp, twin-cylinder models were available.
Haynes-Apperson The Apperson Brothers had premises at Kokomo, Indiana, USA. Elwood Haynes, a talented metallurgist who invented stainless steel, approached them to build his first car. The Haynes two-seater, with its chassis frame made of square steel tubing, had two forward speeds. Further prototypes were developed until the Haynes-Apperson Company was incorporated in May 1898. The cars were powered by 5hp engines, with a three-speed gearbox, and the‘ heavy parts’ were made of aluminium alloy. The company earned itself a reputation by participating in numerous endurance races. The partnership disintegrated, but Haynes continued to manufacture Haynes-Appersons with rear-mounted twin-cylinder engines of 8hp and 12hp. In 1904, a four-cylinder model was introduced, and the Apperson name was dropped.
Humber and Humberette Humber was one of the earliest cycle manufacturers, initially located in Nottingham, and later in Coventry and Wolverhampton. Plans to make the Léon Bollée three-wheeler were interrupted when a fire destroyed the Coventry factory, but the Coventry Bollée and the Coventry Motette did appear at the end of 1896, making Humber the first maker of series-production cars in England. Numerous prototype four-wheeled
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