VETERAN CAR GUIDE
Paris to Vienna in the four-cylinder car. Six cars were prepared for the 1903 Paris to Madrid. Marcel was killed and the race stopped at Bordeaux, and Louis did not race again. Production was given a boost in 1902 when Paul Viet, the De Dion Bouton designer, arrived to work on the twin-cylinder and then the four-cylinder engines. By the end of 1904, 2650cc twin-cylinder and 4942cc four-cylinder engines were available, providing significant competitive advantage.
1904 Rolls-Royce
a factory in Coventry, England. After the death of Gormully in 1900, Jeffery and his son bought a large factory in Kenosha, Wisconsin. They produced the Model C with a single-cylinder engine under the seat and single chain drive, and automatic advance and retard. In 1902, 1500 sold at $ 750 each. The singlecylinder continued until 1905 with increased engine size and extended wheelbase, and twin-cylinder cars were available in 1904, when 3342 were produced.
Raynaud Based in Flayosc in the Southern Var region of France, roughly 40 miles inland from St Tropez, between Marseille and Cannes, Claude Raynaud ran an electric engineering business. The Raynaud may well be the only car of its kind because it is believed that Mr Raynaud’ s vehicle was intended for his own personal use. It is not known whether Raynaud’ s plan would have been to further expand his collection or in turn expand it into a business venture. The surviving vehicle, dated to 1896, has a twin-cylinder, horizontal engine of 3800cc.
Renault Louis Renault set up a small workshop behind his family home in Billancourt, Paris, where he produced his first vehicle, the Type A, in 1899. Its wheelbase was one metre, and it featured a tubular frame and a De Dion Bouton engine. It was an advanced design with front-mounted engine, wheel steering, and his own transmission design of final drive by shaft to a bevel gear on the back axle( with no chain or belt drive). The three-speed gearbox had direct drive on top. In 1902 he started to use engines of Renault design. Improvements were continuous, helped by the company’ s regular testing of its products on the race circuits of France. Marcel Renault won the 1902
Rochet During 1895, Edouard Rossel had begun to assemble cars in small quantities in Lille, from components supplied by Panhard et Levassor and Peugeot, but none survives. In 1898 he sold the rights to his car to the Compagnie Générale des Cycles, a bicycle manufacturer based on the Champs Élysées in Paris, who made versions of Rossel’ s cars and tricycles under the name of Rochet. The first Rochet cars had a conventional front-engined twin-cylinder configuration with four-speed gearboxes and double side chain drive to the rear wheels. By 1900 the company was offering a 12hp car and, unusually in 1902, reversing the trends of most motor manufacturers, the company marketed a small rear-engined car which was equipped with a 4.5hp single-cylinder Aster engine driving a cone clutch through a Bozier gearbox.
Rolls-Royce In 1884 Henry Royce, in conjunction with Ernest Claremont, established an electrical and mechanical engineering business in Manchester. Development of the original Royce 10 commenced in mid-1903 following the detailed examination and use of a 1901 Decauville. The Rolls-Royce version resulted from the agreement between Royce and Charles Rolls in December 1904, when the latter agreed to market Royce’ s carefully engineered cars under the Rolls-Royce name; the company itself was formally incorporated in 1906. The 10hp water-cooled twocylinder engine displaced approximately 1,800 cc, which was subsequently enlarged to 1,995 cc, driving through a three-speed gearbox. Wheelbase was only 75 inches. Sixteen Rolls-Royce examples were built, although figures can differ slightly where prototypes / Royce cars are included. In 1905 a 15hp version with a three-cylinder 3,000cc engine and a 105-inch wheelbase was launched. Six examples were made.
Rover Rover was a well-established cycle and motorcycle manufacturing business located in Coventry. Towards the end of 1903 it was decided to produce a motor car and a Daimler designer, Edmund Lewis, was hired. The first motor vehicle had a conventional
62 The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run