Abadal – Imperia – Buick

Abadal

The Imperia-Abadal model was manufactured by Imperia under Abadal license

Abadal Vehicles

The Abadal was a Spanish car manufactured between 1912 and 1923, named after Francisco Abadal. Considered a fast luxury car, it was closely patterned on the Hispano-Suiza and offered in two models. One had a 3104 cc four-cylinder engine while the other had a 4521 cc six-cylinder engine.

Soon after the inception of the Abadal line, the Belgian company Impéria began building Abadals under license as Impéria-Abadals. In 1916 Abadal acquired the Buick agency, and Barcelona-built Abadals after that year had Buick power units and featured custom coachwork. These cars were called “Abadal-Buicks”. M. A. Van Roggen (formerly of Springuel) took over the Belgian operation soon after, and built around 170 more Impéria-Abadals. Among the models produced were a 2992cc 16-valve four-cylinder OHC sports model and three prototype 5630 cc straight-eights. The company ceased automobile production in 1923.

Francisco Abadal (nicknamed Paco) was a Hispano-Suiza salesman and racing driver in Barcelona. He began this enterprise in 1912, and upon its cessation became an agent of General Motors in Spain. General Motors’ plans in 1930 related to a prototype named the Abadal Continental never materialised.

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  Abadal 25 HP 1914

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  Abadal-Buick 1923

Abadal Y-12 aero-engine

Abadal also produced the Abadal Y-12 aero-engine, a multiple bank in-line engine with twelve cylinders in three banks of four arranged in a Y.

References

1. Jump up^ Burgess Wise, David (1979). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Automobiles. London: New Burlington Books. ISBN0 906286 16 6.

Imperia Automobiles

  (Redirected from Imperia (car))

Impéria Automobiles was a Belgian automobile factory, active from 1906 until 1948. The factory in Nessonvaux, Liège, Belgium, had a rooftop test track since 1928.

Imperia 7-25 CV from 1932

History

Imperia TA-9 BS 1938

1948 Imperia TA-8 Sport

Standard Vanguard convertible built by Imperia

Impéria was a Belgian automobile manufactured from 1906 until 1948. Products of the Ateliers Piedboeuf of Liège, the first cars were designed by the German Paul Henze. These were four-cylinders of 3, 4.9, and 9.9 litres. The next year, the company moved to Nessonvaux, Trooz municipality, and began production in the old Pieper factory. Impéria produced a monobloc 12 hp (8.9 kW) in 1909. In 1910, the company merged with Springuel.

The Nessonvaux factory began producing Impéria-Abadals from about 1916. In 1921, it built three ohc 5.6-litre straight-eights. These were quickly replaced by an ephemeral ohc 3-litre 32-valve four-cylinder which had a top speed of 90 mph (140 km/h). This was followed by an 1100 cc slide-valve 11/22 hp four designed by Couchard, one of the first cars ever built with a sunroof. Its engine rotated counterclockwise, and its transmission brake also served as a servo for those on the front wheels. In 1927 a six-cylinder of 1624 cc appeared; this had been available in three-carburettor Super Sports form from 1930.

In 1925, the company hired Louis de Monge as chief research engineer. Some of his work included torsion bar suspension and automatic transmissions. De Monge left in 1937 to join Bugatti, where he would design the Bugatti 100P racer plane.

Around and on top of the factory buildings, there was a test track over 1 km long. The track was built in 1928. The only other rooftop test tracks were on Fiat’s Lingotto plant, opened in 1923, and Palacio Chrysler in Buenos Aires, opened in 1928.

Over the course of four years, Impéria took over three other Belgian car manufacturers: Métallurgique (1927), Excelsior (1929), and Nagant (1931). From 1934 until the company folded it built mainly front-wheel-drive Adlers with Belgian-made coachwork. The company merged with Minerva in 1934, but they split in 1939.

In addition to its production in Belgium, Impéria made a number of cars in Great Britain; these were assembled at a factory in Maidenhead.

From 1947 to 1949 Impéria built its last model TA-8 which combined an Adler Trumpf Junior-type chassis with an engine originally intended for the Amilcar Compound.

After 1948 Impéria assembled Standard Vanguards under license and also built a unique convertible version. After Standard decided to set up a new factory in Belgium, the factory was left without work and had to close doors in 1957.

Imperia Nessonvaux piste

In popular culture

In Michael Chabon‘s 2004 novel The Final Solution, set in 1944, the Anglican vicar drives a Belgian Impéria.

2009 revival

The Imperia GP was going to be sold in 2013. The car was designed by Denis Stevens. The Imperia GP roadster would have had PowerHybrid motorization technology developed by Green Propulsion.

Pictures from my collection:

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

 

References

1. Jump up^ Pegasus, newsletter of the Bugatti Association, issue 23
2. Jump up^ “Trooz (Municipality, Province of Liège, Belgium)”. 12 January 2010.
3. Jump up^ “Testing cars on the factory rooftop – Imperia (Nessonvaux, Liège, Belgium)”. 21 April 2009.
4. Jump up^ Ritzinger, André. “Imperia TA-8”. http://www.ritzsite.nl. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
5. Jump up^ The Final Solution, pp. 87, 88.
6. Jump up^ “Imperia Automobiles”. Imperia-auto.be. Retrieved 19 July 2009.

David Burgess Wise, The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Automobile

External links

History of the company (in French)

Site with pictures

Imperia

Green Propulsion

Brothers Emile + Léon NAGANT Liège Belgium 1859-1931

Nagant

Fabrique d’armes Émile et Léon Nagant (Nagant)

Former type	Private
Industry	firearms
Fate	Acquired
Founded	1859 in Liège, Belgium
Founder(s)	Émile Nagant, Léon Nagant
Defunct	1931
Headquarters	Liège, Belgium
Area served	Worldwide
Products	firearms
Parent	Impéria
References: Major contributors to the design of the Mosin-Nagant service rifle by Russia and then by the USSR

Nagant Phaeton 1910

The firm Fabrique d’armes Émile et Léon Nagant was established in 1859 in Liège, Belgium, to manufacture firearms.

Émile (born 1830) and Léon (born 1833) Nagant were brothers, and probably best known for their important contributions to the design of the Mosin-Nagant Russian service rifle, adopted in 1891. This introduction to the Tsar‘s military administration led to the adoption, in 1895, of the Nagant M1895 revolver as their standard-issue sidearm. By this time, Émile’s progressive blindness had led to his withdrawal from the firm which had been renamed “L. Nagant & Cie, Liège.”

1900 Nagant-Gobron 14-15 CV Type C Victoria fl3q

Car manufacture

Later, the firm moved to the manufacture of automobiles; Nagant made cars under licence of the French firm Rochet-Schneider. Nagant cars were made from 1900 to 1927 or 1928. The firm was taken over by Impéria in 1931.

1907 Nagant Monte Carlo

1909 Nagant Type D 14slash16-HP

1910 Nagant

1914 Rochet-Schneider

1918-nagant-four-cylinder-berline

NAG Neue Automobil Gesellschaft 1901-1934 Berlin Germany

Neue Automobil Gesellschaft

1902 NAG Kleingenberg

Neue Automobil-Gesellschaft AG

Industry	Automotive
Fate	Merged with Büssing AG
Founded	1901
Defunct	1934
Headquarters	Berlin, Germany
Key people	Emil Rathenau, founder
Products	Automobiles Buses and Trucks

1901 NAG building by Peter Behrens in Berlin-Oberschöneweide 11

1906 NAG Bus

Neue Automobil-Gesellschaft (NAG) was a German automobile manufacturer in Berlin. In 1915 it was renamed Nationale Automobil-Gesellschaft (NAG).

1907 NAG

In 1902, German electrical company AEG purchased the coachbuilding side of Kühlstein under engineer Joseph Vollmer, renaming it NAG. The company’s first two cars were reliable, if unoriginal: the two-cylinder Typ A and 5.2 liter (317ci) four-cylinder Typ B, both with chain drive, which resembled contemporary Mercédès. Shortly, an enlarged Typ B2, with 40/45hp (30kW) 7.9-liter (482ci) four, appeared. In 1907, one of these was given to the Empress Auguste Viktoria.

NAG car from 1908

The next year, AEG got out of the car business, but NAG continued alone, introducing a 15 hp (11 kW) 1502 cc (91.7ci) four called Puck, with a remarkable (for the period) ability to rev to 3000 rpm, which may have contributed to its ability to win the Gothenburg Cup at the Swedish Winter Trials in 1912, 1913, and 1914. This sporting reputation was balanced by “aggressively ugly Prince Henry-type bodies”.

1908 NAG Car

The Puck would later be developed into a model known in Germany as the Darling. From 1911 to 1914, NAG’s standard offering was an 8495 cc (518ci) 60 hp (44.7 kW), joined in 1912-14 by a 1502 cc (91.7ci) 10/12 hp (7.5 kW) K2, 2085 cc (127ci) 14/20 hp (10 kW) K4, 3308 cc (202ci) 20/25 hp (15 kW) K5, and a 5193 cc (317ci) 25/35 hp (19 kW).

1908 Werbung für Protos-Wagen im Jahre 1908

During the recovery after World War I, NAG produced smaller numbers of 2.5-liter (153ci) C4s, essentially prewar K4s with new vee radiatorsreplacing the prewar oval ones.

1909 neue-automobil-gesellschaft-c4-automobile-models-photo-u1

The economic situation was so serious, NAG partnered with Brennabor, Lloyd, and Hansa to form GDA (what in the U.S would be called a trust), to prevent competition from destroying them all. It proved successful for NAG, which prospered, enough to build the C4b sports variant, designed by chief engineer Christian Riecken (a Minerva racing driver prewar).

1910 NAG

Riecken ran a C4b at the newly opened AVUS in 1922, winning at 84.3 mph (135.7 km/h), which was greater than the C4’s top speed. It sacrificed nothing to reliability, as NAG went on to place well at the 1923 All-Russian Trials and the ADAC Reich Trials for 1923-26. In 1924, NAG hit its apex at Monza, where Riecken and Hans Berthold won the Gran Premio della Norte in a C4b, covering 1656 mi (2665 km) in 24 hours, an average of 68.99 mph (111.02 km/h), for which the model was renamed Monza.

1910 neue-automobil-gesellschaft-protos-automobile-models-photo-u1

In 1926, Protos (which had built the winner of the New York-Paris race) was acquired from Siemens-Schuckert, leading to “a series of dull six-cyliner cars”. The next year, NAG again expanded, taking over Presto, which had just bought Dux, continuing to build the 2.6-liter Typ F and 3-liter Typ G. The difficulty was, despite their quality, none of these were distinctly different from other German cars of the period.

1913 NAG auto-omnibusdienst Klundert-Zevenbergen-Noord Brabant.

In response, NAG created a disastrous straight-eight (abandoned due to crankshaft whip), which was never built, then hired former Impéria and Steigerman Paul Henze, “one of Germany’s most gifted car designers”, in an effort to remedy this situation with a new top-line car. Henze settled on a 4540 cc (277ci) V8, Germany’s first to enter production which became “one of the outstanding German luxury cars of 1931, the NAG 212.”

1913 NAG Rennwagen Ad

Rather than rely on conventional shaft drive, however, NAG chose to attempt to fit a Voran FWD system (designed by Richard Bussien) to a backbone chassis with independent suspension, which proved too ambitious, and the development costs disastrous.

1913 NAG

In 1934, NAG ceased car production, while NAG-Büssing commercial vehicles continued to be produced for a few more years.

1913 NAG-Rennsportwagen 17

1913 NAG-Rennsportwagen 17

During the Second World War, the company produced the Sd Kfz 231, Sd Kfz 232, Sd Kfz 233, and Sd Kfz 234 series armoured cars.

1914 DUX NAG AO7

1914 NAG-typ-c4-monza-12

1914 NAG

1922 NAG-typ-c4-monza-12

motor(cycles), cars, trucks, buses, MINERVA Antwerp Belgium IMPERIA

Minerva 

motor(cycles)

cars

trucks

buses

Société Anonyme Minerva Motors

Industry	automobiles
Fate	dissolved
Founded	Antwerp, Belgium (1900)
Founder(s)	Sylvain de Jong
Defunct	1956
Products	bicycles, motorcycles, automobiles, Buses,

The Minerva was a prominent Belgian luxury automobile manufactured from 1902 until 1938. The company became defunct in 1956.

 History

In 1883, a young Dutchman, Sylvain de Jong (1868–1928) settled in Antwerp, Belgium.

Bicycles and motorcycles

A man on a Minerva motorized bicycle in Australia near the turn of the 20th century, by Alice Manfield

1902 Minerva 211 cc

1903 Romania 1¾ pk (Minerva)

1908 Minerva 432 cc (8 pk) zijklepper

1910 Minerva motorcycle

Small Minerva later BSA

Minerva started out manufacturing standard safety bicycles in 1897, before in 1900 expanding into light cars and “motocyclettes”, particularly motorized bicycles which were a forerunner of motorcycles.

They produced lightweight clip-on engines that mounted below the bicycle front down tube, specifically for Minerva bicycles, but also available in kit form suitable for almost any bicycle. The engine drove a belt turning a large gear wheel attached to the side of the rear wheel opposite to the chain. By 1901 the kit engine was a 211cc unit developing 1.5 hp, comfortably cruising at 30 km/h (19 mph) at 1,500 rpm, capable of a top speed of 50 km/h (31 mph), and getting fuel consumption in the range of 3 L/100 km (94 mpg_-imp; 78 mpg_-US). These kits were exported around the world to countries including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, and other British territories of the time.

As engine power increased, frame ruptures became increasingly common, and by 1903 Minerva had developed an in-frame design for their bicycles, with the engine mounted above the bottom bracket, while still also offering the clip-on kit. From 1904 Minerva began focussing more on car production, and while development and production of the Minerva motorized bicycles and motorcycles continued through to about 1909, they increasingly became a less significant part of the company.

Minerva engines exported to the UK powered the very first Triumph, among others. Motorcycle production would continue until 1909 or 1914, and during this period Minerva became one of the world’s premier names in motorcycles and motorcycle engines. (For instance Chater-Lea produced Minerva-engines in the UK.)

Automobiles

In 1902 De Jong added cars to his production as well with a 6 hp four-cylinder model. In 1903 he founded Société Anonyme Minerva Motors in Berchem (Antwerp). Volume car production began in 1904 with a range of two-, three- and four-cylinder models with chain drive and metal clad wooden chassis and the Minervette cyclecar. The 8-litre Kaiserpreis won the Belgian Circuit des Ardennes race in 1907.

1931 Minerva 8 AL Rollston Convertible Sedan

Charles S Rolls (of future Rolls-Royce fame) was a Minerva dealer in England selling the 2.9-litre 14 hp (10 kW). The most important market for the manufacturer remained England, where at £105 the small 636 cc single-cylinder Minervette was the cheapest car on the market, followed by the Netherlands and France.

In 1908, Minerva obtained a worldwide Knight Engine license. The Knight motor, developed by Charles Yale Knight in the United States, used double sleeve valves and ran almost silently. All future Minervas would use these engines. Sporting successes continued with the new engines including the Austrian Alpine Trials and Swedish Winter Trials. Customers for the Minerva would include kings of Belgium, Sweden and Norway, Henry Ford and the Impressionist Artist Anna Boch.

During World War I Sylvain de Jong and his engineers were based in Amsterdam where they maintained development of their automobiles. Minerva cars were used for hit and run attacks against the Germans initially with rifle fire and light machine guns from simply protected open topped vehicles. These vehicles became increasingly sophisticated until trench warfare robbed them of the mobility needed for their hit and run tactics.

1937 Imperia Minerva AP 22 CV limousine

In 1920, they returned to Belgium to restart the production of luxury cars with the 20CV 3.6-litre four-cylinder and 30CV 5.3-litre six-cylinder models.^[7]The manufacturer’s star rose not only in Europe, but in the United States as well where American film stars, politicians and industrialists appreciated the cars. The Minerva had the same quality as the Rolls-Royce, but was slightly less expensive. In 1923, smaller models were introduced; the 2-litre four-cylinder 15CV and 3.4-litre six-cylinder 20CV with standard four-wheel brakes. In 1927, the 30CV was replaced with the 6-litre AK and also a new 2-litre six, the 12-14, was introduced. Large cars continued to be a specialty of Minerva’s, and in 1930 the then almost-compulsory-for-the-time straight eight was introduced in two sizes; the 6.6-litre AL and the 4-litre AP. The last Minerva was the 2-litre M4 of 1934 but it did not sell well.

With the financial crisis in the 1930s, the company was restructured as Société Nouvelle Minerva but in 1934 merged with the other major Belgian constructor Imperia. Imperia continued to make Minervas for a year and the AP until 1938 and from 1937 badged some of their cars and trucks for export to England and France as Minerva-Imperias. Just before the outbreak of the war, a group of businessmen from Verviers bought out Minerva.

1952 Minerva Land Rover. Note the sloping front faces to the wings

After World War II the company produced a version of the Land Rover under license for the Belgian army up to 1953. There were plans to re-enter the car market but these did not get beyond the prototype stage. The company struggled for survival and made the Continental-engined Land Rover-like C20 until 1956.

That’s it.