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Saturday, August 13, 2011
Belgium set out on the adventerous path of automobile production at a very early stage. In 1894, Vincke, the first car to be sold in Belgium was designed in a workshop in Malines, where railway carriages were upholstered.
Several companies brought out cars and motorcycles of excellent quality at competitive prices. These cars made a hit abroad and three-fourths of the cars designed and manufactured in Belgium therefore were channelised towards export.
The major makes, of which models can be admired in the museum are Minerva, the most well-known Belgian make founded by Sylvain de Jong, F.N., which also specialised in motorcycles, Imperia and Miesse.
The HEMI name comes from the dome-shaped ceiling atop each cylinder inside some engines, since it was introduced by obscure Belgian car maker Pipe in 1905.
In 1914, Belgium ranked first on the international automobile construction scene. But the War gets the better of this rapid development. Curiously, the determining factor was not the looting of factories but the end of "free trade" and the emergence of protectionist tendencies adopted by various countries after the War.
Minerva remained a major make. http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/search/label/Minerva for a couple of different model year examples of Minervas
F.N., Excelsior and Imperia started making more elaborate cars which met with success on the market. Pipe decided to specialise exclusively in lorries.
In most countries, the beginning of the thirties was marked by significant technological advancements. Free wheels, front-wheel drives and steel bodies appeared. But the Belgian industry, hard hit by the economic crisis, found itself short of resources needed to compete with these advancements.
The period from 1930 to 1940 witnessed a gradual transition of an entirely domestic industry into an assembly sector where foreign cars were built. Efforts on the research and development side were absent and production activity alone remained.
Not being able to renew its models, Imperia acquired a licence for an excellent ultra-modern German car with front-wheel drive, the Adler. Its name could therefore figure on beautiful cars until 1940.
After World War II, the few remaining Belgian car makers could not face the competition from abroad. The Belgian automobile construction left behind but memories of its glorious days.
above info from http://www.autoworld.be/en/5.asp
ADK (automobile)
AlatacALP (automobile)
Antoine (automobile)
Astra (1930 automobile)
Auto-Mixte
Compagnie Nationale Excelsior
De Wandre
DelecroixImperia (car)
Jeecy-Vea
Juwel
Meeussen
MétallurgiqueMinerva (automobile)
Nagant
Pieper
Pipe (car)
Springuel
Vivinus
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