Minerva

Belgium, 1897 – 1939

(1) S. de Jong et Cie, Antwerp, 1897 – 1902

(2) Minerva Motors SA, Antwerp, 1903 – 1934

(3) Société Nouvell Minerva, Antwerp, 1934 – 1935

(4) SA des Automobiles Imperia-Excelsior, Antwerp; Nessonvaux, 1935 – 1939

Belgium’s greatest marque, the Minerva car, arose from humble beginnings – a bicycle factory opened in 1897 by Sylvain de Jong. He soon progressed to proprietary motorcycle engines (of which he became Europe’s leading supplier), and to complete motor-cycles in 1900, though a year earlier he had built a prototype voiturette and a primitive motor lorry. A 6hp 4-cylinder Minerva car on Panhard lines appeared in 1902, but serious Minerva car manufacture did not get under way until 1904. These early Minerva cars retained side-chain drive an armoured wood frames, but used mechanically-operated side valves in a T-head. The Minerva cars came in 1.6-litre 2-cylinder, 2.4-litre 3-cylinder and 3.2-litre 4-cylinder forms, and alongside them was an ingenious and successful cyclecar, the Minervette. Its 636cc single-cylinder engine was transversely mounted at the front, driving the offside rear wheel by chain via a 2-speed constant-mesh gearbox.. This little Minerva car cost only £106. A year later the Minerva car company had settle down to bevel-driving twins and fours, the latter being a 2.9-litre 14 with steel frame that was sold in London by the Hon C.S. Rolls.   The almost mandatory petrol brougham for Minerva cars came in 1906, but more successful were a 3.6-litre Minerva 22 and a rapid 6.2-litre six Minerva car introduced in 1907. This Minerva car had gate change, and its engine developed 6-bhp. Even faster were the Minerva carfirm’s 8-litre Kaiserpreis Minerva cars with 5-bearing ioe engine and chain drive; Minerva cars failed in the German race but won the Belgian Circuit des Ardennes. In 1909 there was a Minerva L-head monobloc four of 2½-litres’ capacity, but at the same time the Minerva car company adopted the Knight double-sleeve-valve engine, and thereafter all catalogued Minerva cars used Knights. Though inevitably emphasis now shifted to chauffeur-driven carraiges and silence, Minerva’s Knights were by no means lethargic, as witness outright victories in the Swedish Winter Trials of 1911, 1913 and 1914 by Minerva cars, and distinguished performances in the Austrian Alpine Trials. The 3.3-litre Minerva cars that ran in the 1914 TT were good for 85mph and the Minerva carteam finished intact, in 2nd, 3rd and 5th places. Their success is reflected in the phasing-out of the motorcycles after 1910, and in a clientele of Minerva cars that included Henry Ford as well as the Kings of Belgium, Sweden and Norway. The 1910 Minerva cars were all fours: a 2.234cc monobloc Minerva 16hp, a 4¼-litre Minerva 26hp, and a large Minerva 38 of 6.3-litre capacity. Electric lighting was available in 1912 on Minerva cars, when Citroën-type helical bevel gears made their appearance; two years later starters were an option and wire wheels were standardized on Minerva car, and the Minerva car range extended from a modest 2.1-litre worm-drive monobloc Minerva 14 (which was popular as a taxi in Sweden) up to an enlarged 7.4-litre Minerva 38. De Jong was quick to set Minerva cars on their feet after the German occupation of 1914-1918, and by 1920 they were back in production with two Minerva cars, a 3.6-litre 4-cylinder Minerva 20 and a 6-cylinder 30CV of 5.344cc, both with monobloc engines, vacuum feed, cone clutches, 4-speed gearboxes, cantilever rear springing and rear-wheel and transmission brakes, though plate clutches were standardized Minerva cars after 1921. Minerva cars, like Daimler, made their own bodies, a new coachworks being opened at Mortsel, an Antwerp suburb, in 1922; the Minerva carcompany also supplied engines to other firms, among them Mors and the curious Anglo-American Crown Magnetic. (Émile Mathis’s 1913 sleeve-valve cars had been Minerva cars with Mathis radiators). Smaller Minerva cars followed: a 15CV 2-litre four in 1922, and a 20CV six of 3.4-litre capacity in 1923, this Minerva car having 4-wheel brakes as standard, and a wheelbase of nearly 12 feet. In 1925, 2.500 Minerva cars found buyers, and a year later all Minerva cars had 4-wheel brakes, with some necessary Dewandre servo assistance on the big ones. The 1927 Minerva carrange included a replacement for the 30CV, the magnificent 5.954cc Minerva AK six with alloy pistons, light steel sleeves, and a 12ft 5½in wheelbase. There was, however, a new small 6-cylinder Minerva car, the 2-litre Minerva 12-14CV; this came with a 3-speed unit gearbox, central ball change, and lhd, and sold for under £500 in England. This Minerva car was made until 1933.   The carriage trade was not forgotten, for there were three new big cars in 1930: a 150bhp sports edition of the Minerva AK with full-pressure lubrication, and two straight-8s. Of these the 6.6-litre Minerva AL was a vast 9-bearing affair with dual ignition and right-hand change, whereas its 4-litre companion, the 22CV Minerva AP, had coil ignition and central change, and could be bought for less than £900. In 1932 there was a 20CV six Minerva car with the same specification and cylinder dimensions of 75x112mm. However, none of these Minerva cars was suitable for the prevailing economic climate, and 1934 brought what was effectively the Minerva car company’s last model, the 2-litre Minerva M4, Minerva cars first four since 1927. The sleeve-valve engine was retained, but in other respects it was typical of the prevailing idiom, with 3-speed synchromesh gearbox, mechanical brakes and pillarless saloon bodywork. The Minerva M4 was not a success and in October 1935 Minerva cars merged with the only other Belgian factory still making private cars, Imperia of Nessonvaux. The traditional Minerva cars were continued for another season, and the Minerva AP survived until 1938, but thereafter the only cars sold to the public under the Minerva car name were some fwd Imperias exported to France. Purely experimental was an astonishing Minerva car exhibited at the 1937 Brussels Salon. This featured all-independent springing by torsion bars, and a transversely-mounted 3.6-litre Ford V8 engine drove the front wheels via a torque converter. Only three prototypes were made. In 1952 a comeback was planned with two Minerva car-models, both of foreign design. The smaller car was based on the 1947 Cemsa-Caproni, and the new luxury Minerva car was to use the mechanical elements of the Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire, but neither materialized. The last Minerva car was a jeep-type 4x4, the C20 of 1956. This Minerva car was powered by a 4-cylinder sv Continental engine.    

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

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