Continental Caoutchouc and Guttapercha Co
of Hannover, Germany
of Holborn Viaduct, London; works: Hanover, Germany (1901)
of 104/8 Clerkenwell Rd, London EC (1905), Tyres and other rubber goods
1871 Continental-Caoutchouc-und-Gutta-Percha Compagnie was founded in Hanover as a joint stock company. Manufacturing at the main factory in Vahrenwalder Street, Hanover, included soft rubber products, rubberized fabrics and solid tyres for carriages and bicycles.
1891 Continental AG was the first German company to manufacture pneumatic tyres for bicycles.
1898 Began production of automobile pneumatic tyres without tread patterns in Hanover.
1901 The first Daimler-produced car to be called Mercedes achieved a sensational victory in the Nice-Salon-Nice car race on Continental pneumatic tyres.
1904 Continental produced the world’s first automobile tyre with a patterned tread. Manufactured tyres for and products sold by Clipper Tyre Co.
1906 Continental Tyre and Rubber Co Ltd was at the Holborn Viaduct address, so presumably this was the same company renamed.
1909 Continental Aeroplan material was used to cover the fuselage and wings of Bleriot's plane when it crossed the Channel.
1909 Specimens of synthetic rubber developed at the Bayer laboratories were successfully vulcanized at Continental and processed to make the first test tyres.
1911 The Continental Rubber and Gutta Percha Co was a shareholder in the Aerial Traffic Co of Berlin when it acquired the Parseval airships[1]
1921 Continental became the first German company to market a cord tyre. Continental made its first giant pneumatic tyres, replacing the solid tyres used until that time on commercial vehicles.
1926 Carbon black was used as a reinforcing filler to give the tyre more resistance to wear and ageing, as well as its characteristic colour.
1928 Merger with major companies of the German rubber industry to form Continental Gummi-Werke AG. Takeover of plants in Hanover-Limmer and Korbach/Hesse.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Times, Apr 10, 1911
- Motor Cycling and Motoring 1902/12/03
- [1] Continental website