E. N. V.
Note: There is some uncertainty surrounding this business.....
E.N.V. (or ENV) of Courbevoie, Seine, and Sheffield and Willesden.
The ENV V-8 type aircraft engines (designed by Paul Rath ) had in-line cylinders and were liquid-cooled. The first two models were powerful, but heavy; later, the D and F models, which developed 37 and 74 hp respectively, were reliable and lighter. The latter were widely used, from 1909, in France and England, by well known aviation pioneers. The name was derived from the French 'En-V' meaning a Vee engine layout.
c1909 The London and Parisian Motor Co., an Anglo-French company largely supported by British capital and expertise, gained the UK licence for the E.N.V. engine. The engine parts were produced in Sheffield then shipped to France for assembly, where aeronautical activity was more important, but where, in 1908, imported machines were subject to tax. In 1909, interest in flying greatly increased in Britain. A separate company, called ENV Motor Syndicate Ltd, was established in Willesden to produce aircraft engines.
1909 The E.N.V. Aero-engine was available for delivery from Paris where it was made; delivery would be a month after order; the sole British agents were the London and Parisian Motor Co; the engine was exhibited at the Olympia Aeroplane and Motor Boat Exhibition.[1]
An associated firm made some cars which were sold in the UK through the E. N. V. Motor Syndicate - see also E. N. V. Motor Co
c.1910 represented in Britain by Warwick Wright.
The driving force behind ENV, and the designer until he died in 1911, seems to have been Captain Ifah Williams[2]. Financial support came from various friends, including Sheffield manufacturer W. S. Laycock. Williams proceeded to produce the engine in a small factory in the suburbs of Paris, next door to that operated by Fernand Charron, famous racing driver of the early days who had since turned manufacturer. After Williams died, impetus was lost, and eventually a successor of the ENV company turned its attention to making spiral bevel gears. However, the link which had been forged by ENV between Laycocks and Charron was not completely broken, and in 1919 it was announced that a car to be called a Charron-Laycock would be manufactured at Millhouses, Sheffield.[3]
See Also
Sources of Information
- Some of the above information is condensed from here (French original)