Grace's Guide To British Industrial History

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Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 164,290 pages of information and 246,083 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.

Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 147,919 pages of information and 233,587 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.

Leon Bollee

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1896. Voiturette Bollee Tandem (No. 24) of the 1896 Paris-Marseilles-Paris Race.
1896. M. Amedee Bollee's Autocar (No. 20) of the 1896 Paris-Marseilles-Paris Race.
1896. The Bollee Petroleum Tricycle (of Léon Bollée).
1896. The Bollee Petroleum Tricycle (of Léon Bollée).
1896. The Bollee Petroleum Tricycle (of Léon Bollée).
1896. Leon Bollee Voiturette. Exhibit at Grampian Transport Museum.
1896. Leon Bollee Tricycle Voiturette. Exhibit at the Manoir de L'Automobile, Loheac.
1898. Exhibit at the Musee Automobile de Vendee.
Photo at the 2009 LBVCR.
1904. Leon Bollee Limousine. Four-cylinder. Exhibit at the Musee Automobile de Vendee.
September 1905.
September 1905.
1906 Q4. Six-cylinder engine.
1906.
November 1909.
1946. Leon Bollee on his Racing Tricycle.

Léon Bollée Automobiles was a French company founded by Léon Bollée in Le Mans to build a first vehicle called "Voiturette".

The Bollée family, all car makers, created three brands:

  • steam vehicles, Amédée Bollée (father), built between 1873 and 1885.
  • petrol (gasoline) cars, Amédée Bollée (son), built between 1896 and 1923.
  • the automobiles of Léon Bollée, between 1896 and 1931.

General

The first "Voiturette" built by Léon Bollée in 1886 was a three-wheel tandem driven by a single-cylinder 3 HP engine and belt drive. The cars sold well and several hundred were made for Léon Bollée by Hurtu & Diligeon, only the prototypes were made at the Le Mans factory.

The next vehicle appeared in 1899. It was a four-wheel car with independent suspension, whose engine attracted the attention in 1900 of Darracq, which used it in its own models.

In 1903, a new factory was built in Le mans and here Léon Bollée Automobiles built two four-cylinder models: one of 28 HP and 4.6 litres, and another of 45 HP and eight litres. These cars were equipped in 1907 with a six-cylinder motor and in 1909 with a four-cylinder of 10/14 HP.

1906. Produced 25-30 and 40-50 h.p. models. Imported in to the UK by Cannstatt Automobile Supply Association. [1]

The series of 1910 included nine models of which two were of more than 10 litres. By 1911 they were making 600 cars a year.

1913-1917 For a list of the models and prices see the 1917 Red Book. Leon Bollee models were imported by Connaught Motor and Carriage Co.

Léon Bolée died in 1913 but the company continued operations being run by his widow and during World War I, as well as a few cars, made ammunition and machine guns. Car production returned fully in 1919 with the 2612 cc Type H followed in 1922 by a 3918 cc six.

In 1924, the Morris Motor Company, after failing to introduce its cars into France, made a second attempt by buying the factory at Le Mans to make cars with four-cylinder engines very similar to those of the Morris Cowley and Morris Oxford. The new company was called "Morris-Léon Bollée".

The company was reorganized by directors sent from the Morris factory in Cowley, and the production of Morris-Léon Bollée cars began at the end of 1925.

The first car, the Type MLB had a Hotchkiss 12 HP, 2.5 litre engine. In 1928 an 18 HP model appeared equipped with a straight-eight, 3-litre engine but only six were made.

In spite of difficulties in obtaining components, production reached 150 cars per week. However, the French market did not readily take to buying cars made by a foreign company and, as sales did not meet expectations, production stopped in 1928.

Morris was unable to make the French company profitable and finally, in 1931, closed the company and sold the stock to a partnership which handled the sale of the last cars produced. Thus ended the history of the Léon Bollée car.

Early Registrations

See Also

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Sources of Information

  1. The Automobile Vol. III. Edited by Paul N. Hasluck and published by Cassell and Co in 1906.