Amédée Bollée

bells of Bollée^[1]

Carillonneur Brian Swager plays the historic carillon of Amédée Bollée at the Perpignan Cathedral

Amédée-Ernest Bollée (11 January 1844

bellfounder and inventor who specialized in steam cars

. After 1867 he was known as "Amédée père" to distinguish him from his similarly named son, Amédée-Ernest-Marie Bollée (1867–1926).

Biography

Bollée was the eldest son of Ernest-Sylvain Bollée, a bellfounder and inventor who moved to

wind-turbine

factory.

Amédée père manufactured his first steam vehicle L'Obéissante (The Obedient) in 1873 and made the first road trip between Paris and Le Mans in 18 hours. The L'Obéissante carried 12 passengers and had a cruising speed of 30 km/h (19 mph) and a top speed of 40 km/h (25 mph). It was driven by two V twin steam engines, one for each rear wheel. The original vehicle is preserved in the collection of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers in Paris.^[3]

La Mancelle

In 1878 Amédée père designed La Mancelle, which is regarded as the first automobile to be put into series production, 50 being manufactured in all. It possessed such (for the period) advanced features as

Musée de l'Automobile de la Sarthe.^[4]

La Marie-Anne

The public demonstrations of L'Obeissante and La Mancelle had secured orders for the Bollée factory, and Amédée père accepted an order for a

gearbox and was capable of towing 35 tonnes (34 long tons; 39 short tons) on a 6% slope

.

La Nouvelle

Amédée père had derived from La Mancelle different vehicles that he delivered in a variety of styles of bodywork such as: limousine, coach, omnibus etc. The La Nouvelle was from this series and was completed in 1880. The rear of the vehicle was designed to receive the piston engine, this time rejected near the boiler in order to enlarge the passenger cabin.[5]

La Rapide

La Rapide (The Rapid) was built in 1881 and was noted for achieving a speed of 62 km/h (39 mph). La Rapide grouped the boiler, the engine and the controls at the front of the vehicle, thus making it possible for it to be driven by a single operator.^[6]

References

^ Institut international d'informatique Léon Bollée Archived May 10, 2008, at the Wayback Machine in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)
^ According to le registre d'État-civil de la commune de Sainte-Croix, acte no 2 de 1844
^ "1873 "L'Obéissante" by Amédée Bollée". History of the Automobile: origin to 1900. Hergé. Archived from the original on 2020-07-16. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
^ "1878 "La Mancelle" by Amédée Bollée". History of the Automobile: origin to 1900. Hergé. Archived from the original on 2020-07-16. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
^ "1880 "La Nouvelle" by Amédée Bollée". History of the Automobile: origin to 1900. Hergé. Archived from the original on 2020-07-15. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
^ "1881 "La Rapide" by Amédée Bollée". History of the Automobile: origin to 1900. Hergé. Archived from the original on 2020-07-15. Retrieved 2020-07-15.

External links

The Bollée family

In French:

La Obeissante 1873 Archived 2011-05-21 at the Wayback Machine
La Mancelle 1878 Archived 2011-05-21 at the Wayback Machine
La Marie-Anne 1879 Archived 2007-05-26 at the Wayback Machine
La Nouvelle 1880 Archived 2010-03-29 at the Wayback Machine
La Rapide 1881 Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine

[1] Institut international d'informatique Léon Bollée Archived May 10, 2008, at the Wayback Machine in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)

[2] According to le registre d'État-civil de la commune de Sainte-Croix, acte no 2 de 1844

[3] "1873 "L'Obéissante" by Amédée Bollée". History of the Automobile: origin to 1900. Hergé. Archived from the original on 2020-07-16. Retrieved 2020-07-15.

[4] "1878 "La Mancelle" by Amédée Bollée". History of the Automobile: origin to 1900. Hergé. Archived from the original on 2020-07-16. Retrieved 2020-07-15.

[5] "1880 "La Nouvelle" by Amédée Bollée". History of the Automobile: origin to 1900. Hergé. Archived from the original on 2020-07-15. Retrieved 2020-07-15.

[6] "1881 "La Rapide" by Amédée Bollée". History of the Automobile: origin to 1900. Hergé. Archived from the original on 2020-07-15. Retrieved 2020-07-15.

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