This week: The Minerva
Born: 1899 Nationality: Belgian
Bicycle maker Societe Nouvelle Minerva SA produced its first car prototype in 1899, based on a Panhard, and then began building French La Minerves under licence.
The marque's first design was the 1904 Model A with a 636cc engine and a 25mph cruising speed. Among its design attributes were its combined engine/gearbox sharing lubricating oil, east-west layout, and front mounted. More than half a century later, Alec Issigonis's Mini revived the idea.
Successes at the 1907 Belgian Grand Prix and the 1914 Isle of Man TT helped develop a public perception of the cars as strong and competitive. Among popular models were the 1912 BB, the 1913 DD, and the 3.3-litre EE limousine, also produced in 1913, a large closed car that was considered a great open road tourer. The 1914 JJ had a 2.1-litre engine and was noted for its quietness.
The Belgian army adapted the 1914 38CV as the 1914m. This included replacing the rear single-wheels axle with a double-wheel setup for greater traction and ability to carry the 5mm armour plating and a Hotchkiss machine-gun. Production ceased in October 1914 when the factory was overrun by the German army.
After the war, Minerva resumed car building and was soon making over 2,000 a year. The cars were very popular in England, where they were considered to be as good as Rolls-Royces and Mercedes-Benz, and sold by no less than CS Rolls himself. At its peak in the mid-1920s, its sales pitch as the "Cars of Kings and Queens" was confirmed by a number of royal personages and movie stars. Mobster Al Capone was also said to travel in an armoured Minerva.
Typical of the best of the Minervas was the 1926 CL Town Car. The company also introduced four-wheel braking on its models at this time. The helmeted radiator emblem of the Roman goddess after whom the company was named also led to the epithet for the marque as the "Goddess of Automobiles". With engines of up to nine litres, the cars certainly had warrior power.
Like many large and luxury car brands of the era, the Great Depression took its toll. After the sales of its new 1930 AL, an 8-cylinder 6.6-litre failed to continue the company's success of the previous decade, and Minerva was forced to merge with fellow Belgian marque Imperia in 1936. This didn't really work out either, and for the rest of the decade Minerva Imperia cars were essentially 4WD Adlers with Minerva's own coachwork.
After the second World War, Minerva couldn't afford to develop new cars of its own, and made an agreement with Standard in Britain to assemble Vanguard saloons. In 1951 the company approached Rover with a view to a joint venture to supply the Belgian army with a new light 4WD vehicle. The result was the building of Minerva variants of the Land Rover on chassis and running gear supplied by the British company. The Minervas had steel bodies instead of the aluminium used by Land Rover, and an armoured version was also produced. The joint venture ended in 1954, in acrimonious circumstances which led to court action by Minerva before a settlement was reached.
Late in 1954, Minerva produced its own "all-terrain" vehicles in civilian and military formats - the C-20 and M-20 respectively. They were reportedly very capable, but the Belgian military subsequently decided to deal directly with Land Rover for its needs. The Belgian company finally went bankrupt in 1958.
Ironically, through the 1980s, "new" Minerva vehicles were being rolled out by the Belgian army with modern weaponry, the result of stockpiling by the military authorities. They may be 1950s' technology, but even today - unlike the company itself - they have a reputation of being virtually indestructible.
BEST CAR: Many would say the 1926 Town Car
WORST CAR: Though quite grand, the 1930 AL was unable to compete with the more technologically advanced American cars of the era
WEIRDEST CAR: The Minerva "Land Rovers" had very home-made looks