| Gustave Adolphe Clément-Bayard | |
|---|---|
Adolphe Clément circa 1890 |
|
| Born | 22 September 1855 Pierrefonds, Oise, France |
| Died | 1 January 1928 (aged 74) Paris |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Resting place | 'Domaine du Bois d'Aucourt d'Adolphe Clément-Bayard' at Pierrefonds[1][2][3] |
| Nationality | French |
| Other names | Gustavus Adolphus Clément, Gustavus Adolphus Clément-Bayard |
| Education | Primary only |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur, Manufacturer of bicycles, pneumatic tyres, motorcycles, motorcars and airships |
| Title | Commander of the Légion d'honneur |
| Successor | Maurice Clément-Bayard |
| Spouse | Céleste Angèle Roguet |
| Children | Albert(c 1879–1907), Angèle (1880– 4 May 1972),[4] Jeanne and Maurice |
| Parents | Leopold Adolphus Clement and Julie Alexandrine Rousselle |
Gustave Adolphe Clément-Bayard (also spelled Gustave Adolphe Clément, Gustavus Adolphus Clément, Gustavus Adolphus Clément-Bayard; 22 September 1855 – 10 March 1928) was a French entrepreneur. An orphan who became a blacksmith and a Compagnon du Tour de France, he went on to manufacture bicycles, pneumatic tyres, motorcycles, automobiles, aeroplanes and airships.[2][5]
In 1894 he was a passenger in the winning vehicle in the world's first motor race. George Lemaitre's Peugot was judged to be the winner of the Paris-Rouen Competition for Horeseless Carriages (Concours des Voitures sans Chevaux).[6][7]
He changed his name to Clément-Bayard five years after the successful launch of the Clément-Bayard automobile brand. It honoured the Chevalier Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard who saved the town of Mézières from an Imperial army during the Siege of Mézières in 1521.[2][8]
Clément-Bayard was appointed a Commander of the Légion d'honneur in 1912.
Adolphe Clément, the son of a grocer, was born at rue du Bourg, Pierrefonds, Oise. He was the second of five children of Leopold Adolphus Clement and Julie Alexandrine Rousselle. His mother died when he was seven years old and although his father remarried he also died 2 years later when Adolphe was nine years old. For the next seven years he was raised by his stepmother who had remarried a school teacher. Adolphe studied at the primary school in Pierrefonds and then at the College of Villers-Cotterêts. He worked in the family business by delivering groceries, and at 13 chose to be apprenticed to a farrier/blacksmith.[1][5]
During the winter of 1871–1872, the 16 year old Adolphe left Pierrefonds to travel around France as a Compagnon du Tour de France, an organization of craftsmen and artisans dating from the Middle Ages. He had saved 30 francs (circa 100 Euros in 2006) by doing multiple jobs for three years. He subsisted in each city by working in forges owned by the Compagnons du Tour de France, shoeing horses, repairing metal and doing any kind of work. He reached Paris in 1872 followed by Orléans and Tours where he encountered 'Truffault cycles'. This led him to acquire 2 wooden cart wheels and build an iron bicycle frame.[1]
Cycle racing had begun in 1869 (Paris–Rouen), so in 1873 Truffaut lent the 18 year old Clement an iron bicycle with solid rubber tires to race in Angers. He finished 6th and was exhilarated to read his name in the newspapers.[1]
Adolphe Clément married Céleste Angèle Roguet and they had four children, Albert, Angèle, Jeanne and Maurice. Albert died while racing at the 1907 French Grand Prix. Angèle (1880–1972) was widowed from Albert Dumont, an engineer and director at the Levallois factory. Angele then remarried Numa Joseph Edouard "Petit" Sasias (1882–1927), a 'Fonctionnaire aux Affaires Etrangères, ex-Secrétaire à la Présidence du Conseil, with whom she had one son. Jeanne became divorced from Fernand Charron, racing driver and manager of the plant at Levallois-Perret, subsequently living alone. Maurice married Renée Hammond and had three children Andrée, Jacqueline and Albert (nicknamed "Billy" to avoid confusion and memories of his uncle Albert).[1][4]
The Domaine Bois D'Aucourt in Pierrefonds was originally a 17th century hunting lodge of the Sun King Louis XIV which had been upgraded circa 1822. Located 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) west of both the Château de Pierrefonds and his own birthplace on the rue du Bourg, Adolphe Clement bought the property around 1904 and employed architect Edward Redont to renovate and remodel it.[1][2][3]
Latterly the mansion 'Domaine du Bois d'Aucourt' at Pierrefonds was used by his son Maurice, while Adolphe continued living at 35 Avenue du Bois de Boulogne, Neuilly-sur-Seine.[1][9]
By 1893 Clément owned the Vélodrome de la Seine near the site of the factory at Levallois-Perret. La plus belle et la plus vite piste du monde". It was managed by Tristan Bernard who also managed the Vélodrome Buffalo, and its events were an integral part of Parisian life, being regularly attended by personalities such as Toulose Lautrec. Clément reportedly sold or converted this around 1900.[1][10][11]
On achieving business success he used the Latinate format of his name, Gustavus Adolphus, and later (circa 1909) received permission from the Conseil d'État to change his surname to Clément-Bayard.[2][12]
The death of his son Albert while racing at the 1907 French Grand Prix had a lasting effect on him. In 1913 he was elected as mayor of Pierrefonds and, on taking office he ceded control in 1914 of Clément-Bayard to his son Maurice who was passionate about aviation.[1][2]
In 1928 he died of a heart attack while driving along the rue Laffitte to a meeting of a 'Board of Directors' in Paris.[2]
In 1876, after 2 years of cycle racing, working and saving, Adolphe had enough money to start in business, so he opened a bicycle repair works in Bordeaux, aged 21. The next stage of his business plan was to move to Marseille where he learned how to manufacture steel tubes for bicycles. The following year he moved to Lyon and began manufacturing whole bicycles under the name 'Clement SA cycles'.[1]
The following year, circa 1878, he moved to Paris and opened a cycle business, A. Clément & Cie, at 20 Rue Brunel near the Place de l'Etoile. Here he also ran a cycling school and was competing in cycle races. In Paris his business backers were monsieur de Graffenried and monsieur de Montgeron.[1][5]
At the end of 1878 Adolphe partnered the cycling champion Charles Terront at the 'Six-Days' cycling event at the Agricultural Hall in London. He also opened a sales showroom at 31 rue 'du 4-September', in Paris and started a poster advertising campaign, a new concept.
In September 1879, Clement built an iron smelter in Tulle, in the Limousin where there was a good supply of water power, but he did not have sufficient finance to make it viable and Tulle was too remote from Paris, so he had to sell the plant.[1]
By 1880 the "Clément" cycle manufacturing business at Rue Brunel, had circa 150 employees building bicycles.[1][5](Image and description of 1880 Clément cycle) The machines were regarded as high quality and by 1890 Clément was the leading cycle brand in France.[13]
The Gladiator Cycle Company, a French manufacturer of bicycles was founded by Alexandre Darracq and Paul Aucoq in 1891 at Le Pré-Saint-Gervais in north east Paris.[8][14] Adolphe Clément was a major investor in this venture.[6]
In 1895 Gladiator introduced its first internal combustion, a naphtha powered tricycle.[6]
In 1896 Adolphe Clément was associated with Lord Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and (yet to be convicted) fraudster Harry John Lawson of the British Automobile Commercial Syndicate Ltd (BACS)[15] They bought Gladiator which was then merged into a major bicycle manufacturing conglomerate of Clement, Gladiator & Humber (France) Ltd valued at 22 million francs (circa €60–80 million Euro in 2006).[a] In 1897 Lawson's BACS ltd collapsed so he (and Humber) parted company, but Clément and Talbot remained as directors. The range of cycles was expanded with tricycles, quadracycles, and in 1902 a motorised bicycle, then cars and motorcycles.[8][14][6][5]
Shortly after the purchase of Gladiator cycles Adolfe Clément began to build the new factory at Levallois-Perret in north west Paris, which also produced various cars from 1898, (see below) and went on to build the Citroën 2CV for nearly forty years.
From 1895 Clément cycles started to focus on motorized vehicles. In 1895 it introduced its first internal combustion, a naphtha powered tricycle.[6] In 1902 they offered a motorized bicycle with a 142 cc engine that had an automatic inlet valve, an overhead exhaust valve and an external flywheel. The combined oil and petrol tank was behind the saddle and the batteries were stored in a leather case strapped to the horizontal frame tube. This 'motorisation adaptation' was sold on both Clément and Gladiator cycles.[5]
In Britain these popular motorised cycles were known as Clément-Garrards.[5]
In 1889 Clément saw a Dunlop pneumatic tyre in London and acquired the French manufacturing rights for 50,000 francs. This success lead to his millionaire status.[5] The company he formed with a capital of 700,000 francs paid 100 per cent dividend in its first year of operation.[6]
In 1896 Adolphe Clément was associated with Lord Charles Chetwynd-Talbot and fraudster Harry Lawson's 'British Automobile Commercial Syndicate Ltd' which owned Humber cycles. Together they bought the Gladiator Cycle Company and merged it into a major bicycle manufacturing conglomerate of Clément, Gladiator & Humber (France) Ltd. Clément and Talbot remained as directors after the collapse of 'BACS Ltd'.[14] and the range was expanded to include a motorised bicycle, cars and motorcycles.(See Clément Gladiator cycles above for further details)[5][8][15]
By 1898 the new Clement-Gladiator company was building cars and marketing them as both Clements and Gladiators.[6] Gladiators were imported into England by the 'Motor Power Company' which was co-owned by S. F. Edge and Harvey du Cros of the English branch of Dunlop.[6]
From 1901 Clément-Gladiator cars were built at the Levallois-Perret factory and by 1902 production was over 1,000 cars per annum, 800+ of which were sold in England.[14]
After 1903 the Clément-Gladiator name continued to be used on the 'shaft-drive' cars made at the Pre-Saint-Gervais factory, whilst chain-driven vehicles were marketed as Gladiators.[14] The Clément name was dropped in 1907 and in 1909 another French manufacturer, Vinot et Deguingand, took over Gladiator and transferred production to Puteaux. At this time the Pre-Saint-Gervais factory reverted to making bicycles.[14]
In 1897 Clement invested 1 million francs (circa 3 million Euros at 2006 valuation) in Panhard & Levassor, part of their five million francs capitalisation. This established the main business and eventually lead to the creation of Clement Panhard marque.[6]
Clément Gladiator was divided in 1903, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot founding the English arm "Clément-Talbot Ltd", while Adolphe Clément formed Clément-Bayard on a former military site at Mézières (now Charleville-Mézières).[16] He chose the name Bayard in commemoration of the Chevalier Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard who saved the town of Mézières in 1521. A statue of the Chevalier stood in front of the Mézières factory, and the image was incorporated into the company logo.[2][8] After the split both marques built very similar cars, but the specifications gradually diverged.
In 1922 the Clément-Bayard company was sold to André Citroën, in whom Adolphe also invested financially, and the factory at Levallois-Perret was the centre of 2CV manufacturing for the next 40 years.[2]
Clément was a director of Panhard-Levassor, and when the factory could not meet the production requirements for circa 500 units of the 1898 'voiture légère' ('dog cart') model, he undertook manufacture under licence at his factory in Levallois-Perret. It was designed by airship pioneer Commandant Arthur Krebs, of Panhard, and used a tubular chassis, centre-pivot steering, near-horizontal 3.5 hp (2.6 kW) rear-mounted engine with automatic inlet valve and hot-tube ignition, driving through a constant-mesh gear-train, and final drive by side chains and early models had no reverse gear.[17][18][6]
Some of the Clément Panhards were exported to Great Britain where they were variously sold as 'Clément-Stirling' and 'Stirling-Panhard', by the Scottish coachbuilder 'Stirling'.[17][18]
After the division of Clément-Gladiator in 1903 Charles Chetwynd-Talbot headed the English arm "Clément-Talbot Ltd".[16] Adolphe Clément was a major shareholder in the company, along with Talbot, A. Lucas, and E. Lamberjack. After the split both marques ( Clément-Bayard and Clément-Talbot) built very similar cars, but by 1907 the specifications diverged.[19][20][21]
On 11 October 1902 Clément-Talbot was formally incorporated, and subsequently 5 acres (20,000 m2) of land was purchased for a new factory in Ladbroke Grove, North Kensington in west London, between the Great Western Railway line and the 'Edinburgh road' before it was renamed 'Barlby road'. The factory was a high status operation whose brick workshops used the latest saw-tooth roof line, glazed to maximise natural light. It was equipped with the most modern machine tools and the reception area was laid out like a miniature palace, marble Ionic columns, gilded frescoes and stained glass windows etched with the Shrewsbury coat of arms. The building is now known as Ladbroke Hall.[19][20][21]
The company traded as Clément-Talbot and the factory was titled Clément-Talbot, but the cars were always known as Talbots.[19][20][21]
In 1905 Adolphe Clément created the 'Diatto-Clement Societa Anonima' in partnership with Diatto who had been coachbuilders in Turin since 1835. The cars, known as Torinos were built in Turin under licence from Clément. The first car was the 20-25HP which used a 3,770cc four cylinder engine. This was followed by a 10-12HP (1,884cc two-cylinder) and a 14-18HP (2,724cc four-cylinder). This series was a success and was followed by a six-cylinder model. In 1909 Clement left the business and the company was renamed 'Societa Fonderie Officine Frejus'.[22]
Motorcars may also have been manufactured and sold under the Clément brand between 1907 (1908[23]) and 1914. The company is recorded as Clément Motor company Ltd., Coventry, Warwickshire.[24][23]
Adolphe Clément had no direct involvement in the nascent motor industry until around 1897, but he was a passenger in Georges Lemaître's (Peugeot) that was judged to be the 'official winner' of what is considered to be the world's first motor race on 22 July 1894, from Paris to Rouen.[7][6]
The event was a publicity exercise organised by Pierre Giffard of Le Petit Journal newspaper and consisted of 69 cars starting a 50 kilometres (31 mi) selection event before 25 were allowed into the main event, the 127 kilometres (79 mi) race from Paris (Porte Maillot) to Rouen. Georges Lemaître completed the course in 9 hour 18 minutes at an average speed of 13.6 kilometres per hour (8.5 mph), followed by Doriot (Peugeot), René Panhard (Panhard) and Émile Levassor (Panhard). Count Jules-Albert de Dion reached Rouen 3’30” ahead of Georges Lemaître but as cars were judged on speed, handling and safety characteristics the official winners were Peugeot and Panhard. De Dion's steam car needed a stoker which was forbidden.[7]
Clément-Bayard started building automobiles in 1903 and then started building racing cars in 1904. The racing team included Albert Clément, Jacques Guders, Rene Hanriot, Marc-Philippe Villemain, 'Carlès', "De la Touloubre" and A. Villemain, and Pierre Garcets.[25][26][27]
Albert Clément finished 10th at the I Eliminatoires Françaises de la Coupe Internationale, held at the Forest of Argonne on 20 May 1904. This was an eliminating contest for the French entry into the Coupe Internationale (Gordon Bennett Race) where only three cars were allowed per country. Clement finished in 7 hours 10 minutes 52.8 seconds.[25]
Albert Clément won the II Circuit des Ardennes des Voiturettes on 24 July 1904 at Bastogne in 4h 26m 52.6seconds at an average speed of 53.91 km/h.[25]
Clément drove his Clement-Bayard into third place at the III Circuit des Ardennes race at Bastogne, on 25 July 1904.[25]
Clément finished second at the 1904 I.W.K. Vanderbilt Cup Race on Long Island on 8 October 1904.[25]
Rene Hanriot finished tenth in 8 hours 23 minutes 39.6s at the II Eliminatoires Françaises de la Coupe Internationale at the Auvergne on 16 June. This was a qualifier for the Coupe Internationale (Gordon Bennett Race).[26]
At the 1905 Vanderbilt cup on Long Island Clément drove an 80-hp Clément-Bayard (France #12) but suffered reliability problems.[28]
Clément retired his Clement-Bayard after the first 166 km lap of the II Coppa Florio at Brescia Italy on 4 September 1905. His team-mate 'Carlès' retired after 2 laps.[26]
Clément-Bayard entered 3 cars for the inaugural 1906 French Grand Prix at Le Mans where Albert Clément finished third in his 100Hp machine. He completed the 1,238 km event in 12 hours 49 minutes 46.2seconds. Clément lead the race at the end of laps 2 and 5 on the second day.[29][27] Punctures were common and Michelin introduced a detachable rim, saving 11 minutes over manually replacing the tyre. This enabled Felice Nazzaro (FIAT) to take second place from Clément.[27]
Albert Clément finished 6th in the V Circuit des Ardennes on 13 August 1906 at Bastogne. He completed the 7 lap 961 km race in 6 hours 2 minutes 55.2 seconds in a 100Hp Clement-Bayard. His team-mates A. Villemain and Pierre Garcet finished 11th and 12th.[27]
At the 1906 Vanderbilt cup Clément finished 4th driving a 100 hp (75 kW) Clément-Bayard (France #15) and completing the ten laps averaging 59.0 mph (95.0 km/h).[30]
Albert Clément died while practising for the 1907 French Grand Prix on 17 May. Of the 3 other Clément-Bayard entries, Pierre Garcet and Elliott Shepard, finished 7th and eighth respectively. Clément's car was entered by 'Alezy' who retired after 4 laps.[2]
The company entered 3 cars for the 1908 French Grand Prix, using a 12,963 cc six-cylinder overhead camshaft engine. Victor Rigal finished 4th.[16]
In 1905 Clément-Bayard won the Coupe de Calais and 'finished well' at the Course de Dourdan. In both 1907 and 1908 Clément Bayard won the Coupe de l’Automobile-Club de Cannes', and in 1908 it also won the Tour de France Automobile.[1]
Clément-Bayard was an early French manufacturer of aircraft engines and lighter-than-air vehicles, with the earliest flights occurring in 1908. Clément-Bayard created the world's first series production aircraft.[1]
The company worked with Louis Capazza to produce the 'planeur (glider) Bayard-Clément' that was unveiled in L'Aérophile on 15 May 1908.[1][31]
The company also started working with Alberto Santos-Dumont in 1908 to build his Demoiselle No 19 monoplane that he had designed to compete for the Coupe d'Aviation Ernest Archdeacon prize from the Aéro-Club de France. The plane was small and stable, but they planned a production run of 100 units, built 50 and sold only 15 for 7,500 francs for each airframe. It was the world's first series production aircraft. By 1909 it was offered with a choice of 3 engines, Clement 20 hp; Wright 4-cyl 30 hp (Clement-Bayard had the license to manufacture Wright engines); and Clement-Bayard 40 hp designed by Pierre Clerget. It achieved 120 km/h.[1]
Pierre Clerget designed a range of Clement-Bayard aircraft engines including a 7-cylinder supercharged radial, the 4-cyl 40 hp used on the Demoiselle, a 4-cyl 100 hp used on 'Hanriot Etrich' monoplanes, and a V8 200 hp airship engine.[1]
In 1910 the Clement-Bayard Monoplane No. 1 was introduced at the Paris show.[1]
By 1912 Clément-Bayard built a biplane plus three different models of horizontally opposed aircraft engines.[32][33]
In November 1912 The Clement-Bayard Monoplane No. 5 was introduced. It was powered by a Gnome 7 cylinder rotary engine producing 70 hp (52 kW). The pilot sat in an aluminium and leather tub.[1]
In 1913 a three-seater biplane was introduced as part of the military project, the Clement-Bayard No. 6. It was configured for two observers in front of the pilot, and was powered by either a 4-cyl 100 hp (75 kW) Clement-Bayard or 4-cylinder Gnome engine.[1]
In 1914 Clément-Bayard produced a steel scouting monoplane powered by either an 80 hp (60 kW) motor or a 100 hp (75 kW) Gnome et Rhône engine. The nickel steel armour was designed for protection against rifle fire.[34][35]
In 1908 'Astra Clément-Bayard' began manufacturing airships at a new factory in La Motte-Breuil in response to a French Army decision to commence airship operations.
The Clément-Bayard No.1 airship was offered to the French government but was too expensive so it was bought by Tsar Nicholas II for the Russian army.
In 1910 the Clément-Bayard No.2, piloted by Maurice Clément, was the first airship to cross the Channel, travelling over 380 km in 6 hours.[2] The army ordered 3 copies.
The airship hangar in La Motte-Breuil is still maintained by Clément-Talbot Ltd.
Seven Clément-Bayard airships were completed.[1][2]
By 1910 Clément-Bayard vociferously warned of Germany's warlike ambitions, and in 1912 he was assaulted by a hostile German mob. Thus when Germany invaded France he was a marked man. In September 1914 the Germans reached the outskirts of Pierrefonds and shelled the Domaine du Bois d'Aucourt, although by then it was being looked after by Carlo Bugatti, the Art Nouveau furniture and jewelry designer and father of Ettore Bugatti who also lived in the town. Adolphe remained in Paris with his family.[6][1]
Adolphe ceded control of Clément-Bayard to his son Maurice in 1914 before the start of the war, but the consequences for the company were disastrous. The La Macérienne factory at Mézières was lost to the Germans in the opening weeks, as were his home, mayoral town and factories at Pierrefonds. The industrial machinery was shipped back to Germany, and the forges, foundries and smelter were destroyed. La Macérienne was gutted and used as an indoor riding school for German officers.
Automobile production at Levallois-Perret in Paris was suspended in August 1914 and the factory was turned over to war production, military equipment and military vehicles, aero engines, airships and planes.[1]
In 1922, Adolphe was appointed director and vice-president of the new Bank of Ardennes, which was established in Charleville on 12 April 1922.[1]
The Dreyfus affair split France at the end of the 19th century over the guilt or innocence of a soldier, Alfred Dreyfus, who had been convicted of selling secrets to the Germans. In 1900 Clément was one of the leading anti-Dreyfusard industrialists, along with comté Jules-Albert de Dion, who cancelled all advertising in the Drefusard newspaper Le Vélo and started a rival daily sports paper, L'Auto-Velo. The roots of both the Tour de France cycle race and L'Équipe newspaper, result from Clément's hostile anti-Dreyfusard stance.[37][38][39] The Dreyfus affair was eventually concluded with the official exoneration of Dreyfus (as an innocent person who had been framed). With the end of official inquiries it may be said that Clément and de Dion had been wrong for a decade.
In 1912 Clément was appointed a Commander of the Légion d'honneur.
In 1928 he died of a heart attack while driving to a meeting of a 'Board of Directors' in Paris.[2]
His tomb is located at the 'Domaine du Bois d'Aucourt d'Adolphe Clément-Bayard' at Pierrefonds which has been a protected Historic Monument since 2004.[9]
The rue Clément-Bayard runs through the centre of Pierrefonds, Oise.
In 2005 a 50 CHF gold coin was minted to commemorate the centenary of the Geneva Motor Show, with the theme "Clément 1905"
a. ^ By 1896 the title of Humber cycles had been acquired by entrepreneur and fraudster Harry Lawson. The cycle factory of Thomas Humber at Beeston, Nottinghamshire started adding the soubriquet 'Genuine Humber' to its logo.</ref>