Gladiator Cycle Company

For other cycle, motor-cycle, motor-car, aeroplane and airship companies associated with French industrialist Adolphe Clément-Bayard - see Clement (disambiguation).
Gladiator Double Phaeton of 1907, 2 cylinder, 2,423 cc, 12 PS, 45 km/h, at Cité de l'Automobile – Musée National – Collection Schlumpf, Mulhouse, France

The Gladiator Cycle Company, Clément-Gladiator (from 1896), was a French manufacturer of bicycles, motorcycles and cars based in Le Pré-Saint-Gervais, Seine.

Throughout its productive life from 1891 until its demise in 1920 the company was variously owned by: the founders Alexandre Darracq and Paul Aucoq; from 1896 by Adolphe Clément, Lord Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury, and fraudster Harry John Lawson; from 1906 by 'Vinot et Deguingand'.[1][2]

Cycle manufacture

Poster by Gaston Noury
Poster printed by Georges Massias

Gladiator cycles

The cycle manufacturer was founded at Le Pré-Saint-Gervais, Seine north east of Paris by Alexandre Darracq and Paul Aucoq in 1891.[2][3]

Clément-Gladiator cycles

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), which would be the first of many of Lawson's ventures to collapse in 1897.[4] They bought the Gladiator Cycle Company, and merged it into a major bicycle manufacturing conglomerate of Clement, Gladiator & Humber (France) Ltd.[2][3][n 1] Clément remained a director after the collapse of BACS.[3] The range of cycles was expanded with tricycles, quadricycles, and in 1902 a motorised bicycle, then cars and motorcycles.[5]

Motorised cycle manufacture

Clément and Gladiator

From 1895 Clément cycles also started to focus on motorized vehicles. In 1902 they he 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]

Motor manufacturing

Clément-Gladiator motorcars

After the 1896 takeover the range was expanded and in 1902 a motorised bicycle lead to cars and motorcycles.(See Clément Gladiator cycles above for further details)[2][4][5]

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. Some of these cars were equipped with engines manufactured nearby in Saint-Denis Paris by Aster in single, twin or four cylinder configurations.[3]

The company was divided in 1903, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot running Clément-Talbot Ltd with Adolphe Clément as a significant shareholder. Clément renamed the French branch Clément-Gladiator and also formed Clément-Bayard.

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.[3] 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.[3]

In 1906 Gladiator was bought by Vinot et Deguingand, who transferred production to their factory at Puteaux.[2] The Pré St Gervais works continued to make bicycles.

The Gladiator name was dropped from the cars in 1920.[2]

Notes

  1. ↑ 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.

References

  1. ↑ Hydro Retro, Clement-Bayard, pdf (French) Clément-Bayard, sans peur et sans reproche par Gérard Hartmann
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Georgano, N. (2000). Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. London: HMSO. ISBN 1-57958-293-1.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Brighton Early, Gladiator Cycles
  4. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Yesterdays, Antique motorcycles, Auguste Clement

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gladiator.