h.dirix
You wouldn't suspect it, but once I was world-famous....
Nothing in a society stays the same and that includes the economy. Factories close, people lose their jobs, brands disappear......
One such disappeared icon in the automobile industry was the Belgian top brand "Minerva". which began producing automobiles in 1904.
This brand was named after the Roman goddess Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and arts, and her image adorned every radiator cap on the Minervas as a small work of art.
Many Minervas were soon exported to England with which heads of state and others famous people were transported.
The brand became increasingly popular with the wealthy part of the world's population, and many members of the royal houses of Romania, Thailand and India, among others, drove them.
Over time, the automobiles were also exported to America and Australia and were a huge succes in these countries.
Thus, even the American car manufacturer Henri Ford drove around in a Minerva because of its famous "Sleeve Valva System" of the Minerva's engines.
This engine system was executed without the conventional valve system.
This system made it possible to significantly reduce the excessive noise produced by the conventional engines of the time.
Minerva automobiles were a very formidable competitor to Rolls Royce, Isotta-Franchine, Hispano-Suiza and Duesenburg, the other greats of this period.
However, the great Belgian automobile brand Minerva did not survive the Great economic crisis of 1930 and went bankrupt in 1934.....
The automobile in the photo is the 1921 Minerva 00-Tourer with a Van der Plas bodywork and was very popular with the world's wealthy population and this model was driven privately by Henri Ford.
The engine was equipped with a 6 inline cylinders and had a capacity of 5.355 cc and an output pf 30 HP and of course it is equipped with the "Sleeve Valve System".
The "Sleeve Valve System" is a four-stroke engine that does not use inlet and exhaust valves and a camshaft, but sliding or rotating shutoff slide in the cylinder wall.
Therefor , the great advantage of this system is undoubtedly its noiseless operation.
However, there are also disadvantages to it and this concerns that it needs a complicated construction and has less direct cooling.
A still working example with a complete original engine is very, very rare and is one of the most sought after examples for colectors.
You wouldn't suspect it, but once I was world-famous....
Nothing in a society stays the same and that includes the economy. Factories close, people lose their jobs, brands disappear......
One such disappeared icon in the automobile industry was the Belgian top brand "Minerva". which began producing automobiles in 1904.
This brand was named after the Roman goddess Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and arts, and her image adorned every radiator cap on the Minervas as a small work of art.
Many Minervas were soon exported to England with which heads of state and others famous people were transported.
The brand became increasingly popular with the wealthy part of the world's population, and many members of the royal houses of Romania, Thailand and India, among others, drove them.
Over time, the automobiles were also exported to America and Australia and were a huge succes in these countries.
Thus, even the American car manufacturer Henri Ford drove around in a Minerva because of its famous "Sleeve Valva System" of the Minerva's engines.
This engine system was executed without the conventional valve system.
This system made it possible to significantly reduce the excessive noise produced by the conventional engines of the time.
Minerva automobiles were a very formidable competitor to Rolls Royce, Isotta-Franchine, Hispano-Suiza and Duesenburg, the other greats of this period.
However, the great Belgian automobile brand Minerva did not survive the Great economic crisis of 1930 and went bankrupt in 1934.....
The automobile in the photo is the 1921 Minerva 00-Tourer with a Van der Plas bodywork and was very popular with the world's wealthy population and this model was driven privately by Henri Ford.
The engine was equipped with a 6 inline cylinders and had a capacity of 5.355 cc and an output pf 30 HP and of course it is equipped with the "Sleeve Valve System".
The "Sleeve Valve System" is a four-stroke engine that does not use inlet and exhaust valves and a camshaft, but sliding or rotating shutoff slide in the cylinder wall.
Therefor , the great advantage of this system is undoubtedly its noiseless operation.
However, there are also disadvantages to it and this concerns that it needs a complicated construction and has less direct cooling.
A still working example with a complete original engine is very, very rare and is one of the most sought after examples for colectors.