Englebert was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

rubber products company founded by

Oscar Englebert Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

in 1868. It became a leading tyre manufacturing company, and is a key predecessor to

Uniroyal The company formerly known as the United States Rubber Company, now Uniroyal, is an American manufacturer of tires and other synthetic rubber-related products, as well as variety of items for military use, such as ammunition, explosives, chemi ...

in Europe.

History

In 1898 Oscar Englebert, who till then had worked with rubberised coatings and mats, set up a tyre factory in Belgium, manufacturing pneumatic tyres for bicycles and automobiles, and by 1912 the business employed 400 people. By 1926 the workforce had grown to 3,500 and was one of Europe's top five rubber manufacturing businesses. In 1929, Englebert set up a second tyre plant just across the border at

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

Rothe Erde Rothe Erde is a district of Aachen, Germany with large-scale development in heavy industry. It is sub-district 34 of the Aachen-Mitte Stadtbezirk (which is roughly equivalent to a city borough). It lies between the districts of Forst and Eilen ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In 1931 the Société du Pneu Englebert (Englebert Tyre Company) was born. The company acquired a French tyre factory in Clairoix in 1936; it was here, in 1937, that Englebert produced their millionth tyre. After the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, in 1958, the company entered into a partnership agreement with

, then one of the world's top three tyre manufacturers. Ten years later, in 1966, the company's name was changed to Uniroyal Englebert. In 1979 Uniroyal sold its European business which was integrated into the Continental Tyre Company. The Uniroyal brand survived within Continental, but the Englebert brand disappeared.

Racing

The company entered racing in the 1930s with touring and sports car road races. Englebert tyres were the first to complete the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

without a change. Englebert tyres were used during 61

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

races between 1950 and 1958, and were fitted to eight race winners, on each occasion with the

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

team. Englebert started in

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

at the

1950 Monaco Grand Prix The 1950 Monaco Grand Prix, formally titled the ''Prix de Monte-Carlo et XI Grand Prix Automobile'', was a Formula One motor race held on 21 May 1950 at Monaco. It was race two of seven in the 1950 World Championship of Drivers. The 100-lap race ...

, with French

Simca Simca (; Mechanical and Automotive Body Manufacturing Company) was a French automaker, founded in November 1934 by Fiat S.p.A. and directed from July 1935 to May 1963 by Italian Henri Pigozzi. Simca was affiliated with Fiat and, after Simca bough ...

Gordini Gordini () is a division of Renault Sport Technologies (Renault Sport). In the past, it was a sports car manufacturer and performance tuner, established in 1946 by Amédée Gordini (1899–1979), nicknamed "Le Sorcier" (The Sorcerer). Gordini be ...

drivers

Robert Manzon Robert Manzon (12 April 1917 – 19 January 2015) was a French racing driver. He participated in 29 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 21 May 1950. He achieved two podiums, and scored a total of 16 championship points. At the ...

and

Maurice Trintignant Maurice Bienvenu Jean Paul Trintignant (30 October 1917 – 13 February 2005) was a motor racing driver and vintner from France. He competed in the Formula One World Championship for fourteen years, between 1950 and 1964, one of the longest caree ...

. During the 1957

Mille Miglia The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi, which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before World ...

, driver

Alfonso de Portago Alfonso Cabeza de Vaca y Leighton, 11th Marquess of Portago, GE (11 October 1928 – 12 May 1957), best known as Alfonso de Portago, was a Spanish aristocrat, racing and bobsleigh driver, jockey and pilot. Born in London to a prominent famil ...

, his co-driver, and nine spectators were killed when de Portago's 4.0-litre

Ferrari 335 S The Ferrari 335 S was a sports racing car produced by Italian manufacturer Ferrari in 1957. The car was a direct response to the Maserati 450S which with its 4.5-litre engine was threatening to overpower the 3.8-litre 315 S and 3.5-litre 290 M ...

lost control after suffering a blown tyre. The Ferrari sailed over an embankment and into the air, where it crashed into the crowd. Englebert, who had supplied the Ferrari's tyres, and

Enzo Ferrari Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; 20 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italians, Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari ...

himself were all charged with manslaughter by Italian prosecutors in an investigation that lasted until 1961, when both Ferrari and Englebert were cleared of charges.

References

{{reflist

External links

Englebert's English homepage
Defunct manufacturing companies of Belgium Tire manufacturers of Belgium Companies based in Liège Province Liège Continental AG Manufacturing companies established in 1868 1868 establishments in Belgium Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1979 1979 disestablishments in Germany Formula One tyre suppliers