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Maurice "Maus" Gatsonides (February 14, 1911 in
Maurice was passionate about racing and raced in many events.
In 1949, he built his own car. It was nicknamed the "Platje" (English: "Flatty") because of its aerodynamic shape. The car caused a sensation at the Dutch Zandvoort Racetrack, passing all of the opponents including MG's. Maurice was forced to sell the Flatty to pay creditors after trying to put his own V8 sportscar into production. The Flatty however, survived. It was found abandoned in the 1970s and has now been restored by Joop Bruggeman. It is the last-known surviving Gatso car.
Gatsonides won the
Company history at RitzSite
1911 births 1998 deaths Dutch rally drivers Dutch racing drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 20th-century Dutch inventors 20th-century Dutch businesspeople People from Central Java World Sportscar Championship drivers {{Europe-rally-bio-stub
Maurice "Maus" Gatsonides (February 14, 1911 in Gombong
Gombong is a town in Kebumen Regency, in the southern part of Central Java, a province in Indonesia. The town has 50,300 inhabitants at the 2020 Census. The total land area is . Local people speak Banyumasan, a dialect of Javanese.
In 1964, con ...
, Kebumen Regency
Kebumen Regency ( jv, ꦏꦼꦧꦸꦩꦺꦤ꧀, Kêbumèn) is a regency in the southern part of the Indonesian province of Central Java. It covers an area of 1,281.115 km2 and had a population of 1,159,926 at the 2010 Census and 1,350,438 at ...
– November 29, 1998 in Heemstede
Heemstede () is a town and a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the fourth richest municipality of the Netherlands.
History
Heemstede formed around the Castle ''Heemstede'' that was built overlooking the ...
) was a Dutch rally driver
Rally is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (often called ''rally racing),'' navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. ...
and inventor. Gatsonides was born in Central Java
Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakarta in t ...
in the former Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
(now Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
). He founded the company "Gatsometer BV" in the Netherlands in 1958.
Today, Gatsonides' fame largely results from inventing the Gatso
Gatso is the brand that Gatsometer BV (now known as Sensys Gatso Group when Sensys acquired Gatso in 2015) use on their speed cameras and red light cameras. The most commonly encountered Gatso speed cameras emit radar beams to measure the speed ...
speed camera, a speed measuring device used today by many police forces to catch speeding
Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed - expres ...
drivers. He originally invented the Gatso speed camera to measure his cornering speed in an attempt to improve his driving.
Motor racing
Gatsonides is primarily known for inventing thespeed camera
In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quantity. ...
, but his primary interest was in motor racing. Maurice was passionate about racing and raced in many events.
In 1949, he built his own car. It was nicknamed the "Platje" (English: "Flatty") because of its aerodynamic shape. The car caused a sensation at the Dutch Zandvoort Racetrack, passing all of the opponents including MG's. Maurice was forced to sell the Flatty to pay creditors after trying to put his own V8 sportscar into production. The Flatty however, survived. It was found abandoned in the 1970s and has now been restored by Joop Bruggeman. It is the last-known surviving Gatso car.
Gatsonides won the Monte Carlo Rally
The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially ''Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo'') is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeast ...
in 1953 driving a Ford Zephyr
The Ford Zephyr is an executive car manufactured by Ford of Britain from 1950 until 1972. The Zephyr and its luxury variants, the Ford Zodiac and Ford Executive, were the largest passenger cars in the British Ford range from 1950 until their r ...
.
References
External links
Company history at RitzSite
1911 births 1998 deaths Dutch rally drivers Dutch racing drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 20th-century Dutch inventors 20th-century Dutch businesspeople People from Central Java World Sportscar Championship drivers {{Europe-rally-bio-stub