Amédée-Ernest Bollée (11 January 1844 – 20 January 1917) was a French bellfounder and inventor who specialized in steam cars. He is notable for developing the earliest known form of the

independent suspension Independent suspension is any automobile suspension system that allows each wheel on the same axle to move vertically (i.e. reacting to a bump on the road) independently of the others. This is contrasted with a beam axle or deDion axle system in ...

. After 1867 he was known as "Amédée père" to distinguish him from his similarly named son, Amédée-Ernest-Marie Bollée (1867–1926).

Biography

Bollée was the eldest son of Ernest-Sylvain Bollée, a bellfounder and inventor who moved to

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

in 1842. He became seriously ill in the 1860s and was obliged to delegate the day-to-day running of his businesses to his three sons. Amédée-Ernest was given charge of the bell foundry, while Ernest-Jules (1846–1922) supervised the

hydraulic ram A hydraulic ram pump, ram pump, or hydram is a cyclic pump, cyclic water pump powered by hydropower. It takes in water at one "hydraulic head" (pressure) and flow rate, and outputs water at a higher hydraulic head and lower flow rate. The device ...

business and the youngest son, Auguste-Sylvain Bollée (1847–1906) assumed control of the ''

Éolienne Bollée The Éolienne Bollée is an Special wind turbines, unusual wind turbine, unique for having a Axial compressor, stator and a rotor, as a water turbine has. The eponymous invention was first patented in 1868 by Ernest Sylvain Bollée in France. A fu ...

'' wind-turbine factory.

Steam vehicles

''L'Obéissante''

Amédée père manufactured his first steam vehicle ''L'Obéissante'' (''The Obedient'') in 1873 and made the first road trip between

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

in 18 hours. The ''L'Obéissante'' carried 12 passengers and had a cruising speed of and a top speed of . It was driven by two V twin steam engines, one for each rear wheel. Front wheels were cushioned on the sliding pillar suspension which became the first ever independent front suspension. The original vehicle is preserved in the collection of the

Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers The (; ; abbr. CNAM) is an AMBA-accredited French ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement''. It is a member of the '' Conférence des Grandes écoles'', which is an equivalent to the Ivy League schools in the United States, Oxbridge in th ...

in Paris.

''La Mancelle''

In 1878 Amédée père designed ''La Mancelle'', which is regarded as the first automobile to be put into series production, 50 being manufactured in all. It possessed such (for the period) advanced features as

rear-wheel drive Rear-wheel drive (RWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the rear wheels only. Until the late 20th century, rear-wheel drive was the most common configuration for cars. Most rear-whee ...

(via shaft to the differential and then via chain to the rear wheels) and

on all four wheels. The original vehicle is preserved in the collection of the Musée de l'Automobile de la Sarthe.

''La Marie-Anne''

The public demonstrations of ''L'Obeissante'' and ''La Mancelle'' had secured orders for the Bollée factory, and Amédée père accepted an order for a

road train A road train, also known as a land train or long combination vehicle (LCV) is a semi-trailer used to move road freight more efficiently than single-trailer semi-trailers. It consists of one semi-trailer or more connected together with or wit ...

which was completed in 1879. Developing , ''La Marie-Anne'' had a three speed

gearbox A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (who founded Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication/r ...

and was capable of towing on a 6%

slope In mathematics, the slope or gradient of a Line (mathematics), line is a number that describes the direction (geometry), direction of the line on a plane (geometry), plane. Often denoted by the letter ''m'', slope is calculated as the ratio of t ...

''La Nouvelle''

Amédée père had derived from ''La Mancelle'' different vehicles that he delivered in a variety of styles of bodywork such as: limousine, coach, omnibus etc. The ''La Nouvelle'' was from this series and was completed in 1880. The rear of the vehicle was designed to receive the piston engine, this time rejected near the boiler in order to enlarge the passenger cabin.

''La Rapide''

''La Rapide'' (''The Rapid'') was built in 1881 and was noted for achieving a speed of . ''La Rapide'' grouped the boiler, the engine and the controls at the front of the vehicle, thus making it possible for it to be driven by a single operator.

References

External links

The Bollée family
In French:

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bollee, Amedee 1844 births 1870s cars 1880s cars 1917 deaths 19th-century French inventors Carillon makers Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of France Foundrymen People from Le Mans Steam road vehicles Cars introduced in 1873