Léon Bollée Automobiles was a French company founded by

Léon Bollée Léon Bollée (1 April 1870 – 16 December 1913) was a French automobile manufacturer and inventor. Life Bollée's family were well known bellfounders and his father, Amédée Bollée (1844–1917), was the major pioneer in the automobile i ...

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

to build a first vehicle called "Voiturette".

Bollée family brands

The Bollée family, all car makers, created three brands: * steam vehicles,

Amédée Bollée Amédée-Ernest Bollée (11 January 1844 – 20 January 1917) was a French bellfounder and inventor who specialized in steam cars. After 1867 he was known as "Amédée père" to distinguish him from his similarly named son, Amédée-Ernest-M ...

(father), built between 1873 and 1885. * petrol (gasoline) cars, Amédée Bollée (son), built between 1896 and 1923. * the automobiles of Léon Bollée, between 1895 and 1931.

Léon Bollée Automobiles

The first "Voiturette" built by Léon Bollée in 1895 was a three-wheel tandem driven by a single-cylinder 3 HP engine and belt drive. The cars sold well and several hundred were made for Léon Bollée by Hurtu & Diligeon, only the prototypes were made at the Le Mans factory. The law restricting motor vehicles to four miles per hour on Britain's public roads was

repealed A repeal (O.F. ''rapel'', modern ''rappel'', from ''rapeler'', ''rappeler'', revoke, ''re'' and ''appeler'', appeal) is the removal or reversal of a law. There are two basic types of repeal; a repeal with a re-enactment is used to replace the law ...

in 1896 and in November of that year a 'race' was held in celebration from London to Brighton, which saw a 'one-two' for the Bollée brothers in their Bollée cars. Bollée's next vehicle appeared in 1899. It was a four-wheel car with independent suspension, whose engine attracted the attention in 1900 of

Darracq A Darracq and Company Limited owned a French manufacturer of motor vehicles and aero engines in Suresnes, near Paris. The French enterprise, known at first as A. Darracq et Cie, was founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq after he sold his Gladi ...

, which used it in its own models. In 1903, a new factory was built in Le Mans and here Léon Bollée Automobiles built two four-cylinder models: one of 28 HP and 4.6 litres, and another of 45 HP and eight litres. These cars were equipped in 1907 with a six-cylinder motor and in 1909 with a four-cylinder of 10/14 HP. The series of 1910 included nine models of which two were of more than 10 litres. By 1911 they were making 600 cars a year. Léon Bolée died in 1913 but the company continued operations being run by his widow and during World War I, as well as a few cars, made ammunition and machine guns. Car production returned fully in 1919 with the 2612 cc Type H followed in 1922 by a 3918 cc six.

Morris-Léon Bollée

In 1924,

Morris Motors LImited Morris Motors Limited was a British privately owned motor vehicle manufacturing company formed in 1919 to take over the assets of William Morris's WRM Motors Limited and continue production of the same vehicles. By 1926 its production represen ...

, after failing to introduce its cars into France,A report on the 1926 French Motor Show by a London paper noted there were just two British manufacturers displaying vehicles: Rolls-Royce (with French coachwork) and Austin though there was on a Morris stand a Morris-Léon Bollée. This the paper said was because of the impossibility of competing with local businesses protected by high import duties. Imports had to recover a further 57.5 per cent import duty and direct taxation. Italian and American cars with lower initial cost of production were better able to compete with local cars. Paris Motor Show. ''The Times'', Friday, Oct 08, 1926; pg. 11; Issue 44397 made a second attempt by buying the factory at Le MansPurchase of Etablissements Léon Bollée at Les Sablons, Le Mans. ''The Times'', Saturday, Sep 19, 1925; pg. 10; Issue 44071 to make cars with four-cylinder engines very similar to those of the

Morris Cowley Morris Cowley was a name given to various cars produced by Morris from 1915 to 1958. Morris Cowley ''Bullnose'' (1915) The Continental Cowley, shown to the press in April 1915, was a larger engined (1495 cc against 1018 cc), longer, w ...

and

Morris Oxford bullnose The "bullnose" Morris Oxford is a series of motor car models produced by Morris of the United Kingdom, from 1913 to 1926. It was named by W R Morris after the city in which he grew up and which his cars were to industrialise. Oxford ''bullnose'' ...

. The new company was called "Morris-Léon Bollée". The company was reorganized by directors sent from

Morris Motors Limited Morris Motors Limited was a British privately owned motor vehicle manufacturing company formed in 1919 to take over the assets of William Morris's WRM Motors Limited and continue production of the same vehicles. By 1926 its production represen ...

factory in Cowley, and the production of Morris-Léon Bollée cars began at the end of 1925. The first car, the Type MLB had a Hotchkiss 12 HP, 2.5 litre engine. In 1928 an 18 HP model appeared equipped with a straight-eight, 3-litre engine but only six were made. In spite of difficulties in obtaining components, production reached 150 cars per week. However, the French market did not readily take to buying cars made by a foreign company and as sales did not meet expectations production stopped in 1928.

was unable to make the French company profitable and finally, in 1931, Morris closed the company and sold the stock to a partnership which handled the sale of the last cars produced. Thus ended the history of the Léon Bollée car.

Note

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leon Bollee Automobiles Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of France Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1895 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1931 French companies established in 1895 1931 disestablishments in France