Renault
of Billancourt, Seine, France
of 21 Pall Mall, London, SW (1914)
of Western Avenue, Acton, London
General
Producing cars since late 1898, the Renault corporation was founded in 1899 as Société Renault Frères by Louis Renault, his brothers Marcel Renault and Fernand Renault, and his friend Thomas Evert.
Louis was a bright, aspiring young engineer who had already designed and built several models before teaming up with his brothers, who had honed their business skills working for their father's textiles firm. While Louis handled design and production, Marcel and Fernand handled company management.
1898 Company founded.
1904 Private company formed as Renault Freres Ltd in the UK.
1906 Produced 8-9 h.p., 10-14 h.p. (these two smaller models used two-cylinder engines), 10-14 h.p., 14-20 h.p., 20-30 h.p. and 35-45 h.p. (these four larger models had four cylinder engines) models. [1]
1911 Company name changed.
1913-1917 For a list of the models and prices see the 1917 Red Book.
1914 Automobile manufacturers. [2]
1951 Exhibitor at the 1951 Motor Show in the Car Section.
1961 Producers of Dauphine and Floride. Motor car manufacturers. 545 employees.
1963 Exhibitor at the 1951 Motor Show. Importer. [3]
1980 Renault produced more than two million vehicles for the first time, and was the only major European or American motor company to raise production.[4]
Early Registrations
- 1900 AR 20
- 1911 LA 5678
Car Models
See Roadway Autocar Co.
- 1920 Renault the French maker developed a massive range of cars, heavy duty trucks, vehicles to cross the Sahara desert, PSVs and rail-cars.
Buses
- Towards the late 1920s, coaches of a normal and forward-control layout were developed. These were built with considerable speed and they were shown in Britain by Sir Henry Segrave.
- 1925 Blue Bird Motors bought a 26 seater bus which had a coal-scuttle bonnet, pneumatic tyres and servo-assisted four wheel brakes.
Tractors
UK Factory
1927 'Messrs. Renault, Limited, the motor-car manufacturers, recently acquired about 20 acres of land near North Acton, London, W, and a large factory building is now erected on the site, which has its frontage on the new Western Avenue. They intend to utilise the greater part of the building for the assembling of their motor-cars, lorries, &c., which have been hitherto manufactured for the British market at their extensive works near Paris.... The factory is a one-floor steel-frame structure, about 490 ft. long by 230 ft. wide, built on made-up ground, with a reinforced-concrete floor. The steel roofwork is of the cantilever or "umbrella" type.... The contractors for the whole of the above work were Messrs. F. D. Huntingdon, Limited, the steelwork being manufactured by The Teesside Bridge and Engineering Company, Limited. ...' Consulting Engineer: J. Callander, A.M.Inst.C.E., M.I.Struct.E. [5]
1929 Brief description of the Acton works [6]
1950 Site at Acton occupied 12 acres and assembled cars from components made at Billancourt.
1962 Acton factory ceased production.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Automobile Vol. III. Edited by Paul N. Hasluck and published by Cassell in 1906.
- ↑ 1914 Whitakers Red Book
- ↑ 1963 Motor Show
- ↑ The Engineer 1981年05月28日
- ↑ Engineering 1927年07月01日
- ↑ Light Car and Cyclecar: 1929年03月08日
- [1] Wikipedia
- 1961 Guide to Key British Enterprises: Motor, Motor-Cycle and Commercial Vehicle Manufacturers
- 1961 Dun and Bradstreet KBE
- British Motor Cars 1950/51
- Ian Allan - British Buses Since 1900 - Aldridge and Morris