Adolphe Clément: What's in a name?

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In early French transport history Adolphe Clément was overwhelmingly present. Whether cycles, motor cycles, cars, boats, balloon, zeppelins or aeroplanes, Adolphe Clément has made them. It is therefore very much justified that the Club Teuf Teuf will show a tribute to this extraordinary engineer at the coming Rétromobile show.

Adolphe Clément was also responsible for one of the most confusing combination of firms and names in the period before WW1: the names Clément, Gladiator, Humber, Panhard, Talbot, Bayard and combinations of these were all derived from his enterprises in France and England. I'll try to explain. In 1896 Clément & Cie. merged with the french branch of the Gladiator-Humber works to increase their cycle production. When Clément-Gladiator started producing automobiles, a separate Clément and Gladiator line was put into existence. In this period also the Clément-Panhard was built, a car developed by Panhard & Levassor engineer Arthur Krebs. In 1903 Adolphe Clément left the firm after disagreement with the board of directors. The name Clément remained in the hands of the Clément-Gladiator firm and Adolphe Clément had to make up a new name. He chose for Bayard, the french 'fearless and blameless' chevalier he greatly admired. In an article in The Motor Car Journal of October 24th, 1903 the new situation was made clear: the Clément would continue to be built by the Clément-Gladiator concern, Adolphe Clément would manufacture cars with the name Bayard and the English Clément-Talbot concern would call their cars Talbot. Maybe this seemed very clear, the public and the press thought otherwise. Although during the first years advertised as Bayard, already soon in the media the cars of Adolphe Clément were called Bayard-A. Clément, Bayard-Clément or even Clément-Bayard. After 1910 the name Clément-Bayard was universally accepted. The English branch, which continued to do busines with Adolphe, called their cars Talbot, but also Clément-Talbot. In 1906, when they had developed their own all-British Talbot, Clément disappeared in the name. In the meanwhile the Gladiator concern continued to build Clément and Gladiator cars, which were marketed in the UK with the same names. And although from 1907 the UK branch had started to develop their own product, which they called British Clement and which were partly constructed in the Swift factory, their British agent E.H. Lancaster already had built a Clément of his own design in 1904.

The Gladiator cars, which were often almost identical to the Clément during the years after 1903, were at some moment also made by Austin. In 1909 the Gladiator branch was acquired by the Vinot & Deguingand concern.

And if you're even more confused now, don't worry: just visit the Club Teuf Teuf stand at Rétromobile and enjoy the legacy of this remarkable man.

    

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