Chenard-Walcker

France, 1901 – 1946

(1) Chenard, Walcker et Cie, Asnières, Seine, 1901 – 1907

(2) SA des Anciens Établissements Chenard et Walcker, Gennevilliers, Seine, 1907 – 1946

The Chenard-Walcker company was founded in 1899 and made tricycles before exhibiting the first Chenard-Walcker car at the 1901 Paris Salon. It was a 1.160cc twin with mechanically operated side valves in a T-head, coil ignition, four forward speeds, and a flitchplate frame. The most interesting feature was, however, the ‘double’ back axle with the drive taken by two cardan shafts independently of a second, dead axle beam. This was to be a feature of the Chenard-Walcker make until the middle 1920s, though at first a cheaper Chenard-Walcker 10hp car was for sale with conventional drive, and there as also a short-lived Chenard-Walcker 12hp twin with side-chain transmission in 1904. A 4.1-litre 4-cylinder with Iow-tension magneto ignition followed in 1903, and by 1905 only Chenard-Walcker fours were made, the smallest short-stroke 2.6-litre was made exclusively for export to Britain. By 1906 the Chenard-Walcker cars for sale had the classic radiator with round core. In 1907 Chenard-Walcker cars had pressed-steel chassis, twin transmission brakes, and no hand throttle. New during 1908 was a 9/10hp single that had a 4-speed gearbox, though neither this nor its companion twin was quoted after 1910, by which time L-head engines had arrived on the 2.1-litre P-type. From 1912 to 1914 the Chenard-Walcker cars had monobloc power units with full-pressure lubcrication. Friction dampers were standard, and capacities of the fours were 1.6-litres and 3-litres. A big six joined the Chenard-Walcker range in 1913.

The staple 1919 Chenard-Walcker was the usual uprated 1914 design, the 3-litre Chenard-Walcker UU, still with separate 4-speed gearbox and foot transmission brake; it was joined by a 2651cc Chenard-Walcker 12CV in 1920, and by a 2-litre, the Chenard-Walcker TT, in 1921, and a 3-speed 1½-litre Chenard-Walcker Type Y, appeared in 1923, these old-fashioned machines persisiting for several years. New in 1922, however, was the Touté-designed 3-litre, an ohc four with dry-sump lubcrication that gave close on 90bhp, and had the usual Hallot servo brakes on front wheels and transmission only. These Chenard-Walcker cars finished 1st and 2nd in the first Le Mans 24-Hour Race of 1923, as well as winning the 1924 Circuit des Routes Pavées. A 2-litre edition followed soon afterwards, these sports Chenard-Walcker cars being made until 1927. From 1925 there were also parallel sv touring editions of Chenard-Walcker with similar chassis and plug covers giving the appearance of ohv units.

In 1924 and 1925 the Chenard-Walcker company raced a bi-block straight-8 which in its final form had brakes on all four wheels, and achieved nearly 110mph on 130bhp. But it was never reliable though it was catalogued, at 84.525 francs for a Chenard-Walcker tourer. Much more successful were the 1100cc ‘Chenard-Walcker tanks’ for sale with 55bhp 2-bearing pushrod engines and differential-less back axles that had two successful racing seasons (1925 and 1926) and even staged a comeback in 1937, when two Chenard-Walcker examples finished 1st and 2nd in the Bol d’Or. For 1927 the company introduced the 8CV Chenard-Walcker Z2, a tough little family car with 1300cc sv short-stroke engine, magneto ignition, 4-speed gearbox, conventional rear axle, and fabric bodywork; it sold for 24.000 francs. That year, however, an association with Delahaye, which lasted until 1932, led to the rationalization of both companies’ ranges, and it became difficult to tell the two makes apart. A production edition of the ‘Chenard-Walcker tank’ came out in 1928 with a 1½-litre ioe engine, but this was the last Chenard-Walcker with any sporting potential; the range now consisted of pedestrian sv fours, plus a couple of Delahaye-like ioe sixes with capacities of 2½-litres and 2.9-litres. The smaller of these, the Chenard-Walcker 14CV, was still being made in 1934. In 1932 the Chenard-Walcker T11 appeared, a new 12CV four on the usual lines with a free-wheel as standard equipment. Then in 1934 Chenard-Walcker cars, now free of Delahaye influence, adopted transverse ifs. They also offered a 3560cc sv V8, the Chenard-Walcker Aigle 8, which used their own engine, in effect a double T11 unit. In 1935 the Chenard-Walcker cars had torsion-bar front suspension and the option of a Cotal gearbox, and ohv engines became available; the range consisted of two fours and the eight. A 4-cylinder fwd car did not go into production.

From 1937 onwards Chenard-Walcker cars slowly lost their individuality. Their bodies were replaced by Chausson coachwork identical to that of the Matford, and only one Chenard-Walcker model retained the 2.180cc ohv Chenard-Walcker engine. The other Chenard-Walcker cars had 1911cc 4-cylinder Citroën and 3622cc Matford units. Finally Citroën and Matford chassis were adopted as well and the Chenard engine dropped, the only ‘native’ components of the cars being their back axles – though the cabriolets were quite handsome, being of Vutotal type with no screen pillars. A few Chenard-Walcker 11CV and 21CV cars were made after World War 2, but from 1947 the staple Chenard-Walcker product was a forward-control light van, the development of which was continued by Peugeot after that company took over in 1951.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

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Vulcan

GB, 1902 – 1928

(1) Vulcan Motor Manufacturing and Engineering Co Ltd, Southport, Lancs., 1902 – 1906

(2) Vulcan Motor and Engineering Co Ltd, Southport, Lancs., 1906 – 1928

The Vulcan car firm was better known for commercial vehicles. Private Vulcan cars stemmed from experiments conducted in the 1897-1899 period by the brothers Thomas and Joseph Hampson. A belt-driven single-cylinder voiturette Vulcan car with lateral radiators was shown in 1902, being replaced a year later by a 6hp Vulcan car with armoured wood frame, mechanically-operated inlet valves, and shaft drive. This Vulcan car was listed at only £105, and this Vulcan car was soon followed by a 10hp twin, also T-headed but with a steel frame, selling for £200. 4-cylinder Vulcan cars of 12 and 16hp, still modestly priced, were available in 1905, while the biggest 1906 Vulcan cars, with capacities of 3.1- and 5.2-litres, had gate change. No 2-cylinder Vulcan cars were catalogued after 1908, but a year previously Vulcan cars had joined the ranks of 6-cylinder manufacturers with a 4.8-litre T-headed machine featuring dual ignition and cone clutch, at £600 for a Vulcan car chassis. Unlike other makers, Vulcan cars retained their interest in this type, which Vulcan car had acquired a 4-speed box and had grown to 6-litres by 1908, and the 1909 Vulcan car range consisted of four 4-cylinder cars and the six, all shaft-driven and still with T-heads; the smallest Vulcan car, rated at 12hp, had a 3-speed gearbox and worm drive. A new 3.6-litre six Vulcan car with unit gearbox and worm drive followed in 1911, along with an L-head 2.4-litre fifteen. Worm drive was standardized on the 1912 Vulcan cars, when the bigger Vulcan cars had T-heads, and a 1.8-litre, 2-cylinder with an Aster engine was offered. All but the smallest Vulcan car had detachable wheels as standard in 1913, and by the outbreak of World War 1 the Vulcan car company was well established with a range of solidly-built Vulcan cars: a 2.4-litre 10/15, a 2.6-litre 15.9, and a 3-litre monobloc 15/20 Vulcan car at £375. All these Vulcan cars had L-heads and bull-nose radiators, though the similarly styled six retained the older Vulcan car configuration. A 1½-litre Vulcanette with a 3-speed rear-axle gearbox and full electrical equipment was announced for 1915 but the war intervened.

After 1918 the Vulcan car company concentrated increasingly on trucks, and a brief association with the Harper Bean Group (1919-1920) did no good to finances. Some odd experiments by Vulcan cars included a worm-drive 3½-litre V8 tourer Vulcan car intended to sell for £625 (1919), and two Vulcan cars in 1922 with Howard sleeve-valve engines, a big 3.6-litre sports-touring four Vulcan car and a 10hp 1.4-litre flat-twin listed at £315. However, none of these Vulcan cars reached the public, the regular Vulcan car lines being a 1.8-litre ohv 12 and a 2.6-litre sv 16/20, both with Dorman engines. There was also a conservative 20hp Vulcan carmodel with the Vulcan car company’s own 3.3-litre sv fixed-head engine and 4-speed separate gearbox, this Vulcan car was selling for £850 in 1921; by this time flat radiators were again being used on Vulcan cars. The Vulcan 20 was available to military order with full wireless equipment in 1923, in which year C.B. Wardman effected a liaison of Vulcan cars and Lea-Francis. The two companies pooled their dealer network, Vulcan cars became responsible for certain Lea-Francis power units and bodies, and Lea-Francis made gear and steering boxes for Vulcan cars. A 1½-litre sv Dorman-engined Vulcan 12 was listed at £295 in 1925, followed a year later by an ohv worm-driven derivative, also with Dorman engine, and looking very like a Lea-Francis. 4-wheel brakes were available on Vulcan cars in 1925 and standardized in 1926. Last of the line Vulcan cars were the 14/40 and 16/60, with the disastrous twin ohc 6-cylinder engines of their own make. Short-chassis Vulcan cars were worm-driven, but bevel drive was adopted for long-chassis versions. Vulcan cars wore artillery wheels, but were otherwise identical to their Lea-Francis counterparts which Vulcan cars were made alongside them at Southport. Not many of these Vulcan cars were made, and after 1928 only commercial vehicles were produced. The Vulcan car firm subsequently amalgamated with Tilling-Stevens and thus were abrorbed into the Rootes Group after World War 2. Truck production ceased in 1953.

US, 1913 – 1914

(1) Vulcan Motor Car Co, Painesville, Ohio, 1913

(2) Vulcan Manufacturing Co, Painesville, Ohio, 1913 – 1914

This Vulcan car was a cleanly-designed light car with a 27hp 4-cylinder engine. A two-seater speedster Vulcan car on an 8ft 9in wheelbase with electric lights sold for $750. A five-seater version of this Vulcan car with the same engine, but on a longer wheelbase, cost $850.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS, GMN    

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com