Adler

D, 1900 – 1939

(1) Adler Fahrradwerke vorm. Heinrich Kleyer AG 1900 – 1906

(2) Adlerwerke vorm. Heinrich Kleyer AG, Frankfurt/Main 1906 – 1939

This well-known bicycle and typewriter firm had already built components for Benz as well as a few De Dion tricycles when their first car appeared in 1900. This closely resembled the contemporary Renault, with tubular frame, shaft drive, and front-mounted 400cc single-cylinder De Dion engine; suspension was full-elliptic all round and steering was by tiller, but both these archaisms had gone by 1901 when a bigger 510cc power unit was standardized. By 1902 the company were making their own engines, an 850cc single and a 1.7-litre twin, there were four forward speeds, and the lateral radiators continued the Renault idiom.

With the arrival of Edmund Rumpler in 1903 the Adler idiom crystallized, even if this experimental swing-axle suspension did not pass beyond the prototype stage. Characteristics of the new models were side valves in an L-head, dual ignition, pressed-steel frames, and rectangular radiators. Four cylinders were preferred, though singles were still offered in 1905, and twins as late as 1909. By 1905 there were 4-cylinder cars of 2.8-litres, 4-litres and 7.4-litres, this last figuring in Adler’s Herkomer Trophy entry, and attracting an order from Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1907. If the 1906 Kleinwagen, a 1.032cc aiv V-twin with water cooling and steel artillery wheels, marked a retrograde step, by 1907 the company had adopted the unit gearbox, and were experimenting with ioe engines, achieving a 3rd place in the Prince Henry trials. There were also some modest short-stroke fours. A 2-litre 8/15ps was followed a year later by the successful 1.555cc 7/15. This developed into the 1.8-litre 7/15, popular in England as the 12hp. These small Adlers had dual ignition, but foot accelerators were found only on the bigger cars as late as 1913. There was a fast 5.2-litre 76bhp ioe model for the 1910 Prince Henry Trials, and a smaller 3.2-litre version was offered to the public. It evolved into the 15/40 of 1913, with 3.8-litre and 69bhp, used as the basis for Adler’s unsuccessful 1914 T.T. racers. Their Knight-engined 1911 cars did not progress beyond the prototype stage, but very attractive was that year’s new model, the 1.3-litre K voiturette, initially with pair-cast cylinders, but offered in 1913 with Monobloc engine and a choice of side-by-side or tandem seats. Rear suspension was full-elliptic. It did 50mhp and 38mpg, and was well received by Britons, who bought it under the name of Morgan-Adler Carette. There were also some large sv fours, the 4.8-litre 19/45 appearing in 1911, followed in 1912 by a 7.8-litre 30/70, and in 1914 by a V-radiatored 9.1-litre monster, top of a nine-model range. Also new was an enlarged K, the 1.552cc KL with four-seater bodywork and semi-elliptic rear springs.

A selection of the more popular 1914 types reappeared in 1919, and even in 1922 a replacement for the KL, the 6/22PS, retained a fixed head and reverted to a separate gearbox. Adler’s first sixes came in 1925, these boasting alloy pistons, detachable heads, and front wheel brakes. The 10/50 had a 2.6-litre Monobloc engine, but the 4.7-litre 18/80 was of biblock type. Also new was an essay in the American idiom, Becker’s 1.550cc 4-cylinder Favorit. Three years later it had been joined by a 2.9-litre six and a 3.9-litre straight-8, both with hydraulic brakes, these being offered on an enlarged and modernized Favorit in 1929. 

At the Geneva Show in 1932 Adler presented their new 1.5-litre Trumpf with front-wheel drive and independent wheel suspension, a design of H.G. Röhr. This first front-driven car was followed by the 1-litre Trumpf Junior, the 1.7-litre Trumpf and the 2-litre model. The competition versions of these models – very often fitted with aerodynamic bodies – were very successful in the years from their appearance to the outbreak of World War 2. Streamlined Trumpf and Trumpf Junior cars gained 22 international records in 1935 and 1936 on the Avus and the Darmstadt Autobahn. A win in the Leinster Trophy Race of 1934, a Team Prize at Spa in 1936 in the 2-litre class, a 2-litre class win and 6th place overall at Le Mans in 1937 were only a few of the victories. In 1937 Adler introduced a rear-wheel driven model again, the 2.5-litre with 6-cylinder 50bhp engine, aerodynamic body and swing axles. The sports version of this type developed 80bhp.

Production of private ceased in 1939. Some prototypes of the Trumpf Junior were produced after the war and were on show at the Hanover Fair 1948, but production was not taken up. Instead of this, production of motorcycles was resumed, lasting until 1957.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; HON

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

Hotchkiss

France, 1903 – 1955

(1) Hotchkiss et Cie, St. Denis, Seine, 1903 – 1936

(2) Automobiles Hotchkiss, St. Denis, Seine, 1936 – 1955

The American Benjamin Berkeley Hotchkiss set up his ordnance Horchkiss car factory at St. Denis in 1867; the Hotchkiss cars were the result of an arm slump. The work of Terrasse, these first Hotchkiss cars were T-headed fours with pair-cast cylinders, 5-ball-bearing crankshafts, low-tension magneto ignition, round honeycomb radiators, 4-speed gearboxes, and the famous Hotchkiss drive by live axle and open propeller shaft. Initially cylinder capacities of Hotchkiss cars were 4.6-litres and 7.4-litres, but the Hotchkiss car company’s first racers of 1904 were 17.8-litre monsters notable for their aiv and chain drive. Though their 1905 successors conformed once more to touring-car practice, they were even bigger Hotchkiss cars, with 18.815cc and an alleged 130bhp. Hotchkiss’s last racing season was 1906 with their Grand Prix Hotchkiss cars had 16.3-litre L-head units and quick-detachable wire wheels. Though these Hotchkiss cars were unsuccessful, Hotchkiss sold 167 cars that year, with gate change standardized, and a choice of five Hotchkiss car models: a short-lived 4.2-litre petrol brougham, fours of 18, 30 and 42hp, and their first six. The last-mentioned Hotckiss car was the large V-type that evolved into a 9½-litre machine and was still being offered in 1912 as a Hotckiss car. Chassis price was £1.000 and it was capable of 60mph.

The slump following the Agadir crisis led to the abandonment of ball-bearing crankshafts on Hotchkiss cars; at the same time there was a move towards smaller Hotchkiss cars with the 3.1-litre T-type, with side valves in an L-head and high-tension magneto ignition. Two years later came something even smaller and more modern, the 12/16hp Hotchkiss X-type with 2-bearing crankshaft and three forward speeds at £390. Soon monobloc engines spread up the range to the 3.7-litre Hotckiss AB of 1912. From 1911 there were some smaller L-head sixes, the 4.678cc Hotchkiss X6 and the 5½-litre Hotchkiss AC6; 1912 sales were a record 598 Hotchkiss cars. Electric lighting was available from 1913, and all the 1914 Hotchkiss car models – the 2.6-litre Hotchkiss AG, the 4-litre Hotchkiss AF, the 5.7-litre Hotchkiss AC, and the 6-cylinder Hotchkiss AC6 – had semi-elliptic suspension all round.

The wartime demand for Hotchkiss machine guns led to the establishment of a branch factory under the Englishman Harry Ainsworth, this subsequently making engines for W.R. Morris until it was absorbed by him in 1923. At home Hotchkiss sold off their surplus works capacity at Lyons and concentrated on a revised Hotchkiss car again, the AF with full electrics and a horseshoe-shaped radiator in place of the traditional round one. Its successor, the Hotchkiss AH of 1921, had cantilever rear springs and torque tube drive, and a year later came the Hotchkiss AL with ohv, and a detachable head; front-wheel brakes were added for 1923. There was also a prototype luxury Hotchkiss car at the 1921 Paris Salon; this Hotchkiss AK had a 6.6-litre 6-cylinder ohc engine, dual ignition, 4-speed unit gearbox, servo-assisted 4-wheel brakes, and a cruciform-braced frame, but it never went into production.

The return of Ainsworth to St. Denis in 1923, coincided with the construction of a new Hotchkiss car factory and a more realistic type of car, the 2.4-litre 12CV Hotchkiss AM, with 4-cylinder sv engine, 4-speed unit box, four-wheel brakes, wire hwwls, and Hotchkiss drive once more. Between 1924 and 1928 it was the Hotchkiss car company’s staple product, selling at the rate of over a thousand a year and offering a 70mph performance at a modest outlay. It persisted until 1932, acquiring ohv in 1926 and rod-operated brakes in 1928, and its engine was used in some Morris-Léon Bollées. Even better was the Hotchkiss AM80 of 1929, largely the work of Bertarione. This was a short-stroke (80x100mm), 7-bearing ohv 3-litre six that owed a good deal to the AM2, though early cars featured torque tube drive; it was to be the basis from which all subsequent Hotchkisses were evolved. A silent 3rd gearbox featured on 1931 Hotchkiss car models, Hotchkiss drive reappeared in 1932, and 1933 improvements included Bendix brakes, cruciform-braked frames, down-draught carburetors and mechanical fuel pumps. Hotchkiss AM80 engines were also fitted to Sizaire Frères and Tracta cars.

The 1933 Hotchkiss car range was expanded both up and down, with new Hotchkiss 12CV (2-litre) and 13CV (1.3-litre) fours for the economy market, and an 85mph fast tourer, the 100bhp 3½-litre Hotckiss AM80S, for the enthusiast. This Hotchkiss car was based on the car with which Vasselle won the 1932 Monte Carlo Rally. Hotchkiss cars repeated this success in 1933 and 1934: in the latter year the Hotchkiss cars collected two Glazier Cups in the Alpine Trial. There were further wins in the Monte Carlo in 1938 and 1939; on the latter occasion a Grand Sport Hotchkiss car tied with a 3½-litre Delahaye. Radiators were moved forward on the 1934 Hotchkiss cars, and the 3-litre gave way to a 2.650cc 15CV that was not a success and lasted only one season. The 1935 Hotchkiss cars had synchromesh and integral boots, and at the top of the 3½-litre 20CV range was the twin-carburettor Hotckiss Paris-Nice, a 115bhp sports car capable of 95mph. Hydraulic brakes appeared in 1936 on Hotchkiss cars (to be quietly dropped halfway through 1937). The sports 20CV engine was now giving 125-130bhp and when allied to a short 9ft 2in wheelbase resulted in the Hotchkiss Grand Sport, a true 100mph saloon.

By 1938 the horseshoe radiator on the Hotchkiss car was now a wire-mesh grille, but despite the exigencies of French rearmament programmes the Hotchkiss car company managed to deliver 2.751 Hotchkiss cars that year, made up of the two fours, the reinstated 3-litre Hotchkiss 680, and the 3½-litre Hotchkiss 686 in various forms, including seven-seater limousines with the single-carburettor 100bhp engine. Hotchkiss also came to the rescue of the ailing Amilcar concern, helping to make the Grégoire-inspired 1.185cc Compound, a small fwd saloon with unitary construction in Alpax; this was sold in England, though not in France, as a Hotchkiss car. A 1.3-litre ohv development, the Hotchkiss B67, was ready for production when France collapsed in the summer of 1940.

Hotchkiss never really recovered from World War 2, though Peugeot were briefly interested in the Hotchkiss car company and Hotchkiss 686 cars won the first two post-war Monte Carlo Rallies of 1949 and 1950. The Hotchkiss 12CV and Hotchkiss 20CV were back in production, unchanged, by 1946, but the first year’s output was a miserable 117 Hotchkiss cars. Hydraulic brakes and independent front suspension did not appear until 1949 on Hotchkiss cars (though Hotchkiss had experimented with the latter in 1937), and a Cotal electric gearbox became a factory option. The 1951 Hotchkiss car models were ‘facelifted’ with V-screens, recessed headlamps and auxiliary coil rear suspension, but in the meantime there had been an expensive mistake: the acquisition by Hotchkiss of the rights to the Grégoire flat-4. This ingenious device was a development of the 1938 Amilcar theme featuring all-round independent suspension and a 4-speed overdrive gearbox, as well as front wheel drive. Production Hotchkiss car models with 2.2-litre engines were said to achieve 95mph and 30mpg, but the teething troubles were endless, and Hotchkiss only managed to make 250 Hotchkiss cars in the end. There was a shutdown in 1952 and the price of recovery was a merger with Delahaye that led inevitably to concentration on commercial vehicles. The old Hotchkiss cars 13CV and 20CV received another facelift in time for the 1954 Paris Salon, but his was their swansong, though medium-powered trucks continued to be made until 1970, along with a version of the American Jeep built under licence.

GB, 1920

Hotchkiss et Cie, Coventry, Warwickshire

Hotchkiss of Coventry, a British offshoot of the famous French Hotchkiss car firm, was set up during World War 1 to make engines in Britain. Their units became best known as the motive power for Morris and BSA light cars, but before they were taken over by William Morris, Hotchkiss experimented with a small car of their own. The Hotchkiss car consisted of their 1.080cc air-cooled V-twin ohv engine installed with a 3-speed gearbox in a pre-war Morris Oxford chassis. It never went into production.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS, TRN

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