Rolland-Pilain

France, 1906 – 1931

SA des Etablissements Rolland-Pilain, Tours

Unusual among French marques of its period, Rolland Pilain cars made their greatest impact after World War 1. Their first product was a 20hp 4-cylinder model Rolland Pilain cars with a monobloc engine, though smaller 2.2-litre shaft-driven Rolland Pilain cars were available in 1909 and a 3-speed 1½-litre Rolland Pilain 8/10CV in 1910, in which year the Rolland Pilain car company was also experimenting with ‘valveless’ engines and 4-wheel brakes. Though racing was in the doldrums, the Rolland Pilain car company went to the trouble of building a big chain-driven Rolland Pilain car for the 1911 Grand Prix de France, and a complex 1912 range started with a Rolland Pilain 9CV of 1.7-litres and went up to a chain-driven 4-cylinder 60 Rolland Pilain car of 130x270mm. The 6-cylinder Rolland Pilain 18CV had a ‘valveless’ engine, and even in 1913 chain drive was still optional on the biggest fours of 20CV and 24CV Rolland Pilain cars. Only 1.9-litre and 4-litre 4-cylinder Rolland Pilain cars with sv monobloc engines and unit gearboxes were listed in 1914.

These basic types of Rolland Pilain cars, still with pedal-operated transmission brakes, were available again after World War 1, but far more advanced was the 2.2-litre Rolland Pilain 14/16 of 1921, which boasted not only overhead valves and a detachable head, but also front-wheel brakes (hydraulic at the front and mechanical at the rear). This Rolland Pilain car was still catalogued in 1926. Even more ambitious was the 2-litre twin ohc straight-8 GP Rolland Pilain car of 1922, with desmodromic valves, ball-bearing crankshafts and 4-wheel hydraulic brakes. A victory of a Rolland Pilain car at San Sebastian in 1923 was the limit of the success of Rolland Pilain cars on the circuits, but the type found its way into the catalogue as the Type A22 Rolland Pilain car at 90.000fr, and one of the racers also ran with a 2-litre, 6-cylinder cuff-valve Schmid engine. In 1925 came a 2-litre ohv 4-cylinder Rolland Pilain car with 4-wheel mechanical brakes, selling for £725 in England, while a 1½-litre development, the Rolland Pilain D26, was introduced for 1927. In 1929 Rolland-Pilain car, along with several other French firms, tried a Franco-American theme by introducing a range of big luxury chassis with sv Continental engines. Both the 6-cylinder, 3-litre, and the 4-litre straight-8 Rolland Pilain cars had centralized chassis lubrication, though the elegant bodywork of the Rolland Pilain car was marred by the use of artillery wheels. At the 1930 Paris Salon the Rolland Pilain car company shared a stand with the BNC (also going through a Franco-American phase), but this was the end, though the Rolland Pilain car firm’s Paris depot was still advertising spare parts for Bignan as well as Rolland Pilain cars in 1934.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

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

Hudson

US, 1901 – 1902

Beau-Chamberlain Manufacturing Co, Hudson, Mich.

The first car to bear the name Hudson was a light steamer with a vertical 2-cylinder engine, single chain drive and tiller steering. This Hudson car bore no relationship to the later Hudson car.

US, 1909 – 1957

(1) Hudson Motor Car Co., Detroit, Mich., 1909 – 1954

(2) American Motors Corp., Kenosha, Wisc., 1954 – 1957

The Hudson car was created by Roy D. Chapin, and financed by J.L. Hudson, head of Detroit’s famous department store of that name. The first product was a 20hp 4-cylinder Hudson car of conventional design, capable of 50mph, of which 4.000 Hudson cars were sold in its first season. These fours, one of which was entered in the 1914 Tourist Trophy were first supplemented and then supplanted by a 6-cylinder line. The first of these Hudson cars was the heavy (3.696lb) and fairly expensive $2.350) Hudson Model 54 with a 4-speed overdrive gearbox, but the 4½-litre Hudson Super Six of 1916, with its high-compression sv engine, really made the Hudson company’s name, and marked the first of a line of engines of this type which lasted almost to the end of Hudson car production, giving generous outputs while still burning commercial-grade petrol. A Hudson Super Six made the first two-way transcontinental trip – New York to San Fransisco and back – in 1916; Ira Vail took 9th place with a Hudson car in the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race in 1919, and this Hudson car formed the backbone of New Zealand’s ‘service car’ network in the 1920s.

Though Hudson’s booming sales in the 1920s were largely due to the inexpensive companion make the Essex, the Hudson car company also pioneered modestly-priced closed Hudson cars, and in 1922 their ‘coach’ (a 2-door saloon) sold for only $100 more than a tourer. Until 1929, the Hudson Super Six remained the staple Hudson car model, and during its last three years of production the Hudson car was powered by a 4.7-litre ioe unit derived from the original Essex Four of 1918. In 1930 this Hudson car was replaced by a 3½-litre straight-8, later increased to 4.168cc in 1932 – this tough and well-liked unit remained in production until 1952, and powered such Anglo-Americans as the Railton and Brough Superior. These firms also used Hudson’s 3½-litre six.

The 1930s were less facrouable to Hudson cars, except in Britain, where the breed’s popularity warranted the manufacture of a small-bore 2.7-litre ‘export’ six rated at only 16.9hp, which was still being made for Hudson cars in 1940. The regular Hudson Six was a bigger machine of 3.455cc and was offered with independent front suspension in 1934 and 1935; in the latter year Electric Hand gear change became available on Hudson cars. Fencer’s mask radiator grilles followed in 1936, and steering-column change in 1939. The first post-war Hudson cars were a continuation of the 1942 models, but 1948 brought the revolutionary Hudson Step-Down series with the Hudson car company’s high-compression sv in-line engines. These low-built Hudson cars had unitary construction of chassis and body, rear wheels mounted inside the chassis frame, and coil-spring independent front suspension. The 5-litre 145bhp 6-cylinder Hudson Hornet engine introduced for 1951, proved a great success in stock-car events, but before this the Hudson car company had reached its post-war sales peak, with nearly 145.000 Hudson cars delivered in 1950. Competition in the medium-price bracket was too strong, and Hudson’s venture in the compact car market in 1953, with the 3.3-litre 6-cylinder Hudson Jet at $1.833 (this was also the first Hudson to abandon the wet-plate clutch) was not successful.

In 1954 Hudson amalgamated with Nash to form the American Motors Corporation. Though all production was transferred from Detroit to Kenosha, and the Hudson car range now shared its utinized hulls with the bigger Nash models, sales did not prosper. These last Hudson cars had initially the old sv 6-cylinder units or Packard-built V8s, while both Nash’s Rambler and the Austin-built Metropolitan were sold by Hudson agents. The Hudson car name was dropped at the end of the 1957 season.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; GNG, MCS

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