Luc Court

France, 1899 – 1936

Sté des Ans. Etablissements Luc Court et Cie, Lyons

The Luc Court company was founded to make electrical machinery in 1892, and their first Luc Court car appeared seven years later. This Luc Court car had an 8hp 2-cylinder engine, double chain drive and the unusual feature of a 5-speed gearbox. Later Luc Court cars had a 20/24hp 4-cylinder engine, and in 1904 the speciality of the Luc Court car-firm was a chassis which was detachable from just behind the engine. It was said that the change on the Luc Court car, to a new chassis and body could be made in three minutes, and an advantage was that you could choose a different countershaft ratio on the Luc Court car to suit the type of body being used. The 1906 range Luc Court cars consisted of a 10hp twin, and three fours from 10 to 40hp. In 1910 a new range of Luc Court cars was introduced with inlet over exhaust valves: a 14hp four and an 18hp six, both with long-stroke engines of 70x140mm. The Luc Court four was continued with little change until the end of private Luc Court car production, and was used in a commercial chassis until 1936. At the outbreak of World War I, there were three basic models in the Luc Court car-range: the 14 and 18hp, and a large 20hp four of 3.600cc. An unusual feature was that all Luc Court car still used chain drive, the chains running in oil-tight cases.

After the war the Luc Court 14 was continued, joined for a short time by a 4.700cc four which was dropped in 1925. Luc Court car output was never large, and private-car production gradually dewindled during the later 1920s. For those who might want a Luc Court car, the 14 was available to special order until 1936, after which the engine of the Luc Court car was no longer made, even for commercial vehicles. However, commercial chassis were made by Luc Cours up to the early 1950s. One of the first Lux Court cars, an 8hp of 1901, survives in the Musée de l’Automobile at Rochetaillée-sur-Saone.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; GNG

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