Mathis

D, 1898 – 1903; 1910 – 1914

France, 1919 – 1935; 1945 – 1950

(1) E.E.C. Mathis, Strasbourg, 1898 – 1914

(2) SA Mathis, Strasbourg, 1919 – 1950

The Mathis car company, like Bugatti, changed its nationality with the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France in 1918. The early Mathis cars made in Strasbourg up to 1903 were experimental prototypes only, though they included a really big 150x160mm 4-cylinder Mathis car rated at 100hp and the first Mathis car product sold to the public were the Hermes machines designed by Ettore Bugatti in 1904 to 1905. Bugatti set up as an independent consulting engineer, and Mathis cars supplemented his business by selling De Dietrich, Panhard, and Rochet-Schneider, as well as acting as Central European respresentative for Fiat and Minerva.

It was not until 1910 that the true Mathis car went on sale, in the form of the Mathis 8/20ps, a straightforward 2-litre L-head Monobloc 4-cylinder Mathis car with 3-bearing crankshaft, 4-speed separate gearbox, and shaft drive. The larger 2.8-litre model of this period was made for Mathis by Stoewer of Stettin. The Mathis car firm’s pre-war reputation was founded largely on well made miniature 4-cylinder machines, notably the 1.100cc Mathis Babylette and the 1.3-litre Mathis Baby. The former had a vertical-gate gear change, all its brakes on the rear wheels, and, surprisingly, a differential. A bolster-tank sports two-seater Mathis car could be bought in England in 1914 for £195. Bigger Mathis cars had full-pressure lubrication, and came in 1½-litre, 1.8-litre (rated rather high in Britain at 16/20hp), and 2.6-litre sizes. There were also some 4.4-litre Mathis cars with Knight double-sleeve-valve engines.

Mathis’s interest in racing expressed itself in rather a peculiar way, since he tended to enter Mathis cars of unsuitable capacity for major races. Thus his 1.8-litre Coup de l’Auto Mathis car of 1912 was set to run with the big cars in the concurrent Grand Prix, and in 1921 he ran a 1½-litre ohv 4-cylinder Mathis car in the French GP, in a year when a 3-litre formula was in force.

After World War 1 the Mathis car emerged as a neat little sv monobloc 8/15hp 4-cylinder with aluminium pistons, fixed head, trough-and-dipper lubrication, thermos-syphon cooling, full electrics, magneto ignition, and 4-speed gearbox. Capacity of the Mathis car was 1.131cc, and in 1921 an anglicized version of the Mathis car was sold in London as the BAC, though later cars of this make had no French associations. The Mathis cars of the early 1920s, often with tiny engines (the Mathis T-type of 1923 had only 628cc), differential-less back axles, splash lubrications (and axle ratios of the order of 6:1, but always with 4 forward speeds) soon brought the Mathis car company into fourth position behind France’s big three – Citroën, Renault, and Peugeot – and production was running at 75 Mathis cars a day in 1927. The miniature 4-cylinder Mathis cars were credited with 63mpg, but in 1923 there was a new departure in the shape of a tiny 6-cylinder Mathis car. The 1.2-litre Mathis L-type with overhead camshafts and detachable head had some sporting pretensions, but more typical was the 1.140cc Mathis P-type tourer with a fixed-head sv power unit, 6:1 top gear, brakeless front axle, and differential-less back end. The wheel-base of the Mathis car was 9ft, and the 4-speed box had central change: both sizes had V-radiators.

Interestingly enough Mathis favoured 4 cylinders, overhead camshafts, and 8-plug heads for the Mathis car entries in the Touring Car GP, and were rewarded with class wins in 1923 and 1924, though their advanced 1925 machines with crab tracks, underslung frames, and aerodynamic bodywork were less successful. The 6-cylinder touring Mathis cars had front-wheel brakes by 1924, and were continued until 1926, but 1925 brought a bigger family saloon Mathis car to compete with Citroën, the 1.6-litre Mathis GM-type 4-cylinder with pressure lubrication, front-wheel brakes, and differential, sold at £295 in England. There was also a short-lived 1.7-litre ohc straight-9 with coil ignition: the output of 35bhp perhaps explains why nothing more was heard of this Mathis car.

By 1927 Mathis were back to one-model policy with their 1.2-litre 4-cylinder Mathis MY at £255 for a fabric saloon. Its specification was entirely conventional with side valves, detachable head, 2-bearing crankshaft, magneto ignition, 6-volt electrics, and 4-speed gearbox was in this Mathis car. A 1.8-litre Emysix followed in 1928 with coil ignition, hypoid final drive, and two separate detachable heads for its monobloc engine: sold under the slogan ‘Ware The Enemy – Weight’, it justified this by turning the scales of this Mathis car at only 2.184lb, and formed the basis for all Strasbourg’s subsequent series-production sixes and eights Mathis cars.

Up to 1935 dull, solid sv family saloons were the staple of the SA Mathis. 4-speed Warner silent-3rd gearboxes appeared on the Emysix in 1929, and in 1930 there were bigger sixes of 2.4 litres and 4.1 litres in the Mathis cars, also with hypoid axles. William C. Durant laid plans to build 4-cylinder Mathis cars in his factories in 1930 under the name Matam (Mathis-America), but the Depression frustrated these. A very short-stroke (70x80mm) 1.2-litre Mathis car, the Mathis PY type with spiral bevel final drive, appeared in 1931, when a 3-litre Mathis car could be bought with hydraulic brakes in England for £476. Two bigger eights of 4.6- and 5.4-litres were made in very small numbers. Mathis car engines were used in one model of the all-independently-sprung Harris-Léon Laisne, and both hydraulics and free wheels were standard on the big Mathis cars in 1932. This year a wide range of Mathis cars embraced everything from the 904cc Mathis TY 4-cylinder up to the 3-litre Mathis FOH type straight-8.

Mathis cars, however, were slipping and an attempt was made to restore sales of Mathis cars with the 1.4-litre Mathis Emyquatre of 1933, which had a box-section frame, independent front suspension, synchromesh and free wheel, and a modern-style 4-door saloon body with no running-boards. 6-cylinder Mathis cars acquired transverse independent front suspension at the same time. In 1934 a further attempt was made to bolster up the Mathis car company by an agreement with Ford whereby the Mathis car factories would be used to manufacture Ford V8s for the French market. Unfortunately Henry Ford and Emile Mathis saw this differently, and what in fact happened was that Matfords rapidly ousted Mathis cars from the production lines, thus fathering a line which survived until 1961, first under Ford and latterly under Simca control. Mathis cars for 1935 had all-round independent suspension, but these Mathis car were the last of their line to be sold to the public.

Emile Mathis once again took possession of his Mathis car factory in 1945, and essayed a comeback with a weird little front-wheel-drive 3-wheeler Mathis car cloaked in egg-shaped coupé body work to the designs of Jean Andreau. The front wheels were independently sprung, and the 700cc flat-twin power unit was water-cooled with one radiator to each cylinder: all-up weight of the Mathis car was a modest 840lb. It soon became apparent that the Government was not going to authorize production of this Mathis car, but Mathis tried again in 1948 with an advanced 2.8-litre front-wheel-drive flat-6. Its output was 80bhp, the gearbox had overdrive on all three ratios, there was independent suspension all round on the Mathis car, and the futuristic saloon body featured a panoramic windscreen. The Mathis car reappeared at the 1949 Salon, but like La Licorne, Delauney-Belleville and Bugatti, the Mathis car firm never managed to get any post-war design into series production. In 1954, the Strasbourg plant was sold to Cirtoën, and another major, if uninspired, French marque vanished into limbo.

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

Riley

GB, 1898 – 1969

(1) Riley Cycle Co Ltd, Coventry, Warwickshire, 1898 – 1912

(2) Riley (Coventry) Ltd, Coventry, Warwickshire, 1912 – 1948

(3) Riley Motors Ltd, Abingdon, Berks., 1948 – 1969

The first Riley car was a small single-cylinder belt-driven voiturette which Riley car did not go into production. Motor Riley tricycles followed n 1900, and a handlebar-steered Riley tricar with 2 forward speeds, and a 517cc engine with mechanically-operated inlet valves in 1903. Riley Tricars were made until 1907, later examples of these threewheeled Riley cars being twins with driver’s seats in place of saddles, water cooling and wheel steering. The 1.034cc V-twin engine was also fitted to the Riley car company’s first 4-wheelers, which Riley car had amidships-mounted power unit with their gearboxes alongside and chain drive, and the Riley car sold for £168. Bigger V-twins of 2-litres’ capacity, more conventional layout and round radiators were made from 1908 onwards. These Riley car incorporated pressure lubrication, shaft drive, constant-mesh 3-speed gearboxes, and Riley’s own patent detachable wheels, the demand for which brought Riley car production almost to a standstill and was responsible for the formation of the new Riley car company in 1912. In 1914 the 2-cylinder Riley cars were still being made, but there was also a new 2.9-litre sv monobloc four Riley car with worm drive, which was offered again after World War 1 by the Riley engine Co, though this Riley car soon disappeared from the market.

The first post-war 1 Riley cars were the Riley Elevens with sv 1½-litre 35bhp engines, alloy pistons and full electrical equipment which Riley cars were selling £550 in 1920, acquiring spiral bevel final drive in 1921. The Redwinger sports version of the Riley car, with wire wheels and polished-aluminium coachwork appeared in 1923, offering 70mph for £450, and the sv Riley cars were continued until 1928, with a 1.645cc engine and the option of front-wheel brakes in 1925. One of these Riley Twelves was used to prospect Kenya’s road system in 1926, and in 1927 there was even a supercharged development Riley car of the Redwinger available, though this Riley car was overshadowed by Percy Riley’s advanded new Riley Nine, with a 1.987cc 32bhp 4-cylinder engine, twin camshafts and high push-rods, a unit which was to form the basis of all Riley car designs made up to 1957.

In 1928 came the handsome Riley Monaco fabric sports saloon version at £298, a best-seller Riley car from the start, and the lowered and tuned Riley Brooklands sports, inspired by the late J.G. Parry Thomas, which Riley car weighed 1.120lb, had a twin-carburettor 50bhp engine, and was capable of 80mph, all for £395. A twin carburettor variant of the touring Riley Nine followed in 1929, along with a new 1.6-litre 6-cylinder Riley Fourteen of similar styling at £495.

Riley cars had a distinguished competition record in the following years: class wins with a Riley car in the 1929, 1930, and 1931 Tourist Trophies were followed by Whitcroft’s outright victory in 1932, while two more wins were recorded by F.W. Dixon on the later 1½-litre 4-cylinder Riley car in 1935 and 1936. A 4th place at Le Mans in 1933 led to 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 12th and 13th places in 1934, not to mention three successive wins – 1934, 1935, and 1936 – in the BRDC 500 Mile Race at Brooklands. Leverett won the light-car class of the 1931 Monte Carlo Rally on a Riley Nine, while the 6-cylinder racing Riley cars of 1933-1934 formed the genesis of the ERA, and nearly twenty years later the late Mike Hawthorn was to make his name in Club Racing on sports Riley Nines and 1½-litres. Both the Riley Nine and the Riley 14/6 were progressively developed, the former Riley car acquiring vacuum feed in 1931, a lowered chassis and semi-panelled bodywork in 1932, and an optional (later standard) preselector gearbox in 1934. A super-sports 6-cylinder 1½-litre Riley car with water-cooled centre main bearing appeared in 1932, being followed in 1933 by the touring Riley Mentone version at £348. 1933 also brought two advanced body styles of Riley cars, the fastback Riley Kestrel saloon (listed up to the end of the old Riley car company in 1938) and the more-conservatively styled Riley Falcon on which the doors opened into the roof. A Salerni automatic transmission was offered on the 14/6 Riley car, but did not go into regular production.

Two handsome sports two-seater variants Riley cars were listed in 1934/ 1935, the Riley 9hp Imp on a 7ft 6in wheelbase and the 1.654cc 6-cylinder Riley MPH which gave over 90mph for £550, while a newcomer in 1935 was the classic 1½-litre Four Riley car with Wilson gearbox, rod-operated Girling brakes and centralized chassis lubrication, a best-seller in its class at £335, and available in single- and twin-carburettor versions: subsequent developments were the 85mph Riley Sprite two-seater and the Riley Kestrel-Sprite and Riley Lynx-sprite saloon and tourer which offered more room but the same highly-tuned engine for £398. A cheaper Riley Nine, the Riley Merlin with pressed-steel bodywork, came on the market in 1936, along with the 1½-litre, a 6-cylinder 15/6 Riley car, and a 2.2-litre V8 Riley car, of which very few were made, the engine of the V8 Riley car made up of two 9hp blocks. 1937 Riley Nines came with new 6-light Riley Monaco bodies and twin-carburettor 42bhp engines as standard, while other new models of Riley cars were an abortive 3-litre luxury V8 made by a subsidiary company, Autovia Cars, and a more successful long-stroke 2.4-litre Big Four Riley car on classic lines, with an 85bhp engine and Borg-Warner 3-speed synchromesh gearbox incorporating an overdrive at £385. Overdrive was optional on 1938 1½-litres Riley cars.

Finances, however, were insecure and the Riley car company were acquired by the Nuffield Organization later in that year. Under the new management only the 1½-litre and the Big Four Riley cars were continued, with disc wheels, conventional synchromesh gearboxes and Wolseley-like bodywork. The post-World War 2 successors Riley cars used the same engines, but were altogether more handsome Riley cars with independent torsion-bar front suspension and fabric tops, the bigger engine’s output being boosted first to 90bhp and then to 100bhp: this Riley car unit was also used by Healey in the 1946 – 1954 period, while some open three-seater versions with column change were made by Riley cars for export. Hypoid back axles and full hydraulic brakes were incorporated in 1952 Riley cars.

After the Nuffield-Austin amalgamation the 1½-litre Riley car was continued into 1955 with relatively little change, but the 1954 2½-litre Riley Pathfinder shared its bodywork with Wolseley’s 6-90, the new chassis being a BMC design with coil rear suspension and cam-type steering. Even this disappeared after 1957 in favour of a version with a 2.6-litre 6-cylinder ohv BMC engine, and subsequent Riley cars were merely luxury versions of BMC themes, starting with the Riley One-Point-Five (basically a Wolseley 1500), and working through variations of the Farina-styled 1½-litre and 1.6-litre saloon Riley cars, the Mini, and, from 1966, the 1100/1300 family with Hydrolastic suspension, known in Riley cars guise as the Kestrel. Riley’s Mini, the Riley Elf, had a built-out boot and (from 1963) a 998cc engine in place of the standard 848cc Austin/ Morris type. This meaningeless badge-engineering was stopped by British Leyland in 1969.

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