Schaudel-Motobloc

France, 1902 – 1930

(1) G. Carde, Fils et Cie, Bordeaux

(2) SA Motobloc, Bordeaux

The Schaudel of 1898, which became the Schaudel-Motobloc car, featured unit construction of engine and gearbox, the earliest known instance of this form of design and the reason for the name Motobloc. Furthermore, the change-speed gears of the Schaudel-Motobloc car were actually in the crankcase. The power unit of the Schaudel-Motobloc car was a transversely-mounted, inclined twin with chain drive. This odd little voiturette Schaudel-Motobloc car survived until 1904, after which the Schaudel-Motobloc car was perpetuated only as a van chassis, and a conventional vertical 4-cylinder engine – still made in unit with the gearbox – was substituted. This was a highly efficient unit for the Schaudel-Motobloc car that soon acquired overhead inlet valves, and it was also very smooth, thanks to the positioning of the flywheel between the two parts of cylinders. A mid-mounted flywheel was also used in the 6-cylinder engine of 1909 and on all Schaudel-Motobloc car models throughout the 1920s. Only fours Schaudel-Motobloc cars were made up to 1927, ranging from 1.327cc to 3-litres in capacity. Independent front suspension was introduced on the Schaudel-Motobloc car in 1928, and the 1929/ 1930 Schaudel-Motobloc car range consisted of a 9CV, 1.453cc four, and two sixes, a 10CV (1.683cc) and a 15CV (3.013cc).

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; TRN

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