To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys' The
Elkhart Collection event, 23 - 24 October 2020.
- High-quality VCC-dated Veteran car
- Eligible for the London-to-Brighton Veteran Car Run
- Highly desirable four-cylinder engine with overhead valves
- Most recently participated and completed the run in 2017 and
2018
- Painstaking restoration
Adolphe Clement was one of the great entrepreneurs of the early
French bicycle and automobile industries. Born in 1855, he was
orphaned at an early age. His guardian apprenticed him to a grocer,
but young Adolphe was not so easily satisfied. Finding work in a
machine shop, he bought a new bicycle and commenced racing it with
great success. He opened a bicycle shop, started a racing school
for cyclists, and finally began to manufacture cycles in Paris
under the name Societe Anonyme des Velocipedes Clement in 1895.
They found a ready market, and a year later he merged the company
into Alexandre Darracq's to form Clement, Gladiator & Humber
(France) Ltd.
Clement's first car, called "Clement-Panhard," was designed by
Arthur C. Krebs and built in 1897 in Paris. By 1901 Clement was
building front-engined light cars of 7, 8, and 12 hp, the latter a
four-cylinder vehicle with shaft drive. For 1903 there was a 16 hp
model with overhead intake valves. Later that year the name was
amended to Clement-Bayard.
This 1903 Clement spent many years in Australia, where it
humorously saw service in Kangaroo Grounds, Victoria, as a clown
car. Considerably modified at the time, it had the appearance of a
much later car. It was partially dismantled before being acquired
and brought to the UK around 2000 by a Veteran Car Club member. He
undertook extensive research, searched for appropriate missing
parts, and had the car fully restored.
In the course of restoration, the pedals were replaced with
accurate reproduction items, while the firewall was reconstructed,
a suitable oiler located, and the chassis repaired. The rear axle
was rebuilt, and timing gears in the engine were replaced. The body
was remade, built around a pair of period front seats found in
France. The hood and fenders were replicated using an intact car as
patterns. For more comfortable and reliable routing, an electric
starter was installed, as well as coil-and-magneto ignition and a
windshield. The work was largely performed by Chris Pettit and
completed in 2006.
Upon completion the Clement was entered in the 2006
London-to-Brighton Veteran Car Run. More recently, it successfully
completed the November 2017 Run, a certificate for which
accompanies the car, as well as in 2018, when it was kindly lent to
noted author and car collector Clive Cussler. It was dated as a
1903 automobile by the Dating Advisory Committee of the Veteran Car
Company Limited in August 2018. The certificate is included in the
car's file, making it eligible for future London-to-Brighton
events. The Clement currently sports the early Manchester
registration number N54.
A rare example of one of the influential French marques from the
turn of the twentieth century, this Clement 12/16 HP will be a fine
addition to any collection of Veteran cars, eminently suitable for
any number of antique car events.To view this car and others
currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/el20.
