Gladiator Cycle Company
Encyclopedia
Le Pré-Saint-Gervais
Le Pré-Saint-Gervais is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. With a density of 23,396 inhabitants per square kilometres at the last French census of 1999, Le Pré-Saint-Gervais is officially the most densely populated municipality in...
, Seine
Seine-Saint-Denis
- Culture :A number of hip hop artists come from the Seine-Saint-Denis, including one of the first major hip-hop groups in France, NTM, as well as Lord Kossity, or more recent acts such as Tandem or Sefyu.- Miscellaneous topics :...
.
Throughout its productive life from 1891 until its demise in 1920 the company was variously owned by the founders Alexandre Darracq
Alexandre Darracq
Alexandre Darracq was a French automobile manufacturer.Born Pierre Alexandre Darracq in Bordeaux, France, of Basque parents, he trained as a draftsman at the Arsenal in Tarbes, in the Hautes-Pyrénées département...
and Paul Aucoq; from 1896 by Adolphe Clément
Adolphe Clément
Gustave Adolphe Clément-Bayard was a French entrepreneur...
, Lord Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury
Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury
Major Charles Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury, 20th Earl of Waterford, 5th Earl Talbot , was a British peer.Talbot was the only son and heir of the Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 19th Earl of Shrewsbury...
, and fraudster Harry John Lawson
Harry John Lawson
Henry John Lawson, also known as Harry Lawson, was a British bicycle designer, motor industry pioneer, and fraudster. As part of his attempt to create and control a British motor industry Lawson formed and floated The Daimler Motor Company Limited in London in 1896. It later began manufacture in...
; from 1906 by 'Vinot et Deguingand'.
Gladiator cycles
The cycle manufacturer was founded at Le Pré-Saint-GervaisLe Pré-Saint-Gervais
Le Pré-Saint-Gervais is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. With a density of 23,396 inhabitants per square kilometres at the last French census of 1999, Le Pré-Saint-Gervais is officially the most densely populated municipality in...
, Seine
Seine-Saint-Denis
- Culture :A number of hip hop artists come from the Seine-Saint-Denis, including one of the first major hip-hop groups in France, NTM, as well as Lord Kossity, or more recent acts such as Tandem or Sefyu.- Miscellaneous topics :...
north east of Paris by Alexandre Darracq
Alexandre Darracq
Alexandre Darracq was a French automobile manufacturer.Born Pierre Alexandre Darracq in Bordeaux, France, of Basque parents, he trained as a draftsman at the Arsenal in Tarbes, in the Hautes-Pyrénées département...
and Paul Aucoq in 1891.
Clément-Gladiator cycles
In 1896 Adolphe Clément was associated with Lord Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of ShrewsburyCharles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury
Major Charles Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury, 20th Earl of Waterford, 5th Earl Talbot , was a British peer.Talbot was the only son and heir of the Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 19th Earl of Shrewsbury...
and (yet to be convicted) fraudster Harry John Lawson
Harry John Lawson
Henry John Lawson, also known as Harry Lawson, was a British bicycle designer, motor industry pioneer, and fraudster. As part of his attempt to create and control a British motor industry Lawson formed and floated The Daimler Motor Company Limited in London in 1896. It later began manufacture in...
of the British Automobile Commercial Syndicate Ltd (BACS), which would be the first of many of Lawson's ventures to collapse in 1897. They bought the Gladiator Cycle Company, and merged it into a major bicycle manufacturing conglomerate of Clement, Gladiator & Humber
Thomas Humber
Thomas Humber was a British cycle manufacturer who founded the Humber bicycle company in 1869 in Beeston, Nottinghamshire. By 1896 the company, under new management, ventured into Humber motor cars and became the first maker of series production cars in England.-Personal life:Thomas Humber was...
(France) Ltd.By 1896 the title of Humber cycles had been acquired by entrepreneur and fraudster Harry Lawson
Harry John Lawson
Henry John Lawson, also known as Harry Lawson, was a British bicycle designer, motor industry pioneer, and fraudster. As part of his attempt to create and control a British motor industry Lawson formed and floated The Daimler Motor Company Limited in London in 1896. It later began manufacture in...
. The cycle factory of Thomas Humber
Thomas Humber
Thomas Humber was a British cycle manufacturer who founded the Humber bicycle company in 1869 in Beeston, Nottinghamshire. By 1896 the company, under new management, ventured into Humber motor cars and became the first maker of series production cars in England.-Personal life:Thomas Humber was...
at Beeston, Nottinghamshire
Beeston, Nottinghamshire
Beeston is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is southwest of Nottingham city centre. Although typically regarded as a suburb of the City of Nottingham, and officially designated as part of the Nottingham Urban Area, for local government purposes it is in the borough of Broxtowe, lying outside...
started adding the soubriquet 'Genuine Humber' to its logo. Clément remained a director after the collapse of BACS. The range of cycles was expanded with tricycles, quadricycles, and in 1902 a motorised bicycle, then cars and motorcycles.
Clément and Gladiator
From 1895 Clément cycles also started to focus on motorized vehicles. In 1902 they he offered a motorized bicycle with a 142 cc engine that had an automatic inlet valve, an overhead exhaust valve and an external flywheel. The combined oil and petrol tank was behind the saddle and the batteries were stored in a leather case strapped to the horizontal frame tube. This 'motorisation adaptation' was sold on both Clément and Gladiator cycles. In Britain these popular motorised cycles were known as Clément-Garrards.Clément-Gladiator motorcars
After the 1896 takeover the range was expanded and in 1902 a motorised bicycle lead to cars and motorcycles.(See Clément Gladiator cycles above for further details)From 1901 Clément-Gladiator cars were built at the Levallois-Perret factory and by 1902 production was over 1,000 cars per annum, 800+ of which were sold in England.
The company was divided in 1903, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot running Clément-Talbot Ltd with Adolphe Clément as a significant shareholder. Clément renamed the French branch Clément-Gladiator and also formed Clément-Bayard
Clément-Bayard
Clément-Bayard was a French manufacturer of automobiles, aeroplanes and airships founded in 1903 by the entrepreneur Adolphe Clément-Bayard . The name celebrated the Chevalier Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard who saved the town of Mézières in 1521...
.
After 1903 the Clément-Gladiator name continued to be used on the shaft-drive cars made at the Pre-Saint-Gervais factory, whilst chain-driven vehicles were marketed as Gladiators. The Clément name was dropped in 1907 and in 1909 another French manufacturer, Vinot et Deguingand, took over Gladiator and transferred production to Puteaux. At this time the Pre-Saint-Gervais factory reverted to making bicycles.
In 1906 Gladiator was bought by Vinot et Deguingand, who transferred production to their factory at Puteaux. The Pré St Gervais works continued to make bicycles.
The Gladiator name was dropped from the cars in 1920.