Rochet-Schneider
Encyclopedia
Rochet-Schneider was a French company that produced automobiles during the early 20th century. The Rochet-Schneider sales slogan was "strength, simplicity and silence".

Like other motorcars of the so-called "brass era
Brass Era car
The automotive Brass Era is the first period of automotive manufacturing, named for the prominent brass fittings used during this time for such things as lights and radiators. It extends from the first commercial automobiles marketed in the 1890s until about World War I...

", the cars made by Rochet-Schneider were largely intended for wealthy hobbyists and made use of brass
Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...

 fittings, pattern leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...

, hand-crafted wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

 and other expensive components.

Early period

Edouard Rochet and his father were bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....

 manufacturers before entering motorcar production. In 1894 they were joined by Théophile Schneider, a relative of the eponymous armaments family
Eugène Schneider
Joseph Eugène Schneider was a French industrialist who in 1836 co-founded the Schneider company with his brother Adolphe.-Biography:...

.

Between 1895 and 1901, the company built approximately 240 single cylinder cars "Benz
Karl Benz
Karl Friedrich Benz, was a German engine designer and car engineer, generally regarded as the inventor of the gasoline-powered car, and together with Bertha Benz pioneering founder of the automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz...

-type" cars. At the 1901 Paris Salon
Paris Salon
The Salon , or rarely Paris Salon , beginning in 1725 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. Between 1748–1890 it was the greatest annual or biannual art event in the Western world...

, the company introduced a range of two and four-cylinder cars. Around 1903, these were redesigned along similar lines to Mercedes
Mercedes (car)
Mercedes was a brand of the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft . DMG which began to develop in 1900, after the death of its co-founder, Gottlieb Daimler...

.

Rochet-Schneider Ltd.

By this time, Rochet-Schneider had become one of the most respected car manufacturers in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. In 1904 the company was sold for 4.5 million francs and a London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

-based company called "Rochet-Schneider Ltd." was formed. Production averaged less than 250 cars year and by late and late 1907 the company was in liquidation.

Carburateurs Zenith

Théophile Schneider bought the company bearing his name and a subsidiary called "Carburateurs Zenith
Zenith Carburetters
Zenith Carburetters was a British company making carburettors. In 1955 they joined with their major pre-war rival Solex Carburettors and over time the Zenith brand name fell into disuse...

" was formed. Schneider produced a range of high quality cars and commercial years for several years. Following World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the company offered 12, 18 and 30hp cars. By 1923 the whole range was fitted with overhead valve engines of entirely new design and a variety of coachwork
Coachwork
Coachwork is the body of a horse-drawn coach or carriage, a motor vehicle , a railroad car or railway carriage. Usually reserved for bodies built on a separate chassis, rather than being of unitary or monocoque construction...

 styles.

From the mid-1920s onwards the company concentrated on commercial vehicles. Rochet-Schneider was bought by Berliet
Berliet
Berliet was a French manufacturer of automobiles, buses, trucks and other utility vehicles, based in Vénissieux, outside of Lyon, France.-Early history:...

, a company known for the manufacture of locomotives and commercial vehicles, following the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Examples

There is a 1900 Rochet-Schneider on display at Larz Anderson Auto Museum
Larz Anderson Auto Museum
Larz Anderson Auto Museum is located on the grounds of Larz Anderson Park in Brookline, Massachusetts and is the oldest collection of motorcars in the United States....

 in Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 58,732.-Etymology:...

.
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