6 replies to this topic

[Michael Ferner]

According to his obituary in L'Auto (1941-14-11, p2), Henri Brasier raced at Paris - Rouen in 1894 "sous le pseudonyme de Roger de Montais". Is it possible? Brasier was still at Mors at the time, where he started working in 1886 according to the same obituary. De Montais entered with the address "Beauvoir, près de Cloyes (Eure-et-Lore)", which is Département 28, while Brasier was born in Ivry-la-Bataille (according to Wikipedia), Dép. 27 (Eure) - not that far away in times when geographical mobility was limited. However, wikipedia also has a picture of de Montais at 



Here's a picture of Brasier, presumably at Gailloin in 1900, for comparison:

Edited by Michael Ferner, 27 January 2022 - 15:15.

[robert dick]

In the contemporary press, it was mentioned that Brasier worked for Mors between 1886 and 1901 and that in 1886 he designed the first steamer using a boiler "chauffé au pétrole".
According to Jacques Ickx's book "Ainsi naquit l'automobile", a three-wheeled steamer was built by Henri Brasier, a young engineer working for Mors, for Roger de Montais in view of the 1887 race between the Pont de Neuilly and Versailles.

La Nature - 1887:
http://cnum.cnam.fr/...gi?4KY28.29/248
La Nature - 1894:
http://cnum.cnam.fr/...gi?4KY28.43/205

Later, in 1901 and 1903, de Montais introduced his transmission system:
http://cnum.cnam.fr/...gi?BSPI.101/755
http://cnum.cnam.fr/...cgi?P807.10/777
 

That Brasier drove the three-wheeler in the 1894 Paris-Rouen under the nom de course "Roger de Montais" is most probably an "Auto-Canard".

[Michael Ferner]

Thanks, Robert - I was ready to believe it. I didn't think at first that the man in the photo resembled Brasier much, but the longer you look... Do we have a picture of the real de Montais to compare?

 

Interesting transmission, that. My French is not quite up to a standard to understand the description, and the pictures are not all that clear, but are we looking at some kind of CVT here?

[robert dick]

De Montais had a De Dion engined chassis equipped with his transmission system in 1903.
It was not really a CVT, but rather a transmission with an endless number of ratios.
More details:
http://cnum.cnam.fr/...gi?4KY28.58/169

Brasier bio dated 1942 - no mention of the three-wheeled steamer of 1887/-94
(last paragraph - Brasier and Paul Baras died on the same day):
http://cnum.cnam.fr/.../228/80/340/0/0

[Vitesse2]

(last paragraph - Brasier and Paul Baras died on the same day):
http://cnum.cnam.fr/.../228/80/340/0/0

I don't think there's any dispute about the date Baras died - November 6th 1941. But Brasier is a different matter. The consensus seems to be November 8th, as here on Wikipedia:

 

https://fr.wikipedia...s-Henri_Brasier

 

Although according to our friend ReWind it's November 13th:

 

https://forums.autos...dpost&p=4774341

 

But whichever is correct, it's not the same day as Baras.

 

L'Auto reported the death of Baras on November 10th (p2, col 1), but without specifying the date of his passing. The death of Brasier was front page news the following day, although again with no date given. But obviously not the 13th unless like Mark Twain and Alfred Nobel the reports of his death had been greatly exaggerated ...
 

[ReWind]

Although according to our friend ReWind it's November 13th

It's not just me but also MotorSport magazine.

But I'm glad to correct an obvious mistake.

[robert dick]

Part of a reader's letter published in June 1900: