1908 Clement-Bayard AC4I Tourer

1908 Clement-Bayard AC4I Tourer

Already a successful maker of bicycles and pneumatic tyres - he owned the Dunlop patents in France - Adolphe Clément diversified into automobile manufacture in 1899, taking an interest in the existing Gladiator concern. In October 1903 Clément broke his connection with the company and set up a new factory in Levallois-Perret. Not permitted to call the cars it built 'Cléments', he adopted the trade name 'Bayard' after the legendary medieval French hero, a statue of whom stood in front of his branch factory in Mézières, and officially changed his name to 'Clément-Bayard'.

Clément-Bayard was a pioneer of vertical integration, with little reliance on outside suppliers. Casting and rough machining work was carried out at Mézières, and bodies were built in coachworks near the Levallois factory. Clément-Bayard's products were well built and stylish, aimed at the well-to-do middle class, and in 1904 the Levallois-Perret factory employed some 1,600 men, building around 1,200 cars annually.

This Clément-Bayard AC4I tourer is powered by a four-cylinder engine displacing 2,420cc. The car was delivered in 1908 to Bulte Fils of Longueval, Somme, France and sold to Mr Jacques Nicolai de Gorhez in Belgium.

Descriptions & pictures by bonhams & flickr