CLÉMENT-GARRARD
THe Clément-Garrard was – certainly in its initial form – an Anglo-French venture. At the end of the 19th century entrepreneur Charles Riley Garrard had been working at the Gladiator tricycle works in Paris where he met Adolphe Clément who was supplying the engines for the Gladiator. THe two gentlemen hit it off to such a degree that, when Garrard returned to England, he became the importer of Clément’s engines as well as embarking upon building his own motorised bicycles using the French 143cc clip-on single cylinder unit. For frames he turned to one James Lansdowne Norton. Indeed, the man who would affectionately be known as ‘Pa’ used a Clément engine in his very first motorcycle, the Energette of 1902.
Working from his factory in Birmingham, Charles Garrard offered first the single cylinder version of his motorcycle and then, in 1903, a 3hp V-twin model which was ridden by Garrard in competition. 1904 saw a new model with the engine mounted behind the front wheel and suspended between the top tube and bottom bracket in a move away from the traditional motorised bicycle. A forecar with twin front wheels was also offered but neither two or three-wheeled machines seemed to be a success and had disappeared from the market by 1905.
Over in France, Adolphe Clément continued his successful career for some years, but by 1912 he had begun to speak out against Germany and warn of its ambition to dominate Europe. THus, when France was occupied during the First World War, Clément was an immediate target for the invading forces. His factory was ransacked and gutted and the machinery stolen by the Germans; he never recovered from those losses. In 1922, his company was sold to André Citroën and the Clément factory at Levallois-Perret would become the hub of 2CV manufacturing for more than 40 years.