Châssis n° 920
Moteur n° 775

- Technique très élaborée, récemment restaurée
- Carrosserie skiff de toute beauté
- Torpédo début de siècle de grosse cylindrée
- Extrêmement rare

Comme souvent au début de l'automobile, la marque Gobron-Brillié doit son nom à celui de ses créateurs : Gustave Gobron et Eugène Brillié. Le premier a mis au point un système de moteur extrêmement original, à pistons opposés. Chaque cylindre (vertical) accueille deux pistons se déplaçant l'un en face de l'autre et formant la chambre de combustion lorsqu'ils se retrouvent au centre du cylindre. Le piston inférieur est relié au vilebrequin par une simple bielle alors que, pour l'autre, la liaison s'effectue via un système de culbuteurs. Ce dispositif, très original pour l'époque, offre un excellent rendement et une grande souplesse de fonctionnement. Autre particularité, l'alimentation par doseur rotatif permet à ces moteurs de fonctionner avec d'autres carburant que l'essence, comme par exemple l'alcool. A l'époque, les Gobron-Brillié se distinguent lors des courses ville à ville comme Paris-Berlin ou Paris-Vienne et, en 1904, Louis Rigolly établit à Nice le record mondial de vitesse à plus de 166,647 km/h, au volant de son énorme Gobron-Brillié 13,6 litres.

La magnifique Gobron-Brillié que nous présentons comporte ce moteur quatre cylindres bi-bloc à pistons opposés, d'une cylindrée approchant 6 litres. Cette mécanique puissante est reliée aux roues arrière jumelées par l'intermédiaire d'une boîte à quatre rapports et de deux grosses chaînes. Ce châssis est habillé d'une carrosserie skiff de toute beauté, construite par le carrossier parisien J. Rothschild & Fils, en utilisant la technique de fabrication des coques de bateau en bois pour produire un ensemble léger et sportif. L'univers de la marine est présent aussi sur les détails de finition extrêmement soignés, comme des poignées de portes en forme de dames de nage, des petits hublots, d'originales manches à air pour l'aération, ou les quelque 5 000 rivets de cuivre utilisés pour l'assemblage. On pense que cette voiture est précisément celle qui est exposée au Salon de Paris 1913. C'est là que son premier propriétaire en aurait fait l'acquisition, sans que l'on connaisse son nom. Autour de 1920, la voiture connaît quelques améliorations : les ailes et marchepieds sont modifiés et accueillent une malle de rangement et une seconde roue de secours, alors qu'est posé un pare-brise rabattable et qu'un Autovac remplace le système d'alimentation d'essence sous pression. L'histoire de la voiture est ensuite mal connue : on sait qu'elle est exposée plusieurs années dans le hall d'entrée d'un grand chocolatier, en France ou au Luxembourg. La trace reste confuse jusqu'à ce qu'elle soit retrouvée par David Baldock dans les années 1970, quasiment complète mais sans moteur. Peu de temps après, Baldock vend son précieux trésor au bien connu Marc Nicolosi, alors négociant en automobiles anciennes et qui parvient à lui retrouver un moteur, mais en mauvais état. La voiture est ensuite achetée par Uwe Hucke qui nettoie le tout et l'expose au Nettlstadt Museum, en Allemagne, avant qu'elle ne passe entre les mains de la collection de Gerhard von Raffay, à Hambourg.
En 1993, G. von Raffay confie le moteur à Eddie Berresford pour qu'il le restaure et permette à cette belle Gobron-Brillié de fonctionner à nouveau. En 1997, elle roule par ses propres moyens, pour la première fois depuis près de 75 ans. Elle prend alors le chemin des Etats-Unis et fait sa première apparence publique au concours d'élégance de Pebble Beach, en 2005.Très remarquée, elle remporte facilement sa catégorie des voitures à carrosserie skiff. Ayant maintenant retraversé l'Atlantique, elle constitue une pièce à la fois belle, rare et originale, pouvant offrir un réel plaisir de conduite lors de balades dominicales ou de rallyes de voitures du même âge. Sa carrosserie magnifiquement réalisée ne manquera pas d'attirer l'attention, où qu'elle se trouve ou se dirige...
Titre de circulation Hollandais



Chassis # 920
Engine # 775

35hp (rated), 5,970 cc double-piston four-cylinder engine, four-speed manual gearbox, solid front axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs, live rear axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs and double chain drive, two-wheel mechanical brakes and twin transmission brakes. The skiff body is constructed of wood to a marine architecture, though it may or may not be boat-tailed. Historian Frederick Usher traces the concept to coachbuilder Jean-Henri Labourdette in 1912. Labourdette, the third generation proprietor of Henri Labourdette, Carrossier, the family coachbuilding firm, was approached by the Chevalier René de Knyff, a director of Panhard et Levassor and a prominent sportsman. De Knyff desired a "light but comfortable torpedo offering the least wind resistance." Labourdette studied hull design with a constructor of motor boats, and laid up a body of three layers of mahogany on a frame of ash. When weighed, it measured but 180 kilograms (400 pounds), body, windscreen, wings and fittings. The idea took hold, and in a short time Labourdette had constructed similar examples on chassis from Renault, Peugeot, Hispano-Suiza, Rolls-Royce, Delaunay Belleville and Lancia. Other coachbuilders embraced the style, among them Muhlbacher, Duquesnoe, and Schebera. Skiff bodies are widely said to have been built of tulipwood, but Labourdette himself wrote that he consistently used mahogany. The car being offered is particularly unusual in that it is none of the above, either coachbuilder or chassis. Instead, it is a skiff by Rothschild on chassis by Gobron-Brillié. Although barely remembered today, Gobron-Brillié was among the French pioneers of the motor industry. Gustav Gobron and Eugene Brillié formed Societé des Moteurs Gobron-Brillié at Paris in 1898. Gobron had achieved fame by escaping by balloon from Paris during the Prussian War. Brillié, an engineer, had developed a novel engine using opposed pistons. Although Brillié left the company in 1903, his engines continued to be used until after World
War I. The concept is hard to imagine. Cylinders were cast in pairs, with two pistons in each cylinder. The lower pistons connected by normal connecting rods to the crankshaft. Rather than using a second crankshaft, as is done with modern opposed-piston diesels, the upper pistons connected to a crosshead, the ends of which were connected by rods to crankshaft throws 180 degrees out of phase with those for the lower pistons. Valves were set in opposing side pockets at the point where the two pistons reached their closest approach. The opposing motion of the pistons provides a balance such that all components may be very light. The first car used a vertical twin, and performed well on a variety of fuels. The 1901 catalogue claimed it would "perform with equal felicity on whisky, brandy or gin." By 1900, Gobron-Brillié was building 150 cars per year. Nancienne in France and Nagant in Belgium took out licenses, and Botwoods of Ipswich sold them in England as Teras. Four-cylinder models were built in 1903, when one could choose coil, magneto or even hot tube ignition. A racing Gobron-Brillié broke the 100 mile per hour barrier in 1904. By 1907, engines ranged from 4,523 to 7,598 cc, and cars had twin transmission brakes and double chain drive. The next year saw both smaller and larger engines: a 2,650 cc four and a massive 11,398 cc six. The six cost £1,600 for chassis alone, when a Rolls was but £985.
A new company was organised after the war, Automobiles Gobron, in new premises at Levallois-Perret. Opposed-piston cars were continued, but eventually succeeded by a smaller, lighter vehicle with Chapuis-Dornier power. By 1925 it had been reduced to 8CV rating, and about 250 were built through 1927. The last Gobron automobile was a small sports car akin to Amilcar, with a new 1,496 cc sidevalve four which was Anzani-like but built by Gobron. Only two were built, and the company expired in 1930. J. Rothschild & Fils had roots to 1838, when Austrian-born Joseph Rothschild opened a carriage-building shop in Paris. The first coachwork for cars was built in 1894. Rothschild had hired two young engineering graduates of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, Messrs. Rheims and Auscher. The two soon took over the carrosserie, and became adept at shaping sheet steel, producing most of Panhard's bodies until 1908 and creating the torpedo body for Camille Jenatzy's "La Jamais Contente", the electric racer which set the land speed record in 1899. The firm eventually took the name J. Rothschild et Fils, Rheims & Auscher Successeurs and supplied bodies to Clément-Bayard. In the late 1920s, they experienced the same downturn as most coachbuilders and closed in 1930.
Reported to have been exhibited at the 1913 Paris Salon where it attracted many onlookers, this car is believed to have been sold there, although the name of the original owner is not known. Around 1920, it was modified with new wings, side storage boxes and a spare wheel was added to the near side. An Autovac replaced the pressurized fuel supply system. A folding windscreen was also fitted where the car originally had none. After being used a few years, according to tradition, it was put on display in the entryway of one of the large chocolatiers - different versions of the story place it in France or in Luxembourg. Various stories have been advanced for its life between then and its purchase by David Baldock in the 1970s. Complete in most respects, it was engineless at that point in time. It was then acquired by Marc Nicolosi, who managed to locate a genuine Gobron engine, albeit in poor condition, from its resting place beneath the sea. The late Uwe Hucke bought the lot, cleaned everything up and displayed the remains in the Nettlstadt Museum in Germany. In the late 1970s, it went to the von Raffay collection in Hamburg. 32In 1993, von Raffay engaged restorer Eddie Berresford to rebuild the engine and make the car operable again. In 1997, it finally ran under its own power for the first time in nearly 75 years. It went to the United States early this century, making its first public appearance at Pebble Beach in 2005. It was entered in a special class for skiff-bodied cars that year, which it handily won. Now, having crossed the sea once again, this most unusual and magnificent of motor cars awaits a new home.
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