1901 Georges Richard 3.5hp Single-Cylinder Four-Seat Rear-Entrance Tonneau by Vedrine
Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | November 1, 2013
Sometimes early cars don’t really have model names – or maybe that have model names that we just don’t know. So instead, we call them by every conceivable descriptive attribute we can see – hence the somewhat ridiculous-in-name name of this car above. And sometimes, there are car companies that sound like a guy’s full name, but aren’t. This time, Georges Richard was an actual person.
Richard worked in a bicycle shop with his brother and by 1897, he and his brother had branched out on their own and began building cars under Georges’ name in a shop north of Paris. In 1901, an engineer named Henri Brasier joined the company and after 1903, the cars were re-branded Richard-Brasier (and just plain old Brasier in 1905 after Richard left the company).
The car you see here was built by Georges Richard in 1901 – during the time when the company was building the Belgian Vivinus car under license (so it is very similar). The engine is a 785cc single-cylinder putting out 3.5 horsepower. It tops out near 25 mph.
This car has been in the same ownership for the last quarter-century, but not much is known of it prior to that. Fun note: this car has a reverse gear that you can’t use because the original owner was too cheap to tick the box for the lever that engages reverse. In any case, this is a neat old car from a short-lived marque that should bring between $89,000-$97,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this awesome sale.
Update: Sold $91,571.