1906 Brasier 15HP Side-Entrance Tonneau by Vedrine

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 3, 2016

Photo – Bonhams

The Brasier marque began in 1902, after Charles-Henri Brasier quit his job at Mors and went into business with Georges Richard as Richard-Brasier. Richard jumped ship in 1905 to found Unic, leaving Brasier a standalone make beginning in 1905. The company lasted until 1931, having been known as Chaigneau-Brasier from 1926.

This car is from the second year of Brasier production and it is both big and quite nice. It’s powered by a four-cylinder engine making 14 horsepower, powering the rear wheels via shaft drive. This car was shipped from the U.S. to the U.K. in the 1980s and was restored by the current owner, likely in the 1980s.

The pre-sale estimate on this car is $52,000-$77,000. Cars from other manufacturers of similar size and vintage can go for many times this amount, making this a good, usable car at a decent price. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $79,679.

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.