History Of Cars

Camille Jenatzy (1865 - 1913)

He Had 9 Lives, But A Practical Joke Proved Fatal

CAMILLE JENATZY, BORN IN 1865, was a Belgian civil engineer turned motor manufacturer who made his competition debut in 1898 at the controls of one of his own electric vehicles, in the Chanteloup hill-climb organised by La Prance Automobile.

Although heavy rain had affected the road surface, Jenatzy made the fastest time of the day, covering the 1800-metre course at an average speed of 17 mph. Three weeks after this, on 18th December, La Prance Automobile held a second speed trial, this time over a standing-start, two-kilometre course on a deserted stretch of level road at Acheres, to the west of Paris.

Jenatzy could not take part, and the event was won by the Count Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat driving an electric  car built by Jeantaud, Jenatzy's manufacturing rival. The following day, Jenatzy wrote to Chasseloup-Laubat challenging him to a duel of speed, to be held within the month.

So, on the 17th January 1899, the two men met at Acheres. Jenatzy recorded a speed of 41.4 mph, but Chasseloup-Laubat clocked 43.7 mph, despite having the motor of his car burn out 200 yards from the finish. Ten days later, there was a return match. This time, Jenatzy reached 50mph over the flying kilometre, but Chasseloup-Laubat's motor burned out before he had even started. So his run was postponed until 4 March, when the Jeantaud achieved 57.6 mph.

The Jamais Contente

This was a phenomenal speed for the period, all the more remarkable for the fact that Chasseloup-Laubat's car was a standard touring vehicle fitted with a special body. Not in the least discouraged, Jenatzy set about building a new car with the express purpose of regaining the speed record. This was the famous Jamais Contente, a wonderful metal torpedo on wheels which was the first real purpose built racing car ever.

Its bullet-shaped body was made by Rheims & Auscher and was of partinium, a primitive aluminium alloy. To eliminate friction losses in the transmission, the electric motor was mounted directly on the driving axle. As a result, the car was fitted with the smallest wheels and tyres yet seen.

The First Vehicle To Exceed 100 Kph

The low, streamlined effect was somewhat nullified by" the fact that Jenatzy had to sit on top of the body, with only his nether regions inside the cockpit; nevertheless, after one false start, the car achieved his ambition of being the first vehicle to exceed 100 kph, his actual figure being 105 kph (65.8 mph). Not everyone was impressed, though. W. Worby Beaumont wrote in his massive Motor Vehicles and Motors: 'This is without doubt a higher speed than any other human being has ever travelled on roads, but it was only for about three-quarters of a mile that it was maintained. This vehicle was of no use in any way as a guide for any other class of vehicle'.

Because of the extremely limited range of the battery electric vehicle, especially if it was to have any sort of speed, Jenatzy soon turned his attention to petrol-electrics; he was also seen driving a Mors in three of the principal races of 1899 - the Tour de France, the Paris-St Malo and the Paris-Ostend - attracting public notice by his sporting effort in driving through the night in the Tour de France to make up for time lost.

In the 1900 Gordon Bennett, Jenatzy drove a Bolide petrol-electric of his own design, but lost his way and gave up in despair; the later Jenatzy petrol-electrics were equally unsuccessful, and his patent magnetic clutch, used by Pipe and Rochet-Schneider, enjoyed only a limited vogue. Jenatzy dropped out of motor sport during 1901, and his return in 1902 was hardly auspicious. During the Circuit des Ardennes, he had a terrible smash at the beginning of the second lap, the car going into one ditch and all four wheels into the other.

Le Diable Rouge

With his usual good fortune, he escaped with a few bruises. Because of his red hair and beard, and his flamboyant driving style, Jenatzy earned the nickname 'Le Diable Rouge' (The Red Devil), although there was nothing diabolic-apart from a liking for practical jokes-about his personality. In 1903, he transferred his allegiance to Mercedes, driving one of the. new 90 hp racers in the Paris-Madrid. Early in the race, he overtook 16 competitors, despite the unfavourable road conditions, and at Chatellerault, the big grey Mercedes was lying seventh. By Angoulerne, Jenatzy was third, and was being tipped as a possible winner but, at the top of the Petignac hill, he pulled up, with a mysterious fault in his engine. He eventually discovered, of all unlikely things, that the misfire was caused by a fly in the carburetter.