La voiture proposée ici est une Chainless 18/22 HP (26hp pour le RAC) Type C102 produite en Belgique et dotée d’un moteur à quatre cylindres 102 x 110 mm. Cette Germain fut vendue en 1908 par les Ets. Chavez de Châtelineau, près de Charleroi (dont la plaque est fixée sur la planche de bord) et resta dans la même famille pendant plusieurs décennies. Pendant la guerre de 1914, elle fut dissimulée pour échapper aux occupants allemands et ne reprit la route qu’en 1920. Au cours de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, elle fut partiellement démontée et cachée dans un atelier situé sur le domaine d’un château.
Les activités commerciales de cet atelier cessèrent en 1950 et le bâtiment comme le château furent fermés jusqu’à leur mise en vente vers la fin des années 1990. La voiture fut alors redécouverte et totalement reconditionnée. Elle a participé depuis à de nombreuses manifestations historiques.

Les accessoires et les équipements d’une qualité exceptionnelle comprennent des phares, une lanterne arrière à pétrole et une trompe en laiton fabriqués par Willocq-Bottin de Bruxelles. La planche de bord est équipée d’un compteur de vitesse, d’une jauge de pression d’huile, d’une jauge d’essence et d’une montre Doxa. En résumé, il s’agit là d’un phaéton à tendance sportive datant d’avant 1910, d’une fabrication extrêmement soignée à partir des meilleurs composants disponibles à l’époque.



Société Anonyme Ateliers Germain was one of Belgium’s first and foremost motor car manufacturers. In 1897, Germain bought the rights to manufacture the Daimler-Phoenix, the first cars to emerge from the Monceau-sur-Sambre factory being badged ‘Daimler-Belge’. Twin- and four-cylinder models were produced along Daimler and subsequently Panhard lines up to 1902, and then at the 1903 Salon de Paris, Germain exhibited its first original design: the 15/18hp. Powered by a sidevalve four-cylinder engine equipped with dual ignition and driving via a four-speed gearbox, the latter set the pattern for all succeeding Germains, being beautifully made and endowed with better than average performance.

The firm’s best known model - the 14/22hp Chainless - arrived in 1905 featuring, as its name suggests, shaft drive to a live rear axle rather than the customary chain. Germain was clearly not afraid of innovation, introducing a 22hp six with ball bearing crankshaft in 1907, and 20hp Knight sleeve valve-engined and overhead-camshaft 15hp models in 1912, all of which enjoyed the advantages of full pressure lubrication. The Chainless and the more powerful models achieved numerous success at prominent venues including Spa Francorchamps, Semaine d’Ostende, Boulogne sur Mer, Circuit des Ardennes, Brooklands, Scottish Trials, Grand Prix de l’ACF, Coupe Herkomer, etc. Its factory badly damaged in WWI, Germain did not restart production after hostilities ceased.
The car offered here is a Chainless 18/22hp (RAC rating 26hp) Type C102, which is powered by a four-cylinder engine possessing bore/stroke dimensions of 102x110mm. The Germain was sold in 1908 by Établissements Chavez, of Châtelineau near Charleroi, whose dealer plaque fixed to the dashboard, and for several decades belonged to only one family. The car was hidden from the occupying Germans soldiers in 1914 and did not return to the road for private use until 1920. During WW2, it was partially dismantled and hidden in a workshop, which was located in the grounds of a chateau.
The workshop’s commercial activities ceased in 1950, and the building and the chateau were closed until their sale towards the end of the 1990s. At this time the car was rediscovered and totally reconditioned, and since then it has taken part in many historic events.

The accessories and fittings are of exceptional quality and include the headlamps, rear oil lamp and brass horn by Willocq-Bottin of Brussels. Dashboard equipment includes a speedometer, oil pressure gauge, petrol gauge and a Doxa clock. In short, here is a sporty tourer from the Edwardian period built to the highest standards and from the finest components.