1929 Minerva AK

Minerva was founded in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1897, and early production included bicycles. Motorcycles followed soon after, and in 1899, Minerva displayed a small voiturette and a delivery vehicle at the Salon in Antwerp. Several chain-driven two-, four- and six-cylinder models followed. The 40 CV Type K was introduced in 1907, powered by a 6.2-liter T-head six-cylinder engine offering 60 horsepower and a modern shaft drive.

At the 1908 London Motor Show, Minerva displayed conventional T-head models along with a new 38 CV four-cylinder Type S, powered by a four-cylinder sleeve valve engine that had been licensed from its inventors, Charles Y. Knight and L.B. Kilbourne. Minerva was one of the earliest automobile manufacturers to employ the Knight-type sleeve valve engine that did away with conventional poppet valves. A sleeve was fitted between the piston and the cylinder wall slid up and down in a synchronized motion. This aligned the ports in the sides of the sleeves with the inlet and exhaust ports of the cylinders at the correct moments. The main problem with the Knight-type sleeve valve engine was its high oil consumption, as the sleeves moved in a bath of oil, resulting in the thick smoky exhaust. The benefits were its smooth and silent operation when compared to the nosier conventional valve gear setup of competing engines.

Manufacturers who eventually used the Knight-type sleeve valve engine included Voisin, Panhard, Peugeot, Mercedes, and Daimler.

The Sleeve-valve engine in the Minerva was so well received that from 1910 the company dropped all conventional models with the tappets and valve guides. By 1912, Minerva had grown to employ 1,600 employees who produced 1,200 chassis annually. That number grew to 3,000 workers and 3,000 chassis the following year.

Minerva offered complete cars with factory bodies in various styles, or as a rolling chassis. Production was curtailed by the outbreak of World War I. During the war, a few armored cars were manufactured on Type 38 chassis, but Antwerp fell after heavy shelling on October 10th, 1914. The Germans confiscated the factory and turned it into a repair facility for their military vehicles.

After the war, Minerva rose from the ashes of the war-ravaged Europe and entered the post-war market in 1919 with new models using technologies introduced during the War. The first was the 20 CV four, followed by a 5.3-liter 30 CV six. In 1923, the famous radiator mascot depicting the head of the goddess Minerva was placed on the radiator. By 1925, production had risen to 2,500 units per year, followed by 3,000 examples in 1926.

Despite a technologically advanced, elegant, and powerful product, Minerva's home market had its limitations, especially since GM, Chrysler, and Ford had set up factories in Belgium, followed by Citroen and Renault. Exports remained crucial to Minerva, and in 1922 the American importer Paul Ostruck ordered no less than 200 of the 30 CV chassis to be bodied by D'Ieteren. By the close of the 1920s, approximately 1,000 Minerva chassis were being exported to England. In France, Hibbard & Darrin and later Fernandez & Darrin designed bodies on Minerva chassis to client order and had them built by D'Ieteren, who had lower construction costs than the French carrossiers.

In 1927, Minerva introduced the Type AK powered by a 6-liter, 6-cylinder, 100 horsepower engine. They rested on a 149.5-inch wheelbase platform which was longer than the Hispano-Suiza H6B. In 1929, they introduced the 6.6-liter, eight-cylinder 40 CV at the Paris Salon, resting on a 153.5 inch wheelbase.

by Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2019