French Connection – Brasier ‘Voiture de Course’

As the world rounded the corner and arrived within the exciting confines of the 20th century, the world of the motor car was a vibrant one. This new, dynamic, other worldly machine was the talk of the town. Every single one of them. It rendered the horse redundant, it made exciting noises and it could shunt the human body to speeds hitherto unimaginable. And because mankind is, at its core, a simple beast, we soon decided that racing them was the only logical step. Not only were we giddy under the intoxication of petrol fumes, we also wanted to see which one of these mechanical beasts was the fastest, bringing us to the wild contraption you’re looking at here; a 1908 Brasier.

Before we go on, we need to set the scene. The time of the Brasier was a time of learning and a time of discovery. The car was yet to be popularised. It was still very much a novelty at this point, often built by tight knit teams of engineers in various sheds around the globe. There was no formula, there were no rules, there was no standardisation. The mass-produced Model T was years away. It was a different time. The car represented exploration and adventure more than it ever would. It also represented speed. And speed meant, more often than not, sales. Speed mattered.

The car we’re looking at here is, if you delve deep into its history (as we will shortly) a 1908 model. However, the inspiration for what it is, and what it has been built into can be traced back to Germany in 1904, when French racing driver Léon Théry entered a Richard-Brasier into the Gordon Bennett Trophy. And yes, the Gordon Bennett series of races is indeed where the catchphrase comes from.

The 1904 event was held in Germany. They’d won the year before and as such, had the right to hold the next event on home soil. They of course wanted to defend it, fiercely. It wasn’t to be, though. The Richard-Brasier, with Théry at the helm, smashed (figuratively speaking) the competition. The event, which consisted of four laps of an 80 mile course, was won by Théry who came home with a time of 5hrs and 50m. They were ten minutes faster than the second-place Germans in their Mercedes. It was an astonishing victory, and it should have catapulted the Richard-Brasier name into the big leagues, but that wasn’t to be.

Charles-Henri Brasier was a smart chap. A go-getter with vision and a desire to be the best at what he did, and what he did was make cars. He started out at Panhard before moving on to work with Émile Mors (an early French car manufacturer). This wasn’t enough to satiate Brasier though, and at the age of 35 he left and set up shop with Georges Richard in 1902. Richard had a strong mechanical background, and was a successful bicycle manufacturer before moving into cars. Together, they had the potential to take over the motoring world. And things started off well. By 1904, they had the winning car mentioned above, and in 1905 they won the same event again, this time on home soil. But Brasier and Richard were at boiling point. Brasier eventually lost patience with Richard – who was seldom at his desk due to his love of motor racing – and terminated the agreement between them. It was a crushing blow from which the company would never recover. Under different names, the company would carry on making the occasional car, but never anything as special as that 1904 racer. By the time the economic crash hit in 1929, it was too much for the company to weather.

This car, which is in fact a 1908 chassis, is not a representation of those latter, dark times for the company. Instead, it is a glowing celebration of what Richard-Brasier was in its infancy, when it was full of pluck and when it was taking the motorsport world by storm. Though it has taken a considerable amount of work to build it into the car you see here, which is currently for sale with Tom Hardman Limited.

The story of this car, in its current guise, starts in 2003 when enthusiast Mike Holt found the Brasier chassis languishing in Hunter Valley, Australia. Quite how it got so far away is unclear, but it was evident that the journey had taken its toll. The chassis was present, as was the steering box, front axle, steering wheel, gear and brake levers, cross shafts, pedals and a small assortment of other parts and pieces. It was, safe to say, a project of some scale. But Mike wasn’t to be deterred, and would go on to acquire the remains along with other parts, such as a chain-drive gearbox/transaxle from Switzerland. He found an original radiator in France, along with a beam axle. The only thing that remained was an engine.

Frustratingly for Mike, the engine existed in nothing other than historical documents. It would have been a somewhat monstrous 11 1/2 litre four-cylinder (and must have had bores like the Blackwall Tunnel) in the original racer. For Mike though, such an engine was an impossible ask, short of re-casting it himself. To overcome this, he instead teased the history of the company to better fit his needs. You see, Richard-Brasier was contracted to produce the Hispano-Suiza V8 aero engine, and that’s exactly what Mike found in the form of an 11.7 litre, 220bhp from a WW1 fighter plane. A fearsome unit, it resides in the 1908 chassis with serious purpose, and has the ability to deafen thanks to the eight foot-long headers. A car for the shy and retiring this is most definitely not.

With all the parts acquired, the build was undertaken by Oliver Way, who built the car to Mike’s exacting period-correct detail and dimensions. Once a rolling, running, driving chassis emerged, it was sent to Mick Sharp, who bodied the car, again to ‘in period’ specifications. The final result is a car that is the perfect embodiment of what this small, now forgotten company was striving towards way back when. In fact, this car is more than that, as it would have been even faster than the four-cylinder car on which it is based. That 1904 ten-minute lead would have been considerably more with this V8, had it been in play. This car is not only a great reminder of a once promising brand, it also shines a light on what could have been had fates and tempers been kinder.

Since its completion, the car has had more upgrades. Ross pistons, gearbox bearings, and an engine re-build to be precise. All stuff to keep the old car fighting fit. And deservedly so, as this car has earned its place. Once nothing more than a forgotten wreck in a quiet corner of Australia, this car has travelled the globe in the name of reincarnation. And as per the sporty spirit with which it has been bestowed, it still gets driven in anger and at speed. It’s been at the Le Centenaire du Grand Prix de France at Le Mans, the SF Edge Trophy at Goodwood and was due to compete at last year’s Circuit des Remparts – Angoulême. It’s also been driven around Europe, for no other reason than ‘because’. It is a glorious thing, it reignites interest in a long forgotten name and thanks to the passions and abilities of a dedicated team, it stands today better than it ever has. And now it can be yours. A slice of motoring history.