Our last post under “Museum News” on 1st March, mentioned the involvement of Monsieur Clément-Bayard in the context of a recent “new” item in the museum collection. Monsieur Clément-Bayard was a successful French industrialist who, in the early 20th century, made his fortune through the manufacture of bicycles and automobiles. Originally, just plain old Gustave Adolphe Clément, he changed his name and that of his company to Clément-Bayard to celebrate the French knight, Chevalier de Bayard who saved the company’s town, Mézières in northern France, during a 6-week siege in 1521. An image of the knight was adopted as the company logo.
Thanks to the incredible generosity of Mrs P Thomson, the museum now displays one of the Clément-Bayard automobiles. It is a 1911, six-cylinder, long-wheelbase tourer that is on display in Windrush Alley, nose to nose with the Alldays and Onions, also from 1911.
Clément-Bayard cars had a reputation for quality, and this very rare model is no exception. In terms of styling, it is interesting to contrast it with the Birmingham-built Alldays and Onions just a few feet away.
In 1922, the Clément-Bayard production site near Paris was sold to André Citroën where production continued for the next 40 years – including the iconic Citroën 2CV.
Moving to two wheels, a “new” acquisition has appeared in Paved Paradise. An immaculate 1966 Triumph T10 motor scooter has been donated to the museum by one of the volunteers.
The T10 was a replacement for the very similar Triumph Tina that was introduced in 1962. It was heavily marketed, including Cliff Richard in the campaign, in the hope that it would appeal to the female market. Both the Tina and T10 have a continuously variable transmission (CVT) which should have made it easy to operate but technical issues around the CVT and engine speed governor led to the scooter’s designer breaking an ankle as the scooter shot away and crashed into a kerb when starting in “drive”.
The press launch of the updated T10 also caused embarrassment for Triumph when the weight activated switch beneath the seat, set for a 10 stone rider, failed to move the scooter when the 8-stone lady rider attempted the demonstration.
So, sadly, not a great commercial success for Triumph (it was withdrawn in 1970) but, nevertheless, as an interesting addition to the two-wheeled display, it looks stunning in its 1960s surroundings.
Finally, for this post, the new glass cabinets have arrived in the Toy Gallery. With internal lighting and glass on all surfaces, they provide an excellent housing for the model vehicles therein and enhance the open layout of the toy gallery.
Footnote:
Monsieur Clément-Bayard was also well known for the construction of airships, some of which were up to 80 metres long. An interesting consequence of this early production resulted in a change in the French law, which persists to this day. It appears that Monsieur Clément-Bayard had a rather intolerant neighbour. Whether this neighbour was adjacent to a pleasant rural domestic dwelling or the airship manufacturing site is not recorded. However, he clearly had no great liking for airships. He built a 16m high tower on his property with pointed iron spikes on the top. Presumably it fulfilled its objective because it destroyed one of Monsieur Clément-Bayard’s airships. In 1915, the case went to court. The neighbour argued that he was entitled to construct whatever he chose on the land and that included the spiked tower. The judgement, however, went against him with the judge ruling that along with the rights of ownership come responsibilities. Confirmed on appeal, French law states that no one should abuse their right of ownership and there is clearly an abuse of rights when the sole purpose of an individual’s conduct is to cause damage.
https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/juri/id/JURITEXT000007070363/