La Jamais Contente

La Jamais Contente ( frz: The Never Satisfied ) [note 1] was an electrically powered land speed record car, which reached the first road vehicle at a speed of more than 100 km / hour. The speed record was achieved in Achères in the Yvelines department on April 29, 1899 in Paris.

Circumstances of the construction

Designed and driven was the Contente by the Belgian engineer and racing driver Camille Jenatzy. Jenatzy was then director of the Compagnie Centrale des Transports Automobiles, a company that cars and trucks with electric drive built. In the existing speed record of Gaston de Chasseloup - Laubat equipped with a Jeantaud Duc 1898 reached a speed of 62.78 km / h, Jenatzy saw a challenge. For the contest, which was announced by the newspaper La France Automobile, he constructed the first CGA dog-cart. After it came to several duels with de - Chasseloup Laubat in January and March 1899 at Achères, in which the two counterparties alternately lined up new records, de - Chasseloup Laubat kept at a speed of 92.78 km / h for the time being the record. Jenatzy rejected his previous vehicle and constructed the model CITA within weeks No. 25, known as the La Jamais Contente, a running as an electric car automobile.

Construction

The shape of the blue - gray painted body was drawn by Léon Auscher. The coachbuilder Rothschild, she made out to Partinium, a lightweight alloy of aluminum, tungsten and magnesium. The construction in the form of a torpedo was one of the first, which was developed from an aerodynamic point of view. However, the concept of Jenatzy had two aerodynamic weaknesses: First, the driver sat increases in the body and towered over them. He had a large contact surface for the wind. The other point was the small, thick tires, which were mounted free-standing under the fuselage. The body superimposed on a box frame.

Except for a steering column, a foot pedal, which regulated the acceleration and hand brake, the vehicle had no further controls. Two electric 25 kW electric motors, the French engineer André Postel - Vinay Étienne, who worked with 200 volts and 125 amps, drove the car. The current was stored in 82 Fulmen battery elements. The French manufacturer Société de l' accumulateur Fulmen in Clichy offered with its type Fulmen B 17 to the then highest storage capacity. A battery element weighed 10.4 kg and had a capacity of 135 ampere-hours. On red spoked wheels were mounted 65 mm thick tires from Michelin.

Record

The two- kilometer track at Achères the Concours de Vitesse were carried out since 1898. The track was divided into two halves, the first kilometer for acceleration from a standing start, the second half for the flying start. Three groups of timers with stopwatches ( Accuracy 0.2 seconds) and signal flags were responsible for carrying out the measurements. After a failed attempt ing on March 31, 1899 Jenatzy shot through with the 1450 kg heavy vehicle on April 29, 1899 kilometer with flying start in exactly 34 seconds. This meant a top speed of 105.882 km / h It topped the record of the counterparty de - Chasseloup Laubat and was the first record holder for the 100-km/h-Marke. Due to the record-breaking run of Léon Serpollet with the egg-shaped steam car Oeuf de Pâques ( Easter Egg ) of 13 April 1902, the record was lost. Serpollet reached a speed of 120.80 km / h, making him the first driver of a non- electrically driven vehicle that broke the speed record for land vehicles.

Whereabouts

The record car was used in July 1899 by the tire manufacturer Michelin as a test car. After numerous exhibitions of cars arrived in 1931 in the Musées du Château in Compiègne. However, the today be visited car is a replica.

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