View source for Brasier

{{Short description|1905–1926 French automotive brand manufacturer}}
{{For|the surname|Brasier (surname)}}
{{Infobox company
| name             = Brasier
| logo             = Logo brasier.png
| fate             = Bankruptcy
| predecessor      = 
| successor        = 
| foundation       = 1905 as Société des Automobiles Brasier
| defunct          = {{End date|1931}}
| location_city    = [[Ivry-sur-Seine|Ivry]], France (factory)
| location_country = 
| locations        = 
| area_served      = 
| key_people       = {{ill|Charles-Henri Brasier|fr|vertical-align=sup}}
| industry         = 
| products         = Automobiles
}}

'''Brasier''' was a French automobile manufacturer, based in the [[Paris]] conurbation, and active between 1905 and 1930.<ref name=Automobilia1920>{{cite journal| title =Automobilia| journal = Toutes les voitures françaises 1920 (Salon [Oct] 1919)| volume = 31|page=63|year = 2004|publisher=Histoire & collections|location=Paris }}</ref> The firm began as '''Richard-Brasier''' in 1902, and became known as '''Chaigneau-Brasier''' in 1926.
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==Origins==
[[Image:Gordon Bennett 1904.jpg|right|thumb|240px|Leon Thery, winner of the 1904 Gordon Bennett competition, driving a Richard-Brasier.]]
Charles-Henri Brasier worked briefly with [[Panhard]] and then for some years with [[Mors (automobile)|Émile Mors]] before, at the age of 35, he set himself up as an automobile manufacturer on his own account.<ref name=Automobilia1920/> He did this in partnership with [[Georges Richard]], the two of them establishing the '''Richard-Brasier''' business in 1902.<ref name=Automobilia1920/>

[[File:Automobiles Richard-Brasier.jpg|thumb|240px|Poster for [[Richard-Brasier]] automobiles by [[Henri Bellery-Desfontaines]], 1905.]]

By 1905, relations had broken down between the partners due to Richard being frequently away from his desk due to his motor racing activities and, it was reported, injuries he sustained as a result. The strained relations prompted Richard to leave the company that year to found [[Unic]].  The newly renamed '''Brasier''' firm was therefore born into an atmosphere of recrimination and litigation.  Nevertheless, Brasier retained the premises originally acquired by the Richard-Brasier company in [[Ivry-sur-Seine|Ivry]], just outside the ring formed by the old city walls (today followed by the [[Boulevard Périphérique|"Périphérique" motor-way]]) on the southern edge of central [[Paris]].<ref name=Automobilia1920/>

==Early Brasiers==
[[Image:Brasier.jpg|thumb|240px|Brasier Coupe Chauffeur KD, 1908, 4 cylinder, 24 HP, 3397 cc, [[Cité de l’Automobile – Musée National – Collection Schlumpf]], [[Mulhouse]], [[France]]]]Before [[World War I]], several twin, four and six-cylinder models were offered.  During this period the company was selling around 1,000 cars annually.
[[File:Brasier 35-50 CV (1911-1912).jpg|thumb|240px|Brasier 35/50 CV (1911-1912)]]
==World War I==
Brasier was one of several companies to be contracted to produce the innovative [[Hispano-Suiza]] V8 aero engine for use in such scouts as the [[SPAD S.VII]], [[S.E.5a]] and [[Sopwith Dolphin]].  However, Brasier engines were of such poor quality<ref>Davis p. 125</ref><ref>Mason p. 105</ref> that the RFC's Quartermaster General, Brig.-Gen. [[Robert Brooke-Popham]] had to write: "When 1,170 [rpm] SE.5s are allotted, please issue any other 1,170 SE.5 in preference to a Brasier.  Brasier engines will only be issued to squadrons when no other 1,170 is available."<ref>Hare p.79</ref>

==After WWI==
Following the outbreak of peace, production was resumed in 1919 with a 3404&nbsp;cc model.

By 1920 '''Brasier''' were displaying two models in their high-profile show room, not far from the [[Place de la Concorde]] at the prestigious eastern end of the [[Champs-Élysées]]<ref name=Automobilia1920/><ref>21, Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Paris</ref> The smaller of these was a 4-cylinder 3,392&nbsp;cc (18 CV/HP) engined car with a choice between two wheelbase lengths of either {{convert|3300|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} or {{convert|3420|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Automobilia1920/> The larger car was fitted with a 6-cylinder 5,325&nbsp;cc (30 CV/HP) and sat on an impressive {{convert|3650|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} chassis.<ref name=Automobilia1920/> The cars were priced by the manufacturer respectively at 22,500 francs and 40,000 francs in bare chassis form, with tires included.<ref name=Automobilia1920/>

In October 1924 the Brasier stand at the [[Paris Motor Show|19th Paris Motor Show]] was, as in earlier years, prominently positioned in the central part of the display area, but by now Henri Brasier had switched away from the very large cars he had produced in the immediate post-war years, and was offering the "Brasier Type TB4", launched in 1923<ref name="Georgano">{{cite book|last=Georgano|first=Nick|title=The Complete Encyclopaedia of Motorcars 1885-1968|year=1968|publisher=George Rainbird Ltd for Ebury Press Limited|location=London|page=93}}</ref> and powered by a 4-cylinder 2,062&nbsp;cc (12 CV/HP) engine, set on a wheelbase of only {{convert|3100|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Automobilia1925>{{cite journal| title =Automobilia| journal = Toutes les voitures françaises 1925 (Salon [Oct] 1924)| volume = 72s|page=61|year = 2005|publisher=Histoire & collections|location=Paris }}</ref> The currency had continued to lose value following the end of the war and this model was listed at 40,000 francs for a [[Torpedo (car)|"Torpedo" bodied]] car and 45,000 francs for a [[Sedan (automobile)|"Conduite interieure" (two-box sedan/saloon/berline)]] version.<ref name=Automobilia1925/> By this time, however, the company's market-place presence was being progressively eaten into by other, more focused and forward thinking auto-makers.<ref name="Georgano"/>

The cars made after 1926 are known under the name of '''Chaigneau-Brasier''', after the company was bought by the Chaigneau family who had been bicycle makers.<ref name="Spurring">{{cite book |last=Spurring |first=Quentin |year=2015 |title=Le Mans 1923-29 |place=Yeovil, Somerset |publisher=Haynes Publishing |isbn=978-1-91050-508-3 |page=103}}</ref> The first car made by the new company was the TD-4, a 9&nbsp;CV 4-cylinder model available as a tourer or saloon.<ref name="Spurring"/> The company appears to have sought a return to its "luxury car" strategy of ten years earlier, now combined with elements of technical innovation for which its traditional customers had not been prepared, introducing a 3-litre OHC-engined front-wheel drive car, described by one commentator as "Utopian",<ref name=Automobilia1929/> in 1928<ref name="Georgano"/> An even larger model followed in 1930.<ref name="Georgano"/><ref name=Automobilia1929>{{cite journal| title =Automobilia| journal = Toutes les voitures françaises 1929 (Salon [Paris, Oct] 1928)| volume = 84s| pages =64–65|year = 2006|publisher=Histoire & collections|location=Paris }}</ref> In view of the severe economic downturn crystallised by the [[Wall Street crash of 1929|Wall Street crash of October 1929]], the timing of this venture was unfortunate.<ref name="Georgano"/> The new large [[Chaigneau-Brasier]]s attracted plenty of interest at the annual Paris Motor Shows.  A journalist described the 3-litre car of 1928 as sitting on "le châssis le plus moderne du salon [1928]" ''("the most modern chassis at the 1928 Paris motor show")'' but it turned out that the car displayed was only a prototype, and it is not clear if any were actually produced for sale.<ref name=Automobilia1929/> The company fell into acute financial difficulties.<ref name=Automobilia1929/> With production capacity at the Ivry plant now badly under used, nemesis was postponed by a major investment from [[Delahaye]] who were at this time still short of capacity themselves, and were able to transfer some truck production to the Chaigneau-Brasier plant.<ref name=Automobilia1929/> Chaigneau-Brasier were therefore able to survive, but only until 1930 or 1931.<ref name="Georgano"/><ref name=Automobilia1929/> Sources differ.

==Racing==
[[File:Automobiles Brasier S.A. 1899.jpg|thumb|Share of the Société des Automobiles Brasier]]
[[Léon Théry]] entered a Brasier in the [[1908 French Grand Prix]], but surrendered after 9 laps of the 10 lap race.

==References==
{{reflist}}

* Davis, Mick. ''Sopwith Aircraft''. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire: Crowood Press, 1999. {{ISBN|1-86126-217-5}}.
* Hare, Paul. ''Mount of Aces – The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a''. Fonthill Media Limited, 2014. {{ISBN|978-1-78155-288-9}}.
* Mason, Francis K. ''The British Fighter Since 1912.'' Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1992. {{ISBN|1-55750-082-7}}.

[[Category:Car brands]]
[[Category:Vintage vehicles]]
[[Category:Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of France]]