Minerva 30 CV
Car : Minerva 30 CV
Year : 1921
Engine :6 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke :90×140 mm
Cylinder capacity : 5344 cc
Gears : 4 forward
Brake horse power : 110
Maximum speed : 75 mph
Wheelbase :11 ft 11 ins (3.63 m)
Suspension : front: semi-elliptic leaf- springs ; rear : cantilever springs
Minerva, perhaps the most famous of the Belgian makes of car, was the creation of a Dutchman, Sylvain de Jong, who had settled at Antwerp and begun by building bicycles and motorcycles. Automobile production started with small capacity cars and expanded into the production of the Minervette, a small car with a 636 cc single-cylinder engine.
Minerva 30CV
De Jong then made a major shift in production , concentrating on large cars. The 30 CV was the first of these with a 6-cylinder engine. It had a monobloc Knight engine with seven main bearings. Initially it had a cone clutch, but on subsequent models this was replaced by a multi-plate clutch. It could reach a speed of 75 mph. Servo brakes were fitted in 1923 and in 1927 the capacity was increased to 6000 cc. With the loss of de Jong in 1928, Minerva stressed the design and construction of luxury cars which, though they earned widespread praise, did not sell well. In 1938 Minerva ceased building their own cars and in 1954 they concentrated on assembling Rovers and Armstrong-Siddeleys. The unveiling of a prototype derived from the CEMSA Caproni F II at the Brussels Motor Show of 1953 was the final attempt to re-start independent production. However, there was no follow-up.
