Brewer Christiaen's FN

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This wonderful picture was found on a local history association's website and shows a man with quite a bit of offspring (all his own?), plus a luxurious car in front of an equally expensive house.

A quick check in the lists of Belgian registration numbers shows that 17976 was allocated to Maurice Christiaen in Couckelaere (now Koekelare), a small rural town near Ostend, and it was reputed to be the first car in the area. With the help of FN men Doug Marshall and Chris Duncan in Australia, the car in the picture was identified as a Belgium-built Fabrique Nationale d'Armes de Guerre (FN), type 2000. The other options, the FN types 2000A and 2100 have 3/4 elliptic rear suspension, which is not visible on the photo, whereas the type 2000 has transverse rear suspension.

242 type 2000s were built between 1906 and 1909 and had a 1995 cc engine with a bore and stroke of 84 x 90 mm. The bodywork can be described as a Landaulet, as it looks like the very rear part can be opened for travels on hot sunny days. The chauffeur sat separate from his passengers.

The brewery had started in the first half of the 19th century, and around 1878 it came into the Christiaen family. Although Couckelaere was only a small town, the brewery was rather sizeable, brewing ales with fantastic names like Patron, Super-Christiaen, Kampioen, Oud Dubbel, Crista Pils, Chrisfort, Porter and Extra-Stout.

The brewery building still exists in central Koekelare, and now is the local history museum and library. But most fantastically, also the brewer's house from the picture survives, a few hundred yards down the road. It was built around 1900 to a design of the Bruges architect Dewulf, and it is now owned by the municipality, acting as the town hall. It will receive a total restoration in the near future.

Is the man in the picture Maurice Christiaen himself, or (as the costume might suggest) did the brewer have a chauffeur? Most importantly, the joy of the motorcar was shared with the youngsters, and it looks like most of the 7 children were enjoying the moment very much.

Words by Nick Jonckheere. Photograph courtesy Spaenhiers vzw, Koekelare, Belgium.

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