Minerva - a brand that deserves more

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Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Mercedes and even Hispano-Suiza are well known by people who are interested in old cars. Minerva, however, does not often ring a bell with the same people. Is that a car from Italy or France? It is very sad that such a famous make with such high-quality products is so unfamiliar with so many people. Besides that, it is very difficult to get relevant documentation on the cars wearing their Minerva mascot so proudly. You can fill your bookshelves with a lot of books of the earlier mentioned makes, but to find a book on Minerva is almost impossible. That is very dishonest because the Minerva cars are among the best in their days. Kings, movie stars and industrialists preferred the silent power, the high quality and the extreme luxury of the Minerva cars.

What makes the Minerva so unknown? Minerva was made in Antwerp, Belgium. Minerva, established by the Dutchman Silvain de Jong, started the production of cycles and motorcycles at the end of the 19th century. In 1904 the first car was produced; this was more or less a voiturette. The factory grew to a workforce of over 6000 workers. In 1908 Minerva started the production of cars with sleeve engines after a patent of the American inventor Knight. They stayed producing sleeve engines for their cars until their takeover by Imperia in 1934. Belgium is a rather small but very car minded country with an ample variety of pre-war makes. Therefore, it was not easy for Minerva to sell enough big luxury cars to continue the production. Other interesting markets like Britain, Germany and France protected their homemade products as Rolls Royce, Mercedes, Hispano-Suiza and other high-class makes. That is the reason why a lot of big Minerva’s went to less protected markets as America and Australia and makes Minerva cars a rare breed in Europe.

Minerva made beautiful and well-built cars that easily could compete with the top of the car market in the vintage era. For instance, in 1925 they already offered cars with power-assisted four-wheel brakes and aluminium drums all around. In that period Rolls-Royce was still delivering cars with only rear-wheel brakes. Like Voisin, Minerva was one of the makes that kept producing sleeve engines of high quality and believed in the reliability of the design. They produced impressive cars like the fast AKS with a 6-litre engine and the AL with a beautiful 8-cylinder sleeve engine of 6.6 litres. These models are rare and very sought after. I own a Minerva AC with a 30 HP 6-cylinder engine of 5.3 litres and I am still impressed by her good manners and reliability when I am travelling through Europe. It is very sad that Minerva is still so underestimated and that there is so little documentation. This particular brand deserves more.

Words and pictures by Ernest van Arendonk.

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