Unique Vallée heads to Brighton

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Many years before it became synonymous with 24-hour racing, Le Mans was home to the Bollée père et fils, whose pioneering efforts in the development of self-propelled road transport predated the work of de Dion, Bouton, Panhard, Levassor and Peugeot by at least 10 years. Father Amédée worked primarily with steam, while sons Amédée and Léon were quick to embrace internal combustion.

They were not the only pioneering automobilists to hail from Le Mans. Henri Vallée was another, and he and the Bollées were not unknown to each other. It is said that Vallée was involved in the construction of the humongous steam coach which Amédée père undertook to produce for the Marquis de Broc in 1885. In 1890, Vallée went into business independently as a bicycle-maker. Having perfected the art of bending steel tubes into two-wheeled frames, he did as many of his co-temporaries were also trying to do and constructed a four-wheeled frame to support an engine and some seats.

This first Vallée car made its début at the 1895 Salon du Cycle. With a 4hp horizontal twin-cylinder, four speeds, chain drive and cycle fork-style front suspension, it was not dissimilar from other bicycle makers' early forays into car construction, but one real innovation was the headlamps which turned with the steering. Several body styles were soon developed, from a two-seater to a six-seater, any by 1897 three engines of up to 7hp were being used. One particularly notable Vallée was the 1899 7½-litre racing car Slipper, driven by Dr. Lehwess, the man best known for his aborted round-the-world drive in a Panhard et Levassor. However, low sales caused Vallée to cease car production in 1902, although it produced motorcycles for a few years longer.

The only road-going survivor

With a seven-year production life, it might be hoped that a small handful of Vallées would survive, but in fact only two are known to still exist, and one of them recently came to light when it ran in the 2022 London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. It's back again this year, so we thought we'd take a closer look at it. The other example, incidentally, is housed at the Musée des 24 Heures du Mans.

It was purchased at auction in 2016 by Dr. Erich Sieber of Austria. As sold, it looked perfectly presentable, but a long period spent out of use meant it was far from roadworthy. Historically, it had formed part of the Henri Malartre Collection in Lyons until 1970, and in 1974 it received its Veteran Car Club dating certificate. However, it seems to have remained mostly in the shadows from then until Dr. Sieber gave it a new lease of life.

He says, "When we bought this car seven years ago, it didn’t run at all and was in an awful condition. The Vallée is now completely restored from the ground up - not only the exterior, also the engine and all the mechanical parts. A lot of parts had to be rebuilt. This was a huge challenge for us and involved a lot of investigation and research.

"The maximum speed of the car is around 40 km/h (25 mph), which is quite a sensation with the 4hp, 2,230cc horizontal side-valve two-cylinder engine with automatic intake. This is the only running Vallée in the world and the only one which has an official plate and permit to be driven on public streets.

"It has been my dream for years to complete the great London to Brighton Run. This was, of course, one of the reasons for the purchase of the Vallée. My son and I had a try last year but unfortunately the Vallée’s ignition did not appreciate the extremely heavy rain in London and gave up after 30 km (19 miles). We hope this year we will carry it through. I would say that the preservation of historic vehicles – which have been real milestones in the history of mobility – for further generations is a very meaningful task."

We would certainly be pleased to see the Vallée rolling onto Madeira Drive this year, so it only remains for us to congratulate Dr. Sieber on his restoration and wish him the best of luck.

If you would like to see the Vallée in person, along with 400 other marvellous veterans, you'd best find yourself a perch by the roadside and watch the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run on Sunday, 5th November. The cars will set off from Hyde Park between 7.00 and 8.45 a.m. and will start flowing into Madeira Drive from 10.00 a.m. onwards.

Words: Zack Stiling; photographs: RM Sotheby's/Dr. Erich Sieber
 

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