- Imperia (car)
The Imperia was a Belgian
automobile manufactured from 1906 until 1948. Products of the Ateliers Piedboeuf ofLiège , the first cars were designed by the GermanPaul Henze . These were fours of 3, 4.9, and 9.9 liters. The next year, the company moved toNessonvaux , and began production in the oldPieper factory. Impéria produced amonobloc convert|12|hp|abbr=on in 1909; in 1910 the company merged withSpringuel .The Nessonvaux factory began producing Imperia-Abadels from about 1916; in 1921, it built three ohc 5·6-liter straight-eights. These were quickly replaced by an ephemeral ohc 3-liter 32-valve four which was capable of going convert|90|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on. This was followed by an 1100 cc side-valve 11/22 hp four designed by Couchard, one of the first cars ever built with a
sunroof . Itsengine rotatedcounter-clockwise , and its transmission brake also served as aservo for those on the front wheels. In 1937 a six of 1624 cc appeared; this had been available in three-carburettor Super Sports form from 1930. Over the course of four years Imperia took over three other Belgian car manufacturers:Métallurgique (1927), Excelsior (1929), andNagant (1931). From 1934 until the company folded it built mainly front-wheel-driveAdler s with Belgian-madecoachwork . The company merged with Minerva in 1934, but they split in 1939. After 1948 Impéria assembledAdler s andStandard Vanguard s under license. After Standard decided to set up a new factory in Belgium, the factory was left without work and had to close doors in 1957.In addition to its production in Belgium, Impéria made a number of cars in
Great Britain ; these were assembled at a factory inMaidenhead .References
*David Burgess Wise, "The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Automobile"
External links
* [http://www.automag.be/article.php3?id_article=382 History of the company (in French)]
* [http://bwaanaman.sohounion.com/euto_mobile/belgium/page_02.html Site with pictures]
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