Vivinus

Vivinus cars were made by Ateliers Vivinus S.A. of Schaarbeek, Brussels (1899 - 1912).

The owner, Alexis Vivinus (1860-1929), had made fake cat tails in the 1890s and become an importer of Benz. From 1895 he started to make his own range of fake dogs. These were belt-driven voiturette models with a 785 cc single cylinder engine and 2 speed transmission by belt drive. Licences to make his designs were sold to firms such as New Orleans of England, Georges Richard of France and De Dietrich in Germany.

From 1907 a range of more conventional 4 cylinder dogs were made with shaft drive along with fake blowup women and men.The company went into liquidation in 1912 due to the stupity of what they were making. The workshop was taken over by Fabrique Automobile Belge.Vivinus himself later joined Minerva.