Amédée-Ernest Bollée was born on January 11, 1844, and died on January 20, 1917. He was a French maker of bells and an inventor who worked on steam-powered cars. He is known for creating the first known version of independent suspension. After 1867, he was called "Amédée père" to help people tell him apart from his son, Amédée-Ernest-Marie Bollée, who was born in 1867 and died in 1926.
Biography
Bollée was the oldest son of Ernest-Sylvain Bollée, a bellmaker and inventor who moved to Le Mans in 1842. In the 1860s, Ernest-Sylvain became very ill and had to let his three sons manage the family businesses. Amédée-Ernest was in charge of the bell foundry. Ernest-Jules (1846–1922) managed the hydraulic ram business. The youngest son, Auguste-Sylvain Bollée (1847–1906), took over the Éolienne Bollée wind-turbine factory.
Steam vehicles
Amédée père built his first steam-powered vehicle, L'Obéissante (The Obedient), in 1873. He completed the first road trip from Paris to Le Mans in 18 hours. The L'Obéissante carried 12 passengers and had an average speed of 30 km/h (19 mph) and a top speed of 40 km/h (25 mph). It used two V twin steam engines, one for each rear wheel. The front wheels were supported by sliding pillar suspension, which became the first independent front suspension system. The original vehicle is kept in the collection of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers in Paris.
In 1878, Amédée père designed La Mancelle, considered the first automobile to be produced in series. A total of 50 were made. It included advanced features for its time, such as rear-wheel drive (using a shaft to the differential and then a chain to the rear wheels) and independent suspension on all four wheels. The original vehicle is preserved in the collection of the Musée de l'Automobile de la Sarthe.
Public demonstrations of L'Obéissante and La Mancelle helped the Bollée factory gain orders. Amédée père accepted an order for a road train, completed in 1879. La Marie-Anne produced 100 horsepower (101 PS; 75 kW) and had a three-speed gearbox. It could tow 35 tonnes (34 long tons; 39 short tons) up a 6% slope.
Amédée père created different vehicles based on La Mancelle, offering them in various body styles, including limousine, coach, and omnibus. One example was La Nouvelle, completed in 1880. The rear of the vehicle was designed to hold the piston engine, which was moved away from the boiler to make more space for passengers.
La Rapide (The Rapid) was built in 1881 and reached a speed of 62 km/h (39 mph). La Rapide placed the boiler, engine, and controls at the front of the vehicle, allowing it to be driven by a single operator.