FN 1900-1934 - Automobile by weapons production
Summary
There were around 10,000 car brands and designers - most of them have disappeared. One of these vanished brands is FN, under which cars were also produced from 1900 to 1934. These became larger and larger over time, starting with two-cylinder engines and then 8-cylinder engines. Despite success on the market and on the race track, from 1935 onwards the company restricted itself to the production of motorcycles and commercial vehicles in addition to weapons
Estimated reading time: 3min
Preview (beginning of the article)
The Fabrique Nationale d'Armes de Guerre was founded in Herstal near Liège in 1889. The first FN automobile, a two-cylinder with chain drive, was built in 1900. This was followed in 1904 by the first four-cylinder model, followed by the company's own engines, initially under a Rochet-Schneider license. The Belgian royal family's interest in automobiles was also beneficial to FN, with the Brussels coachbuilders Van den Plas and d'Ieteren contributing to the company's reputation. Early on, FN also built motorcycles and commercial vehicles. Around 1910, FN employed 1,200 workers in the car department alone (the leader Minerva employed 1,600; there were also 15 other important Belgian brands).
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