Impéria automobile factory - Belgium - July 24

[BikinGlynn]

Impéria automobile factory

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Built in 1907, the Imperia car factory still dominates the village of Nessonvaux. It was established in the valley of the Vesdre by the Belgian engineer Adrien Piedboeuf who invented one of the first hybrid car engines as well as the electric cigarette lighter.

The factory originally tested its cars on local roads, but people started to complain.
The owner then came up with the original idea of building a test track on the factory roof, a few years before Fiat built its famous rooftop track in Turin.

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Ok thats where the story of this place ends, or begins as it is for me.
My second of 3 euro road trips this yr (I know Im a lucky bastard but u know u get to that stage in life) was a 8 day epic mostly solo trip with over 45 explores so its difficult to know where to start but this one was just another pin on a map for me, I had no idea about the history mentioned above & therefore neglected to get any pic of the remains of the test track but can assure you the track isnt much to see.
The rest of the site however is rather nice & its more recent history is more prominent.

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The site appears to of been used by Lamy Groupe as one of their main offices & storage yards,
Founded by Mr José LAMY, this company of Liège origin has constantly developed and innovated in order to become a key player in its field.

Supported by his wife Irène and his sons José and Michel, both construction engineers, Mr. Lamy ensured the management and development of the group for many years. Today, the third generation of the family is at the head of the company: Jordane and Joan Lamy.

Surrounded by a team of dynamic and motivated specialists, they manage and coordinate the development of each group project.

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In 2019 The Lamy Construction company presented to the population its preliminary project for the conversion of the former Imperia automobile factory. The land is located in an industrial zone: a file for recognition as a "site to be repurposed" has been submitted to the Walloon region, since it involves establishing around a hundred housing units. When the planning permission has been granted, the company Lamy Construction should move to Parc des Plenesses, where it has acquired a plot.

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The development plan looks rather green. The desire is to create an open neighbourhood, with a breakthrough between the main road and the banks of the Vesdre, with a slow lane along the river. This is the start of the administrative process of the file: it remains to carry out the environmental impact studies. But from now on, the municipal administration of Trooz seems to be supporting the operation, which will probably take another two years to come to fruition.

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Well here we are 5 yr on & I have no idea what has happened here other than not a lot, but what has been left is a better than expected mix of industrial goodness with a lot of paper work to rumage & a dumped 4x4 thrown in for good measures,. I enjoyed this place, hope u do too.

That will do from here, more pics if you are interested as always on my flickr here https://www.flickr.com/photos/149212758@N08/albums/72177720319530431/​

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[Stealthstar79]

That's different!
Fab pics love the burnt orange to the glass

 

[BikinGlynn]

That's different!
Fab pics love the burnt orange to the glass

Thanks I really enjoyed this place

 

[night crawler]

You could have brought the Suzuki how for me. Nice report

 

[BikinGlynn]

You could have brought the Suzuki how for me. Nice report

Thanks mate, was quite a cool place imo

 

[Hayman]

I'm interested in knowing more about the "hybrid" engined car. Wikipedia and PreWarCar.com mention a 2009 hybrid, but nothing about one designed by Adrien Piedboeuf. In the early years of car making there were petrol-electric vehicles. To make a hybrid-engined car would have needed it to run directly from a battery or batteries that the petrol engine charged via a dynamo, or straight from the dynamo. Both would have been possible, but taking the power from the battery/batteries to drive an electric motor would have provided a smoother supply.

 

[Roderick]

I'm interested in knowing more about the "hybrid" engined car. Wikipedia and PreWarCar.com mention a 2009 hybrid, but nothing about one designed by Adrien Piedboeuf. In the early years of car making there were petrol-electric vehicles. To make a hybrid-engined car would have needed it to run directly from a battery or batteries that the petrol engine charged via a dynamo, or straight from the dynamo. Both would have been possible, but taking the power from the battery/batteries to drive an electric motor would have provided a smoother supply.

I found an article by Autocar which claims "
In 1899 The Pope Manufacturing Company merged with two smaller companies to form the Electric Vehicle Company. Two hybrids appeared at the Paris Salon that year. At the turn of the 20th century, Belgian car maker Pieper introduced a 3.5bhp hybrid car.
So it's possible his was one of the 2 smaller companies or perhaps he was the design engineer at Pieper - similar name to Piedboeuf and also Belgium ?
The cars and engines do sound very interesting, including a 4 cyl 32 valve engine according to the Impéria Automobiles wiki page.

 

[HughieD]

Belgium is the country that keeps on giving, urbex-wise.

Nice report and tip-top shots mate.

 

[Hayman]

I found an article by Autocar which claims "
In 1899 The Pope Manufacturing Company merged with two smaller companies to form the Electric Vehicle Company. Two hybrids appeared at the Paris Salon that year. At the turn of the 20th century, Belgian car maker Pieper introduced a 3.5bhp hybrid car.
So it's possible his was one of the 2 smaller companies or perhaps he was the design engineer at Pieper - similar name to Piedboeuf and also Belgium ?
The cars and engines do sound very interesting, including a 4 cyl 32 valve engine according to the Impéria Automobiles wiki page.

Many thanks for the Autocar link. What was a genuine hybrid is described as follows:

The next year, in 1898, Dr Ferdinand Porsche developed and built the first petrol-electric hybrid – the Lohner-Porsche Mixte Hybrid. The car used an internal combustion engine to spin a generator that provided power to four 2.5-3.5bhp electric motors located in the wheel hubs. The car had a range of 40 miles on battery alone and the top speed was 30mph.

Not only could it run when the internal combustion engine was powering the generator, but it could run on battery power alone. With an electric motor in each wheel hub, was it the first four-wheel drive car?

 

[UrbanX]

What a history! Lovely set of photos too, thanks for sharing

 

[BikinGlynn]

I found an article by Autocar which claims "
In 1899 The Pope Manufacturing Company merged with two smaller companies to form the Electric Vehicle Company. Two hybrids appeared at the Paris Salon that year. At the turn of the 20th century, Belgian car maker Pieper introduced a 3.5bhp hybrid car.
So it's possible his was one of the 2 smaller companies or perhaps he was the design engineer at Pieper - similar name to Piedboeuf and also Belgium ?
The cars and engines do sound very interesting, including a 4 cyl 32 valve engine according to the Impéria Automobiles wiki page.

Interesting read that

 

[BikinGlynn]

What a history! Lovely set of photos too, thanks for sharing

Thanks dude