THE LADIES OF THE RELATED Whalley and Engelmann families, many of them keen horse women, have long since given in to the influence, over their menfolk, created by that 'new fangled invention', the motor car.
One is now use to her grandchildren regularly scrutinising the engraved competition trophy label that almost alternately lists her husband's name with that of the famous Donald Healey. Her son, still in the motor trade maintains the family business, until recent years a Lancia dealership, established in the late 20s and now the country's leading Intergrale specialist.
Paul Engelmann, her son in law, is a farmer who has an abiding passion for restoring and maintaining very elderly, sometimes rare, commercial vehicles.
A number of rally excursions on mainland Europe with old time commercials and a friend's steam lorry, persuaded the pair, inspite of their deep rooted enthusiasm, that trundling across the continent at speeds of up to 25 mph was not very exhilarating. A performance target of 50mph was set for the intended acquisition. At this point don't start to chuckle. Instead give a serious thought to the prospects of stopping, from 50mph or more, up to 3 tons in weight, on 24" diameter rim narrow section tyres, on undamped leaf spring suspension, on a wet road, on a vehicle totally devoid of any front wheel brakes. The ingredients of a period often referred to as The Golden Age of Motoring.
An advert for La France Roadsters caught the eye and visits were made to the UK sales point, one to view and one to buy. "We came home with one each" commented Paul. "They were bought to participate in road rallies, events with driving action, rather than the type where you sit in a field and polish the metalwork all day. We still like the commercials, which are the genuine thing, but the La France is so much faster and so much fun. Not only an interesting machine to convert, when its finished it looks the part." In the latter remark and the particular use of the word, convert, Paul modestly hinted at the painstaking engineering that he personally had applied to the rebuilding of the La France fire engine rolling chassis into a period roadster.
Now there are people whose toes turn up and whose faces go puce with rage when mention is made of converting the authenticity of one elderly vehicle to create the image and impression of another. Well! It is a relatively free society and their opinions......and their blood pressure... are their own business.
Looking at the history of La France, it would appear that almost every American municipal and industrial fire station had one or more examples of the marque in service. at some time or other.
Remember those movies with the immensely long skyscraper access ladders and the helmeted firemen steering the rear wheel bogey?
There is evidence that the company made conventional cars,not many, mainly based on the Simplex chassis, hence the Simplex La France tag. However these were powered by the smaller 4 cylinder engine - only 9 litres swept volume!
La France using the Simplex chassis as a pattern produced their own lengthened frames for firetender application, described by Paul Engelmann as "simply a pump on wheels, that gets to its destination as quickly as possible and sqirts water".
As collected, the rolling full length fire engine chassis with its original wheelbase of in excess of 16 feet, sported the original bonnet but all the body work behind the engine bulkhead had been removed. The normal bench seat, on a raised platform, was in place, just behind which a large rectangular petrol tank had been mounted and a couple of spare wheels attached to the frame.
"I had no intention of driving a cut and shut chassis,but we needed to shorten the wheelbase to ensure the right overall proportions". Prior to stripping down to a bare chassis frame the drive shaft between the engine and the gearbox was measured as part of the calculation, determining how far forward the rear axle would be repositioned. The rivets securing the axle/suspension mounting points were removed.The mountings along with related cross members were brought forward and re-rivitted. The now redundant 17" tail piece of the chassis frame was dispensed with. To achieve the low line bonnet, the radiator cross member was lowered to a position just above the starting handle shaft. The chassis frame was shot blasted and refinished in the cream white of the completed car.
Re-assembly commenced, but not before Paul had produced his own pattern for a replacement low line engine bulkhead, resulting in a suitable aluminium casting . The new bulkhead accomodated a La France speedometer not evident on the original fire appliance instrument panel. The steering column was adjusted from the original fire engine rake to a more sporting angle. Similarly, the brake and gearchange levers were appropriately repositioned and the control rods,levers and shafts reworked to link with the brake system and re-positioned 3 speed gearbox.
Paul added: " This is where the labour time mounts up, so many of the components are on show and the quality of their engineering, operation and visual appearance is all important. Furthermore, the component may not be on show, but I like to know that it is reliable and to a high standard, and should anybody take the car to pieces in the years to come - it will look right"
The ergonomics of the La France were revised to suit the new driving position, over a foot lower than the fire engine. The foot pedals, with the centrally mounted accelerator system were shortened - without detrimental effect to operating leverage or their appearance.
Only slight modifications were made to the conventional leafspring front suspension, including spring resetting and revised spring pad angles to remove front wheel wobble. On 24" diameter replaceable rim wooden spoke roadwheels this speed induced condition proved to be a little disconcerting, providing the driver with handfulls of unwelcome entertainment.
There's no visible evidence that dampers were ever an original fitment and to further improve ride and handling Paul has now fitted 6" diameter Andre Hartford friction dampers aimed primarily at combatting axle patter. Thinking more about the original fire tender vehicle and its all-up weight, one wonders at the ride and handling characteristics experienced by the American fireman/driver.
The exposed chain drive features a non standard guard which doubles as a safety device and ensures that any unwelcome excreta, oil,grease or of another nature doesn't find its way to the driver or passenger. Drive sprocket size has been increased to give the car longer legs, the change of ratio ensures effortless 50mph top gear cruising at a sensible rev level, say
1000 rpm, with the maximum power developed - around 105hp, at 1300 rpm. With the improved handling sustainable speeds of around 80mph have been achieved on long continental runs, at which point Paul jokes about the necessity for the co-driver to use binoculars - sighting obstructions well ahead in the interests of early braking.
Engine capacity of this 6 cylinder American monster is a modest 14½ litres. Basically the La France is a big 'T' head unit, with inlets along one side - exhausts along the other.
The three in-line blocks of twin cyliders are mounted on a common crankcase with a huge crank and engine bearings to match. A big, simple engine with two camshafts and engine driven gears which drive a magneto,an external water pump and the dynamo. Twin ignition consists of the previously mentioned magneto and a distributor, which you can switch from one to the other or run both together, A self starter makes life easier, but this is supplemented by a starting handle,further assisted by a decompression system, the operating lever placed close to the handle. Even with decompression, swinging 14½ litres must have been an act of absolute desperation. The carburettor is a simple form Schebler. The large original radiator is part of a very efficient cooling system with a capacity of over 7 gallons and engine lubrication calling for 5 plus gallons of oil. The six plate clutch can only be described as very positive in its action, but good old time technology means that is fully adjustable, a five minute job. The threespeed gearbox cast in bronze is huge, weighs close to 150kgs and runs at its best on fluid grease. From the differential two drive shafts bearing sprockets are the start of the chain drive to the large drive sprockets.The rear beam axle suspended on leaf springs is controlled by trailing radius rods which are adjustable for chain tensioning purposes. Braking is all on the rear wheels. The brake drums which have the drive sprocket around the outside, have foot operated brake bands externally and brake shoes internally. The external brakes are the less efficient, the most effective being the hand applied brake. However, as Paul pointed out, locked rear wheels do not necessarily stop 2½ tons of narrow tyred motor car and inspired anticipation is a must when driving in give and take traffic conditions - hence the earlier reference to binoculars.
The normal La France equipment is a bench seat, but the roadster has been fitted with period racer, button back bucket seats. A riding mechanic is a desirable feature if only to operate the ignition switch set a considerable distance away from the driver, on the engine bulkhead.
To complete the period aesthetics the large traditional barrel form 'gasoline' tank contains 50 US gallons of fuel.The fuel gravity feeds to the carburretor, meaning that a well filled tank is always a prudent move when travelling in hilly country,ie. problems if the carburretor is physically higher than the tank level. Twin spare rims grace the rear, through the centre of which a small luggage locker is accessed.
Driving the car is an acquired skill, practice makes perfect. The centrally placed throttle pedal is one point to remember, the crash gearbox is straightforward, but the operation and usage of the steering wheel hand throttle and choke lever introduce a learning curve.
I tackled Paul about his deep and extensive mechanical knowledge, as a farmer. "Times and farm machinery have changed - in the past a full time mechanic was part of the farm's inventory. Tractors and combines were maintained and repaired without leaving the farm. In harvest time if we had problems with a combine engine, it was nothing to do a complete engine rebuild overnight. We learned to do our own machining and welding and were almost self contained and self sufficient."
Paul Engelmann has embodied all of his interest, experience and skills into his charismatic La France Roadster. The car is truly impressive visibly, but when that huge engine starts - the ground shakes and when it moves away the throbbing note of the large low revving engine is pure music. It is bound to make a Walter Mitty or a Toad of Toad Hall out of the most balanced minded onlooker, that's the effect it had on me.
Did I ever tell about the time I won the French Grand Prix in an Engelmann La France Roadster. Those were the days my boy! - See what I mean?
Peter 'Walter Mitty' Cahill
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