Miesse

Miesse was a Belgian maker of cars and trucks, active from 1894 to 1974.

Jules Miesse set up a mechanical workshop in 1894, and built his first cars in 1896. In 1902 Thomas Turner & Company acquired a licence to build the cars in the United Kingdom - these Turner-Miesse cars were built until 1906. In 1927 the production of cars was discontinued, in favour of trucks and buses. Some were equipped with Diesel engines from German builder Junkers.^[1]

In 1929, Miesse acquired the Bollinckx works, who had produced since 1890 gas and steam engines, and compressors and tools for compressed air; this allowed increasing truck production to 100 per annum. The merged company was called Automobiles Miesse et Usines Bollinckx Société Anonyme; it was later renamed to Auto-Miesse.

After 1945, Miesse assembled Nash cars for the European market.^[2]

Miesse continued to exist till 1974.^[1]

Jules Miesse built his first automobile in 1896, it was steam powered.^[1][2] Serial production followed only in 1898.

Construction of cars and trucks followed, till 1907 some of them some were powered by 3-cylinder steam engines.^[2] Their frames were of "strengthened" wood, and only the boiler under the "hood".^[2]

Petrol engines were first tried in 1900.^[2] Miesse gained fame in Brussels with the taxi cabs they started producing in 1904.^[2][1]

Post-WW1 cars from Miesse had undersquare engines (69 mm × 130 mm), either a 4-cylinder of 2.0 litres or an 8-cylinder 4-litre; both models had many components in common.^[2]

• Yvette Kupélian, Jacques Kupélian and Jacques Sirtaine: Histoire de l’automobile belge. Paul Legrain, Brussels, ISBN 2-8705-7001-5 und e.p.a., Paris, ISBN 2-8512-0090-9 (fr)
• George Nicholas Georgano: Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present; Dutton Press, New York, 2. Auflage (Hardcover) 1973, ISBN 0-525-08351-0

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