Amédée Bollée La Mancelle

A bell founder in Le Mans, Amédée Bollée senior was passionate about steam. After L’Obéissante in 1873, he presented La Mancelle in 1878, a car that strikingly foreshadowed the layout of the modern automobile.

Its two-cylinder steam engine was placed at the front, under a bonnet, while the boiler sat at the rear. Power was sent to the rear wheels through a shaft and a differential, and the front wheels had independent suspension. These solutions, found on most cars of the following century, were extremely bold at the time.

Shown at the 1878 Paris World’s Fair, La Mancelle could carry several passengers and reach around forty kilometres per hour. It made Bollée one of the major pioneers of the French automobile, and the city of Le Mans, long before its famous 24 Hours, one of the cradles of the car.