The story of La Jamais Contente, the first road car to go over 100km/h
Long before Elon Musk pioneered electronic cars for the masses, there was Camille Jénatzy.Nicknamed Le Diable Rouge (‘The Red Devil’) because of his bright red hair and beard, Jénatzy was the son of a rubber-tyre manufacturer. He studied civil engineering and spent his downtime competing in bicycle races.
As France pioneered the production of lead batteries and the development of electronic vehicles in the late 1800s, Jénatzy jumped aboard the trend and built a factory where he would manufacture battery-powered vehicles.
Towards the end of the 19th century, he combined his father’s wheels with a pair of battery-powered electric motors to propel a bullet-shaped car to break the 100km/h barrier for the first time, on 29 April 1899 in Achères, Yvelines, near Paris, France.
Back then, physicians didn’t believe the human body could endure travelling at 100km/h. After proving them wrong, Jénatzy described what it felt like: “The car in which you travel seems to leave the ground and hurl itself forward like a projectile ricocheting along the ground. As for the driver, the muscles of his body and neck become rigid in resisting the pressure of the air; his gaze is steadfastly fixed about 200 yards ahead; his senses are on the alert.”
Named La Jamais Contente (French for ‘The Never Satisfied’), the “torpedo on wheels” was crafted from light alloy and its pair of electric motors produced around 68 horsepower. It was almost perfectly aerodynamic – until Jénatzy climbed aboard. The way he designed the machine was kind of like a kayak, so while the front effectively pierced the wind and helped him reach great speeds, his high position on top (and the exposed chassis underneath) didn’t do him any favours.
Some engineers were surprised that the racing car designs in the early 1900s didn’t try to recreate the torpedo design of the La Jamais Contente, considering how successful it was. Racing-car design – like the 1902 Serpollet or 1903 Mors – borrowed more from the Pantoufle (‘slipper’) shape invented by automobile manufacturer Henri Vallée. Rather than slicing through the air like Jénatzy’s design, Vallée’s had a sloped front that swept air up and over the driver for a smoother ride with less friction.
If the rejection of his design wasn’t a harsh enough burn, Jénatzy’s love of battery-powered electric cars also died as gasoline-powered engines rose to prominence in the next century.
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