Nowadays perhaps the most special Land Rover is the Minerva TT where those letters stand for 'Tout Terrain'? Minerva was originally a bicycle factory founded by Sylvain de Jong, who died in 1928 from Amsterdam, who had moved to Antwerp together with his two brothers to form the Mercury Cycle Company with three other Belgian relations.
In 1897 he started his own company - S. de Jong & Co. - with the brand name Minerva. As you know, Minerva was a Roman goddess in ancient times, the goddess of wisdom and the arts. It quickly became a flourishing company, accounting for approximately 200 bicycles - as 'bicycles' were then called - per week. Meanwhile, some clever minds of the company were busy inventing a 'motorcycle'. An existing Zürcher & Lüthi engine with a cylinder capacity of 172 cm3 - good for - hp! - simply put, mounted on the front frame tube of a bicycle.
It was not possible to turn it into something mobile. That privilege was granted to a certain Jan Olieslagers, the mechanic who delivered the bicycles to customers and assembled them there, made them ready for driving. Jan Olieslagers would later become world famous for his world records with motorcycles and flies.
While the Minerva bicycle and motorcycle department grew and prospered, people from 1904 also focused on the newest invention 'the car'. Minerva soon became one of the leading car manufacturers and supplied to various royal houses, noble families, film stars, artists, big industrialists including such a person as Henry Ford!
From 1e Minerva survived World War and after the restart in 1918 with 1.600 employees it was counted as the largest factory in Belgium. The company would grow even further. In 1927, for example, there were a sloppy 6.500 employees and their product could be compared qualitatively to Rolls-Royce. Two years later, to be precise on 24 October of 1929, the New York stock market crashed, Sylvain de Jong had since succumbed to cancer, the sale of luxury cars fell dramatically due to the recession, and in order to survive, mergers had the other leading Belgian car brand Imperia, owned by a certain Mathieu van Roggen.
Minerva seemed saved. But then came the 2e World War and the German occupier took over the factory to manufacture aircraft parts, to repair damage to, among others, the Messerschmitt Me-109 'hunter'. When our Eastern neighbors were back on their own grounds, the wounds in Belgium could be licked, the whole company was thoroughly ruined. Fortunately, Mathieu van Roggen was able to count on a high reparation compensation for damage suffered during the war.
De Nieuwe Maatschappij Minerva NV was established. Just like in the Netherlands, Belgium was eagerly looking for employment. Expensive 'carriages' as they were built before the war were not an option. Fortunately, the Belgian poor needed light off-road vehicles that had to be built at our Zuiderburen due to the job opportunities they were looking for. Various factories that were considered capable of achieving something like this were addressed. Minerva and Willys-Overland who were assembled in Belgium were addressed. The latter was instructed in 1951 to build 2.500 units of Jeeps CJ-3A in a military version.
Mathieu van Roggen was now in contact with Rover who was very interested in a deal as they received steel rations based on export and were therefore only too happy to sell 'building kits' abroad. At the end of 1951 an agreement was reached and the CKD (Completely Knocked Down) kits from the Land Rover 80 ”to Belgium. Minerva would itself design and build a coach in consultation with the local government. Moreover, 63 percent of the used parts had to be 'Made in Belgium', so it was really only about the (2 liter) engine, gearbox, brakes, axles with differentials, wiring supplied by Rover. The first deliveries were made in 1952. Initially it concerned an order for 2.500 items, but due to the Korea war this number was increased to 8.500 items. The last one was in the band's 1955. A civilian version appeared in 1953; in 1954, just like Land Rover, they switched to the 86 ”wheelbase. In the meantime, Land Rover realized that the Belgian market was 'ripe' for a real Land Rover and that eventually led to a big fight with Minerva, the termination of the contract and finally in 1958 to the definitive closure of Minerva.
Simultaneously with the Minerva Land Rover, the Belgian factory also built MV Augusta scooters under license and mopeds with a JLO motor. They have also tried to conquer a place in the 'miniature cars' segment, but that was not a success. The Minerva TT has - as you can see on the photos - a considerably different appearance than the 'donor' the Land Rover. If it had a body of aluminum that was known as Birmabright, the Minerva had a body of tin. The sloping front fenders were of course much simpler and faster to manufacture and gave the Minerva its own 'looks'. The Minerva was also used in the Belgian colonies. Seven different versions were delivered to the army, such as the ambulance version with two stretchers, the radio car, the armored version, one with dual steering for driving lessons. As an army vehicle you can still remember the Minerva from back then; from 1962 also in dark blue color as transport for the then Rijkswacht, another word for police. Our Zuiderburen then carefully handled the collected tax money. A small 500 specimen was shifted from the army to the police, sprayed dark blue and served faithfully at the Hermandad for years ... A Minerva passenger car from before the war was wanted and very expensive. It seems that there are still about 150 pieces worldwide. Of the 8.500 Minerva TTs, there are about 300 units known in Belgium. There are still a number of them in Africa and they are 'fanned' across Europe. It is a vehicle that is now very popular with enthusiasts. Great was the surprise when we were traveling to Silverstone on a small road in the vicinity of Bicester, County Oxfordshire, a few men busy with a Minerva. The thing - from 1952 - had been in a British shed for about a year, and was now being photographed ... The engine ran well, the gearbox and transfer gear shifted well, the thing steered and braked, the body had stood the test of time well. The dashboard instruments are from Jaeger. The odometer was on 10 and that may just be the original position ... The British registration certificate had just arrived, it had not been tested yet ...
Ja som náhodou našiel v Belgicku v jednom bazáre stacionárny bicykel značky Minerva…sú na ňom olympijské kruhy tak som podľa toho usúdil že bol vyrobený na počesť Olympijských hier v. to.Skusal som kontaktovať spoločnosť Minerva ktorá vyrába elekro bicykle ale bohužiaľ nevedia mi poskytnúť žiadne informácie.Ak náhodou niekto má nejaké informácie prosím napíšte mi na mail mario.milic2703@gmail.com
well thank you
Hello I am Marc. Can someone tell me why my friend's minerva has an alu body? Please reply to my mai address watthee_marc@Hotmail.com . This because I am not connected here. Thanks in advance. marc
Then it is probably an 86 inch model, which were made of aluminum, the 80 inch of steel.
grt Minervatepoland-Hendrik Vander Hoeven
I never heard of anyone blaming the Belgian government on this debacle. The Minerva factory was an empty box.
When the staff moved to England in the first war, the Germans (who turned it into a war factory for melting confiscated metals and making cannons) also seized all the drawings Minerva had on the drawing board.
When Sylvain de Jong left the country in the second war, he and his employees burned all the plans themselves. The Germans only found ashes and small pieces of unburnt paper.
So nothing was available for a restart. At the time, assembling for a brand of the 'liberator' seemed the only way to do something in the car. But unfortunately it was about army equipment.
The Minerva factory made top ranges before the war, although smaller models had already been launched. Few people in those post-war years had the means to buy large cars.
In France, Germany and the Netherlands, small cars were made for a low price, even microcars. And they were successful here.
If Minerva could have worked with one of those brands, the future might have been different. But the car-manufacturing countries were in the process of rebuilding and had to put their own people to work. Only later did they themselves manufacture in Belgium where they found by far the best and most productive employees in the world.
Leo van der Linden
(wrote the Dutch text of the book Minerva by Jaques and Yvette Kupélian).
TT indeed stands for Tout Terrain, Christopher Peycke, which may sound strange for a car that was assembled in Antwerp. But during the merger, Mathieu Van Roggen had of course also brought his men from Liege to Karel Oomsstraat. They apparently had the most say in naming.
But on the other hand the Flemish used a lot of French words when it was about the car. People talked about soups, pont arrière, villebrequin, culas, stabilizer, vitessen, and so on. So also from Tout Terrain. The Walloons of Imperia in Liège will therefore not have encountered much opposition.
Leo van der Linden
(wrote the Dutch text of the book Minerva by Jacques and Yvette Kupélian).
Is it actually known whether Minervas were used during the Korean War? On the mudguard of my minerva it says bunc British United Nations Command.
Where the Belgian army was part of but I have not been able to find any indication that they were actually used in Korea.
Minerva was also part of the Cemsa Caproni project led by Prof. dr. Fessia who would later lead the technical development of Lancia. How wonderful would it have been if this spacious and beautiful car had been launched under the Minerva label? It didn't work. What would have been the share of the Belgian government in the failure of Minerva?