La Jamais Contente

One name that has been stuck since I learned how to read and saw something about land speed record in a book more than 20 years ago. Record holder back then was Thrust2, or at least it was in the book. I’m sure the publisher were not aware of Richard Noble’s another effort to reach the speed of sound with ThrustSSC.

I thought the name is somehow related to the content of the car itself, and I was content with that conclusion in my head. It wasn’t until I tried to learn French a few years ago that finally know what the name means, “The Never Satisfied”. And the creator of that car, Belgian Camille Jenatzy was, indeed, never satisfied. Not until La Jamais Contente became the first car to reach more than 100KM/H.

Yes, it was a publicity stunt, one that created to sell more electric carriages of their own, not unlike racing scenes after the second World War. The record stood, though, for almost three years. La Jamais Contente, the first car to reach 100 KM/H and the last electric car to held the land speed record, until the record got superseded by steam-powered, petrol-powered, and jet- and rocket-propelled cars.

A simple, torpedo-shaped car weighed 1450KG. Powered by two 25kW electric motors producing around 68HP. It wasn’t much, but internal combustion engine of that time, have to be at least a 9L 4-cylinder to produce similar output. As we can see in a Mercedes-Simplex 60HP. However, even with the torpedo shape, aerodynamics of the car is bad because of the exposed undercarriage and driver. The car survived and is now on display at a museum in Compiègne, France.

Electric cars then died out during the subsequent years, due to increased efficiency of petrol engines and worldwide discovery of oil reducing fuel price, while range of electric cars remained. That, until battery development in 21st century finally allows electric cars to catch up.

Camille Jenatzy died in 1913 in a hunting accident. His car company never really took off, but La Jamais Contente would always be there as a cornerstone in mankind pursuit of speed, and last but not least, as the first land speed record holder that stuck in my head.