Racing Heroes - Camille Jenatzy

Camille Jenatzy, with his wife, driving La Jamais Contente in a victory parade.

Land-speed record racing was not exclusively a 20th century phenomenon. At the close of the 19th century, the quest for the fastest documented motorized speed was viewed by horseless carriage manufacturers as a way to demonstrate the superiority of their wares. Though his name is all but lost to history today, Camille Jenatzy was the first human being to crack the 100 kilometer-per-hour (62 MPH) barrier, as well as the first to drive a car built specifically to set a new land-speed record.

Born to an affluent family in Schaerbeek, Belgium, in 1865, Jenatzy studied civil engineering in school, but found that his real passion lay elsewhere. Fascinated by the newly emerging automotive industry of the late 1890s, Jenatzy followed his father's footsteps into manufacturing, but instead of producing rubber goods, the younger Jenatzy focused on building battery-powered automobiles. Only the wealthiest individuals of the day could afford such mechanized conveyances, and Jenatzy was hardly the first to market with an electric car in Europe. Motor racing, a sport that was exploding in popularity, seemed a logical way to demonstrate the capabilities of an automobile, so Jenatzy entered his first race, a hill climb, in November of 1898. Driving an electric car of his own manufacture, Jenatzy set the fastest time of the day, averaging 17 MPH over the muddy 1.8 kilometer course. Racing glory, Jenatzy believed, would soon translate into sales success.

A Jenatzy-built phaeton, circa 1900.

His fame would be fleeting. Just three weeks later, Count Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat would set an official land-speed record of 39.2 MPH behind the wheel of an electric automobile built by rival manufacturer Jeantaud. Jenatzy had been invited to participate in the contest of speed, but a prior engagement prevented his attendance; determined to claim a speed record of his own, Jenatzy challenged Chasseloup-Laubat to a rematch, to take place in early 1899 on a deserted and level stretch of road just west of Paris.

On the 17th of January, both men arrived in Acheres, determined to go home victorious. Jenatzy drove first, establishing a new land-speed record of 41.4 MPH and easily besting the previous record. Chasseloup-Laubat was not to be outdone on that day, and his run was clocked at 43.7 MPH, despite the fact that his motor was destroyed 200 yards from the finish. Defeated but not dismayed, Jenatzy demanded another rematch, to take place in just 10 days' time. This time, luck would be on his side; Jenatzy posted a new record speed of 49.9 MPH, but Chasseloup-Laubat suffered another burned motor and was unable to complete his run.

Jenatzy celebrating his win in the 1903 Gordon Bennett Cup race. Remaining photos courtesy of Daimler AG.

Chasseloup-Laubat made his responding run on March 4, 1899, driving his Jeataud touring car (rebodied for the record attempt) to a maximum speed of 57.6 MPH. Nearly two months would pass before Jenatzy would challenge for a new record, but the time was spent wisely; instead of running a modified production car in the attempt, Jenatzy constructed the very first vehicle built specifically for land speed record racing. Dubbed La Jamais Contente, or "The Never Satisfied," the strange craft resembled a bullet perched atop an exposed automobile chassis. Though the lightweight partinium (an alloy made of aluminum, tungsten and magnesium) body was streamlined, the driver sat upright, with his torso in the slipstream; coupled with the exposed chassis components, any advantages gained by the aerodynamic shape of the body were all but negated by these design choices.

Using a pair of 25-kilowatt electric motors fed by batteries delivering 200 volts and 124 amps, La Jamais Contente produced approximately 68 horsepower. That was enough to propel Jenatzy to a top speed of 65.8 miles per hour, or 105.9 kilometers per hour, and on April 29, 1899, Jenatzy entered the record books as the fastest man automobile driver in the world, as well as the first to break the 100 KPH barrier in an automobile. Seduced by speed, Jenatzy would turn his attention to racing automobiles as well designing and building them, and in 1899 began his professional driving career behind the wheel of a Mors gasoline-electric automobile. Convinced he could build a better racer, Jenatzy entered the 1900 Gordon Bennett Cup race driving a Bolide, a gasoline-electric automobile of his own design. Not particularly competitive, Jenatzy gave up on the race when he lost his way en route, which may have contributed to his decision to walk away from racing in 1901.

The 1904 Mercedes 90hp racer. Jenatzy is shown second from left.

Neither his electric nor his gasoline-electric cars proved to be a success, and other Jenatzy designs (such as a patented magnetic clutch) only received limited exposure. By 1902, he was back in the driver's seat, but his season started off with a crash at the Circuit des Ardennes. A year later, he was driving for the Mercedes team, piloting a 90-horsepower racer in the Paris-Madrid; after overtaking 20 competitors, Jenatzy found himself in third position, a legitimate challenger for the win. As the car topped one of the course's final hills, however, his engine stumbled and he struggled to keep the car running. Driving with a bad misfire, Jenatzy limped the Mercedes across the day's finish line in 11th position. The cause of his engine trouble turned out to be nothing more than a fly sucked into the carburetor.

Know as "Le Diable Rouge" (the Red Devil) for his red beard and his exuberant driving style, Jenatzy would realize another significant victory in 1903. Prior to the start of the Gordon Bennett Cup race in Athy, Ireland, a fire at the Mercedes factory had destroyed the team's 90-hp racers. Scrambling to find cars to drive, Mercedes reached out to private owners in an effort to "borrow" 60-hp touring cars. Despite the horsepower deficit, Jenatzy drove his loaner Mercedes (owned by American Clarence Gray Dinsmore), stripped of most bodywork to save weight, to a commanding 12-minute margin of victory, returning the Gordon Bennett Cup to Germany with his win.

Jenatzy driving a 120-hp Mercedes racer at the 1906 French Grand Prix.

Jenatzy would continue in his role as a gentleman driver through 1908, when he drove his last international race at the Circuit des Ardennes behind the wheel of a Mors, finishing in 16th place. Though he raced a number of cars in his final years as a driver (including the Mors and a Pipe), his main automotive passion continued to be Mercedes, and he revealed a premonition to close friends that he would one day die in a Mercedes automobile. While he kept a 180-hp Mercedes racer for the odd sprint race or hill climb, by 1910 his attention had turned primarily to running the family's tire manufacturing business in Brussels. The odds of dying in a Mercedes grew more distant with each passing year.

Except that fate sometimes has a wicked sense of humor. While on a hunting trip with friends in the Ardennes in 1913, Jenatzy believed it would be humorous to hide behind a stand of bushes and mimic the grunts of a wild boar. So convincing was his act that a friend, Alfred Madoux, responded with a shotgun blast in the direction of the sounds (ignoring a primary rule of firearm safety: Know your target and what lies beyond). Despite the best effort of those in his party, Jenatzy succumbed to his injuries en route to the nearest hospital, while being transported, of course, in a Mercedes.