Citroën-cars & Gillet-motorcycles
Every now and then you come accross them. Abandoned garages, with all stock present, as from the day they closed down.
Zo nu en dan kom je ze nog tegen. Garages waar de tijd bleef stil staan...
As is the case for this one. Citroën agent for years and years, but then
closed because of retirement. The man still lives there and has no hurry
cleaning up or selling out. Being over 90 now, I guess it will stay like this
infinetely...
Zo ook voor deze locatie. Jarenlang Citroën-agent en dan gesloten wegens pensioen. Mr. M. woont nog steeds bij de garage en kan geen afscheid nemen van al dit blik.
Gillet-Herstal * Légia & Belgica * anno 1953 ...
As all the items in the shop and garage have there own history, these
motorcycles stand out.
At the time (mid-fifties) Mr. M. had to go and collect them
by train and drive them back to B. One has 78 kms on the clock, the other a bit
less, since there was no detour at that time. (a quick glance at the nowadays
routeplanner shows a 62,1 kms distance)
Alle voertuigen in de garage hebben hun eigen verhaal. Zo bijvoorbeeld deze 2 Gillet-motorfietsen. Eerst met de trein naar Herstal, dan naar huis gereden en nooit verkocht vanwege het opkomend succes van de vierwieler.
|
|
|
 |
| 175cc Légia 1953 (first model) | Gillet-Herstal logo | 200cc Belgica (Superconfort) | 78 kms ! |
These 2 models were the last to be manufactured by
the famous Ateliers de Gillet at Herstal, founded in 1919. In 1959 they closed down.
Other Belgian makes in the region of
Luik/Liège/Luttich at that time were FN and Saroléa.
A very good source of information is the book "De GILLET Herstal Motorfietsen, 1919-1959" from Yves Campion, distributed by "Uitgeverij Freson".
Plan is to get these bikes back on the road !
End of summer 2004, we finally came to an agreement and loaded the bikes on a
trailer.
En nu staan deze motorfietsen te Kontich, om volgende zomer, 50 jaar na fabricatie, de baan op te gaan.
The Légia is quite complete, and while looking for the missing parts from the Belgica, we came accross some more interesting items...
Op zoek naar de ontbrekende onderdelen op de Belgica, kwamen we nog wat verrassingen tegen.
| Scooter ISO | 
|
+ Gillet (divers) |
 Gillet Confort '31/'34 |
 Royal Nord / Villiers |
 BSA |
To respect this mans peace and quiet, don't insist on giving you the address. Whenever there's more to tell, I'll put the info on this webpage. Put it in your Favorites/Bookmarks and check regularly if you've seen the latest update.
Gelieve niet op zoek te gaan naar deze voertuigen. Mr. M. verdient met zijn 95 lentes alle welverdiende rust die hij kan krijgen. Afspraak is gemaakt dat we een inventaris gaan opmaken van wat er nog staat en deze op de website publiceren.
last update : 14/09/2004
|
|
|