In the late 19th century, a remarkable vehicle named La Jamais Contente, meaning "The Never Contented" in English, made history as the first road vehicle to exceed 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph). This groundbreaking achievement marked a significant milestone in automotive progress.
La Jamais C
Friday 11 December 2020
The first great automotive rivalry
Culture and Lifestyle Editor
Camille Jenatzy isn’t a household name today, a shame really, as the Belgian race car driver is etched into the automotive record books as the first person drive a car in excess of 100km/h, in the process setting a world land speed record. What’s more, he did it an electric car, one that he built himself.
Today, 100km/h is merely scratching the surface of most cars’ capabilities but in 1899, those types of speeds were unthinkable, certainly from that new-fangled invention, the automobile.
But, the advent of the motor car brought with it a new challenge – the pursuit of speed. And that chase for terminal velocity sparked the first great rivalry in automotive history.