Nagant Type D 14-16HP Town Car
A comfortable town car, but this Nagant’s roof rack gives it away as suitable for long-distance travel.
The driver worked partially in the open while the family (note the coat of arms on the doors) sheltered in a brocade-trimmed interior. Communication with the driver was made possible via a speaking tube. As with most cars of its time, the Nagant’s left side lantern has a green stripe to denote that side. In shipping however, the green marker denotes ‘starboard’, in other words, the right side. This 1909 Nagant was the first car of this make to be equipped with a driveshaft, and has never been restored.
It was delivered new to a customer in Maastricht. The plate of the Maastricht dealer is still fixed to the car. The bodywork was produced in Aachen and still bears its original paint.
The Nagant, which was manufactured in the Belgian city of Liège, was known for its solidity and reliability. Nagant was originally an arms and machine tools factory, but at the end of the 19th century it began producing cars. At the end of the 1920s Nagant was taken over by the Belgian Impéria-Excelsior company.