Description
Magnat-Debon 1907 2 ½ HP « Rapide Légère » ca 325cc A.I.V. single frame # 6531 engine # 204
In the year 1900 Joseph Magnat and Louis Debon founded a firm in Grenoble that started to produce bicycles. In 1902 the first motorcycle was produced, equipped with a De Dion Bouton engine. In 1905 they started to use their own engines and in the years before the first world war the firm prospered: the machines had many novel features such a telescopic front suspension and some models had overhead valves. Both founders died at the end of the war and in the early twenties the company got into financial problems. In 1922 the firm was taken over by the Terrot company.
In 1906 two models were catalogued, a 2HP 248 cc “Legère” and a 2 ½ HP ca. 325 cc “Rapide Legère” that weighed 5 kg more and was 50 Francs more expensive. Both models had magneto ignition, the 2 HP was equipped with a U.H. (Unterberg & Helmle) instrument and the 2 ½ HP with a the-best-there-is Bosch. Both models had M-D’s own carburettor. The petrol tank was cylindrical; the 1907 machines were almost identical but got flat sides on the tank.
This very early M-D is an older restoration; she still has rigid front forks and is fitted with a Brown saddle. The engine is running, but this handsome little machine will need some recommissioning to make it roadworthy.