Adolphe Kégresse facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Adolphe Kégresse
Adolphe Kégresse sitting in the Imperial "Benz" car. This was at the entrance of Catherine Palace, Tsarskoye Selo, Russia, on September 9, 1911.
Born	1879 Héricourt, Haute-Saône
Died	1943 Croissy-sur-Seine
Nationality	French
Engineering career
Discipline	Military engineering
Employer(s)	Tsar Nicholas II
Significant design	Half-track and dual clutch transmission

Adolphe Kégresse (born 1879 in Héricourt, Haute-Saône, died 1943) was a clever French military engineer. He is famous for inventing the half-track vehicle and the dual clutch transmission.

Kégresse was born in Héricourt and studied in Montbéliard. In 1905, he moved to Saint Petersburg, Russia. There, he started working for the Russian ruler, Tsar Nicholas II.

Kégresse and the Tsar's Cars

Adolphe Kégresse wanted to make the Tsar's cars better at driving in tough conditions. He invented something called the Kégresse track. This track could be added to normal cars to turn them into half-tracks. Half-tracks have regular wheels at the front and tank-like tracks at the back. This design helped vehicles move easily through snow or mud.

Kégresse was also the Tsar's personal driver. He was in charge of the Mechanical Department at the Russian Imperial Garage in Tsarskoye Selo. Prince Orlov, a close helper of Tsar Nicholas II, wrote about Kégresse in 1914. He said that Kégresse was a very important worker. He also mentioned that the Tsar really valued Kégresse's skills.

The Imperial Garage Building

In 1908, an architect named Lipsky VA designed a new building for the Imperial garage. This building was in Tsarskoye Selo. It was a two-story building with a special design style called Art Nouveau.

Part of the building was Kégresse's home. A cool feature of the building was a grand staircase. It had a carved picture (a bas-relief) of an early car race. Car races were held regularly in Tsarskoye Selo before World War I.

Return to France and New Inventions

After World War I, Adolphe Kégresse had to go back to France. From 1919, he worked for the Citroën car company. During the 1920s and 1930s, he helped design half-track vehicles for Citroën. He worked with another engineer named Jacques Hinstin.

After leaving Citroën, Kégresse kept inventing. In 1935, he created the AutoServe gearbox-transmission system. Later, in 1939, he started working on small, guided bombs that moved on tracks. Adolphe Kégresse passed away in 1943 in Croissy-sur-Seine.

Gallery

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  Tsar Nicholas II Car Garages, Pushkin, Saint Petersburg where Kégresse was Head of the Mechanical Department

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  bas-relief image of a car race, Tsar Nicholas II Car Garages, Pushkin, Saint Petersburg

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  Kégresse's 1913 design

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  Kégresse track 1914-18 at Tsar Nicholas II Car Garages, Pushkin, Saint Petersburg

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  Former Tsar Nicholas II Car Garages, Pushkin, Saint Petersburg in July 2017

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  Kégresse Track 1914-18 at Tsar Nicholas II Car Garages, Pushkin, Saint Petersburg

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  Former Tsar Nicholas II Car Garages, Pushkin, Saint Petersburg in July 2017

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  Kégresse Track outside Alexander Palace, Tsarskoye Selo, January 1917

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  "Russo-Balt "C24-30" from the garage of Tsar Nicholas II with Kégresse track design of Adolphe Kégresse. Adolphe Kégresse possibly seated on the right of the photograph

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  A Packard Twin-6 car with Kégresse track from the personal car park of the Tsar Nicholas II

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  Russia 1914

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  Russia 1914

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  An Austin-Putilov Armoured Car with Kégresse tracks of the Red Army which was damaged during the Polish–Soviet War. In the area of Zhytomyr, 21 March 1920

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  Lenin's Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost with Kégresse track, converted by the Putilov plant, at Gorki Leninskiye

See also

In Spanish: Adolphe Kégresse para niños

• Kégresse track
• AMC Schneider P 16
• SOMUA MCG