Philip and his Minerva
By Jeremy Alamango
The passion for cherished classic motorcycles in the Maltese islands is widespread. However, very little is known about the first motorised vehicles to grace our roads. Luckily for us, long-time member Philip Camilleri, managed to find and restore a 1903 Minerva known to be the oldest vehicle in Malta.
Minerva started out manufacturing standard safety bicycles in 1897, before venturing into light cars and "motocyclettes" in 1900. At that time lightweight motorized bicycles were a forerunner of motorcycles.
The Belgian Minerva company produced small clip-on engines mounted below the bicycle front downtube, specifically for Minerva bicycles, but also available in kit form for almost any bicycle. The engine used a belt to drive a large pulley situated opposite the normal bicycle chain drive which was retained for starting the engine by “pedaling off”.
By 1901 the kit engine was a 211cc unit developing 1.5 hp allowing a comfortable cruising speed of 30 km/h at 1,500 rpm and capable of a top speed of 50 km/h. Fuel consumption was around 3 L/100 km (94 mpg). These kits were exported around the world to countries including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, and other British territories of the time.
As engine power increased, frame breakages became increasingly common, so by 1903 Minerva had developed an in-frame design for their bicycles, with the engine mounted above the bottom bracket, while still also offering the clip-on kit. From 1904 Minerva began focusing more on car production, and while development and production of the Minerva motorized bicycles and motorcycles continued through to about 1909, they increasingly became a less important for the company.
Minerva engines exported to the UK powered the very first Triumph, among others. Motorcycle production would continue until 1909 or 1914, and during this period Minerva became one of the world's premier names in motorcycles and motorcycle engines.
Philip first set eyes on the Minerva in a blacksmith’s workshop Zebbug Malta. Since the blacksmith was a friend Philip’s father the meetings in his workshop were frequent, until one day he plucked-up the courage to ask if it was for sale.
The bike was last used by the owner in the late 1950s to go hunting. It was in a sorry state with the fuel tank almost completely rotted away. Its engine was out of the frame with the mountings broken, and it was missing a lot of parts like the rear light, carburettor, etc.
The restoration took a considerable time, but with the help of his brother Michael and club members John Badacchino and Leli Borg, Philip found the job much easier. The biggest challenge for the restoration was for Leli to create missing parts for the carburettor for which he had no diagrams or photos to work on. The tank and rear mudguard were hand-made new by Michael according to period photos. One amazing anecdote was when Philip was working on the bike at John Baldacchino`s garage, an Englishman passed by, saw the bike from the open door and approached them, saying how amazing the bike was. He also asked what parts were still missing, to which Philip answered the front and rear lights and generator. To his amazement a month or so later, he received a box containing all the missing parts plus a note with “enjoy” written on it. Unfortunately the gentleman didn’t leave his address for Philip to thank him.
Although the Minerva is nowadays a complete working motorcycle, having minimal brakes and direct drive without a clutch, the engine stops every time the machine comes to a standstill. It’s simply impossible to ride in today’s traffic. This is why it was only given a good proper run just once during the national Millennium 2000 run from the Luxol grounds to the Palace in Valletta.
In 2003 the Minerva celebrated its 100th birthday so the Historic Motorcycle Club organized a party at the annual Classic Bike show it organised at Muscats Motors. The Minerva was also featured in The Times motoring magazine, written by club member Steve Zerafa and it was commemorated on a set of Malta postage stamps, as well as on National Lottery tickets.
There is, however, one final intriguing mystery. The Times newspaper features a small column called “A Century ago, Daily Malta Chronicle”. One day in 2003 it said that a cycle shop in Valletta had a Minerva motorbike for sale. Hmmm.....I wonder!
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