The Creation of the anglo belgian corporation - 1912

October the 26th 1912, a group of 9 industrial investors founded a company in the office of notary Fobe, with the purpose of building internal combustion engines of the semi-diesel-type. These engines would have a big future, because they would completely change the way transport over land and sea occured at that time.

Most of the ships were pulled by horses or the shipper himself. Fishermen went on sea with sailing boats. But one could foresee that in the future, these ships and boats as well as trains, cars and busses would have a diesel engine as power source. The nine persons that met each other at the notary, represented both the past and the future. One of them represented the company Onghena, that built until then gas engines of old design and had decided to stop this line of production in favor of the new semi-diesel engine.

On their properties and with a part of their machines, the new factory would start up, under the supervision of the diesel engine manufacturer Carels and both investors Marcel and Richard Drory. All investors participated at that time with 500.000 BEF (Belgian franc), except for Carels, who brought the license for manufacturing Diesel Engines against a Royalty of 5% on the total turnover. The name of the new Company would be "Anglo Belgian Company" as they wanted to show that part of the risk capital should come from England. However the war made that this capital was never invested; the name however was kept, and many people used abbreviations as "Anglo" or "ABC".

ABC started the production of 6, 8, 12, 16, 24 and 40 HP Diesel engines, as well as 2-cylinder marine engines of 45 HP. On the International Exhibition in Gent in 1913, ABC exposed 3 engines (8, 16 and 40 HP). Already before the First World War started, ABC exported engines to Australia and Russia.