The brand achieved fame due to the quality and quietness of its Knight Engines and was favored by royalty and influential people like Henry Ford.

After World War II, Minerva produced a version of the Land Rover under license for the Belgian army until 1954.

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.

Volume car production began in 1904 with a range of two-, three- and four-cylinder models with chain drive and metal clad wooden chassis and the Minervette cyclecar.

Charles S Rolls (of future Rolls-Royce fame) was a Minerva dealer in England selling the 2.9-litre 14 hp (10 kW).

Customers for the Minerva would include kings of Belgium, Sweden and Norway, Henry Ford and the Impressionist Artist Anna Boch.

[6] During World War I Sylvain de Jong and his engineers were based in Amsterdam where they maintained development of their automobiles.

Minerva cars were used for hit and run attacks against the Germans initially with rifle fire and light machine guns from simply protected open topped vehicles.

Large cars continued to be a specialty of Minerva's, and in 1930 the then almost-compulsory-for-the-time straight eight was introduced in two sizes; the 6.6-litre AL and the 4-litre AP.

With the financial crisis in the 1930s, the company was restructured as Société Nouvelle Minerva but in 1934 merged with the other major Belgian manufacturer Impéria Automobiles.

Impéria continued to make Minervas for a year and the AP until 1938 and from 1937 badged some of their cars and trucks for export to England and France as Minerva-Impérias.

After World War II the company produced a version of the Land Rover 80" under licence for the Belgian army up to 1954.