Traction Forward!

By Philippe H. Defechereux
From the VeloceToday Archives, June, 2017

The year 1934 was to be André Citroën’s finest yet, the highest summit in a vast range of accomplishments already marked by several impressive peaks in his two preceding decades. And the year 1934 did start well for great French industrialist. After turning 56 on February 5, in mid-April he witnessed his life’s two grandest industrial creations come to life together, for they were entwined from conception: His new and thoroughly revolutionary Traction-Avant sedan began to come out fully formed and by the hundreds daily. This from his just-completed car production plant in Paris by the Seine, then by far the biggest, most modern and integrated mass-production automobile facility in Europe.

The company’s 300 dealers and agents, who a month earlier had been treated to a formal “Banquet Preview” of the new Citroën 7, as the car was first officially called based on the complex French fiscal horsepower rating, were filled with of enthusiasm. Immediately, they started selling the new low-slung wonder en-masse, in spite of serious early mechanical problems popping up in many spots on the new vehicle, due to the rushed concept-to-production schedule. But the basic design would prove flawless. Most defects were corrected before year-end, while the early buyers were financially protected, as Citroën had also pioneered a full customer guarantee policy.

The 1934 Citroën “7C”, best of the three new standard versions (A, B and C) of that first year. In-line four-cylinder 1,628cc ohv engine delivering 36 HP. [There was also the “Model 7S” in 1934.] Photo by Brandes Elitch

Dreadful Economic Winds

Unfortunately, 1934 was not a good time to have flown too close to the sun in Europe. In the middle of that year, France, like the United States and much of Europe, was still mired in the endless aftershocks of the global 1929 economic crash triggered in Wall Street. The French political system had become consistently volatile – 16 different PMs of diverse parties between late October 1929 and October 1934, or more than three new PMs per year, had succeeded one-another. Unemployment was still high and money was tight. Car sales were deeply affected. Peugeot unit sales for example, dropped by 40% between 1930 and 1932 alone.

As a result of this economic morass and his gigantic financial bet, André Citroën did not get to enjoy this fast and promising take-off for very long. Always more of a great visionary than a good accountant, he had bet and borrowed too much, too quickly, to bring his grand plan beyond birth on safe financial footing. By the middle of May, 1934, the Banque de France – France’s Central Bank -published a report indicating that Société Citroën now faced losses amounting to 200 million Francs (roughly $450 million in 2015 US dollars!).

The Citroën 7C version did not change much between 1934 and 1939. The cheapest of the growing model range, it became the staple and most seen “Traction-Avant” in Europe. It was also built in England (Slough), Belgium (Forest), Germany (Cologne) and even Denmark (Copenhagen). That in itself is remarkable for a pre WW II car. Photo by Roy Smith.

That official news almost immediately stopped all further credits to the already-heavily leveraged company. André Citroën had been his own man since early adulthood, with several ambitious initiatives having led to successful, often impressive results. In fact, he became an “Industrial Hero” during World War I, which earned him the highest civilian medals France could offer (see sidebar, below). Though André Citroën immediately threw himself full-power into the fray to save his company, seeking new creditors in endless meetings, even exploring talks with Henry Ford’s French representative, Maurice Dollfuss; it was all to no avail. The French government, itself weak, would not provide credit guarantees. In the early days of December, Citroën suddenly confronted formal overnight legal bankruptcy.

The “Quai de Javel” plant’s façade, facing the Seine River. Even when the factory was vastly enlarged in 1933, the historical façade was kept unchanged. Finally demolished in 1984, the vast space occupied by the famous plant was wisely turned into a splendid city park by the Seine, and officially named “Parc André Citroën.” Citroën Communications photo.

Saved by Michelin

As Fate would have it, a new man had just appeared onto the stage in Paris on November 8, exactly a month before André Citroën’s deadline. That was the day when the French Parliament had agreed to endorse Pierre-Étienne Flandin as the the 17th French PM since the 1929 crash. The new Government’s leader, soon enough frightened by the prospect of further massive job losses sure to follow a Citroën plant closing, took little time to find a solution, one that in the end would prove excellent for his country’s car industry. PM Flandin helped convince Citroën’s biggest creditor, Michelin & Cie, to take over ownership of Société Citroën as part of the car company’s bankruptcy agreement.

Founded in 1889 by brothers Edouard and André Michelin, the tire company from Clermont-Ferrand was financially solid in 1934. Fewer cars were being sold, but tires still wore out. They certainly were familiar with the car industry and Citroën. And so they agreed if their conditions were met. Pierre Michelin, son of Edouard, would take over as co-president of Société Citroën, with Citroën carrying the same title. This, however, would only be after the Citroën founder had handed over the 60 percent of his shares to Michelin & Cie, thus losing control of his cherished industrial creation.

And so it proceeded. But still André Citroën had reasons for hope. When a full production count of the new model was completed in mid-January, 1935, almost 20,000 Citroën 7s had been manufactured and were in the hands of customers or dealers, a mere nine months after production start. And within that same time span, two sets of significant technical improvements/enhancements (7B and 7C) had also been fully integrated into the production models, solving all the early defects to a large extent.

If the 20,000-unit count is annualized, that would represent a yearly output rate of over 27,000 Model 7s, even discounting the inherent slow start of a revolutionary model in an entirely new plant. Meanwhile, production of the Traction-Avant’s predecessor, the Citroën Rosalie, now equipped with the more modern Model 7’s ohv engine, had continued at healthy levels of over 100/day. Henry Ford used to close his highly efficient plants for months at a time when a model change-over was taking place.

A Fatal Blow

Though this forced take-over of Société Citroën was a smart move for France, it proved a crushing blow for its creator. Even those very hopeful signs would not be enough of a salve for the great Parisian pioneer and industrialist. On February 18, 1935, the heretofore hyper-energetic visionary engineer and carmaker fell ill and had to be hospitalized. Within a few weeks, stomach cancer was diagnosed. Despite an operation in May, André Citroën died on July 3, 1935, at age 57.

He left behind his grieving wife Georgina and the three children they had raised together; but also a breakthrough new car and production facility that would change the industry in profound technological and historical ways.

A few days after the passing of Le Patron, Pierre Michelin was named sole president of Société Citroën. An era had passed, but the name still lives brightly throughout Europe to this day.

A Revolutionary Legacy

Had the masterful French industrialist lived a normal lifetime for his era, say to age 75, he would likely have become the single greatest engineer/car manufacturer in European history.

How revolutionary was the Citroën Traction-Avant? Let us start with a quote from a remarkable book: “Car of the Century – The 100 Candidates” (Amsterdam BV, 1998), to which 135 veteran automotive journalists from 52 countries and five continents contributed significantly:

“The model …was a car that broke new grounds in almost every aspect of its design. Its forward-looking styling set a pattern of individual, timeless design that was to be a Citroën specialty for five decades. … In almost every aspect of its design, the Traction-Avant was years ahead of its time. …The Traction-Avant was one of the greatest success stories in the history of the automobile.”

The Citroën 7S (“S” for Sport) was also launched in 1934. It was powered by a 1,911 cc version (46 HP) of the model 7 engine, the largest yet. This attractive two-door Coupé is a 1937 production. Wiki Commons image by Lars-Göran Lindgren Sweden

As we shall see, the Traction-Avant was also an eminently adaptable car, and it was manufactured in countless versions over its 22-year lifetime, up to a grand total of a fraction below 760,000 units. It was also actively deployed in wars – by bad guys and good guys alike, featured in countless movies and even used effectively by an infamous Parisian posse of killer-gangsters for its fast getaways.

Before we count the ways Citroën and his team brought together a dozen innovative technologies in perfect harmony into a revolutionary new model, we need to give credit to the other brilliant minds who indelibly contributed to the final result.

The Great Andrè Lefèbvre

The 1923 C6 “Laboratoire” racer, designed by André Lefèbvre (here at the wheel) by request of Gabriel Voisin. The latter asked his brilliant engineer to compensate for its low-performance engine – still using sleeve valves – by creating a very light racing car with emphasis on refined aerodynamics. This sleek racer, the first featuring an aluminum unibody, unfortunately did not perform well in the 1923 French Grand Prix due to its poor power output. This led Voisin to abandon racing, leaving the later Silver Arrows without any seriously innovative French competition. Courtesy Sporting Magazine.

First was Andrè Lefèbvre (see Pete’s book review of July 7, 2010). Born in 1894, his early passions were mathematics and engineering, particularly as applied to that latest magical invention: flying machines. During World War I, in 1916, he had already gained a bright enough reputation to be hired by Gabriel Voisin, a famous aviation pioneer whose company was now building bomber aircrafts for France. Once the global conflict had ended, horrified by the human wreckage wrought by war machines, Voisin switched to making high-end automobiles in 1919, under the brand name Avions Voisin.

1934 Voisin C27 Aerodyne two-door Coupé. The Coupé has a wheelbase of 122”, shorter than the C25 sedan of the same year by 7”. The 1934 Aerodyne is one of the most desirable of Voisin’s cars. Photo by Hugues Vanhoolandt.

Lefèbvre went along and perchance found himself absorbing with fervor the most modern techniques applicable to small-series automobiles from Gabriel Voisin and his chief designer, André Noel. All Voisin automobiles (1919-1939) were exceptionally well-designed, remarkably advanced and fully idiosyncratic. Avions Voisin pioneered or emphasized lightness and the use of light metals, especially aluminum; unibody chassis construction, central weight distribution and low-slung suspension. All tagged with a price only the wealthy could afford.

André Citroën must have been an attentive admirer of his high-end colleague’s entire design philosophy. And likely intent on applying all he could to his planned revolutionary mass-production new model. So when the French economy went south in 1931, luxury cars stopped selling; Gabriel Voisin was forced to dismiss many people, including Lefèbvre, who soon was hired by Louis Renault. The two men never did see eye to eye in the least. Early in 1933, André Citroën was only too pleased to offer the 39-year-old star engineer the job of chief designer for his “Model 7 Traction-Avant.” Citroën’s bright new recruit would have excellent help, le Patron having previously hired the young but already recognized body designer Flaminio Bertoni – then 30 and having left Italy for France only two years earlier.

Polishing the Precious Stone

Michelin & Cie indeed inherited a jewel of, well, massive proportion. To their credit, the owners of the famed tire company did a superb job at taking their “diamond-in-the-rough” and turning it into the brilliant piece of automotive jewelry that the new car, soon to be re-named “Traction-Avant” by popular acclaim, would become.

Their first steps were to successfully insure that Lefèbvre would stay with the company, then to bring in a highly competent and entrepreneurial leader by the name of Pierre-Jules Boulanger. That man and his team would nurse the new Citroën to full maturity before the German Blitzkrieg attack on France in May, 1940. After the war, still along with Lefèbvre and Flaminio Bertoni, the team would further evolve the Traction-Avant, then help bring about new breakthrough models for Citroën especially the 2CV and Traction-Avant’s successor, the incredible DS.

A beautifully restored Citroën 7 Traction-Avant custom Cabriolet. Photo by Alessandro Gerelli.

The unimaginably harmonious integration of a dozen technical advances into a single new model meant for mass production will be detailed and illustrated in our next article. So will its crowning version launched in 1938, the Citroën “15-6,” with widened and lengthened body and powered by a new 2.6 liter six-cylinder. It would justifiably be named “Queen of the Road.”

Sidebar: Citroën, World War I Hero

André Citroën’s most remarkable contribution prior to becoming a car manufacturer in 1919 had been made on behalf of his country during World War I. After the sudden declaration of war by Germany on August 4, 1914, the French army soon found itself barely capable of containing the massive German onslaught towards Paris. By October, it also discovered its gunners were desperately low on shells, especially of critical heavy artillery shells. The dated French manufacturing rates were just inadequate for the “industrial war” it now confronted.

André Citroën, mobilized in August and serving on the front as Captain of an artillery regiment, observed this shortage first-hand and with despair. But the former Parisian socialite had always been a man of initiative and was no stranger to mass-production engineering.

As early as 1912, then in charge of turning around the struggling Automobile Mors company based in Paris, he had taken it upon himself to travel to America and visit the Ford Highland Park plant in Dearborn, at the time the only mass-production facility for any heavy, complex product in the world. There, André Citroën studied “Fordism” and came back to France a passionate convert.

French 75 gun battery at Cape Helles, 1915,
Wiki photo.

So in December, 1914, as he watched his own gunners daily running short of shells against the onrushing enemy, Citroën quickly decided to contact the French War Ministry, with a plan. He proposed to Louis Baquet, the General in charge of France’s artillery, to let him design and build a modern factory in Paris that would increase shell production rates significantly. Out of sheer despair, General Baquet gave him near-instant approval. Wasting no time, the French “Fordist,” in just three months, financed and directed the building of a 40-acres, ultra-modern munition factory, sited next to the Mors plant at “Quai de Javel” by the Seine River.

Before the end of 1915, his new factory was producing 10,000 heavy Type 75 shells per day, a phenomenal rate for the era. It may have helped save France from defeat. Based on that and many other accomplishments –he invented the food ration card system- that deployed high-productivity engineering and other ambitious rationalizations for his country during the war, Citroën was awarded his first Légion d’Honneur in 1923, France’s highest official recognition for civilian achievements. By 1931, he would receive his fourth and the highest: Grand Officier.

Chevrons Gears, Famous Logo

The famous chevron gears. Courtesy Citroën Communications.

Every part of André Citroën’s life story is full of fascinating details. The origin of the famous “Double Chevron” logo is a perfect example.

In the year 1900, at the age of 23, André Citroën took an Easter vacation trip to Poland, his ancestors’ country of origin. There, a distant family member introduced him to a customer of his, one who specialized in manufacturing small but cleverly engineered wooden reduction gears for use in the production of woven threads for the textile industry. Their V-shaped helicoid teeth offered two major advantages over straight-teeth gears: first, the large, smooth chevron-angled contact surfaces of two engaged gears allowed for much reduced torsional stress on the gears’ axles, allowing for for much larger reduction ratios. Second, the chevron gears were almost completely noiseless during operation, a great advantage in large factories with hundreds of employees and countless gears in operation under one roof – if one day they were made of metal and much bigger.

André Citroën, already a graduate of Paris’ Polytechnique School, immediately saw the potential for heavy industry. The latter was fast switching from steam power to electric motors to drive machinery. The much faster rotation speed of electric motors required large reduction ratios to power machinery. On the spot in Poland, he bought the patent, for future use. No company in Europe had the machines to produce such fine gearing in metal. But one day, who knows?

It was during his trip to America in 1912, on behalf of Automobile Mors, that André Citroën finally saw the advanced industrial machine tools capable of the strength and high precision to cut his chevron gears through steel billets, the way he knew was inevitably required. With the help of his banker, plus his schoolmate Paul Hinstin, the “Citroën, Hinstin & Cie” company was founded in Paris shortly after his return from Dearborn, and American machinery was purchased. Once the gears were manufactured in Paris, many patents were obtained for diverse uses, and the business grew fast. This caused his early partners, having their own business to care for, to sell him their shares. Soon, André Citroën moved the production facility near the Mors factory and the “Quai de Javel,” renaming it “Société Anomyme des Engrenages Citroën” (“Citroën Gearing Company”).

Sure enough, our hero chose the “chevron design” for his company’s logo. Within four years, the company had become exceptionally successful, laying the basis for the Citroën’s fortune. Then World War I intervened, and you already know André Citroën’s role in that conflict.

Story and photos by Brandes Elitch

“Every automotive enthusiast the world over ought to go down on their knees at least once a year, preferably February 2, to give thanks for the birth of Andre Citroën…Citroën shows flashes of engineering genius so pure that you stop short and wonder why on earth car designers persist in doing things any other way.” – David Owen

This year Retromobile celebrated the centenary of the Automobiles Citroën. In this short space I can only highlight some of the history of the company and its products, but fortunately there is an enormous amount of material printed and on the web that you can find.

Let’s start with the man himself. André Citroën was born in 1878 and died too young in 1935. He was graduated from the foremost engineering school in France, the Ecole Polytechnique, in 1898. In 1904 he began producing a double helical gearset that he found while on a trip to Poland to visit family. In 1909 he acted as a consultant to auto manufacturer Mors, which initiated his work in automobile construction. He served as an engineering officer in the French Army in WWI. His unit was hit with artillery shells from German fire, and could not respond because…they lacked ammunition. He approached the French government and proposed that he build a factory to produce artillery shells. He got loans to build a factory on the Quai de Javel, near the Eiffel tower, and soon was turning out 35,000 shells a day. When the war was over, he was left with a large factory and a lot of employees, and in just four months, he turned to manufacturing his own car.

A bust of André Citroën seen at Retro.

First was the 1919 Type A, Europe’s first mass produced car. In the first 2 weeks he took 16,000 orders and was soon producing 100 cars a day. It was the first low priced car to have electric lighting and a self starter as standard equipment. Next came the 1922 5 cv, which sold 81,000 units in five years, extraordinary at that time, but he priced it so that many people could afford it. His goal was to make car ownership affordable to every family in France, and in that he succeeded.

There were other cars in the prewar period, the B 14, C4, C6, 8,10, and 15 Rosalie, but the most famous was the Traction Avant. Most people would recognize the Traction Avant, which started production in 1934 and lasted until 1957. Citroën wanted a revolutionary design, and he got it, with a unit all steel body with streamlined chassis, front wheel drive, torsion bar suspension, and great drivability. He reached out to the Budd Company in Philadelphia to use their patents for the design.

One of the most interesting things about the company history is that while Citroën produced radical, original, advances in design, engineering, production, and marketing, his attitudes, ideas, and influence lived on after his death, through a series of successive takeovers and mergers. Partly this was due to the fortunate acquisition of the firm after bankruptcy in 1934, by its largest creditor, Michelin, and the fact that Michelin left existing management in place to continue what they were doing with no outside interference. This worked in part because Michelin was a creditor and not a competitor. Part of this was also due to Citroën ’s goal to design a model differently and in such a way that it would have a twenty-year lifespan (e.g. the Traction Avant, 2 CV, and DS).

Immediately after WWII, there was a big need for a small economical vehicle, and the 2CV was introduced (the prototypes were designed before WWII and hidden in haystacks so the Germans couldn’t find them). The design brief was for a car that could carry 2 farmers and a 50 kilogram sack of potatoes and a carton of eggs in the back seat that would survive after being driven over a plowed field! Ultimately, 5,114,961 units were delivered.

In 1955 the DS was introduced and it was a sensation, often called “The Car of the Century.” It had a hydropneumatic system to control the suspension, brakes, steering, gearchange, and height adjustment. It would take a whole column to properly describe the D. At the time, the French press said, “Une bombe automobile vient d’eclater.” At the debut at the Paris Auto show in 1955, by the end of the week 80,000 orders were taken! It has been called one of the most beautiful cars ever made. By the end of production, 1,455,746 units were sold. I bought mine in 1969 and still have it.

While still under Michelin control, the factory went on to produce the Ami 6 (1961-9), the Ami 8 (1969-78), the Mehari (1968-87), the iconic H Van (1948-81), the GS (1970-86), the M35 and GS Birotor (1969-75), and the CX (1974-91). After the Peugeot takeover in 1976, they still continued with innovative designs, such as the XM (1989-2001), Xantia (1993-2002), and C6 (2005-2012).

This was a Citroen showroom for decades. Eleven years ago when I visited Paris it was bustling. Apparently, Peugeot has closed it. I cannot imagine what they will do with the building as it is purpose built as a Citroen showroom.

Citroën was a marketing genius. He pioneered the “controlled leak” of new models, massive newspaper ads, test drives, and publicity, such as outfitting the Eiffel Tower with his name in lights, 250,000 of them, which could be seen all over Paris. He started a car insurance company with lower premiums for Citroën owners. He created a taxi service with his cars in 1921. He put road signs all over France with his logo on them. He staged the first automobile crossings of what was then the unexplored wilderness, the Croisiere Noir, Jaune, and Blanche – the first automotive crossings of Africa, Indochina, and the sub-Arctic.

An original factory built model with its original box – New Old Stock!

He built a toy factory to build pedal cars and model cars for French children, and his goal was that their first 3 words would be “Maman, Papa, and Citroën .” He created a massive dealer and service network, and then published an owner’s manual and repair catalog to establish a fixed cost of a repair nationwide. Ultimately, he had plants in eleven foreign countries.

Early on, Citroën was also focused on providing employee benefits which was unheard of at that time. During WWI, the workers at the factory were mostly women, and he provided a support system that covered pregnancy, birth, and paid leave while nursing. His work was recognized in the government introduction of food rationing cards. This made him popular with employees and ensured a stable work force.

The grave of the Citroën family in the Cimitiere Montparnasse.

André Citroën died of stomach cancer in Paris in 1935. I visited his gravesite while attending Retromobile. It is located in the Cimitiere Montparnasse, just in back of the enormous Tour Montparnasse. The gravestone is extremely plain and simple. The funeral was led by the Chief Rabbi of Paris, and Citroën was laid to rest, “The Jew of Javel,” as the malevolent Louis Renault called him.

In 1976, to avoid a second bankruptcy, Peugeot acquired 90% of the Citroën capital from Michelin. Today, it is controlled by a board controlled by the Peugeot family. Prior to that, Citroën had acquired both Panhard and Maserati, certainly two of the greatest names in the history of the automobile. Panhard was closed down and Maserati passed to De Tomaso after the Arab oil crisis put paid to the market for high speed grand touring cars such as the Citroën Maserati, aka the SM.

The information booth for the Citroën exhibit.

Today there are Citroën clubs all over the world, 200 in France alone, and one here in the San Francisco area too. Every 4 years, there is an ICCR meeting (International Citroën Car Club Rally), which typically has thousands of cars. It will be held August 5-9, 2020 in the Polish city of Torun.

The last D series car was sold in the U.S. in 1972, and the last SM somewhere around 1974. As a result, most Americans would not be familiar with the Double Chevrons. However, we can now import cars that are over 25 years old, so all is not lost. When I was at Retromobile, I got to spend a day blasting around the villages of Vexin in a Citroën CX, which is now number one priority on my “must have” list, the CX being, in some eyes, the last “real” Citroën.

I encourage you to do a search on the history of Citroën , which is much more than I can cover here. I think you will be surprised and amazed. Below is a brief taste of the wonderful world of Citroën, including production cars, rally cars and prototypes.

Historic Citroën production and record cars

10 HP Type A (1919).

Another type C, followed by a Traction Avant.

A Rosalie 10 hp.

The famous Petite Rosalie which set distance records in 1933.

Standard DS, followed by a Mehari.

1971 SM Chapron Mylord convertible.

An SM at the booth of tuner SM2.

CX 25.

CX two liter.

The C6 (2005-2012), 23,384 produced, the last real Citroen?

Citroën Rally Cars

1969 factory DS rally car that won the Morocco Rally.

2017 C3 WRC.

1990 Xsara kit car.

Citroën Concept Cars

Prototype 2016 CX with hybrid power train.

Prototype from 2008, GTBY.

2006 C Metisse.

The Tubik, a modern H Van prototype.

1956 C10, called the beetle.

1972 Bertone Camargue.

1980 Karin, designed by Trevor Fiore.

Captions and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

While Jonathan Sharp went after the Italians at Retro, Brandes Elitch did a Citroën biopic history, and Hugues Vanhoolandt told everyone he had dibs on covering the fantastic collection of Chapron DS models, the likes of which we have never seen before. Smart Guy. As part of the commemorations of the centenary of Citroën there were more than fifteen Chapron bodied Citroëns, all part of the same collection. Chapron exercised his talent mainly on the DS and each variation was present. Below, not only will you find out what wrath caused the damage to the lead photo, but Hugues did not forget some of the other outstanding vendors.

The first DS cabriolet shaped by Chapron was called ‘La Croisette’ for the famous pedestrian promenade in Cannes in the south of France. First shown at the 1958 Paris Salon, this version was built until 1962. Here is a 1961 example based on a DS 19.

A coach appeared in 1959 and was called ‘Le Paris’, only produced in 9 units until 1960.

Here is a 1963 version of the coach ‘Concorde’.

In 1960, Henri Chapron extended his offerings with a cabriolet 2+2 called ‘Le Caddy’. 34 units were produced between 1960 and 1968.

A 2+2 coupé was showed for the first time at the 1960 Paris Salon, the DS ‘Le Dandy’. Some fifty of these cars were built between 1960 and 1968.

The ‘Palm Beach’ four seater cabriolet appeared in 1963 as a replacement of the ‘La Croisette’.

A new four seater coach was presented at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show and appropriately called ‘Le Léman’, here on a 1967 DS 21.

Alongside the transformations operated by Chapron on the DS, the coachbuilder from Levallois, near Paris, also built for Citroën what is called the ‘cabriolet usine’ or works cabriolet between 1961 and 1971. This version was part of the official Citroën range.

Apart from the various cabriolets, coaches or coupés, a sedan was also proposed by Chapron, called ‘Majesty’. Here is a 1966 model.

In 1969, the ‘Majesty’ gave way to a new sedan called ‘Lorraine’. Only 19 examples were produced until 1974.

In 1971, Chapron tried to expand his line with a cabriolet version of the SM, called ‘Mylord’. But its high cost and the oil crisis will compromise its success and only six examples were built.

Hell hath no fury like…that of a woman scorned. In 1960, the coach ‘Le Paris’ is replaced by the ‘Concorde’. This particular car, from 1964, was vandalized by the wife of the owner during their separation and has never been restored …

Below is a brief portofolio of some of my other favorites…

This tricycle from the Italian company Prinetti & Stucchi of Milan dates back to 1899. It is with this company that the young Ettore Bugatti began his career in the automotive world. He modified the tricycle by adding a second engine and took part with some success to some competitions in Italy and France.

From the same year is the famous ‘La Jamais Contente’, the first car to reach 100 km per hour. Conceived and driven by Belgian Camille Jenatzy, it was so modern for the time with its aerodynamic body and its electric powertrain. It is presented here by the ‘Musée de Compiègne’, near Paris where it is usually exhibited.

Twenty years later, the famous Bentley make was born. Here is the oldest surviving Bentley, known as EXP2 because of being the second Bentley built, a 3 Liter model presented at the 1919 Olympia Motor Show. Bentley celebrates its centenary this year and will be featured in many classic car events around the globe.

Every show has to have its ‘barn find’ exhibit. Here is a 1952 Aston Martin DB2 that will be restored after a thirty year sleep.

London based classic car dealer Fiskens was showing a pair of Aston Martins DB4 GTs. Here is serial number 0124R, the first of eight lightweight DB4 GTs, delivered new to Equipe Endeavour and driven to victory at Goodwood by Stirling Moss in 1960.

The second DB4 GT is one of 19 DB4 GT Zagatos, serial number 0181L, delivered new to Dr Elio Zagato, son of the founder of the Zagato company, Ugo Zagato. The car has some unique features like the bonnet with an air scoop rather than the usual triple humps.

Aston Martin Works was showing a partially restored 1963 DB4 Convertible. Only 70 DB4 Convertibles were produced and this one is the sole to be powered by a DB4 GT engine. It is currently being restored in Newport Pagnell, at the same location where it has been built 56 years ago.

This 1963 AC Cobra was a works entry at Le Mans in 1963. Driven by Sanderson and Bolton, it finished 7th and first in the 4 to 5 liter class. Later sold to John Willment’s race team, it was campaigned in 1964 by British gentleman driver Jack Sears.

The Ford GT40 succeeded to the Cobra on the race tracks. This example is numbered GT40 P/1087. It seems that John Willment, who owned the rights to the JWA name, had enough parts to build some more Mark I GT40’s after the works production ceased. This is one of these cars.

The last attempt of Ford in endurance racing was with the P68 built by Alan Mann for the 1968 season. Here is one of two surviving examples.

This is a very special Jaguar XK120, bodied by Stabilimenti Farina. It was an order from the Belgian Jaguar importer to star on the Jaguar stand at the 1952 Brussels Motor Show.

A pair of BRM Formula 1 cars were on sale by William I’Anson. Wearing #48 is the P48 driven by Dan Gurney in 1960. Gurney won a race in Australia with this car. Number 5 is the 1962 P578 driven by Richie Ginther in 1962 and 1963. Ginther was second in the 1962 F1 World Championship with this car.

A strong field of Porsche competition cars was on show at Rétromobile. Among them, this Porsche 904, 904-108, with its 1964 Tour de France livery when it finished third overall with Buchet/Linge.

In 1966, the same Robert Buchet bought 906-114. He took part in Le Mans with it but did not finish. The car then had a successful career in France and is still active in historic racing.

This 1969 Porsche 908/02 s/n 009 was entered in endurance races in 1969 and 1970 with considerable success with Rudi Lins, Gérard Larrousse and Helmut Marko behind the wheel.

The Porsche 917-037 has the particularity to be registered in Monaco and can be driven on open roads.

This Porsche 936 is the fifth and last 936 built, not by the works but by the Kremer brothers. It was driven in period by Rolf Stommelen and Stefan Bellof.