Oublié: forgotten French car companies

Marques Françaises of years gone by

France has given us many things over the years. Great wine. Great cheese. Human rights.

Oh, and a raft of famous car manufacturers: from Peugeot and Citroën to Renault, Bugatti and many more between, the French certainly know how to make an automobile.

Good as they are, though, not all marques Françaises have stood the test of time – and not all are remembered today. C'est dommage.

In the spirit of souvenir, we rifled through the history books to find a bevy of the best forgotten French car companies that are no longer in business. Vive la voiture!

Matra (1964-2003)

Matra had its proverbial fingers in countless pies – from weaponry to aeronautics to cars. Founded in 1964, the marque was actually an evolution of the existing Automobiles René Bonnet brand, and Matra’s first road car – the Djet – was a Renault-powered upgrade of the existing Bonnet machine of the same name.

That was followed by the 530, Bagheera and Murena – but easily the weirdest car to carry the Matra name was the Rancho, a two-wheel drive soft-roader badge-engineered under Chrysler as both a Simca and a Talbot.

Matra’s factories later made Renault machines, with the company ceasing operations in 2003 when Renault pulled the plug on the Avantime.

Darracq (1897-1922)

Next up is a name that lived through many mergers and acquisitions: founded by Alexandre Darracq at the end of the 19th century, it was promptly bought out by an English company (in which he had large stake), before being sold again in 1916 and finally, in 1922, becoming Talbot. Which later became Lago. Tres simple.

Regardless of the corporate confusion, Darracq gave the world a host of very capable motors – most in tonneau guise – at the start of the 20th century. They were fast, too, with Darracq breaking several speed records in the era and enjoying success in motorsport, too.

Talbot (1916-1959)

Speaking of Talbot, Darracq’s successor had a complex story of its own: rooted in the Anglo-French company Clément-Talbot, it was bought out and merged into the pot with Darracq to become STD Motors, eventually coming out of the other side as simply Talbot – only to later be subsumed into Chrysler, then Peugeot, with involvement from Lago along the way (as pictured). Phew.

Through it all, the Talbot name appeared on all manner of machines – from the 4.6-litre Talbot Darracq Type A of the ’20s to the plucky Sunbeam of the late ’70s – while the Talbot-Lago T26 enjoyed some success in Formula 1 in the ’50s.

De Dion-Bouton (1883-1932)

One of the earliest French car companies, De Dion-Bouton was founded in 1883 in Paris where it started out making steam-powered cars.

Come the 20th century, it was making durable four-wheelers powered by proper engines and had become the world’s biggest car maker, as well as supplying its engines to a host of other manufacturers.

Besides its numerous cars, the French marque was responsible for the first mass-produced V8 engine – but that wasn’t enough to sustain the name and, by the early ’30s, production of passenger cars ceased.

Autobleu (1950-1958)

Founded in 1950, Autobleu started out making after-market bits to give Renault cars extra oomph, before going into the car-making business itself – albeit with a machine based on the existing Renault 4CV, complete with its 747cc engine.

With an aluminium-panel body by Ghia, it was slightly funky at the nose but graceful nonetheless, with defined lines that bore a striking resemblance to the BMW 507. Alas, while the car went into production in 1953, by ’58, Autobleu was no more.

Delahaye (1894-1954)

Though it lived for 60 years, Tours-based brand Delahaye is rarely remembered today outside of the classic car world – and that’s a great shame, given how striking and streamlined most of its models were.

It began by experimenting with belt-driven models, before progressing to proper engines, soon cementing its name as a maker of large and luxurious cars – from the stunning 175S Roadster to the all-’50s 235.

Unfortunately, luxury was also its downfall: with its finances failing due to a lack of wealthy buyers, the firm was bough out by Brandt and abolished by 1955.

Clément-Bayard (1903-1922)

Another multifarious French manufacturer, Clément-Bayard variously made planes, airships and cars during its 19-year run at the start of the 20th century.

Built in a factory in Mézières, most of its machines were high-seated tonneau numbers – the likes of which you’ll regularly spot on the London to Brighton Run – though it also built cars for the track, with the founder’s son Albert Clément joining the factory Grand Prix team.

While its factory was seized by the German army during WW1, production did resume after the conflict – only for the company to dissolve in 1922.

Panhard (1887-2012)

Founded by René Panhard and Émile Levassor in 1887 as, creatively, Panhard et Levassor, Panhard cut its teeth creating innovative one-off concepts (fitted with Daimler engines), before going into production proper.

Besides a strong record in motorsport – including a 1-2 finish in the 1895 Paris–Bordeaux–Paris – Panhard’s cars came to be known as reliable, luxurious machines, with the French president Raymond Poincaré using a pair as his official vehicles.

Later models varied wildly, from the DS-alike Panhard 24 to the firm’s aerodynamic racing machines – but falling sales meant the last passenger vehicles were built in ’67, before the division became part of Citroën and the name disappeared.

Brasier (1905-1931)

From Panhard to a man who worked there, Charles-Henri Brasier enjoyed a brief stint at the marque before setting up one of his own, with a Georges Richard – only for the two to fall out and Brasier to go it alone, with the brand taking his name.

Prior to WW1 the company sold some 1000 vehicles a year but, by the late ’20s, its pretty but traditional cars soon left buyers cold. Bought out by a bicycle firm in 1926, Brasier continued to target the luxury market – just as the Wall Street Crash caused global economic meltdown. By the turn of the ’30s, the manufacturer was finished.

Mathis (1905-1946)

Founded by a car dealer in Strasbourg, Mathis started out under a different name making cars designed by others, before launching its own models – the 1.1-litre Babylette and 1.3-litre Baby – on the eve of WW1.

Post-war, production accelerated and Mathis built tens of thousands of cars a year, even finding success during the depression with the likes of the Emyquatre – but the automotive arm couldn’t survive a second war and, with the firm’s Strasbourg plant destroyed, Mathis didn’t release another car after WW2.

Charron (1906-1930)

Born out of an older firm, Charron was the creation of one Fernand Charron – with a lot of money from the UK. 

While its founder didn’t seem all that committed to the marque, at one point leaving to join Clément-Bayard, its cars were very real – from its big 6.7-litre machines of 1912 to the smaller, lighter cars of the ’20s, with their trifling 1.8-litre motors.

After that, though, Charron simply couldn’t compete with the larger, more industrialised marques and production ended in 1930.

Facel Vega (1939-1964)

It might have started out in steel, but Facel Vega became one of the faces of mid-century French motoring – if only for a decade or so.

While the Facel company was born in 1939, the first Facel Vega cars didn’t arrive until the ’50s – and they were quite some cars, equipped with V8 engines, imposing noses and luxurious cabins.

Across the Vega, Facel II and more, the marque delivered some truly stylish, iconic and space-age machines – which only makes its collapse, resulting in large part from the unsuccessful Facellia and its faulty engines, more of a shame.

Salmson (1919-1957)

A maker of pumps, planes and cars, Salmson is technically still in business – but its automotive efforts ceased in the ’50s.

Not before it achieved substantial success with both its road cars and track efforts, though – winning hundreds of races and records in the ’20s with the likes of the D-type, succeeded in the ’30s by the marque's ‘S’ cars.

Though new vehicles continued to be touted into the ’50s and the 2300S competed in Le Mans three times between 1955 and 1957, sales were slumping and by the latter year the operation was sadly done.

Hurtu (1896-1930)

Besides bicycles and sewing machines, Hurtu produced automobiles from as early as 1896 – building licensed machines with borrowed engines – until the late ’20s, when a large 2.4-litre and smaller 1.3-litre model made up the range.

Capable as they were in period, Hurtu’s automobile production ceased in 1930, though the company lived on, making machinery.

Hotchkiss (1903-1955)

Hotchkiss started out making components for the likes of Panhard and De Dion, before going into business itself as a car manufacturer and delivering its first effort in 1903.

Over the next several decades, Hotchkiss established itself as a maker of luxury machines, powering through two World Wars and a depression with its reputation for quality largely intact and a host of rally wins to its name.

Production did slow substantially after WW2, but it was the decision to buy the rights to build the Grégoire (pictured) that did for Hotchkiss: with production costs and delays spiralling, only a handful were actually built and the operation ended in the mid ’50s.

Léon Bollée (1895-1931)

The Bollées were a family of makers, and the Bollée name was lent to steam machines, petrol cars and, well, other petrol cars in the late-18th, early-19th century.

It was Léon Bollée who went the furthest, though: beginning with a belt-driven three-wheeler good for 3bhp, his firm progressed to bigger engined machines in the first decade of the new millennium and was eventually bought by Morris Motors in 1924 as the British company attempted to break into France.

Foreign ownership, though, was not appealing to the French buying public and Morris was forced to close the operation in 1931.

Rolland-Pilain (1905-1932)

For most people, building one car would be an achievement – but it says a lot about the French car industry that a company which produced more than 5000 cars in its day could be all-but forgotten today.

Rolland-Pilain was built on wine money and launched as a repair business, only to venture into building cars of its own after 1907, pioneering a number of game-changing technical solutions – including hydraulic brakes.

Its models were never built in the volumes its competitors achieved, though – even with racing success to drive sales – which eventually led to its founders losing the company and the factory shutting its doors by 1932.

Chénard & Walcker (1898-1946)

Chénard & Walcker – or Chénard–Walcker, depending on who you ask –  might not be widely remembered today, but it’s a marque with a remarkable achievement to its name: it won the inaugural 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1923.

Founded by a pair of engineers, the firm started out making cycles, before venturing into automobiles proper – from the two-cylinder Type A of 1900 to its stunning Super Aigle models of the ’30s. 

Once the fourth-biggest car-maker in France, by the 1930s the company – which hand-built all of its models – couldn’t compete with the modernisation of bigger rivals such as Citroën.

Bought out in 1936, it stumbled on for a while before ceasing production in 1946 – though the name survived on Peugeot vans for a little longer.

SIMCA (1934-1970)

Killed off when it was bought first by the Americans (Chrysler) and then the French themselves (Peugeot), SIMCA was in fact born of the Italians: Fiat founded the company in 1934.

Prior to WW2, the marque largely produced badge-engineered efforts but, following the conflict, SIMCA was pushed by the French government to consolidate and export – leading eventually to the diminutive Aronde, which sold handsomely, fuelling growth and resulting in the make’s purchase of Talbot-Lago in ’58.

Alas, once bought and merged, it would revert to the badge-engineering of old, eventually being abandoned by Peugeot in the ’90s.