Talbot-Lago was a French automobile manufacturer based in Suresnes, Hauts de Seine, outside Paris. The company was owned and managed by Antonio Lago, an Italian engineer that acquired rights to the Talbot brand name after the demise of Darracq London's subsidiary Automobiles Talbot France in 1936.
Delage is a French luxury automobile and racecar company founded in 1905 by Louis Delâge in Levallois-Perret near Paris; it was acquired by Delahaye in 1935 and ceased operation in 1953.
Delahaye was a family-owned automobile manufacturing company, founded by Émile Delahaye in 1894 in Tours, France. Manufacturing was moved to Paris following incorporation in 1898 with two marriage-related brothers-in-law, George Morane and Leon Desmarais, as Emile Delahaye's equal partners. The company built a low volume line of limited production luxury cars with coachbuilt bodies; trucks; utility and commercial vehicles; buses; and fire-trucks. Delahaye made a number of technical innovations, particular in its early years. After establishing a racing department in 1932, the company came to prominence in France in the mid-to-late 1930s, first with the International record-breaking Type 138; then, the Type 135 that famously evolved into the special short-wheelbase sports-racing Type 135CS; followed by the V12 types 145 and 155 racecars. Many races were won, and records set. The company faced setbacks due to the Second World War, and was taken over by amalgamation with arch competitor Hotchkiss in 1954. Both were absorbed by the large Brandt manufacturing organization, within months, with automotive products ended. Delahaye closed forever at the end of 1954, taking Delage along with it.
A coachbuilder or body-maker is a person or company who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles. Coachwork is the body of an automobile, bus, horse-drawn carriage, or railway carriage. The word "coach" was derived from the Hungarian town of Kocs. A vehicle body constructed by a coachbuilder may be called a "coachbuilt body" or "custom body".
Henri Chapron was a prominent French automobile coachbuilder. His carrosserie, created in 1919, was located in the Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret.
Automobiles Hotchkiss manufactured luxury cars in Saint-Denis, Paris between 1903 and 1955 and trucks between 1936 and 1970. It was a subsidiary of the French company Hotchkiss et Cie. The badge for the marque showed a pair of crossed cannons, evoking the company's history as an arms manufacturer. Hotchkiss also briefly built cars under the Hotchkiss Grégoire brand after the war. Hotchkiss went through a number of mergers and takeovers after the war and the brand disappeared in the 1970s; its successor companies went on to eventually form the partially state-owned Thales Group.
Tracta was a French car maker based in Asnières, Seine, that was active between 1926 and 1934. They were pioneers of front-wheel-drive vehicles.
The Grégoire is a luxury car produced from 1950 to 1954 by the French automaker Hotchkiss. Only about 247 were produced, with serial numbers 500 to 747.
The Delahaye Type 175 is a coachbuilt luxury automobile manufactured by French automaker Delahaye. Production build numbers were formally recorded from early 1948 to mid 1951, validating that 107 cars were built in the mechanically cloned three wheelbase series comprising the Types 175/175S, 178 and 180.
The Delahaye 135 is a luxury car manufactured by French automaker Delahaye. Designed by engineer Jean François, it was produced from 1935 until 1954 in many different body styles. A sporting tourer, it was also popular for racing.
Saoutchik was a French coachbuilding company founded in 1906 and based in Neuilly-sur-Seine near Paris. The company was one of the best-known coachbuilders in France in the 1920s and 1930s and, together with Figoni et Falaschi and Franay, is considered one of the most important representatives of the "Baroque" style in French coachwork in the 1930s and 1940s.
The Delahaye 134 is a four-cylinder luxury automobile manufactured by Delahaye. Based on Jean François' Delahaye 135, it was produced from 1933 to 1940 and was briefly brought back by Delahaye manager Charles Weiffenbach in 1945 after hostilities ended. At the same time, the larger engined 134G also appeared. As a part of the "Plan Pons" aimed at reviving French industry, Delahaye was to focus on building luxury cars, in particular for the export markets. The lesser 134 did not suit the plan and was taken out of production by 1946, in preference to the more lucrative 135, 148, and 175 models. Most 134s built carried saloon bodywork by Autobineau, a subsidiary of Letourneur et Marchand.
The Delahaye VLR was a four-wheel-drive passenger vehicle clearly inspired by the Jeep and first presented, after an unusually long gestation, by Delahaye during the Summer of 1950. At a time when the luxury car market had been driven into freefall by a combination of government taxation policy and the depressed state of the postwar economy, the VLR was critical in keeping alive the company that produced it during the early 1950s.
The Delahaye 171 was a “colonial” style vehicle developed by Delahaye for use in French Equatorial Africa and French West Africa. 1,082 units were built in its production run, which came to an end in 1953 or 1954. Sources differ.
The Hotchkiss M201 was the standard light utility vehicle used by the French army from shortly after the second World War until it began retiring them from French service in the 1980s. It started in 1955 as a World War II jeep built under license and in many respects was little changed when production ended in 1966. The last M201 was taken out of French service as late as year 2000. In France it is usually simply called "La Jeep".
The Renault Suprastella is a large car that was introduced by Renault in the Spring of 1938 as a replacement for the Renault Nervastella from which it inherited its mechanical elements and many other essential characteristics.
The Talbot Lago-Record Type T26 was a large, six-cylinder executive car launched by the French Talbot company in 1946. In the context of the company's protracted financial collapse, the last T26s were probably those produced during 1953.
Letourneur & Marchand, located in the prosperous Paris suburb Neuilly-sur-Seine, was a car body manufacturing business which became one of the last French coachbuilders.
The Delage D6 is a six-cylinder luxury car produced by the manufacturer between 1930 and 1940 and again, after the war, between 1946 and 1953. For much of this time it was the company’s principal or, from 1946, only model.
The Delage D8 was an eight-cylinder luxury car produced by Delage between 1929 and 1940.
