DB was a French automobile maker between 1938 and 1961, based in Champigny-sur-Marne near Paris. The firm was founded by Charles Deutsch and René Bonnet, an offshoot of the Deutsch family's existing coachbuilding shop which had been taken over by Bonnet in 1932. Immediately before the war the partners concentrated on making light-weight racing cars, but a few years after the war, starting with the presentation of a Panhard based cabriolet at the 1950 Paris Motor Show, the company also began to produce small road-going sports cars. By 1952 the company no longer had its own stand at the Paris Motor Show, but one of their cars appeared as a star attraction on the large Panhard stand, reflecting the level of cooperation between the two businesses.
Robert Choulet is a French aerodynamics engineer influential in race car dynamics.
Founded in 1939, Facel S.A. was a French company established to manufacture components for Bronzavia's military aircraft. They made steel furniture and pressed steel components, and later made complete automobiles to their own design. In 1945, in conjunction with Métallon, Facel began to make short-run special bodies, coupés or cabriolets, for Simca, Ford, Panhard and Delahaye. Approximately 2,900 cars of all models were hand-built in the short life of Facel.
Simca was a French automaker, founded in November 1934 by Fiat and directed from July 1935 to May 1963 by Italian Henri Théodore Pigozzi. Simca was affiliated with Fiat and, after Simca bought Ford's French activities, became increasingly controlled by the Chrysler Group. In 1970, Simca became a subsidiary and brand of Chrysler Europe, ending its period as an independent company. Simca disappeared in 1978, when Chrysler divested its European operations to another French automaker, PSA Peugeot Citroën. PSA replaced the Simca brand with Talbot after a short period when some models were badged as Simca-Talbots.
Automobiles René Bonnet was a French automobile maker.
Matford was a car and truck manufacturer in France from 1934 to 1940.
The Atla is a French automobile that was manufactured from 1957 to 1959 in the commune of Garches in the western suburbs of Paris.
The Renault Caravelle is a sports car manufactured and marketed by Renault for model years 1958-1968 in a single generation — as a rear-engine, rear drive open two/four-seater designed by Pietro Frua of Carrozzeria Ghia, using the floorpan and engine of the Renault Dauphine.
The Ford Vedette is a large car that was manufactured by Ford SAF in their Poissy plant from 1948-1954.
Ford SAF was the French subsidiary of the American automaker Ford Motor Company, which existed under various names between 1916 and 1954, when Ford sold the manufacturing business to Simca.
Marathon was a French automobile manufacturer established by a group of engineers under the leadership of a rally enthusiast called Bernard Denis. Prototypes for a lightweight sports coupé were presented at various motor shows starting with the 1951 Frankfurt Motor Show and the cars were produced between 1953 and 1955.
The Panhard et Levassor Dynamic is a large car introduced by the French auto-maker Panhard et Levassor as a replacement for the company’s CS model at the Paris Motor Show in October 1936.
The HBR 5 model (1954–1959) was Deutsch and Bonnet's (DB) most successful project to date, with several hundred of the cars produced until 1959. Another small series of lowered and lightened cars called "Super Rallye" occurred in 1960 and 1961. Around 660 of the Mille Miles, Coach, and HBR 4/5s were built in total. Other sources account for 950 DB coupés, of which nearly all would be HBRs and their Frua-designed predecessors.
The DB Le Mans is a fibreglass-bodied two-door sports car with front-wheel drive, built in France from 1959 until 1964. Originally equipped with Panhard two-cylinder boxers, the cars built by René Bonnet had Renault four-cylinder engines. The car, with pronounced tailfins and more comfortable than previous efforts by DB was aimed squarely at the US market.
The SOciété des Véhicules André Morin (SOVAM) is a French company that specializes in mechanized handling equipment for airports. In the mid-to-late 1960s they also operated an automobile manufacturing division that enjoyed a modicum of success but that was never profitable.
The Panhard CD is a car designed by Charles Deutsch and built by Panhard from 1963 to 1965. The CD was named for Deutsch and is considered a continuation of the line of Panhard-powered vehicles built by Deutsch-Bonnet. The car was the production version of the CD Dyna that raced at Le Mans in June 1962.
