Renault Taxi Type Taxi de la Marne 8 C 2 CIL
Renault coupé 12 CV
Renault 6 CV NN 4 CIL
Car : Renault Taxi Type Taxi de la Marne 8 C 2 CIL
Year : 1906
Engine : twin-cylinder
Bore and stroke : 80×120 mm
Cylinder capacity : 1205 cc
Gears : 3 forward
Brake horse power :-
Maximum speed : 37 mph
Wheelbase : 6 ft 5 ins (1.95 m)
Suspension : front :semi-elliptic leaf- springs ;
rear: ¼ elliptic leaf- springs with auxillary springs
Louis Renault will be remembered not only for the great cars he produced but also for his patent on the direct-transmission gearbox. He also opened his factory to the Germans in the Second World War, possibly in an effort to save the plant. This resulted, however, in his imprisonment in 1944 and the confiscation of the factory by the government. These two events proved too great a blow for Louis Renault who died the same year.
Possibly one of the most famous events in Renault history is the use of the Marne Taxi in the First World War. Production of the type started in 1905, and many were used as taxis. The engine had side valves, magneto ignition, a cone clutch and shaft drive. The maximum speed was 37 mph. During the the First World War, the German Army invaded France and in order to quickly get French troops through to the front line, thousands of the Marne 8 C 2 CIL Paris taxis were used to transport that the government paid the standard fare for each trip, despite the fact that some of the fares were 130 francs.
Car : Peugeot 16 HP Type 116
Year : 1908
Engine : 4 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke : 80×110 mm
Cylinder capacity : 2212 cc
Gears : 4 forward
Brake horse power :-
Maximum speed : -
Wheelbase : 9 ft 2 ins (2.79 m)
Suspension : front and rear: semi-elliptic leaf- springs
The 16 HP made in 1908 was a conventional car with a side valve engine , high tension magneto ignition and shaft drive. The relatively small engine capacity seemed inadequate for the car’s needs. In reality it was quite the opposite and the Type 116 was a very reliable car.
In 1913 the second Peugeot to be called Bébé, appeared. The design was entrusted to Ettore Bugatti. It had the smallest 4-cylinder engine on the market. The 856 cc engine had a T cylinder head and was of an antiquated design but it turned out to be perfectly suited to a car that weighed less than 730 pounds (330 kg). Its maximum speed was a 2-litre gearbox and there was a special control lever for reverse. The car’s principal defects were the short life of the tires, which, it is said, had to be replaced after less than 6,000 miles and the lack of precision in the steering. The Bébé went out of production in 1916. A total of 3,095 cars were built but a much larger number, about 12,205, of the Quadrilette, its successor, were built.
Car : Panhard-Levassor X 17SS
Year : 1912
Engine : 4 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke : 80×130 mm
Cylinder capacity : 2614 cc
Gears : 4 forward
Brake horse power :-
Maximum speed : -
Wheelbase : –
Suspension : front : semi-elliptic leaf- springs ;
rear : elliptic leaf- springs consisting of two semi-elliptic ones, the upper being a
cantilever leaf- springs
If it had not been absorbed by Citroën in 1965 and had its name totally suppressed, Panhard would have shared with Renault and Peugeot the record for being the oldest car companies still in business. The company was founded in 1889 but its origins go back to 1845 with a company for the manufacture of wood-working machines in Paris. In 1867 Réné Panhard joined, and in 1872 a school fellow of his, Emile Levassor, joined the company as well. 
The founder of the company, Perin, died but Panhard and Levassor continued together and they received the commission to build in France an engine designed by Gottlieb Daimler. In 1889 Panhard and Levassor began to design and manufacture cars.
The X17SS was one of the most up-to-date vehicles produced by the firm. It had a sleeve-valve engine under licence from Knight; this was a vertical twin block with fitted and flat cylinder heads and it was fed by a Panhard constant adjustment carburetor. It had magneto ignition, shaft drive, pressure lubrication and water cooling and an oil bath clutch. The Knight sleeve engine of four cylinder in 1911, and used on all their cars up to 1939.
Car : Mathis PS 10 CV
Year : 1924
Engine : 6 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke : 55×80 mm
Cylinder capacity : 1140 cc
Gears : 4 forward
Brake horse power :-
Maximum speed : 55 mph
Wheelbase : 9 ft 0 ins (2.74 m)
Suspension : front and rear: semi-elliptic leaf- springs
Emile Ernst Mathis, who began work as an apprentice, and Ettore Bugatti, who was also working for De Dietrich, found themselves free of commitments and for a time they collaborated together before each went his won way. Mathis and Bugatti had designed a large car, the 7500 cc Hermes-Simplex, later known as the Mathis-Hermes, the construction of which was entrusted to an outside firm. In 1906 the there were four models in production but it was not until 1910 that Mathis itself built cars.
After the war activity was resumed and publicized by an intense involvement in racing. There was a fore-runner of the PS 10 that had an even smaller engine (1080 cc) and a 3-speed gearbox. In 1923 it was fitted with a 4-speed transmission and the capacity was increased to 1140 cc. The engine had a fixed cylinder head and three were brakes only on the rear wheels. There was also a sporting version with overhead valves and a maximum brakes were finally fitted on all four wheels and the wheelbase was lengthened to allow it to carry four people. There were then five models: 2-seater, tourer , cabriolet, 3-door sedan, and 4-door sedan. The lowest priced model cost 21,000 francs.
Car : Lorraine-Dietrich 15 CV Sport
Year : 1925
Engine : 6 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke : 75×130 mm
Cylinder capacity : 3446 cc
Gears : 3 forward
Brake horse power :70
Maximum speed : 93 mph
Wheelbase : 10 ft 3 ins (3.12 m)
Suspension : front : semi-elliptic leaf- springs; rear: cantilever leaf- springs
This make, which began in 1897 as Soiété De Dietrich et Cie (later becoming Soiété Dietrich des Anciens Etablissements De Dietrich et Cie de Luneville) was very successful in the sporting field. Its first car was designed by Amédée Bollée and another was designed by Ettore Bugatti. 
Convinced that racing would bring it great publicity, De Dietrich concentrated on racing. It began by competing in the Paris-Madrid race and then in the Gordon-Bennett cup, the Circuit of the Ardennes and the Moscow-St Petersburg race. The employment of Marius Barbarou as engineer increased the sporting character of Lorraine. It took second and third places in the 1924 Le Mans 24 Hour and won it in 1925. The engine had overhead valves (which were operated by rockers), water-cooling and pressure lubrication. It developed 70 bhp at 3,500 revs. ,weighed 2,380 pounds (1,080 kg) and had a maximum speed of 93 mph.
Lorraine-Dietrich attempted to expand internationally by buying half the registered stock of Isotta – Fraschini and by setting up an English Lorraine- De Dietrich in Birmingham. It was itself, however, taken over and was forced to become part of a Franco-Belgian financial group.
Car : Le Zèbre 4 CV
Year : 1911
Engine : single-cylinder
Bore and stroke : 85×106 mm
Cylinder capacity : 616 cc
Gears : 2 forward
Brake horse power :10
Maximum speed : 31 mph
Wheelbase : 7 ft 0 ins (2.13 m)
Suspension : front and rear: semi-elliptic leaf- springs
The little Le Zèbre was one of the first cars to be designed by Jules Salomon, who was later to be summoned by André Citroën to design the legendary 5 CV. This 4 CV had all the features of a normal car and despite its small engine capacity it appeared to the skeptical eyes of the public to be a normal 4-wheeler. The engine was water cooled, it had magneto ignition and shaft drive. The first version was a single-seater and could reach speeds of 31 mph. This version was progressively improved and updated. 
In 1913 a 3-speed transmission was fitted and it became a 4-seater. A third series, in a 2-seater torpedo version, had an increased engine capacity of 785 cc. A fourth series came out in 1918. The feature that distinguished this car from its predecessors was its 4-cylinder engine. This was Salomon’s last effort for Le Zèbre as in 1919 the moved to Citroën.
The company then improved the quality of their product, abandoning amall engines and producing an engine of medium capacity: a 2000 cc 4-cylinder, the Z, which was designed by another talented engineer did not achieve the success of tiny and efficient utility cars and the firm had disappeared by 1932.
Car : Hotchkiss AL Torpedo
Year : 1922
Engine : 4 cylinder in line
Bore and stroke : 95×140 mm
Cylinder capacity : 3962 cc
Gears : 4 forward
Brake horse power :-
Maximum speed : -
Wheelbase : –
Suspension : front : semi-elliptic leaf- springs; rear: cantilever leaf- springs
Like many other manufacturers Hotchkiss did not begin as a car factory. In its case it did not begin with bicycles or motor cycles but with heavy armaments, as the two crossed cannons that from its emblem clearly show. History tells that a certain Benjamin Berkeley Hotchkiss supplied Napoleon III with cannons.
The AL, which was considered to be the equivalent of the Lancia Theta or Kappa, was a direct descendant of the AF which had taken part in 1914 in the Austrian Alpine Trial. After the Armistice the AF became the AH with a cone clutch, a 4-speed gearbox, pressure (pumped) lubrication and an electric starter. The AL includes all the improvements made in the preceding models and it used for the first time an open shaft drive. This was known as Hotchkiss transmission and was used in place of a shaft enclosed in the propeller tube. The car weighed 2,870 pounds (1,300 kg) and was capable of a top speed of about 60 mph. An interesting feature was the two piece windshield that protected the passengers in the rear seats.
The AL was a successful car; in 1919 and 1920 450 were sold. In 1922 overhead valves were fitted, the cylinder head was detachable whilst in 1923 brakes on the front wheels were added.
Car : Gregoire 13/18 CV
Year : 1911
Engine : 4 cylinder in line
Bore and stroke : 80×110 mm
Cylinder capacity : 2212 cc
Gears : 3 forward
Brake horse power :-
Maximum speed : -
Wheelbase : 9 ft 6 ins (2.89 m)
Suspension : front and rear : semi-elliptic leaf- springs;
This was one of the most successful of Gregoire’s models. Gregoire began by producing motorcycles and boat engines, moving on to cars in 1903. It produced small engined cars of ‘voiturettes’ as they were known in France, which were powered by twin-cylinder or twin block four-cylinder engines.
Gregoire’s early years were characterized by an intense but rather unprofitable involvement in racing. In 1920 it entered a machine in the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. The dividends that Gregoire failed to gain on the circuits came from its ordinary customers as it had won an enviable reputation for the handling and the sturdiness of its cars. The 13/18 CV gave rise to the 14/24 CV which was particularly successful. It had a 2212 cc 4-cylinder engine (80×110 mm) and a 3-speed transmission. After two years it was increased to 3210 cc and a 4-speed gearbox was fitted. The latter had a certain impact on racing which was suitably appreciated by the public. Its most prominent features were a good top speed and its lightness in weight. Gregoire continued production after the First World War but to a lesser extent. In 1920 it supplied chassis to Bignan and in 1924 it went out of business entirely.
Car : Delaunay Belleville Type HB
Year : 1911
Engine : 6 cylinder in line
Bore and stroke : 85×130 mm
Cylinder capacity : 4426 cc
Gears : 4 forward
Brake horse power :30
Maximum speed : 50 mph
Wheelbase : 10 ft 6 ins (3.20 m)
Suspension : front : semi-elliptic leaf- springs;
rear: semi-elliptic leaf- springs with transverse leaf- springs
It is maintained that Delaunay Bellevilles, known for their elegance and robustness, formed part of the Russian Czar’s fleet and that after him they served Lenin and Trotsky. It is certain, however, that this make was synonymous with elegance and refinement over a long period of time. It began at the 1904 Paris Motor Show, when three cars designed by the highly regarded engineer, Marius Barbarou were displayed.
The early models had side valves, T-cylinder heads and shaft drive. The Type HB of 1911 was one of the first 6-cylinders and its quietness, a quality much appreciated in those days, rapidly excited admiration. The bodies, built by the best French firms, added that touch of elegance and exclusiveness to the Delaunay Belleville.
During the war the French firm assembled Hispano-Suiza airplane engines and at the end of the war it resumed activity with its old models, but these appeared rather outdated, especially as it had to compete with tougher, more modern manufacturers. In 1933 it ceased to be a manufacturer of luxury cars. It tried to win itself a new corner of the market with an assembled car (using chassis and engines from other makers) but this failed.