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Paul-Marie Pons
Paul-Marie Pons (24 June 1904 – 24 October 1966) was a French naval engineer who became a senior civil servant. He is remembered for the Pons Plan which restructured the French automotive industry in the second half of the 1940s. Life Born in Longwy, département Meurthe et Moselle, Pons was educated at the prestigious École Polytechnique, then at Paris, (now at Palaiseau on the southern fringes of Paris). After this he pursued a successful career in engineering and management. In 1927 he married Michèlle Duchez; the marriage was childless. After the Second World War Pons was appointed to the Ministry of Industrial Production under the direction of the minister, Robert Lacoste. Robert Lacoste had himself been a senior civil servant before the war and had been a member of the French Resistance during the war, after which he re-emerged as a Socialist Deputy and a leading national politician. He died in Paris. The Pons Plan The Pons Plan was conceived in the broader context of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Longwy
Longwy (; older german: Langich, ; lb, label=Luxemburgish, Lonkech) is a commune in the French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, administrative region of Grand Est, northeastern France. The inhabitants are known as ''Longoviciens''. In 2008, the ''ville neuve'' ("New Town") was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as part of the "Fortifications of Vauban" group for its contributions to the development of military architecture and engineering. Economy Longwy has historically been an industrial center of the Lorraine iron mining district. Factories lined the river in historic postcards. The town is also known for its artistic faience, produced there since 1798. It is produced today by the Société des faïenceries de Longwy et Senelle, often in cooperation with artists and ceramists. Overglaze enamel decoration, known as ''émaux'' and often in a manner similar to cloisonné, has been produced in Longwy ceramics since 1872. Initially produced under the direction o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hotchkiss (auto)
Société Anonyme des Anciens Etablissements Hotchkiss et Compagnie was a French arms and, in the 20th century, automobile manufacturer first established by United States gunsmith Benjamin B. Hotchkiss. He moved to France and set up a factory, first at Viviez near Rodez in 1867, manufacturing arms used by the French in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, then moving at Saint-Denis near Paris in 1875. It was merged into and succeeded by Thomson-CSF, now Thales Group. Arms An example of the company's output was the Hotchkiss revolving cannon (see picture from a privately circulated book dated 1874 by Alfred Koerner, later chairman of the company). The cannon had five barrels each able to fire 43 shells a minute a distance of one mile; it was made in four sizes from 37 mm to 57 mm, the largest intended for naval use. At the turn of the twentieth century, the company introduced the gas-actuated Hotchkiss machine gun, a sturdy and reliable weapon which was widely used du ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Citroën 2CV
The Citroën 2CV (french: link=no, deux chevaux(-vapeur), , lit. "two steam horse(power)s", meaning "two ''taxable'' horsepower") is an air-cooled front-engine, front-wheel-drive, economy family car, introduced at the 1948 Paris Mondial de l'Automobile, and manufactured by Citroën for model years 1948–1990. Conceived by Citroën Vice-President Pierre Boulanger to help motorise the large number of farmers still using horses and carts in 1930s France, the 2CV has a combination of innovative engineering and straightforward, utilitarian bodywork — at first with extra thin panels, reinforced by ''corrugating'' the metal. The 2CV featured overall low cost of ownership, simplicity of maintenance, an easily serviced air-cooled engine (originally offering 9 hp), and minimal fuel consumption. In addition, it had literally been designed to cross a freshly ploughed field, because of the great lack of paved roads in France then; with a long-travel suspension system, that con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panhard Dyna X
The Panhard Dyna X was a lightweight berline designed by the engineer Jean Albert Grégoire and first exhibited as the AFG ''(Aluminium Français Grégoire)'' Dyna at the Paris Motor Show in 1946. Conception and development Mindful of the precarious economic situation in France following the Second World War, and aware of government enthusiasm for expanding the strategically important aluminium industry, the Panhard company, which had been known in the 1930s as a manufacturer of expensive six- and eight-cylinder sedans, purchased the rights to build the smaller Grégoire-designed car. The dramatic change of direction was not well received by everyone at Panhard, but it did usher in a period during which Panhard was one of the most loyal followers of the Pons Plan. In view of the fates of France's luxury auto-makers in the next ten years, and the huge development potential that Panhard extracted from the Dyna X, this adherence to the Pons Plan was probably good for Panhard, at le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiat
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division Stellantis Italy. Fiat Automobiles was formed in January 2007 when Fiat S.p.A. reorganized its automobile business, and traces its history back to 1899 when the first Fiat automobile, the Fiat 4 HP, was produced. Fiat Automobiles is the largest automobile manufacturer in Italy. During its more than century-long history, it remained the largest automobile manufacturer in Europe and the third in the world after General Motors and Ford for over 20 years, until the car industry crisis in the late 1980s. In 2013, Fiat S.p.A. was the second largest European automaker by volumes produced and the seventh in the world, while FCA was the world's eighth-largest automaker. In 1970, Fiat Automobiles employ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renault 4CV
The Renault 4CV (french: quatre chevaux, as if spelled ''quat'chevaux'') is a rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive, 4-door economy supermini manufactured and marketed by the French manufacturer Renault from August 1947 through July 1961. It was the first French car to sell over a million units, and was superseded by the Dauphine. The 4CV was of monocoque construction, in length with front suicide doors. CV is the abbreviation of ''chevaux-vapeur'', the French equivalent to "horsepower" as a unit of power. The name 4CV thus refers to the car's tax horsepower. Conception and development The 4CV was originally conceived and designed covertly by Renault engineers during the World War II German occupation of France, when the manufacturer was under strict orders to design and produce only commercial and military vehicles. Between 1941 and 1944 Renault was placed under the technical directorship of a francophile engineer, Wilhelm von Urach (between 1927 and 1940 employed by Daimler Be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pierre Lefaucheux
Pierre-André Lefaucheux (30 June 1898 – 11 February 1955) was a leading French industrialist and recipient of the Order of Liberation, awarded to heroes of France's Liberation during World War II. As the first chairman of Renault during the critical years after World War II, Lefaucheux died in an automobile accident in 1955 at age 56 — while directing the development of the forthcoming Renault Dauphine. Lefaucheux was the subject of the 2009 biography, ''Patron de Renault, Pierre Lefaucheux (1944-1955)'' by Cyrille Sardais. Early years Born at Triel-sur-Seine, and descended from the French inventor Casimir Lefaucheux, Lefaucheux was second of the four children of Pierre André Lefaucheux and Madeleine Dulac. He volunteered for military service in September 1917, his record of military achievement in the First World War being crowned with his receipt of the Croix de Guerre. Returning to civilian life, he enrolled at the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, obtaini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis Renault (industrialist)
Louis Renault (; 12 February 1877 – 24 October 1944) was a French industrialist, one of the founders of Renault, and a pioneer of the automobile industry. Renault built one of France's largest automobile manufacturing concerns, which still bears his name. During World War I his factories contributed massively to the war effort, notably so by the creation and manufacture of the first tank of modern configuration, the Renault FT tank. Accused of collaborating with the Germans during World War II, he died while awaiting trial in liberated France toward the end of 1944 under uncertain circumstances. His company was seized and nationalized by the provisional government of France although he died before he could be tried. His factories were the only ones permanently expropriated by the French government. In 1956, ''Time'' magazine described Renault as "rich, powerful and famous, cantankerous, brilliant, often brutal, the little Napoleon of an automaking empire — vulgar, loud, d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-Albert Grégoire
Jean-Albert Grégoire (7 July 1899 in Paris – 19 August 1992) was one of the great pioneers of the front-wheel-drive car. He contributed to the development of front-wheel-drive vehicles in two ways. The first way was in developing and promoting the Tracta joint (designed by his friend Pierre Fenaille), which was, until manufacturing techniques had progressed sufficiently to allow the successful manufacture of the constant velocity joints commonly in use today, the preferred choice of most manufactures of vehicles that had driven front wheels. Tracta joints were used by many of the pioneers of front-wheel drive, including DKW between 1929 and 1936 and Adler from 1932 to 1939 as well as the cars designed by J A Grégoire that will be mentioned later. The Tracta joint was fitted to most of the military vehicles that had driven front wheels used by most of the combatants in the Second World War. They included Laffly and Panhard in France, Alvis and Daimler in the UK and Willys in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Citroën Traction Avant
The Citroën Traction Avant () is the world’s first unibody front-wheel-drive car. A range of mostly 4-door saloons and executive cars, were made with four or six-cylinder engines, produced by the French manufacturer Citroën from 1934 to 1957. Approximately 760,000 units were produced. Whilst front-wheel drive and independent suspension had been established in the mass market by Auto Union and subsequently others some years before, the Traction Avant pioneered mass-production of a crash resistant, unitary, monocoque body. Additionally, the car was also an early adopter of rack and pinion steering. Although the car's name emphasized its front-wheel drive power delivery ("Traction Avant" literally means “front traction”), the car stood out at least as much by its much lower profile and stance – made possible by the absence of a separate chassis under the car's unitary body – sharply distinguishing it visually from its contemporaries. History The Traction Avant, F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rochet-Schneider
Rochet-Schneider was a French company, based in Lyons, that produced automobiles between 1894 and 1932. The Rochet-Schneider sales slogan was "strength, simplicity and silence". Like other motorcars of the Brass Era, the cars made by Rochet-Schneider were largely intended for wealthy hobbyists and made use of brass fittings, pattern leather, hand-crafted wood and other expensive components. Early period Edouard Rochet and his father were bicycle manufacturers before entering motorcar production. In 1894 they were joined by Théophile Schneider, a relative of the eponymous armaments family. Between 1895 and 1901, the company built approximately 240 single-cylinder cars " Benz-type" cars. At the 1901 Paris Salon, the company introduced a range of two and four-cylinder cars. Around 1903, these were redesigned along similar lines to Mercedes. Rochet-Schneider Ltd. By this time, Rochet-Schneider had become one of the most respected car manufacturers in France. In 1904 the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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