Messier was a French automobile manufacturer, based at

Montrouge Montrouge () is a commune in the southern Parisian suburbs, located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe. After a long period of decline, the population has increased again in recent years. ...

, on the southern edge of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, from 1925 till 1931.Linz, Schrader: ''Die Internationale Automobil-Enzyklopädie.''Georgano: ''The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile.''Georgano: ''Autos. Encyclopédie complète. 1885 à nos jours.''

Origins

George Messier George Messier (1896–1933) was a French inventor who is best known as the pioneer of hydraulically-operated landing gear for aircraft. He also specialized in hydropneumatic suspension Hydropneumatic suspension is a type of motor vehicle suspe ...

owned a factory for "pneumatic equipment" at least as early as 1920. He also developed a type of air suspension for automobiles. In 1920 he created the company ''Messier Automobiles'' and marketed the air suspension. From 1925 he produced automobiles on his own account, using the Messier name. In 1931 Messier abandoned automobile production in order to concentrate primarily on aircraft landing gear after having built and flown the Messier Monoplace Laboratorie monoplane, to test a retractable bicycle type undercarriage. At least one source claims that Messier's air suspension was the basis for the revolutionary

Hydropneumatic suspension Hydropneumatic suspension is a type of motor vehicle suspension system, designed by Paul Magès, invented by Citroën, and fitted to Citroën cars, as well as being used under licence by other car manufacturers, notably Rolls-Royce ( Silver Sha ...

of later Citroën models including, most notably, the 1955 DS. The inventor of the Hydropneumatic suspension,

Paul Magès Paul Ernest Mary Magès (1908–1999) is known for his invention of the first self-leveling automobile suspension, known as hydro-pneumatic suspension. This system replaced conventional steel springs with an adaptive system of hydraulic struts, r ...

, was born in 1908,http://paulmages.com so it is feasible that heard of the ''Messier'' system, but he used oil and not air as the springing mechanism.

The cars

The notable feature of the cars was their

air suspension Air suspension is a type of vehicle suspension powered by an electric or engine-driven air pump or compressor. This compressor pumps the air into a flexible bellows, usually made from textile-reinforced rubber. Unlike hydropneumatic suspension, ...

. The engines were bought from specialist engine manufacturers. The first cars used a 4-cylinder engine from CIME. There was a racing model powered by a

overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...

unit while Touring and Limousine bodied 4-cylinder cars were fitted with a overhead camshaft unit. In October 1924 the manufacturer took a stand at the 19th Paris Motor Show, preparing to market his small cars during the 1925 model year. They were advertised as "voitures sans ressorts" ''(cars without springs)'', highlighting the unconventional pneumatic suspension. In place of springs the cars featured above each front wheel pneumatic tubes of compressed air, each of diameter. Similar tubes were fixed in place of the rear suspension, shorter than the tubes at the front, but also slightly thicker, each having a diameter. By October 1928, it was clear from the cars exhibited on the Messier stand at the 22nd Paris Motor Show that the manufacturer had "changed class". There were 6-cylinder cars with engine capacities of and and 8-cylinder models of developing and producing . The largest engines came from Lycoming Engines of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, while engines from other American suppliers were also used. The 8-cylinder "Messier Type H" was offered with two alternative wheelbase lengths of respectively and . Many of the 50 built were fitted with

ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

bodies.

External links

History of the Messier Company
(In French)

Reading list

*Harald Linz, Halwart Schrader: ''Die Internationale Automobil-Enzyklopädie.'' United Soft Media Verlag, München 2008, . (German) *George Nick Georgano (Chefredakteur): ''The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile.'' Volume 3: ''P–Z.''

Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers Fitzroy Dearborn was an American publisher of academic library reference titles with offices in London and Chicago. It was acquired by Taylor & Francis as an imprint of Routledge Reference in 2002, before Taylor & Francis merged with Informa. At ...

, Chicago 2001, . (English) *George Nick Georgano: ''Autos. Encyclopédie complète. 1885 à nos jours.'' Courtille, Paris 1975. (French)

References

{{reflist Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of France Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1920 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1931 1920 establishments in France 1931 disestablishments in France