The fabulous World of the unknown French sports car makers!

[AW111]

Dusty964 said:

Welter Racing

That's the best looking race car I've seen in ages.

[NordicCrankShaft]

blueg33 said:

Don't forget Bugatti. Although now owned by Germans

I think it's a little known French make as most people think they are Italian.

Edited by blueg33 on Sunday 5th June 08:54

After confirming this with a bit of Google search action, I feel that my world has now been turned upside down. I genuinely always thought they were Italian and I have no idea why!

[AW111]

NordicCrankShaft said:

After confirming this with a bit of Google search action, I feel that my world has now been turned upside down. I genuinely always thought they were Italian and I have no idea why!

It's probably because it ends in 'i'

You still need to sit on the step of shame for a while

[Ciid]

Dermot O'Logical said:

But then there was the even more impenetrable "Index of Thermal Efficiency", a much more complex calculation which favoured small-engined lightweight cars.

Which happened to be exactly what the small French makers were entering.

Lotus, Porsche, Ford, etc., had won a lot of times that award.

The French makers were experts in small engines, because of political decisions to promote the development of fuel efficiency engines after the second world war.

[Ciid]

OwenK said:

To me this thread is at its most interesting when posting weird and wonderful road car designs that I've never seen but are often beautiful... Personally I'm not bothered in another generic LMP2 chassis or whatever.

Marcadier Barzoi

[darrenw]

DB. I'd sort of heard of them but hadn't actually seen any of their cars in real life until the Le Mans Classic last weekend.


DB Le Mans EA-378-LE - photo by Retro-Motoring


DB-Gignoux - photo by Retro-Motoring


DB GT - photo by Retro-Motoring


DB Coach DS-381-KX - photo by Retro-Motoring


DB GT 5807-SD-87 - photo by Retro-Motoring

[Ciid]

The Crack Fox said:

I thought I knew my onions, but that is new to me. Got any more info?

Great thread, BTW.

Thank you very much!



André MARCADIER and Marcel FOURNIER

Two men, two marques: the artisan's genius



The career of Andre Marcadier (1925-2013), an affable and colourful Lyonnais, began in 1947, building high-quality bicycles using duralumin for the frames. This was a delicate, time-consuming process, consisting first of rolling aluminium sheets into tubing and then welding the entire seam----- a real work of art!
Still on only two wheels, he then switched his talents to competition motor-cycles, building frames around various engines: one of these came second in the 1957 Monza Grand Prix.
Around this time karting began in Europe, and Marcadier soon began building simple, light chassis, something which became a feature of his long and varied career. The overwhelming success, in 1961,of the team from Lyon (Verd, Dumont, Janoray) included the European endurance title.
André Marcadier's career took a decisive step when , in the early 1960's, he met a person who was beginning to make a name for himself in motor sport circles: none other than Colin Chapman, founder of Lotus.
To make motor sport in France an affordable activity, it was necessary, as the English had done, to produce a small, two-seater tubular-chassis sports car incorporating a cheap, small-capacity mass-produced engine. To keep co ts down , this would be sold as a kit.
Marcadier got together with a local-panel-beater, Marcel Founier, and together they created ’Fournier-Marcadier ’. In the end of 1963 they launched what was to become France's first "kit" sports car".

This was a two-seater with an elegant open-top fibreglass body, not unlike the Lotus 23. The engine was located centrally in a superb tubular chassis, which was remarkably sophisticated taking into account the low-cost aim.
3600 enquiries flowed in from prospective purchasers and other interested parties. The model became a great success in competition: Sport-Auto magazine organised a championship around it!

From 1966 onwards, the two colleagues launched a single-seater to take part in the national championship which eventually became known as Formule France.
Like the sports car, it was very light (320 kgs), with a well-designed chassis. The engine was from the Renault 8 Major, which had enough power to make the car quite lively, as testified by Jean-Pierre Beltoise in a test he did for Sport-Auto.
Very shortly afterwards, the car was fitted with a Renault 8 Gordini engine, and achieved several excellent results in Formula Libre in the hands of Roger Cohen, the "works" driver. It even took overall honours against Formula 3 single-seaters!

The commercial success of the Barzoi shouldn't detract fron its competition success: Francois Lacarrau took second place in the 1968 Grand Prix de Paris at Montlhery, against such well-known names as Servoz-Gavin, Wicky, Jungenet etc armed with Matra 470BRM, Ferrari, Porsche 906's etc !

Sport-Auto remembered it as a "David versus Goliath" race, with the little Barzoi, powered by a 105 Bhp R8Gordini engine, up against cars with 250 to 400 Bhp!

In 1970 Marcel Fournier retired, leaving Andre Marcadier to continue working away. In the same year he produced a two-seater sports-racer specifically for competition, and which used the Barzoi as its base.
This model, called Can-Am after the American cars which inspired its appearance, was the first of a series which allowed talented amateur drivers to have a real competition sports racer at a budget price.
Thus, at the 1975 French mountain-climb championships, Marcadiers, powered by Renault 8 Gordini 1300cc engines, finished 4th and 5th, up against Formula 2 single-seaters and 2-litre prototypes!
The 1978 season brought even greater success in what was already becoming a more "professional" discipline: Marcadier's final creation, an elegant sports racer powered by a 300 Bhp Ford-Hart 2-litre engine,totally dominated its class and even worried the Formula 2 single-seaters which, due to their handling and low weight, were the quickest cars on the mountains.
The driver was not altogether unknown: Roger Rivoire had been an apprentive at Fournier-Marcadier who, in 1974, had come very close to becoming French mountain-climb champion).The low-budget but talented Marcadier/Rivoire combination won its class on 11 out of 14 events: in the 3 other events the car was using an engine which was "past its prime".

In early 1967, a brilliant develpoment of the open-top sports car emerged from the Lyon workshops: this was the unforgettable Barzoi.It took its mechanicals from the earlier model, but had a roof and doors incorporated, to cater for buyers who wanted a more usable car. Like the Mercedes 300SL, it had gull-wing doors because of its tubular chassis and low height.
The Barzoi Mk.1 was succeeded by the Mk.2, powered by a Simca 1000 Rallye 2 engine, since by now Renault had ceased to produce the 8 Gordini engine .It was a futuristic concept which, whilst not possessing the grace of its memorable predecessor, nevertheless won plaudits for its road-holding, derived from the competition sports-racers.
In conclusion, history will remember these models as clever designs which allowed mass-produced mechanicals to be fully exploited. Their lightness reflected their build quality, just as their competition success reflected their effectiveness.
But Fournier-Marcadier's greatest contribution was to spear-head the drive to make motor sport accessible to those on a low budget at a time when this was not yet the French sporting priority it was later to become.

Yesterday, the story of Fournier-Marcadier cars continues. These cars have been appreciated by car lovers and collectors from various countries, gleaning their presting in numerous classic car meetings.

http://www.marcadier.com/index_eng.htm

[Ciid]

darrenw said:

DB. I'd sort of heard of them but hadn't actually seen any of their cars in real life until the Le Mans Classic last weekend.


DB Le Mans EA-378-LE - photo by Retro-Motoring


DB-Gignoux - photo by Retro-Motoring


DB GT - photo by Retro-Motoring


DB Coach DS-381-KX - photo by Retro-Motoring


DB GT 5807-SD-87 - photo by Retro-Motoring

Fantastic! Thank thank you very much!

[boyse7en]

I saw one of these while on holiday as a small boy and thought it was the best-looking car I'd ever seen - bearing in mind the glut of Escorts, Maxis, Hillman Avengers and Austin Princesses that were my daily view.



Matra-Simca Bagheera. Was a bit gutted to find out it was only 1300cc...

[Ciid]

boyse7en said:

I saw one of these while on holiday as a small boy and thought it was the best-looking car I'd ever seen - bearing in mind the glut of Escorts, Maxis, Hillman Avengers and Austin Princesses that were my daily view.



Matra-Simca Bagheera. Was a bit gutted to find out it was only 1300cc...

Very nice!

The Matra Murena was also very nice:

[Dusty964]

Thats the single row 3 seater isnt it?

Never even heard of them until there was a page in a recent Octane magazine about them.

[Ciid]

Dusty964 said:

Thats the single row 3 seater isnt it?

Never even heard of them until there was a page in a recent Octane magazine about them.

Yes

[Ciid]

[Ciid]

MD Rallye Sport

MD Rallye Sport is a motorsport team that builds and prepares buggies.

Antoine Morel started up the team out of passion for motorsports.

His achievements : he has supported 7 DAKARS, participated in 5 DAKARS on motorbikes and 5 DAKARS riding quad bikes with a victory in 2005, and a DAKAR driving a T4, 14 DAKARS in assistance.

Michel Gambillon, a well-known name in these circles, joined the team in 2006, which has enabled MD Rallye Sport to broaden their field of expertise, as they can now build and prepare buggies and Springboks, with the help of their partner “Pro-pulsion”.

Since 2008 MD Rallye Sport is constantly developing his buggy, named OPTIMUS in 2009.

To this day, MD Rallye Sport are the only team capable of preparing not only quad bikes for competitions, but also buggies and springboks. Antoine Morel also mentions that without the hard work put in by his wife “Maryse” at headquarters and during competitions, the team would not be as successful.

Antoine Morel also adds that “Pascal Thomasse”, a rally driver and a rally raid driver ( French champion with 32 victories ) joined us in 2008. We now benefit from all his knowledge in terms of management, development ideas and driving skills.

Edited by Ciid on Tuesday 19th July 19:12

[Ciid]

[Ciid]

Exagon Engineering/Motors

Exagon Engineering is a French auto racing team which is based in Magny-Cours. The team was founded by director Luc Marchetti in 2004, and is managed by former racer Cathy Muller who is the older sister of successful touring car driver Yvan Muller. Exagon Engineering are best known for preparing cars to enter in the FIA World Touring Car Championship, although they also run cars in other events such as rallycross, sportscar racing and ice racing.

Exagon Motors was established in 2009 as a division of Exagon Engineering[2] to develop a production road car. It unveiled its first car, the Furtive-eGT at the Paris Motor Show in 2012.

[Ciid]

http://www.exagon-motors.com/

[Ciid]

Exagon Engineering is the manufacturer of the 100% electric Andros Trophy Cars.

http://www.tropheeandros.com/

[Ciid]

Bonus:

[Ciid]

Collaboration between Exagon Motors and Michelin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjyWhqJmCr8