he idea ofcars ofdifferent makes sharing from motor-industry bodies and fiom polirical cnalirion rook pou er in France. leading lo a spare rhe same bndyshell i' hardly *hocking. sources. for CirroE;. Pcugeot dnd ro ol .trrker and ro tonccrtions on pay and conrJi- le,:'t of all if) ou remember BMC\ prolilic behave in such a way that the\ were not.een a. rionr rar nracle production rnore evpensive and :.:Jse-engineering in the '50s and '60s. Nor was abusing a siturrion of near-monopoly. Jimrnirhed prufitability. In a tense inJurrrial and --:; prrctice simply a qmical post- 1945 response This uas all the more Derrinenr in a conrexr political climate, rhe biq marque' felr wlnerable : h- nerr realism ofthe afier-war years: N uff- where France had slipped down the uorlJ league anJ ferred that ifthev i ereni seen as sood cid- ..-. : Jre.,ed up Ilorrisej as Wolseley' before table of motor rnanufacturers and u-hcn ihe zen' ther mighr be minaced wit} na tio-nalisarion '.\1\ i. 1.r.r;, Rootes made Sunbeam-Talbots coruttrywas in an economicrecession. Relativelr br a Curnmunist-supportcd goternment under -:,'f Jolled up Humbers. speaLing, tie French moror indusrry u as u ctL. pressure fiom workplace miliranrs. B:: these *ere in-house body-sharings, the with too feu succe,'sful large firms anJ roo manr .\dding to rhe impulsion ro do something. rhe ..:::< :r Peugeot-CitroEn deriving the Citrodn ailing ones. Not onlv rhar. bur the prorec nq\\ government set up a National Economic \ 'rnall I \ - m il\ Peuscoi l0o. The notion oflening tion provided l,y tariffbarricr: \ as Dro\inc Council drat recommenderl grearer organisation .: .:.rr';leru.irourbodyshellisacomplerel! illu'orv. To get around impon resrricrions, bort anJ discipline among : :. dre manu[acrurers and t]rc ::'r::nrnLr: rtdoesn\happentoday.irdidni Ford, with Mathis, and , with , were to establishment of collaborative ventures. '. :: rn c"-lier post-rrar times. and it onl) set up shop in France, to the considerable Prompted by this, the car makers' federation :.:::.. :r.::pened betueen the wars. Of those disquiet of the 'Big Three'. talked ofreducing the number ofmodels each :_::.-ri :: i\cepdons. mostwere Ftench. Whar ifasmall '.'.-:-. butnor insigni6cant rnanufac- offered. curnng dou n on comfet ition bet\.r een :::','rld France -lvalcter _:.: hare been different fiom lurer such as Chenard er were lo tDc \ anous marqucs. : ::iesi Part of the answer is that the srumble. and be snapped-up - say - b1 General A further and increasingly rclcvant reason for ,j-.- :.-.i. -.:::::.r:ket h:rd elolr-ed differentlv in the Motors? For an induso-y alreadl raumati'ed by propping up the smaller Erms amounted again :. ' . : .:roJ. \\}ereas br lhE Iat; lSJ0s the lql4 collapsc ofCitroEn. rhrse wrrr rsrv to enlightened self-interesr. With their tradition :- . ! :::.:- :: ::ker s as dominated by a'Big Sir', realworries jJsdfiably so. because Chenard dii ofcarrying out subcontract w.rrk to rnrke ends --. file for bankruptry in Io36. rneet. small enterprises could rake on the mili- - -:,- .. fh.rc"r,rhu.pre\\ure.both Worse, in 193 6 the left-wing Front Populaire tary contracts growing in number as France

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re-armcd in response to the rise of Hitler-leav sing arrrl po.srhlv rvt n subsidising rr. fhi. u.rr wheel-drivc rnodels for 19.16l idr rll steelshei.. ing the'Big Three'to concentrare on the rciected by rhe r',,ul,l-bc rcciliienr'.rI rh. frorn Chausson. The four-ljsht saloon w!s the unintermptcd mass-production of motor cars. .uppurl. u ho fearrJ Lhrl u ould be.r n,,t}. r, d br sarne as rhat used bv Nlatfc;d. Ford! French In thc second half of the I 9l0s there was thus thc r'rrhrace oftheir suppore,l protccrorr. branch, andwas effeitivellthe srrnc shellon the a conjunction of reasons for helping smaller ln rhe.nd, po'.rLrly,'nce rhe hear haJ l,rrn Briti.h.\lodelo2rnrl rhcpo.r \\ \\ I PiL,r. mrrufucrurerr. bringing r,r life ide:rs rhar had rJi.siluted by rhe rapid demi.c. rn luJ -. of lhe Wlcn rhe fr^,d mo,lel. r. r. :,hrndoned t - heen Jir, urred fru rtlc..hlmrng cr r makers and lrt,rrt Popultirr g, rrrrr rrenl. none uf rli. r'ar nc 19J7, the sane irnd rehted six-lig:: ", bodl I politicians and in the press since the end of .hcll urs continued rrr.r rr

1 50 C assic & Sports Car July 2006 I lCVengine or a l4CV'four' of 2438cc; again It is tiought that few of these were built, and 134 fromwhich it borrowed its 2l50cc the Licome chassis had to be lengrhened slig-hdy that only a handful of the smaller Commerciale pushrod engine. Lntroduced for 1916, r-he Dl- I l to fit under the Cino€n shell. ever left the Licome works; there are no known mainly carried staid closed bodies by Aurob- For lsJS the hybridisation deepened. when survivors of rhese three 1939-onlvrarians-or ineau. which supplied many of the smaller the Rir oli became available wirh rhe I628cc and indeed of the Normandie. Afiei the war, La marques with near-identical coachuorl. Sale. 191lcc taction Avant engines; the Normandie Licome didnt revive is CitroEn-based models, were not good, and so for '37 the car became was offered with the l9l I cc unir fiom late 1918. and by 1950 the company had disappeared, available with the Onze Ldgire monocoque. rn Sold as a cheaper alternative to the Licorne- For a small-time middle-of-the-road company saloon, roadster and coupd forms. Ar rhe srm. engined models. the CitroEn-propelled cars to have resorred ro discreet body-snatching i! dme the smalJer six-rylinder , tie Do-,r developed less power and had a Cirrodn three- perhaps not hugely surprising. Bui for one of-rhe and the D6-70. were offered with idaptarion' , r speed gearbox rather thal the Licome four-speed great names in French motoring to be reduced the Ligire roadster and coupi shells - but n, : transmission or ics optional Cotal altematir e. ro rhe same gambit reeks of fallins-from-a- with tbe Citrodn saloon body. Two further Tiaction-bodied models joined height despeiarion. Wirh rIir, r,n't The Delage 'tombstone'-radiaror erille o:. the range for tl-re '3 8 Paris shou Interesting for quite the case, because in the latier halfofthe used, mated to a bonner u iti gaffle-pe::.- lovers ofobscure Tiaction derivatives, the Rivoli lQJ0s the marque was undergoing somerhing of vents or - latterly - three opening vqng'-f,€:',3 ; uas offered {wirh Licorne engines only) as a a revival, followingis absorption by Delahayi in either side. and reswled u inss ricor> ':-::- r Commerciale a r a ll"y : with horizon splir rwo-piece I sl5. Yer for I s37 ir lisred deveralhodels using running-boards. Thise had ri comp-.::: ' taiJgate - a sryle neveroffered byCirrodn on rhe Tiaction Avant bodyshells mounted on irs owi re dispariry berween the narroo Ldse:. -' .-. - '7'or the Onze Ldgire. At the other end ofthe chassis - a robust afiair wiri rle transverse-leaf shell and rhe Delagei 5ir :in tracli r'.:: .::= - range. La Licome introduced two new models. independent fiont suspension then so loved by tfi an fie Cigoen i; Lhe rezult u as en o' . :- , --- .-= : Builr on an extended version ofits errra-long- French manufacturers. appearance. Presumablr che uid