Cars - France: Books - History and Models (1/3)

Concours d'Elegance - Dream cars and lovely ladies

Surely no form of contest has ever equalled the marriage of luxury and ostentation offered for many years by the great concours d'élégance. The vital step for organisers of such events was to choose a venue famous for its air of leisurely hedonism, such as Longchamp, Deauville, Cannes, La Baule, Vichy, Nice or Enghien, where costly automobiles, their elegant silhouettes crafted by the great names of contemporary coachwork, could parade.

To enhance the atmosphere, these exotic creations were presented by pretty ladies, mostly recruited from fashionable society, dressed in the latest fashion by the leading Parisian couturiers in an attempt to achieve the best possible symbiosis with the machines that they accompanied.
Without wishing to diminish the important role played in the spectacle by these actors, it was of course the aristocratic automobiles that the eager spectators had come to admire.

This book offers a delicious journey back in time to witness the golden age of the concours d'élégance. Over fifty coachbuilders covered, from Antem to Weymann.

Information

Author:	Patrick Lesueur
Details:	208 pages, 29.5 x 25 x 2.2 cm / 11.6 x 9.8 x 0.87 in, hardback
Illustrations:	200 b&w photos
Publisher:	Dalton Watson Fine Books (USA, 2011)
ISBN:	9781854432506

Gotha de l'automobile française

This book, written by two enthusiasts and experts, pays tribute to the French luxury automobile through the magnificent models produced by brands such as Bucciali, Bugatti, Delage, Delahaye, Hispano-Suiza, Hotchkiss, Panhard, Rochet-Schneider, Talbot, Voisin, and others, throughout the decades.

The authors share their admiration and enthusiasm for this fascinating, often overlooked history of the luxury automobile. They have selected hundreds of superb photos, many of which are unpublished or little known, from various sources, as well as reproductions of luxury catalogs printed in France.

These images could be sufficient in themselves, but the authors have also added precise comments, extracts from period press, texts by contemporary writers of the cars mentioned, as well as comparative tables and some important technical details. However, the book does not claim to develop them in detail.

This book thus offers a captivating fresco of more than a century of sumptuous cars, true works of art and technology, demonstrating the essential role of France in the history of the luxury automobile. It is both an enriching read and a work to be carefully preserved.

Information

Author:	Claude Rouxel, Laurent Friry
Details:	384 pages, 29 x 24 cm / 11.4 x 9 in, hardback
Illustrations:	550 b&w and colour photos
Publisher:	ETAI (F, 2010)
ISBN:	9782726888872

L'Illustration - L'Automobile : Histoire d'une révolution 1880-1950

The first illustrated magazine of its time, L'Illustration was a privileged witness to the appearance and then the irresistible development of the automobile, as well as the real revolution it brought about in lifestyles.
First considered an oddity for the idle rich, then as a sport, the car became a popular phenomenon after the Great War, which profoundly changed the country. Cities and roads soon adapted to this new means of transport which allowed the French to go away for weekends, on vacation, and to discover tourism.
Road signs, red lights, and the highway code appeared. Design, advertising, and fashion developed around the car.

From the steam-powered automobile of Dion-Bouton to the 2CV, via the luxurious convertibles of the Belle Époque, the beautiful American cars of the 1950s, from the first crossings of the Sahara to the raids of the Yellow Cruise, from the golden age of rallies to the creation of the Twenty-Four Hours of Le Mans: a complete and abundant panorama of the history of the automobile through the most beautiful pages of L'Illustration.

Information

Details:	256 pages, 35 x 27 cm / 13.75 x 10.6 in, hardback
Illustrations:	1000 b&w and colour photos
Publisher:	Editions Michel Lafon (F, 2015)
ISBN:	9782749926728

Les 100 voitures qui ont fait la France

For this second book in the "100" series (Les 100 trains qui ont changé la France being the first title), here are The 100 cars that made France.
From the Renault type JM to the Peugeot 3008, these models have all, each in their own way, written a page of our national history.

Luxury (Delage D8S, Delahaye 175 S, Facel Vega, DS 23 Pallas), sport (Bugatti, Alpine A 110, Peugeot 205 and 206 proto, Renault F1), politics (the DS of the Petit Clamart attack against General De Gaulle, the CX Prestige of Jacques Chirac elected President of the Republic), news items (the Tractions Avant of the thugs and those of the police, those requisitioned by the Gestapo and those of the FFI), History (the Taxis of the Marne)...

French society, all generations combined, is told through its cars, 100 in total, selected for the mark they have left on our national novel.

Information

Details:	144 pages, 27.5 x 22.5 x 1.6 cm / 10.8 x 8.9 x 0.63 in, hardback
Illustrations:	numerous colour photos
Publisher:	La Vie du Rail (F, 2018)
ISBN:	9782370620675

Voitures de présidents de la Ve République

It is one of the traditions of the French Republic: each president has his own car. From the legendary Citroën DS 19 that saved General de Gaulle's life during the Petit-Clamart attack in 1962 to Emmanuel Macron's Peugeot 5008, this book allows for the first time a visual look back at 60 years of presidential vehicles, covering all the terms of office of the Fifth Republic.

Each presidential car is the subject of a detailed chapter including both the history of the production models that served as the basis for the presidential models, as well as the specific features of the latter, designed for parades, comfort and the safety of heads of state.
The rare and unpublished archive documents sketch out a unique history of the French automobile industry and recall in passing certain highlights of the Fifth Republic.

Information

Author:	Etienne Roux
Details:	192 pages, 21 x 30 x 2.2 cm / 8.25 x 11.8 x 0.87 in, paperback
Illustrations:	numerous b&w and colour photos
Publisher:	Editions E/P/A (F, 2018)
ISBN:	9782851209801

Concours d'élégance automobile

It is difficult to find a concept of event that has combined for several decades more luxury and ostentation than the elegance competitions. If this elitism can seem somewhat outdated, even indecent, these days, its brutal and magnificent splendor still fascinates as much in this 21st century, far too standardized and dull.
Let us not forget that these gatherings have also allowed - like the great transatlantic liners of the moment - the most sought-after artists and creators to express themselves in complete freedom, beyond any petty profitability.
All the ingredients are combined for a precious good: the dream. First, the organizers carefully selected places known for their calm and voluptuousness, such as Longchamp, Deauville, Cannes, La Baule, Vichy, Nice, Enghien, where expensive automobiles would travel in hushed silence, their elegant silhouettes owing everything to the greatest names in coachbuilding of the time.

An additional asset is that these appearances are presented by pretty women recruited (for the most part) from the pages of the "Bottin mondain"; they adorn themselves with outfits designed by the masters of Parisian haute couture, in order to attempt the best possible symbiosis with the machines they accompany.
Of course, these outfits also affirm French know-how in this field. But without in any way wanting to minimize any of the important roles played by all these actors participating in the party, it is indeed the automobile queen that the stunned spectators come to admire. This book has no other purpose than to make you participate in a delicious journey through time.

Information

Author:	Patrick Lesueur
Details:	192 pages, 29 x 24 cm / 11.4 x 9 in, hardback
Illustrations:	300 b&w and colour photos
Publisher:	ETAI (F, 2011)
ISBN:	9782726895429