Car manufacturers - France: books - history (2/2)

L'épopée Ligier en Formule 1

On August 23, 2015, Guy Ligier passed away at the age of 85. For nearly half a century, he left his mark on the history of motorsport. However, it was only in his thirties that this all-round athlete took the turn towards motorsport.
Few French drivers have scored a point in the F1 world championship, Guy Ligier did it! For Guy, F1 is also the loss of a loved one, his friend Jo Schlesser. In homage, Guy Ligier, who became a manufacturer, named all his racing cars with the initials JS.

This book traces the history of one of the most beautiful French Formula 1 teams. For twenty-one years, from the JS5 to the JS43, the last Ligier to win a Grand Prix, the Vichy team competed in 326 Grand Prix, for 9 victories and 50 podiums.
Relive this epic illustrated with the superb photos of Bernard Asset.

Summary:

1: The years of conception
2: 1976, the first season
3: The boom years
4: The years of transition
5: The years of the end
6: The disappearance of the stable.

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Salmson - La belle mécanique française (Collection Prestige)

In this unique monograph of one of the greatest French manufacturers, from 1919 to 1957, all the human, historical and technical aspects of the Point du Jour brand are detailed and widely illustrated: light or grand touring cars, racing cars with the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the double overhead camshaft engines present on the majority of the production or utility vehicles, as well as special bodywork and peripheral activities.

And this always with the concern of placing the events and developments of the brand in the historical context of the time in order to fully appreciate its trajectory and outcome.

First published in 1997, then a second time in 2010, Claude Chevalier's book, now out of print again in its second edition, is a passionate journey through the history of Salmson and its century.

His son, Laurent Chevalier, heir to this interest in the industry and in automobile history, wanted to contribute once again to its reissue, enriching it with some 300 new photographs compared to the initial edition. A highly anticipated book that will once again arouse interest and satisfy fans of the brand within a reference collection.

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Venturi, GT à la française

It all began at the 1984 Paris Motor Show with the presentation of a small sports car with a Golf GTI engine, the Ventury. Designed and built by two enthusiasts, Claude Poiraud, the technician, and Gérard Godfroy, the designer, the car was immediately popular.
"Venturi GT à la française" tells the extraordinary story of this French brand, born in the mid-1980s, whose cars immediately rose to the level of the best GTs and then measured themselves on the circuit against the most prestigious brands.

Beyond this magnificent story of machines, the author brings to life, day by day, an exciting human adventure, punctuated by dramas and heart-throbs, with in the background a very strong desire of each of the actors to fully live their passion for automobiles.

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Lorraine-Dietrich - De la voiture de grand luxe au géant de l'aéronautique (Collection Prestige)

Creator of luxury cars and host of the Grand Prix during the Belle Epoque, internationally renowned aeronautical engine manufacturer and double winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans during the Roaring Twenties, at the origin of a giant aviation consortium and manufacturer of torpedo boats in the 1930s...
Here are some of the many facets of the Lorraine-Dietrich company, whose history is told in this book for the first time in an exhaustive manner.

The story thus covers all the productions that have worn the Cross of Lorraine, and it gives pride of place to the main protagonists, Adrien de Turckheim, Léon Turcat, Charles Nicaise, Marius Barbarou, Claude Bonnier, without forgetting the little-known involvement of the engineers Giustino Cattaneo, Louis de Groulart, Lucien Sabathier, Giulio Cesare Cappa, Lucien Fabre, Charles Picker and Albert Lory.

To be complete, the portrait of Lorraine-Dietrich is enriched by that of its subsidiaries: Isotta Fraschini, Lorraine-Dietrich Ltd., Clément-Bayard, Industria Aeronautica Romana (IAR), the ambitious Société Générale Aéronautique (SGA), and finally Aero-Marine Engines Ltd.

The final period traces the nationalization with the Société Nationale de Construction de Moteurs (SNCM), the occupation of the factory by BMW during the war, then the reconversion with SNECMA before the disappearance of the company in 1951.

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