Rolland-Pilain

France, 1906 – 1931

SA des Etablissements Rolland-Pilain, Tours

Unusual among French marques of its period, Rolland Pilain cars made their greatest impact after World War 1. Their first product was a 20hp 4-cylinder model Rolland Pilain cars with a monobloc engine, though smaller 2.2-litre shaft-driven Rolland Pilain cars were available in 1909 and a 3-speed 1½-litre Rolland Pilain 8/10CV in 1910, in which year the Rolland Pilain car company was also experimenting with ‘valveless’ engines and 4-wheel brakes. Though racing was in the doldrums, the Rolland Pilain car company went to the trouble of building a big chain-driven Rolland Pilain car for the 1911 Grand Prix de France, and a complex 1912 range started with a Rolland Pilain 9CV of 1.7-litres and went up to a chain-driven 4-cylinder 60 Rolland Pilain car of 130x270mm. The 6-cylinder Rolland Pilain 18CV had a ‘valveless’ engine, and even in 1913 chain drive was still optional on the biggest fours of 20CV and 24CV Rolland Pilain cars. Only 1.9-litre and 4-litre 4-cylinder Rolland Pilain cars with sv monobloc engines and unit gearboxes were listed in 1914.

These basic types of Rolland Pilain cars, still with pedal-operated transmission brakes, were available again after World War 1, but far more advanced was the 2.2-litre Rolland Pilain 14/16 of 1921, which boasted not only overhead valves and a detachable head, but also front-wheel brakes (hydraulic at the front and mechanical at the rear). This Rolland Pilain car was still catalogued in 1926. Even more ambitious was the 2-litre twin ohc straight-8 GP Rolland Pilain car of 1922, with desmodromic valves, ball-bearing crankshafts and 4-wheel hydraulic brakes. A victory of a Rolland Pilain car at San Sebastian in 1923 was the limit of the success of Rolland Pilain cars on the circuits, but the type found its way into the catalogue as the Type A22 Rolland Pilain car at 90.000fr, and one of the racers also ran with a 2-litre, 6-cylinder cuff-valve Schmid engine. In 1925 came a 2-litre ohv 4-cylinder Rolland Pilain car with 4-wheel mechanical brakes, selling for £725 in England, while a 1½-litre development, the Rolland Pilain D26, was introduced for 1927. In 1929 Rolland-Pilain car, along with several other French firms, tried a Franco-American theme by introducing a range of big luxury chassis with sv Continental engines. Both the 6-cylinder, 3-litre, and the 4-litre straight-8 Rolland Pilain cars had centralized chassis lubrication, though the elegant bodywork of the Rolland Pilain car was marred by the use of artillery wheels. At the 1930 Paris Salon the Rolland Pilain car company shared a stand with the BNC (also going through a Franco-American phase), but this was the end, though the Rolland Pilain car firm’s Paris depot was still advertising spare parts for Bignan as well as Rolland Pilain cars in 1934.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

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Cord

US, 1929 – 1937

Auburn Automobile Co, Auburn, Ind., 1929 -1937

The first American front-wheel-drive car to win popular approval, the Cord was one of a trio of distinctive cars (the others being the Auburn and the Duesenburg) that made up Erret Lobban Cord’s empire. The first Cord for sale was the Cord Model L-29, powered by a 4.934cc straight 8 engine made by Lycoming, another Cord subsidiary. The Cord L-29 was much lower than most contemporary American cars and was made in open and closed models, as well as being given special coachwork by such firms as Murphy, Hayes, and in England, Freestone & Webb. However, the price of over $3.300 was against the car in the Depression years, and production ended in 1932 after some 4400 Cord cars had been sold.
The Cord name re-emerged later in 1935 with the strikingly modernistic Cord Model 810. Designed by Gordon Buehrig, this car had originally been intended as a small model of Duesenberg. Like the Cord L-29 the new car was front-driven and Lycoming-powered, although by a slightly smaller V8 engine of 4.730cc. The body was of a very advanced design, and featured retractable headlamps and a wrap-around grille. Body styles were the Westchester and Beverly sedans (identical except for upholstery pattern), two-seater Sportsman and four-seater Phaeton convertibles. In 1937 the Cord Model 812 series was introduced, featuring a long-wheelbase Custom berline with chauffeur division, while an optional supercharger boosted power to 195bhp. Prices ranged from $1.995 for the early models to $3.575 for the 1937 Cord Supercharged Custom berline, and this drastically restricted sales. Only 2320 examples of the Cord 810 and Cord 812 were made.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; KM
The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com