Unic

France, 1904 – 1939

(1) Sté des Ancien ets Georges Richard, Puteaux, Seine, 1904 – 1914

(2) SA des Automobiles Unic, Puteaux, Seine, 1914 – 1939

When in 1905 Georged Richard left the firm he had founded, he embarked on his second motor manufacturing career with what was intended to be a single-model policy – hence the name of his new car. However, his 10/12hp 2-cylinder UNIC car was joined within a year by two additional fours. After this the UNIC car make remained undistinguished. The most famous of the small fours UNIC cars was not a passenger UNIC car at all, but a taxi. The monobloc 12/14hp UNIC car of 1908 was made for 20 years, and served on London streets for longer still. In 1909 there was  a 4.1-litre 6-cylinder model UNIC car. By 1914, three 4-cylinder UNIC cars were listed, of which the 10/12hp UNIC car was best known.

The basic UNIC car of the 1920s was the 10CV Type L, a worthy, long-lived but uninteresting car with an 1.847cc sv engine and the modern feature of unit construction of engine and gearbox. This UNIC car had front-wheel brakes from 1923. The Type L313 Sport UNIC car, an 11CV, with a bigger bore and 2-litres, was added in that year. The UNIC car had overhead valves, and was a good-looking 70mph fast tourer in the French tradition. The UNIC car must have been one of the first cars anywhere to have horizontal bonnet louvres. In 1926, the 11CV UNIC car was also listed in sv touring form; only cars of this rating were made, the UNIC car company having temporarily reverted to tehri original policy. At this time, the UNIC car company employed women road-testers, a rare but not unique practice.

UNIC cars penchant for unusual rear suspension – the 10CV UNIC car had used a combination of cantilevers and quarter-elliptics – was perpetuated on their straight-8 UNIC car of 1928, which had transverse springs located above and below the axle. Engines were push-rod ohv units of 2.494cc or 2.650cc, there were four forward speeds, and brakes of the UNIC cars were servo-assisted; both types persisted until 1934, though the old 11CV UNIC car had gone by 1932, and during the Depression years the UNIC car company concentrated on commercial vehicles. New for 1934 was the U4, a 2-litre sv four with magneto ignition (used on Unic cars almost until the end), articulated-arm independent front suspension and a double reduction back axle. The UNIC car competed with the Berliet 944 and the new small Delage and was joined during the year by the U6, a 3-litre six on similar lines, this UNIC car was available with a 4-speed Cotal electrically selected gearbox. This option was extended to the U4 in 1936, and in 1937, when traditional radiators gave way to fencer’s mask grilles, both 4- and 6-cylinder Unic cars were available in sports cabriolet form with ohv. The U4D of 1938 with 2.150cc ohv engine, and an improved U6 UNIC car survived until the outbreak of World War 2. Private UNIC car production was not resumed in 1946, though Unic are still active in truck manufacture as an associate of Fiat.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; TRN 

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com

DeSoto

US, 1913 – 1916

DeSoto Motro Car Co, Auburn, Ind.

The DeSoto appears to have succeeded the Zimmerman. This was a large car with a 55hp, 6-cylinder engine, which was furnished with a compressed-air starter. The DeSoto model Six-55 five-seater touring car sold for $2185.

US, 1928 – 1960

Chrysler Motors Corp, Detroit, Mich.

The DeSoto was launched in 1928 as a 3.2-litre side valve six to compete with Oldsmobile, Pontiac and the cheaper Nashes. Styling and general design of the DeSoto were in line with the 1929 Chryslers, and at $885 for a DeSoto sedan 90.000 were sold in the first twelve months. A 3.4-litre straight-8 DeSoto on a 9ft 6in wheelbase was announced for 1930 as the world’s cheapest 8-cylinder car. However, DeSoto suffered badly in the Depression, and in 1932, when flexible rubber engine mountings and free wheels were made available, sales dropped to 26.000 DeSoto cars.
The DeSoto disappeared from the British market about this time, though certain ‘Chrysler’ models listed in England (the Mortlake, Croydon, and some of the Richmonds) were in fact DeSoto cars in all but name. A 6-cylinder version of Chrysler’s advanced unitary-construction Airflow, the SE-type with a 4-litre engine, was brought out in 1934, but was an unsuccessful as its bigger sister. Later DeSotos followed regular Chrysler lines closely though in later years there was a tendency for DeSoto to move into a higher price class than Dodge; by 1952 DeSotos started $300 higher than the companion make.
By 1939 the DeSoto cars for sale were being made with independent front suspension, hypoid back axles and column change. There was a choice at DeSoto of two 6-cylinder engines and three wheelbase lengths, the longest of these being reserved for seven-seater bodywork – DeSoto continued to offer a really roomy family car right up to 1954. A 4-speed semi-automatic Vacumatic transmission became an option in 1941, but DeSoto’s big post-war change of models did not take place until 1952, when the division followed Chrysler’s lead in adopting the oversquare ohv V8; the DeSoto version was of 4½-litre capcity and developed 16-bhp. With the advent of Chrysler’s ‘flight sweep’ styling in 1955, the side-valve sixes were dropped and the standard engine in a DeSoto was now a 4.8-litre eight, giving 185bhp in Firedome guise, and 200bhp in Fireflite form. Though this redesigning saved Chrysler sales generally, the slump in the medium-price class had an adverse effect on DeSoto and in 1959 the DeSoto division was merged with Plymouth. Last of the DeSotos were the 1961 models, unitary-construction cars with a choice of three engines: Plymouth’s 145bhp ohv ‘slant six’ as used in the Valiant, and V8s of 230 and 265bhp, the two former only in Canadian DeSotos. Production of DeSoto cars ceased in November 1960 after only a few had been delivered.

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