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

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

D.B.

France, 1938 – 1961

Automobiles D.B., Champigny-sur-Marne, Seine

Deutsch and Bonnet were building ‘specials’ based on 11CV traction avant Citroëns in 1938. In 1947 limited production began again, the first DBs being competition machines largely built up from reconditioned components, using 1½-litre and 2-litre engines and 4-speed gearboxes. A new DB car based on the Dyna-Panhard ran at Montlhéry in 1948, while in 1949 the Deutsch and Bonnet (DB) company produced a 500cc single-seater version for Formula III, with the Panhard engine mounted in the nose, and independent swing-axle rear suspension. Some 100mph Citroën-based Deutsch and Bonnet (DB) convertibles were also made, but after 1950 Deutsch and Bonnet (DB)  devoted all their energies to Panhard derivatives. Though never a major force in Formula III, the Deutsch and Bonnet (DB) cars gained numerous International Class Records and won the Index of Performance at Le Mans five times (1954, 1956, 1959, 1960 and 1961). Also Laureau’s Deutsch and Bonnet (DB) won the 1954 TT outright. An attempt to contest the 2½-litre GP Formula of 1954 with the alternative permitted size of 750cc supercharged was a fiasco, and little came of the curious Deutsch and Bonnet (DB) Monomills (the same cars with blowers removed) with which Deutsch and Bonnet tried to popularize one-class racing in France. Equally abortive were experiments with twin engines and 4-wheel drive (for sale in 1952) and with rear-mounted Renault engine and 5-speed gearboxes (for sale in 1953). The production Deutsch and Bonnet (DB) sports coupés used regular Panhard mechanical components allied to light alloy bodywork (fiberglass from 1955) and were marketed in various engine capacities from 610cc (30bhp) to 1300cc (65bhp). M.A.G. low-pressure superchargers were listed from 1954, and disc brakes were an option a year later on Deutsch and Bonnet (DB). The standard 1958 Deutsch and Bonnet (DB)model was the Rallye coupé with a 55bhp 850cc engine. Deutsch and Bonnet (DB) remained faithful to Panhard until the partnership was dissolved in 1961. René Bonnet continued the manufacture of cars in the Champigny works under his own name.

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