Breguet Aviation

The Société des Ateliers d'Aviation Louis Bréguet also known as Breguet Aviation was a former French aircraft manufacturer. The company was set up in 1911 by aviation pioneer Louis Charles Breguet.

The company together with the British Aircraft Corporation was a parent to SEPECAT which was formed to develop and produce the SEPECAT Jaguar aircraft.

In 1971 it merged with Dassault to form Avions Marcel Dassault-Breguet Aviation.

Contents

Aircraft (before merger with Dassault)

Automobile production

Before 1914, in addition to producing aircraft, the firm produced a few six cylinder engined cars.

During the Second World War the company produced an electric car powered by batteries and propelled by an "off-the shelf" motor from Paris-Rhône.[1] The motor was capable of producing two different levels of output. "First gear" and "Reverse gear" were provided with 36 volts, while "Second gear" equated to 72 volts.[1] An advertisement for the car in 1941 claimed a range of 100 km (62 mi) between charges without mentioning that this range was only available where adhering to steady cruising speed of 20 km/h (12 mph).[1] Cruising at a steady 40 km/h (25 mph) would, on the same basis, have given a range of 65 km (40 mi).[1]

The car had a modern looking all enveloping two seater body with a relatively long tapered tail which contained the motor and some of the batteries.[1] It had four wheels but the rear axle, which delivered power to the road, was relatively narrow. The car was actively marketed during 1941 which was a period of price instability.[1] In August 1941 the Breguet electric car was priced at 56,000 francs: during the same month the Citroën Light bodied 11 (still listed, despite production by now being down to a trickle or suspended) was priced at 35,630 francs.[1]

The Breguet electric car was produced not at the firm's principal plant at Toulouse but at a smaller plant at Anglet (between Biarritz and Bayonne).[1]

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Automobilia". Toutes les voitures françaises 1948 (salon Paris oct 1947) (Paris: Histoire & collections) Nr. 26: Page 18. 1998. 
Bibliography

External links