Charles Deutsch
Charles Deutsch (1911–1980) was a French aerodynamics engineer and automobile maker, founder of the brand "DB" with René Bonnet, and later of the "CD".
Career
Educated at the École Polytechnique, Deutsch was a pioneer in the field of aerodynamics, and founded the SERA-CD vehicle engineering Research and Development Company (Société d’Etudes et de Réalisations Automobiles - Charles Deutsch). He used the ground-effect on race cars 10 years before Chaparral and his #53 entry from "Autombiles Deutsch et Bonnet" won the "Index of Performance" trophy at the 1961 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Deutsch served as President of FISITA, the International Federation of Automotive Engineering Societies, from 1975 to 1978. French aerodynamics engineer Robert Choulet (École Centrale Paris) is Deutsch's most famous disciple.
Although Deutsch died in 1980, SERA-CD continues research and development to this day, from light to heavy vehicles using conventional and hybrid propulsion technology. On 23 April 2007 it was acquired by Sogeclair.