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The first cars to bear the Rovin name were cyclecars built by Raoul de Rovin in the late 1920s, but these Rovin cars were not sold to the public. In 1946 his brother Robert established himself in the Delaunay-Belleville factory at Saint-Denis.
The Rovin car was a neat little rear-engined minicar with backbone chassis, chain primary and shaft final drive, 3-speed synchromesh gearbox, all-round independent suspension, and the Rovin car had 12-volt electrics. The first Rovin cars had 260cc ohv air-cooled singles, but by the time the Rovin car reached the public in any quantity it was fitted with an oversquare sv water-cooled flat-twin of 425cc developing 10bhp. By 1949/ 1950 the original Austere and doorless 2-seater bodywork had been replaced on the Rovin car by a unitary-construction hull of slab-sided aspect, with winding windows, not unlike BMC’s later Metropolitan in appearance.
By 1952 the Rovin cars had grown up into the 3CV model with 462cc and 13bhp, and over 50mph was claimed. Even at a price of about £350 the Rovin car could not compete with Citroën’s 2CV, and though the Rovin car company outlived such competitors as the Mocht, the Julien, and the Reyonnah, it was finished with Rovin cars by 1959.
Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS
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