Help needed - What is this French mystery motor?

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You receive our fullest attention when you place an advert on this website with a few sketchy images of a car we’ve never seen before and the heading ‘Automobile Inconnu’ – or ‘unknown automobile’. As a matter of fact this ad was placed on this site only yesterday, doing just that.

So what have we got here? The seller’s description doesn’t give any leads towards the solution of this mystery, and so we took out the greatest reference that we know of in this particular field: René Bellu’s ‘Les Voitures Françaises des Années 50’. But to our own surprise (and frustration) it wasn’t in there either.

And so we have to see for ourselves. The simple and slab sided design (all in steel?) has to date back to the 1950s, we think, with hints of Delahayes of that time. Or perhaps Salmsons? The 2300 oozes a similar style but is still more sophisticated. Actually there’s nothing that really comes close.

The chassis details and wheels then. Well, these do not give away much to us either. The wheels with their skinny tires seem to miss centre caps. Pre-War? They could even be the same ones as used on Philippe Charbonneux 2CV special? And how about that suspension set-up? Don’t ask why, but we would really like to know more about this French mystery motor.

(Words Jeroen Booij, picture PostWarClassic)

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