The Top Ten Defunct French Car Brands 

A top 10 does the French car history no justice. A top 100 just might

Facel-Vega, so beautyful and luxerious.

The Frenchmen could really build beautiful and advanced cars.......Not to mention Citroen from the golden years 1955 - 1975!

Definitely, many of them are much beautiful than what they build today.

You forgot Delage. It is impossible for me to think of Delahaye without thinking of Delage or vice versa.

The most Beautiful cars ever.

This video was a fine start for the next 10... Some of these brands produced also very fine racing cars.

I had a SIMCA ARONDE, 4 dr, 4 speed on column, radial tires, great economy, super date car, seats laid down like AMC cars. It would hug the curves, drove great. Wished I still had it.

So far 32 dislikes, or rather, folk with no style or class?! These cars are works of art!

I’d love to see them resurrected and continue with the classic designs ( not modern crap looks )

You guys missed Delage and Hotchkiss, oh damn also DB, deDion Bouton, Venturi and I am sure there are others, but these were at least the well known ones

Et où sont les Hotchkiss et Delage ?

Car and motorcycle freak born in the early 60s and thanks for the video. Yes, i also liked the music. 👍

I don't like the grille much but other than that the Facel Vegas that you showed were truly beautiful cars.

Interesting selection here. Thank you

A l'époque notre pays étais une fierté et un pays a battre sur tous les terrain dans ce qu'était de l'automobile mais bon les temps on change. Adieu les marques fièrement patriotique tels que panhard,delahaye/delage hotchkiss,Salmson,gordini,bugatti,talbot... Sans oublier toute les marque qui ont fait notre fierté avant la guerre. Maintenant place au voiture sans âme et sans aucun espoir tels que Renault pigeot Citroën. Triste a voir L'automobile française jusqu'au année 60 étais magnifique

Lovely.

Amilcar, Bucciali, Constantinesco, Darraq, de Dion Boutton, Delage, Dietrich-Lorraine, Farman, Gobron Brille, Hotchkiss, etc. great automobiles... And notable and luxury cars crafted in France - Hispano-Suiza, Bugatti, carosiers, Art deco designers. Great history of cars .

I’d like to see a lot more detail about the models from these makes, and why they went out. I think “big car“ does videos like this which are excellent.

The red Facel Vega towards the end of the video is the only one known to exist today. The car is in the US and is used as a daily driver. A beautiful car to see in person.....

1:06 That's a very imponent machine! 3:24 Not a car, it's a piece of art!!!!

I remember a Garage in Garches taking a Delahaye and cutting it up to turn it into a tow truck. Early sixties.

French Cars are very different from other countries cars. They have truly their own personalities and very well engineered.Just take for example the highly comfortable Citroen D S or the beautiful S M . 50 years in advanced technology. What car today can drive on 3 wheels ? and the brake pedal looks like a mushroom. Ha,Ha . I still have my Citroen S M, it should be in the Louvre next to Mona Lisa. A bientot....

Many of these companies met their demise in post-war France due to over-regulation by the French government.

The great prewar french cars were expensive and being rich their owners were identified as collaborators with the nazi. Only people movers survived by 1960. This was gvt. policy in a plan called the Pons plan in 1945.

Panhard 24 Tigre, still my dream car built in the 60s, looked like something from the 21st Century.

What car is the image one when you pause the video and go off page and come back..or the same one on the promotion for this video..is it a Dalahaye ? It has the same sort of grill as the last Dalahaye in the video.

Defunct only as automobile maker: most of this makes still exists today, integrated in industrial groups , but did not build cars, except some military vehicles (Panhard Levassor), some did build aircraft equipents (Voisin,Bugatti,Hispano Suiza) or reconverted like Salmson who built high technology water pumps, Matra is mainly a military high technology equipement and weapon (missiles) maker...

panhard existe toujours ,elle fait des véhicules pour l'armée française

What is the car that tbe image tha shown as the promotion of this video. It's the same one if you pause..then leave the page and come back...that image. It looks like the same grill of the last one in the video the Delahaye...what model if so. I've done a google search but didn't see it.

Hey finally this is the best infotainment channel I had never seen before.!!

The most spectacular are models of late 1960s Delhaye, which you have seriously missed.

Thx wwII

I would have had De Dion Bouton somewhere in there. The most important brand no one has ever heard of! We still use their suspension, by the way...

how could you forget Hispano-Suiza and Bugatti ?

Rest In Peace

🤝👏👏👏👌

Instead of the music, maybe a little background on each would be better

Some really sharp styling. They put North American cars to shame in that category. How were they placed in order? By total sales or years in business?

Facel Vega is founded in 1954, not 1939.

I love French car design, nothing like it.

The old verse One man's meat is another man's poison My favourite car is an Avions Voisin. M Voisin was heavily involved in the early aviation industry, particularly in WW I. It's a pity that you did not have a photograph of a Panhard from the 20's or 30's. They were very grand cars, Those after the Citroën takeover were very interesting but in nowhere near the same class.

il y a une erreur de date pour la tipe 22 des frères voisins ou avions voisins c'est 1928 il me semble

What is the car in the thumbnail

Whar about DeDion-Bouton, Delage, Hispano-Suiza, Bugatti, Hotchkiss, etc?

Forgot Delage, Hotchkiss, Grégoire ...

What about Ballot, Hotchkiss, Delahaye, Lorraine Dietrich, Delage, and Bugatti?

I didn't know that Voisin built cars. Aicraft, yes of course, but cars too.

beautiful cars but not much information on individual cars , please next time a little bit more insight ? thank you for the video .

You Just Missed The Most Important Of All The Bugatti

Darracq Delhaye Heuliez

Where is Delage and Hotchkiss ?

Le Car...

In 1896 the BRASIER factory started in Ivry sur Seine, he was joined by G Richard in 1902 which gave BRASIER-RICHARD. G Richard quickly leaves CH Brasier but the brand name remains. Wanting more sports car, the factory will close in 1924. This factory will be returned to DELAHAYE which in 1927 will resell part to HOBART USA manufacturer of kitchen equipment. At the time, France had the record for car manufacturers. Thanks for your video. Panhard Levassor (which was the world's leading car manufacturer) ended in 1965 with the takeover of Citroën which made it disappear, except for the military part which lasted until 2012 when it was taken over by Renault Trucks. En 1896 démarre l'usine BRASIER à Ivry sur Seine, il est rejoint par G Richard en 1902 ce qui donne BRASIER-RICHARD. G Richard quitte rapidement CH Brasier mais le nom de la marque reste. Voulant plus de voiture sportive, l'usine fermera en 1924. Cette usine sera revenue à DELAHAYE qui en 1927 revendra une partie à HOBART USA fabricant de matériel de cuisine. La France avait à l'époque le record de constructeurs automobiles. Merci de votre vidéo . Panhard Levassor ( qui a été , mondialement, le 1er constructeur de voiture ) s'est terminé en 1965 par le rachat Citroën qui l'a fait disparaitre en 1967, sauf la partie militaire qui a perduré jusqu'en 2012 racheté par Renault Trucks.

I prefer Delahaye..before our cars were more beautiful and attractive. Funny tyres..but the cars didn’t go so far away..

Et Delage ?

Plus Delage, Hotchkiss, Amilcar, etc. Chenard&Walker : oh yes. Also Hispano-Suiza and Bugatti (re-born differently). Those last two ones are French of course!

Darrack?..

simca vedette was another.

Should have included Hispano Suiza.

Et Hotchkiss? Et De Dion Bouton?...

Sadly from 2030 on all combustion cars including classics will be banned from public streets in entire EU and Scandinavia :-( In Germany the Green Peoples Party gave order to shorten fuel supply from 2025 on by reducing all conventional fuel stations to only one state operated central gas station per city or county. Now they want to slow down all the gas station fuel pumps from 20 litre per minute to 2 litre per minute...From 2027 on in the EU certain car spare parts will be banned too....as exhaust systems, turbo chargers and even some engine and gearbox oils...California and New York will do the same from 2027 on.... So no investments should be done in oil burning cars any longer....They even created a new kind of crime here, called emissions and smoke crime.:-((

silence is golden....muted

Talbot defunct in 1986.

you also forgot Bugatti ! as an exceptional French car brand.

Delage , Hotckis .

Quand les voitures Françaises dominaient le monde...

Some interesting cars but far from anything iconic post WW2. Now what would be a great French top ten would be their wine & cheese....and breads and pastries

Berliet stop product cars of 1938 and trucks 1980

l o u i c h e v r o l e t...arthur.... Donet''''

Avez entendu parler des samba et lotus c étaient des Talbos

I wouldn't say Simca was French. It was founded in France by FIAT.

Darracq?

Delage, hotckiss, Bugatti..

Since when is Hispano-Suiza a French brand? The brand was founded in Barcelona (Spain) in 1904 by Spanish businessmen Damián Mateu Bisa, Francisco Seix Zaya and Swiss engineer Marc Birkigt. In 1911 it had established a subsidiary in France, opening a factory in Bois-Colombes in 1914. Hispano-Suiza experienced at that time a great boost thanks to the profits obtained in the First World War, the French government filed a lawsuit against the company, taxing it with an extraordinary and arbitrary tax, crudely arguing that during the war it had accumulated a large capital . In 1920, the claims of the French administration were increasing, demanding amounts of money that affected the company's share capital. Damián Mateu refused to pay, alleging that it was a Spanish company and that, in accordance with the 1862 treaty, no Spanish company would pay taxes on French soil or vice versa. But the French State dismissed these arguments and proceeded to seize all the factories and properties that the firm had in France. Damián Mateu managed to involve the Spanish government, thus provoking a conflict between governments. This lasted until 1922, when the two parties agreed to accept the award of the former president of the Helvetic Confederation, Gustave Ador. This ruled logically in favor of Spain and Hispano-Suiza. By virtue of the agreement, the French branch would become its own entity and would be managed by an autonomous French company with French capital, the "Société Française Hispano Suiza, S. A.", where Birkigt would hold the position of vice president. The new company had the right to use the trademark and patents of Hispano-Suiza, the Spanish parent company owned the majority of the shares of the French subsidiary company. ................................................................................................. Desde cúando Hispano-Suiza es una marca francesa? La marca fue fundada en Barcelona (España) en 1904 por los empresarios españoles Damián Mateu Bisa, Francisco Seix Zaya y el ingeniero suizo Marc Birkigt. En 1911 había establecido una filial en Francia, abriendo en 1914 una fábrica en Bois-Colombes. Hispano-Suiza experimentó por aquel entonces un gran impulso gracias a los beneficios obtenidos en la Primera Guerra Mundial, el gobierno francés presentó una demanda contra la empresa, gravándola con un impuesto extraordinario y arbitrario, argumentando burdamente que durante la guerra había acumulado un gran capital. En 1920, las pretensiones de la administración francesa eran cada vez mayores, exigiendo cantidades de dinero que afectaban al capital social de la compañía. Damián Mateu se negó a pagar alegando que era una empresa española y que, conforme al tratado de 1862, ninguna empresa española pagaría impuestos en suelo francés ni viceversa. Pero el Estado francés desestimó estos argumentos y procedió al embargo de todas las fábricas y propiedades que tuviera la firma en Francia. Damián Mateu logró involucrar al gobierno español, provocándose así un conflicto entre gobiernos. Este se prolongó hasta 1922, en que las dos partes se pusieron de acuerdo para aceptar el laudo del antiguo presidente de la Confederación Helvética, Gustave Ador. Este falló lógicamente a favor de España e Hispano-Suiza. En virtud del acuerdo, la sucursal francesa pasaría a tener entidad propia y sería gestionada por una sociedad autónoma francesa con capital francés, la "Société Française Hispano Suiza, S. A.", donde Birkigt ocuparía el cargo de vicepresidente. La nueva sociedad tenía derecho a usar la marca y las patentes de Hispano-Suiza, la casa matriz española poseía la mayoría de las acciones de la empresa filial francesa.

A lot is missing !

No Hispano-Suiza, the most luxurious one? No Delage? No Hotchkiss? WTF is this list?

ever heard of a Bugatti?

DELAGE IS THE BEST FRANCE CAR NUMBER ONE.

Sorry but this list isnt correct! Talbot is still valid, as part of peugeot's luxury sports/hypercar division, and matra are still running, making track racing cars, as a division of renault, to name just 2. Others withna more engineering heritage are involved with either the lorry, tram or train modern groups and others undertake parts manufacture for commercial or defence aeronautics industries.

The French were hit or miss in the styling and engineering departments, as they tended to do things their way, with little concern for convention or practicality. The Citroen Ami, Dick 3-wheeler, and early 60's Panhards come to mind. But when they got it right, they did so spectacularly, as with Facel Vegas, Bugattis, Hispano-Suizas, and the big Avions Voisins.

the french gouverment high taxed the luxury cars so the manufacters went bankrupt

Citroen are great cars - until they go wrong....Mechanics nightmare.

LES DATES SONT FAUSSES

Good video....bloody annoying music

Manque Delage, ce qui n'est pas rien...

More misinformation.

Citroen should have gone defunct first and foremost, the gayest most flaccid car maker.

Most were killed by unions

The French have a fine old tradition of making ugly cars. They seem to take pride in their ability to do that. Take Matra, for example. They did the seemingly impossible. Someone gave them an E Type Jaguar and told them "Make it ugly!". And they did. You would not think it possible, but they did. I wonder what they called it...U Type, maybe.