AMILCAR (F) 1921-1939 (1) SteNouvefle pour ]'Automobile Amilcar, St Denis 1921-1937 (2) Ste Financiere pour ]'Automobile, Boulogne-sur-Seine 1937-1939 Of all the sporting voiturettes that proliferated in France after World War I, the Amilcar was the most famous and successful. Its name was an anagram of those of its protagonists, Messrs Lamy, who had been concerned with the design of the Le Zebre before the war, and Akar, who financed it. The Amilcar's designer was Edmond Moyet. The Type CC and its developments the CS and 4C all had 4-cylinder sv engines of about 1-litre capacity, three forward speeds and quarterelliptic springing. They differed little, therefore, from hosts of their competitors. The CGS or Grand Sport of 1924 was a different and more serious proposition. It had a 1074cc engine with full pressure lubrication, front-wheel brakes and front half-elliptic springs. It was developed into the more powerful, lowered CGSS. (Surbaisse) model in 1926. Various touring cars of between one and two litres were also made, all with four cylinders and side valves, but it was the CGS and CGSS that made the company's reputation throughout the world. Even so, the C6 Course, one of the very few pure racing cars ever to be put into production, was still more exciting. Introduced in 1926, it dominated the 1I00cc voiturette racing class. Its twin overhead camshaft, 6-cylinder engine developed 83bhp and used roller bearings in works form. These cars were capable of 1 18mph. A small touring straight-8 joined the range in 1928, as was the fashion then. This low-built C8 was another excellent machine, with good roadholding and a creditable maximum speed of almost 80mph in spite of its considerable weight. The 1811 cc engine had a single overhead camshaft. By 1930, the company was concentrating on touring cars; sports cars in France, as elsetvhere with the onset of the Depression, were in decline. The C8 was there, enlarged to two litres. The l-,'-litre Type M, a sedate small four which had arrived in 1928, survived until 1935 as the M2, M3 and M4; latterly with a 1.7-litre engine. Meanwhile, 1933 had brought Moyet's new SCV, the Type C, current until 1935 in various forms, and the disappearance of the C8. From 1934 to 1937 the 12CV N7 was offered, which used a Delahaye engine, and there was also the 14CV G36. The last Amilcars, made by Hotchkiss, were far more interesting. These 'Compounds' of 1938-39 had independent suspension front and rear, front-wheel drive on J.A. GrBgoire Tracta patents, and the Alpax unit construction of body and chassis that incorporated much aluminium. The engine was an 1185cc four.