PANHARD

12 entries

One of the first car makers in the world: the Panhard et Levassor system of engine at the front and drive to the rear set the pattern for most of the next century.

Founded: 1887, Paris
Founders: René Panhard, Émile Levassor, Édouard Sarazin
First car sold: 1890
Later: Military vehicles; part of Arquus from 2018

Panhard et Levassor was established in 1887 by René Panhard, Émile Levassor and the Belgian lawyer Édouard Sarazin, and sold its first automobile in 1890 on a Daimler engine licence. In 1891 the company built its first all-Levassor design, the Système Panhard: four wheels, a front-mounted engine, rear-wheel drive and a sliding-gear transmission. In 1895 Panhard et Levassor cars finished first and second in the Paris–Bordeaux–Paris race, and the company went on to win numerous races until 1903.

Levassor died in 1897 after a crash in the Paris–Marseille–Paris race of 1896, and Arthur Krebs ran the firm until 1916 and made it one of the largest car makers before the First World War. Panhard developed the Panhard rod, still used in many cars, and from 1910 offered Knight sleeve-valve engines alongside conventional ones. The last incarnation of the company built light tactical and military vehicles; Renault took it over in 2012 and in 2018 it joined ACMAT and Renault Trucks Defense under the single Arquus brand.

1887Panhard et Levassor established
1891Système Panhard layout
1895First and second in Paris–Bordeaux–Paris
1910Sleeve-valve engines offered
2012Taken over by Renault
2018Arquus brand formed