Amilcar

Ste Nouvelle pour l'Automobile Amilcar, St. Denis , France 1921 - 1937

Ste Financiere pour l'Automobile, Boulogne-sur-seine, France 1937 - 1939

After the First World War a large number of aspiring car manufacturers built what were known as ''cyclecars'' and the slightly more sophisticated ''voiturettes''. The Amilcar was by far the most successful of these voiturettes and was also the most sporting.
The name was an anagram of the names of the founders Akar who provided the finance and Lamy who had been involved with the design of the Le Zebre car pre war. They employed the services of Edmond Moyet to design the Amilcar and the Type CC followed by the CS and 4C were all fitted with 1 litre 4 cylinder side valve water cooled engines and three speed gearboxes.

The chassis was a simple affair with quarter elliptic springs and rear wheel brakes only. The cars were competitively priced but there was nothing to make them stand out from their competitors.
In 1924 the new CGS and Grand Sport models were an altogether more serious and sporting venture. The engine was enlarged to 1074cc and was equipped with full pressure lubrication.  The chassis was converted to half elliptic springs at the front and the front axle was braked.
Further development into the CGSS ''Surbaisse'' in 1926 included a lowered and more sporting chassis and a more powerful engine and it was this model which made the company's reputation worldwide. There were more pedestrian touring cars produced during this period all with 4 cylinder side valve engines and with capacities up to 2 litres.
Also available in 1926 was the cm Course, which was a pure racing car and other than those produced by Bugatti was one of the only such cars to be offered to the general public as a production model.

This was a very different proposition to the other models as it was fitted with an 1100 cc twin overhead camshaft 6 cylinder engine turning out about 83 bhp The engines of the factory entered cars were fitted with roller bearings to the crankshaft. In this form they were capable of 118 mph and dominated the 1100 cc voiturette class, which was a forerunner of Formula 2.

Above: 1925 Amilcar CGS - See images from J-P Bush below.

1928 saw the introduction of the C8 model, a small 1811 cc straight 8 single overhead camshaft engined tourer. Although on the heavy side it had excellent roadholding and a top speed of nearly 80mph.
France was not exempted from the Depression of the 1930's and as the demand for the more expensive sports models declined the company concentrated on touring models. The C8 was enlarged to 2 litres, until production ceased in 1933, and the 1250cc Type M from 1928 continued in production until 1935 along with the Types M2, M3 and M4 with engine capacity increased to 1700cc.
For 1933 Edmond Moyet designed the new 5CV and the Type C which was current into 1935.
From 1934 to 1937 the company offered the 12CV N7 which used a proprietory Delahaye engine and the 14CV N7.
The last Amilcars, made by Hotchkiss, used the   1185cc four cylinder engine, the chassis/body was of Alpax unitary construction with a significant aluminium content, all round independent suspension and front wheel drive to Gregoire Tracta patents.
 
The marque of Amilcar continues to have a strong following and is well catered for by the Vintage Sports Car Club.
 
Bibliography
Le Grande Livre Amilcar, Gilles Foumier, Retrovisetm 1994
Amilcar - Red Ones and Blue Onesand Tooled Aluminium Jobs, Stan Grayson,

Automobile Quarterly Volume 3 No. 1

There was a very good article on the racing Amilcars in Thoroughbred& Classic Cars from December 1974. 

Attached below are four photos of Clive Temple’s lovely little single seat supercharged 1074 cc Amilcar CGSs. 

John Sutton

Below: Images sent from J-P Bush:  1925 Amilcar CGS