MOTOR CARS | 201‘Le Mans’ has become a mythical name whereas the French
marque Chenard et Walcker appears to have been largely forgotten.
Nevertheless, it was a Chenard et Walcker of the type offered here that
won the very first 24-hour race at Le Mans in 1923.
Chenard Walcker (Chenard et Walcker after 1906) was founded in
Asnières, Seine in the late 1890s by railway engineer Ernest Chenard
and mining engineer Henri Walcker, initially making De Dion-style
tricycles before moving on to car manufacture in 1900. Chenard
Walcker’s first four-wheeler was powered by a twin-cylinder engine
of the company’s own design, which drove the rear wheels via an
unusual double axle, an arrangement that lasted into the 1920s.
Marine engines were added to the firm’s portfolio and in 1905 Chenard
Walcker produced 400 cars, becoming a Société Anonyme (public
company) in March 1906 and moving to a new factory at Gennevilliers.
The company grew, partly thanks to a substantial order for Paris
taxis, and by 1914 had risen to become France’s ninth largest motor
manufacturer. Chassis made from reinforced wood were used up to
1907 when steel was adopted, and from 1906 onwards four-cylinder
models predominated. Chenard et Walcker favoured sidevalve engines
of ‘T’-head layout up to 1910, after which they were phased out in
favour of the more efficient ‘L’-head type.
Chenards of the early post-WWI years were somewhat old fashioned
but in 1922 the firm launched a new model powered by a 3.0-litre
overhead-camshaft four designed by Henri Toutée. The company’s
Le Mans winning entry was driven by two of its engineers – René
Leonard and André Lagache – who circulated the 17.3-kilometre track
at an average speed of 92.064km/h (57.2mph), covering a distance
of 2,209.536 kilometres by the finish. Another Chenard et Walcker
finished second while Bentley’s first Le Mans entry, driven by Captain
John Duff and Frank Clement, came home fourth.By 1925 Chenard et Walcker was France’s fourth largest motor
manufacturer, producing 100 cars per day. It had links with several
other French firms and in 1927 joined a consortium with Delahaye.
This alliance lasted until 1931 when the two companies went their
separate ways, but while Delahaye prospered Chenard struggled. In
1936 it was taken over by the coachbuilder Chausson. Cars continued
to be produced up to the outbreak of war and again in 1946, after
which Chenard concentrated on the manufacture of a light forward-
control van before selling out to Peugeot in 1950.Little is known about the history of this Le Mans-type Chenard et
Walcker, which is offered for sale from a prominent European motor
museum where it has been on static display. A bill of sale on file
records its purchase in the USA by celebrated collector Peter Kaus in
August 1987 but there is no other documentation.
£35,000 - 45,000
€44,000 - 57,000