French Companies Created These Zany Vehicles To Advertise Products During The Tour de France

As you might recall from history books and several award-winning films, Europe wasn’t the happiest place immediately after World War II, as one would expect after six years of conflict. European economies and infrastructures were utterly devastated, and France was no exception. In the early ’50s, however, just several years into the reconstruction process, a sense of optimism began to arise from the ashes, fueled in part by then-President Truman’s Marshall Plan. Keen to take advantage of a growing economy and strengthening middle class, French brands rushed to showcase the latest in aprés guerre technologies in the most effective ways.

[Ed note: We are joined once again by our friend Carlos Ferreira who, when not tending to his unfathomably huge model-car collection, is a professional designer and professor at Art Center College -The Bishop]

Before we begin, a warning: I shall be using every French expression I can think of in this article because it seems appropriate and I’m a fancy Euro. Allons-y!

By the 1940s, billboards were old chapeau and traditional store window displays, no matter how impressive, were stationary. But a mobile display could go anywhere, so for the French brands eager to get their wares in front of customers, the solution was obvious: take to the streets! More specifically, streets on which the annual Tour De France (TdF) bicycle race was run, joining the peloton in colorful, elaborate advertising vehicles that wowed the crowds lining the course. Television was still in its infancy, and with only two state-owned channels offering limited on-air schedules, advertising opportunities were few. Since the TdF was a premiere event, and most French TV programming at the time was chess matches and mimes in black and white, it guaranteed a ratings bonanza and ensured free exposure to the TV viewers that did exist, thus justifying the high fabrication costs of these arresting advertising machines.

American post-war optimism and marketing savoir faire were undoubtedly influences, but the French couldn’t help but do everything with beaucoup flair and joie de vivre, and lots of shoulder shrugging and grunting. Advertisers’ efforts kicked off a golden era of fantastical custom advertising vehicles with forms ranging from jet-inspired to giganticized products and downright bizarre three-dimensional interpretations of company branding. Although most of these vehicles made their debut at the TdF, many would later travel to world fairs, consumer trade shows and anywhere else a large crowd of potential customers would be.

HOW IT STARTED

I gained awareness of these amazing machines through French-based Hachette Livres which is the third largest publisher in the world. Beyond books and magazines, it has for several years issued well-curated collections distributed through newsstands around the world that include all manner of collectibles, from cartoon figurines, mugs, and of course, scale model cars – have a look.  In this presentation, I will feature some highlights from my miniature model car museum (for ants!)

THE FEATURED VEHICLES

‘51 Berliet Tlb19 Laden

This stunning road-going space cruiser was designed by prolific industrial designer Phillipe Charbonneaux, and built by now defunct French coach works “Le Bastard” (yes, it means the bastard. Cue French shoulder shrug). They established themselves as the go-to company for custom promotional vehicles, and thanks to Monsieur Charbonneaux’s inventive concepts, pretty much dominated the TdF scene for a while.

This Berliet is a prized item of my collection, but it’s the only non-Hachette of the featured vehicles, and came with no information booklet. Oddly, I wasn’t able to find any info on the real thing at all in the Great Digital Oracle, so it’s bit of a mystery… but let’s look at the obvious on the model, d’accord?

Laden is a French brand of clothes washers, which in ’51 must have been science-fiction-grade tech, so predictably the trailer is set up like a chic futuristic laundromat with various machines for demos. The detailed albeit monochromatic interior of the model can be seen through large windows on the sides, and it’s begging for some additional detailing by moi (more on that at some other time). At the front, we find an elevated viewing lounge from which a massive dorsal fin emerges rearward to ensure stability at its dizzying 53 mph top speed. Outward-facing clothes washers on the sides and rear led me to wonder if they functioned while the truck was moving. It would have been very hypnotic to follow a spinning load of someone’s mistress’s sexy lingerie. Also, this would make a rad camper conversion.

Engine: 5.0L Inline 4 gasoline, 100hp @2,400 RPM
Transmission: 4-Speed manual, RWD
Length: 45’-9”
Width: 8’-1”
Weight: N.A.
Top Speed: 40 mph

’52 Panhard Titan Pathé -Marconi “Le Ambassadeur”

This magnificent streamlined bastard was also, errr, a Le Bastard design, designed to promote the phonographic devices and music records of the Pathé-Marconi company which was at its peak in the ’50s. The trailer housed a luxurious eight-seat lounge with all of the brand’s latest audio and video product offerings artfully integrated for demonstrations, and again an elevated VIP section at the front with a bar and clerestory windows.

A recessed stage platform for live music performances on the roof had railings that were removable for when the truck was en route. The rear of the trailer also had a generous luggage area, and no fewer than 10 amplifiers powered the external speakers hidden behind the stylized musical staffs. The booklet points out it had Marchal brand headlamps, which were de rigueur of the era.

Engine: 5.7 L Inline 4 diesel, 100 hp@3000 RPM
(I mean , I get torque and gearing, but how did this thing even move with 1 hp less than my wife’s Fiat 500?)
Transmission: 4 speed manual, RWD
Length: 43’-3”
Width: 8’-0”
Weight: 17,600 lbs
Top Speed: 53 mph

’58 Renault Galion L’Union

Yet another Le Bastard creation, this is a bit less flamboyant than some of the others, but nonetheless still funky AF. Like many TdF vehicles, it had a caboose balcony in the back so dignitaries and honoraries could wave at the crowds, I presume, and in this case maybe throw out some newspapers.

Hélas, I lost the booklet it came with, but since L’Union is a regional paper in the NE of France, I’ll assume the interior is a cigarette smoke-filled pressroom with a row of typewriters, a brandy cabinet and several fedoras with ‘LE PRESSE’ cards pinned to their sides hanging on a rack.

Engine: 3.0L Inline 4 diesel, 52hp @2,400 RPM
Transmission: 4 speed manual, RWD
Length: 21’4”
Width: 7’-6”
Weight: 5,280 lbs
Top Speed: 53 mph

’59 Citroen U55 Bic

This model first brought my attention to this genre because I’m a sucker for retro-futurism, and it kicked off the hunt for the others. It sat on a Citroen truck chassis and featured an aircraft-style aluminum fuselage, a cockpit accessible by gull-wing doors, and an “on-board computer” in the nose cone to control the lighting and sound equipment, all deftly integrated into its sleek form.

The considerable electrical power required was provided by a separate 760cc inline-4 from a Renault 4CV. Rain was cleared from the windshield by one massive wiper, while two smaller ones kept the view clear through the front quarter windows. In the stern sat a demonstration booth for Bic products, which were just a bunch of ballpoint pens in the late ’50s, although some were retractable and could write upside down, in a portent of the future utopia we enjoy today. Marchal headlamps must’ve been quite the thing, because the booklet calls them out again.

Engine: 4.6 L inline 6 diesel, 73 hp@3,000 RPM
Transmission: 4 speed manual, RWD
Length: 32’-8”
Width: 8’-1”Weight: 15,400 lbs
Top Speed: 53 mph

’59 Renault Floride Butagaz

Most homes in France in the ’50s were still heated by wood burning stoves, which while cozy and romantic, also emitted particle pollution and other hazardous air contaminants. Compressed natural gas was pitched as the avant-garde wave of the future due to its clean-burning nature and practicality. What better way to convey this concept than with vehicles that looked like rocket ships, possibly propelled by CNG (they weren’t) especially since flying cars were just around the corner as we now know?

Continuing the fuselage style of the Bic truck, the Butagaz Renaults featured gull-wing doors (encore!) and a PA speaker mounted in the faux air intake on the roof. I acquired two slight variations in the hopes of replicating the caravan in one the press photos before realizing the absurdity of that endeavor.

Translated, paraphrased and excerpted from the booklet: ”The front grille evoked the air intake of an aircraft turbojet, with a center cone recalling a turbine. Midway between concept cars and promotional vehicles, the Butagaz rockets appeared in 1959 in the Tour de France Caravan. The unusual design surprises and intrigues, but its futuristic body designed by French coach builder Chapron sits atop a simple Renault Floride,” which was a diminutive rear-engined coupe/ convertible.

Engine: .875 L Inline 4, gasoline, 40 hp@5,000 RPM (Rear mounted)
Transmission: 3 speed manual, RWD
Length: 15’-4”
Width: 5’-3“
Weight: 1,600 lbs
Top Speed: 78 mph

’62 Renault 1400KG Propagaz

I tell you, Big Gas was trés grand in the ’50s and ’60s in France and they were gonna make sure you were using their gas cylinders to fuel your stove and heat your home! Perhaps the swoopy futuristic shuttle craft were too figurative, because in ’62 they went very literal and fabricated two giant propane cylinders, fused them and slapped them on a Renault commercial truck chassis. So you really understood what wassup, they mounted appliances you could fuel with their propane on the side of the truck, behind glass, like a museum vitrine – you know, just like in the Louvre. A caboose balcony can also be seen on this awesomely bizarre thing.

Engine: 2.7 L inline 4 diesel, 58 hp @2,900 RPM
Transmission:4 speed manual, RWD
Length: 14‘-9”
Width: 7’-3”
Weight: 4,004 lbs
Top Speed: 60 mph

LES MODÉLES

Hachette Collections models are mid-level in quality, but feature rubber tires, rolling wheels and reasonably detailed interiors. Some use plastic generously for body sections but the finishes are authentic and there’s lots of good detail that can be easily enhanced to increase realism. The uniqueness of HC’s offerings is unparalleled however, and they display well. They’re inexpensive in the countries where they’re officially distributed, but a little pricier to source them from the US. You can expect to spend $35-$70 each with shipping.

The Panhard Laden is made by Perfex and cast in resin, which is common for high quality limited run models. This combined with its rarity makes it a bit spendy ($175 and up) if you find one. From peering into it with a flashlight, I can see it has a completely molded interior, but all in white, which means I have to take it apart and detail it accordingly, perhaps adding a patterned floor and some tiny laundry detergent boxes. Perfex also makes other advertising vehicles of this era, and of course, there are other brands.

WHERE TO FIND THEM

Ebay as always, is a good place to start your search, but I use it as more of a reference to see what’s out there, and then search elsewhere, because I find their prices can be on the higher side. Shipping from abroad is indubitably more expensive, but not prohibitively so, and if you’re buying outside the US there’s no sales tax, which can go some ways to offset the higher international shipping cost. You can save by buying multiple models from the same seller and combining shipping costs. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

With this, I bid you adieu. My hunt for the outré never ends, so perhaps I shall return with more of my trophies in the future. Until then, happy collecting and feel free to send me tips about scale funkiness!

Au revoir, mes amis et bonne chance!

all photos by the author unless otherwise noted

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Citroën Built A Special Edition Car Based On A Disposable Pen And It Just Makes No Sense – The Autopian

This May Be One Of The Strangest And Frenchest Animated Cars In All Of Cinema – The Autopian