Panhard: The Forgotten Matriarch Who Invented the Automobile

Ask around what the oldest car brand still inscribed in history is, and you'll likely hear Mercedes, Peugeot or Renault. The real answer lies elsewhere, and it carries the scent of forgotten France: Panhard. Born in 1887, the Parisian house didn't just manufacture cars — it invented the way they're built. Then it dominated the first races, imposed an art of lightness that still sets the standard, before quietly fading away in 1967. The story of a pioneer that deserves far better than oblivion.

1887: At the very source of the automobile

Originally, Panhard wasn't a car manufacturer but a woodworking machinery company, founded by René Panhard and his associate. Everything changed when Émile Levassor joined the venture and acquired, in 1887, a license for Gottlieb Daimler's gasoline engines. The company took the name Panhard and Levassor and assembled its first automobiles in the very early 1890s. We were then at the dawn of the genre: the car was a curiosity for wealthy enthusiasts, a haphazard assembly of mechanics still rough around the edges.

This is where Panhard entered legend. In 1891, Levassor developed what would be called the "Panhard System": the engine at the front, a clutch, a gearbox, then transmission to the rear wheels. This layout, obvious today, was anything but obvious at the time — and it would become the reference architecture for automobiles for nearly a century. Nothing less than that. When a conventional gasoline car still positions its engine up front, it pays homage, unknowingly, to the genius of a French engineer from 1891.

The first victories in racing history

Panhard didn't just theorize: the brand proved its ideas on the road. In 1895, Émile Levassor set out on the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris race, roughly 1,200 km in a single stretch on the pot-holed roads of the era. He crossed the finish line first after a near-48-hour sprint, alone at the wheel. This was one of the very first great victories in motorsport history, and it was won in Panhard colors.

The brand's name became permanently etched in technical vocabulary: the "Panhard rod", this suspension link that guides an axle laterally, is still used today on countless vehicles. Few manufacturers can boast having lent their name to a universal mechanical part.

The interwar period: the audacity of luxury

In the 1920s and 1930s, Panhard moved upmarket and cultivated refinement. The brand adopted valveless engines (with sliding sleeves, under Knight license), renowned for their smoothness and silence — a prestige argument at a time when mechanics remained rough. Panhard also shone on the racing circuit, setting records that were a source of pride for French industry.

The pinnacle of this period had a name: the Panhard Dynamic, presented in 1936. This Art deco sedan was a festival of boldness: aerodynamic bodywork with faired fenders, integrated headlights, and above all an astonishing central driving position, the driver enthroned in the middle of the front bench. Too eccentric for its time, the Dynamic didn't achieve the commercial success it deserved, but it remains one of the most fascinating rolling objects of its era.

The postwar period: the genius of lightness

World War II reshuffled the cards of French industry. As part of the postwar reorganization, Panhard inherited the niche of small economical cars — a 180-degree turn for the former luxury manufacturer. Far from suffering this change, the brand would excel at it thanks to an obsession: lightness.

The Dyna X (1948) set the tone. Designed around the principles of engineer Jean-Albert Grégoire, it married aluminum bodywork with a small flat air-cooled two-cylinder. The result was a car of remarkable frugality, capable of carrying four people with a handful of horsepower. The Dyna Z (1954) pushed the logic further: aerodynamic profile, spacious cabin for six occupants, featherweight and surprising top speed for its displacement. Panhard demonstrated that with mechanical intelligence, you can do a lot with little — a lesson of striking modernity in an age of energy sobriety.

This philosophy worked wonders in competition. Associated with small Panhard two-cylinders, craftsmen like DB (Deutsch and Bonnet) swept year after year the Performance Index at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, that ranking that rewards efficiency rather than raw power. On the circuits as on the road, Panhard was the king of efficiency.

The 24, a magnificent swan song

In the late 1950s, the PL 17 took over from the Dyna Z and shone brilliantly in rallying, even winning the 1961 Monte-Carlo Rally. But it was a coupe that would offer Panhard its finest exit: the Panhard 24, launched in 1963. With its low, taut lines, its plexiglass strip headlights and its timeless elegance, it remains one of the prettiest French cars of the decade. Under the hood, still the faithful flat two-cylinder, a guarantee of lightness and low fuel consumption.

The 24 is a total aesthetic success. But it arrives at a moment when Panhard is no longer entirely master of its destiny.

Absorption by Citroën — and an unexpected second life

Since 1955, Citroën had gradually increased its stake in Panhard, notably using the brand's sales network and factories. In 1965, the double chevron took complete control. Industrial logic is relentless: the two ranges eventually competed, and the little Panhard, despite its qualities, didn't weigh much against Citroën's volumes. Panhard's automobile production ended in 1967, the last 24 leaving the assembly lines that summer. A page turned, without fanfare.

But unlike many other defunct brands, Panhard didn't truly fade away. Its name lives on in a completely different field: that of military vehicles, where the brand already excelled (armored cars, light armored vehicles). This defense branch would continue on its path for decades, keeping the Panhard name alive long after the end of private car production. The doyenne of automobiles changed its playing field rather than surrender.

A heritage etched in every car

What remains of Panhard today? Much more than one might think. The front-engine architecture that structured automobiles for a century, the suspension rod that bears its name, a record of pioneering racing, and above all this idea that performance first comes from lightness and intelligence — a philosophy that manufacturers are rediscovering today in an age of efficiency. Panhard may no longer have a car in its lineup, but its imprint is everywhere, discreet and essential. A fine reason not to forget the world's oldest car brand. Find period brochures from Panhard to consult and download for free on Brochure Auto.