All Articles Tagged 'france' (133)

When we say 'weird' we mean it. Definitely.

With the issue of a specification for a successor to the Potez 631 twin-engined fighter in service with the Armee del'Air, P-E Mercier and Jacques Lecarme of the Societe Nationale de Constructions Aeronautiques de Sud-Est (SNCASE) tendered the design of a highly innovative aircraft, the SE 100…

Another Bugatti? Well, we just can't have enough. And this one is truly unique.

Most Type 57s feature bodywork penned by Jean Bugatti in one of four distinct styles named after Mont Ventoux, the Col du Galibier and the Stelvio Pass, but this custom coupe took the best traits from each*. It was built…

Overshadowed by more famous and spectacular German aircraft, the Siebel Si 204 boasted a distinctive Dieselpunk appearance and played at least four different roles.

Used in substantial numbers by the Luftwaffe as a light communications aircraft and crew trainer, the Siebel Si 204 was essentially a scaled-up …

Enormous. That's the word for the greatest creation of Ettore Bugatti. Enormous dimensions. Enormous power. Enormous elegance.

The Bugatti Royale, also known as the Bugatti Type 41 is a luxury model car that has a wheelbase of 169.3 inches or 4.3 meters, and an…

This Sarurday, your air mail is brought to you by the most gorgeous trimotor ever built.

It is often said that aviation is the passion of a lifetime that slowly conquers the depth of one's soul*. This statement could never be truer when it comes to the life of René Couzinet, the Father…

Happy New Year, my fellow petrolheads! Come taste some crème de la crème from France!

Louis Delage was born in 1874 and was handicapped by blindness in one eye. This handicap would not hinder him at all in creating some of the most elegant and beautiful creations of the pre-WWII era, and into the early 1950s. He acquired his engineering abilities while…

The Saturday Air Mail presents: another French biplane family.

The Lioré-et-Olivier Type 20 and its derivatives are probably less famous than the Farman F.22, but no less important - and their looks are even more…

This is a another in a series of Tank portraits.

This print represents a Char B bis in service with the French Army May 1940.

At the request of General Estienne and on the basis of previous studies worked out by Renault, Schneider, FAMH, FCM, and Delaunay-Belleville, a new battle tank was developed…

This poster comes from the Netherlands:

Painters' trade union informs us that the hand holding a brush can also be a fist. Beware!..

Recently, yours truly and Stefan exchanged opinions on Interbellum art. Speaking of creativity and imagination, I mentioned…

Some time ago I wrote about the stylized and long lived MAT-49 SMG from France. But it wasn't the only collapsing weapon to come from the minds of Gallic engineers.

The Hotchkiss Universal Type submachine…

Today, on my 50th birthday, I'd like to show you some beautiful bodies. Car bodies created by Joseph Figoni.

I have a confession to make - 15 years ago, a few photographs and color drawings of his work ignited ny passion for streamline design. And this passion only grew ever since. I owe much to…

A steam wonder of the Diesel Era: streamline Garratt locomotive.

For starters, a short quote: "In 1934 the standard gauge between Algeria and Morocco was completed. The expresses Alger - Oran, hauled by the fantastic Garratts 231-132-AT, then BT, had cars for the express Oran - Casablanca..." (…

Today, I'd like to present an artist who was lucky enough to catch the Jazz Age spirit and talented enough to preserve it in his prints and sketches.

A number of French poster artists have been already featured here: A.M. Cassandre,…

With all due respect to flying boats (actually, it's more than respect - it is love!), we cannot ignore their smart companions.

Between the two world wars, France built a variety of floatplanes, mostly for the Navy - fighters, bombers, recce, observation and anti-submarine craft, etc. Here are just a few. Hope these machines will…

This column, introduced in summer 2009, doesn't need much fanfare to celebrate its third anniversary. Let's fuel our tanks and go!

Today, I'd like to show some pictures from an amazing collection of Raymondx1 @ Flickr: amateur shots showing cars as family members. Common…

This Saturday, our Air Mail is here to remind you about the French long-range civil aircraft - probably not as famous as their German and Italian contemporaries but nevertheless iconic.

In early 1930s, Emile Dewoitine, already a prominent aircraft designer, changed his concept from high- to low-wing. He was keen about the range of his machines. The…

Right from his very first works in the mid-seventies, the French musician, writer and musicologist Jean-Marc Vivenza doesn't conceal the fact that he belongs to the both theoretical and political bond linking him to the Italian Futurist and Russian Constructivist movements. The propositions about formal, plastic noise from these two currents are the only theorical sources that haven't really been developed ever. Both a composer and a philosophe, Jean-Marc Vivenza actually calls his…

The one and only endurance record-breaker, built by Citroën.

These days, with rigorous prototype testing and computer-aided manufacturing, we take our cars’ reliability for granted. Carmakers have every confidence their products will last.

It was very different in the early 1930s, when human error meant that few cars — and roads — could be entirely depended upon. In…

In the future that never was, trans-ocean communications and sea warfare belonged (or should I say "will belong") to giant flying boats.

Here are two examples of these mighty machines, both built by Potez-CAMS, France. In 1933, Potez acquired CAMS (Chantiers Aero-Maritimes de la Seine), a company famous for its flying boats, most notably the versatile Model…

One of France's most impressive and highly successful cars - the Renault 40CV Type NM des Records aka the Montlhéry Coupe:

In the 1920s, vehicle manufacturers were locked in an all-out race to set new records, a fashion encouraged by the construction of speed rings. In France, the Montlhéry ring built in 1924 set the stage for many a confrontation, with the last word going to…