SCAR

Société de Construction Automobile de Reims
legal form
founding	1898
resolution	1933
Seat	Reims France
management	Albert-Victor Rayet, Emile Liénart
Branch	Automobile manufacturer

SCAR from 1908

SCAR from 1908

SCAR from 1908

SCAR from 1908

Share over 100 francs in the SA des Automobiles SCAR from June 8, 1912

SCAR was a French manufacturer of automobiles .

Company history

The company's roots go back to a company that Albert-Victor Rayet founded in Nanterre at the end of the 19th century . As a mechanic , he was interested in automobiles at an early age and built one of the country's first car workshops there . A few years later he met Emilie Liénart, who was also an avid motorist. As a businessman and entrepreneur, he had many contacts and financial resources and was one of the first residents of Paris to obtain an official driver's license. Together they developed the plan to start a new car brand.

In order to set themselves apart from the numerous competitors, their business idea was not to buy many components from suppliers, as was customary at the time, and to complete them with their own body. The success factor should be its own technical design and production, paired with innovative solutions. The intended target group was a clearly better-earning class of buyers from the start. Rayet and Liénart began to look for suitable premises in Paris or Lyon, the second automobile city in France at the time. In both regions, however, the land prices did not permit any commitment. Liénart, who had family in Reims, was recommended a suitable site in Witry-lès-Reims via this route . In addition to the appropriate size, it also had a railway connection; an important aspect in order to obtain the necessary raw materials and preliminary products. Because of these advantages, they acquired the site.

On March 8, 1906 (according to other sources, 1898) Rayet and Liénart founded the Société de Construction Automobile de Reims (SCAR). The administration was in Reims, 7, rue de l'Ecole de Médicine. The first self-developed vehicle was a four-cylinder 18/20 HP that left the factory in the fall of 1906. To make the new brand known, the company's founders took part in an international automobile competition that was held on the Isle of Man . However, they were unsuccessful because the vehicle broke down before the end due to technical problems. Nevertheless, potential customers became aware of the start-up. The choice of location turned out to be a stroke of luck. Due to the financial strength that champagne brought to this region, there were many local winegrowers who had the means to buy a luxury car.

The sales figures increased significantly. Due to the success, the model range was quickly expanded and the monthly production number was around 15 vehicles. The self-confidence that this development evoked manifested itself in the advertising slogan "Without comparison to Renault " (Sans Comparaision Avec Renault). At its peak, the sales catalog included sedans with two-, four- and six-cylinder engines as well as small trucks and a bus.

However, there were tensions between the company founders. The ideas were too far apart between the technician Rayet, who was looking for innovations, and the businessman Liénart, who wanted to save costs. In 1909 the latter wanted to liquidate the company, which was prevented by government agencies, which traditionally have a strong influence on the French automotive industry. The First World War continued to hit the company. Witry-lès-Reims was in one of the main combat zones, which caused considerable damage to the production site.

After the end of the conflict, the SCAR resumed its activities very reluctantly. Some vehicles under the brand were still being built, but the maintenance and repair of war equipment was quickly shifted to. The founders subsequently left the company. Rayet made itself as an authorized distributor for the brand Mathis independently . Liénart became commercial director at Brasier . The company's shareholders successfully demanded the liquidation of the company's assets in 1924. According to another source, the company no longer manufactured vehicles after the First World War, but Rayet and Liénart jointly sold Mathis vehicles until 1924 and worked as a workshop until 1933.

The production site was bought by Magneti Marelli in 1928 , who produced electric motors for various purposes there for more than half a century. It then passed into the hands of Vickers , who manufactured special parts made of plastic and rubber. Today the SECAN (Société d'études et de constructions aéronavales), which manufactures components for the navy and aviation, has settled in the premises.

vehicles

The first 18/20 HP model had a four-cylinder engine with a displacement of 2500 cm³ . In 1907 a four-cylinder model with a displacement of 4100 cm³ and a six-cylinder model with a displacement of 6000 cm³ appeared. In 1910 a two-cylinder model with a capacity of 1300 cm³, a four-cylinder model with a capacity of 2400 cm³ and a six-cylinder model with a capacity of 3600 cm³ followed. The four-cylinder 11.9 CV model with a displacement of 2094 cm³ followed later . In 1914 two models with 2800 cm³ and 3200 cm³ displacement appeared.

A vehicle of this brand can be seen in the Musée Automobile Reims Champagne in Reims .

Todays situation

Didier Carayon, president of the company that runs the Musée Automobile Reims-Champagne, assumes that the brand is largely forgotten today. Currently (as of July 30, 2012), in his opinion, six remaining copies of all types produced are known. Three are in France, one each in the UK , the US and New Zealand .

literature

• Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 .
• George Nick Georgano (Editor-in-Chief): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. Volume 3: P – Z. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 . (English)
• George Nick Georgano: Cars. Encyclopédie complète. 1885 à nos jours. Courtille, Paris 1975. (French)

Web links

Commons : SCAR  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• GTÜ Society for Technical Monitoring mbH (accessed on March 16, 2013)
• Gazoline (French, accessed March 16, 2013)
• Luxury cars from Champagne (German / English) (PDF; 1.9 MB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 .
2. ^ ^{A b c} Georgano: The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile.
3. ^ Georgano: Cars. Encyclopédie complète. 1885 à nos jours.
4. ↑ Philippe Dufresne: Une rescapée champenoise, in: Gazonline, issue 08-August / September 2012, 18th volume, Pixel Press Studio, Bailly, pp. 27–30.
5. ↑ Philippe Dufresne: Une rescapée champenoise, in: Gazonline, issue 08-August / September 2012, 18th volume, Pixel Press Studio, Bailly, pp. 30–31.