July 20, 1967, Poissy. A worker leaves the factory holding the keys to the last Panhard 24 that will ever roll off the assembly line. He doesn't know it yet, but he has just witnessed the death of a legend - that of the world's very first car manufacturer. Yes, you heard right: the very first . Panhard & Levassor was the manufacturer that invented the modern automobile in 1891, that equipped the presidents of the Republic, that survived two world wars... and that had just been gobbled up by Citroën like a common hors d'oeuvre.

This story fascinates me because it proves that in the automobile industry, even when you've invented everything, even when you're 76 years ahead of the competition, you can still end up in the background. And believe me, Panhard's death throes are not a pretty sight.

{slides}

Well, to understand how tragic this end is, I first need to tell you who Panhard really was. Because when I tell you that it was the world's leading car manufacturer , it's not marketing, it's literally true. In November 1890, Émile Levassor was already writing: "We currently have 30 vehicles under construction, and orders are already coming in." Damn, it's 1890! Ford, he was still dreaming of becoming a mechanic.

René Panhard and Émile Levassor, these two guys, they didn't just create a car brand, they invented the modern automobile . The famous "Panhard System" - engine in the front, transmission in the rear, gearbox - that's them. This configuration, which we still find today on most cars, bears their name. Respectful, right?

Pioneers of the impossible

But be careful, these guys weren't jokers. From 1891 to 1904, Panhard & Levassor was the world leader in production volume. World leader! With cars that cost a fortune, just imagine. It's as if Ferrari were the manufacturer that sells the most cars in the world today - completely crazy.

And then there was that legendary race, Paris-Bordeaux-Paris in 1895. Émile Levassor, 48 years old at the time, got behind the wheel of his Panhard and covered 1,178 kilometers in 48 hours practically non-stop. He only stopped to refuel and eat a sandwich. The guy finished first with a lead of more than 5 hours! Except that at the time, the rules said that you had to have at least two people in the car to win. As a result, he was demoted. But everyone had understood the message: Panhard was the absolute reference.

Except that fate, sometimes, has a shitty sense of humor. The following year, in 1896, Émile Levassor was killed in a stupid accident during the Paris-Marseille-Paris race. And get this: he died saving a dog . Yes, a fucking stray dog crossing the road in Lapalud. Levassor saw the animal, swerved sharply to avoid it, and ended up in a ditch. Weakened by the accident, he died the following year. The guy who had revolutionized the global automobile industry killed himself to save a dog. I don't know about you, but that really gets me.

The Golden Age and Crazy Innovations

After Levassor's death, Arthur Krebs took over from 1897 to 1915. And the man did something that no one else had the balls to do: completely abandon valves . From 1910 to 1940, all Panhard engines used rotating sleeve technology under Knight's license. All of them! For 30 years, they bet on a revolutionary technology that no one else dared to adopt on a massive scale.

And it worked! Sleeve engines were quieter, smoother, more reliable. Panhard had become the ultimate prestige brand . Under Raymond Poincaré's presidency between 1913 and 1920, the Panhard 18CV and 20CV were the official cars of the Élysée Palace. When you're President of the French Republic, you drive a Panhard, period.

But hey, you know the drill: the 1930s arrived, the economic crisis, then the war. And then Panhard took a massive slap in the face. In 1945, France emerged drained from the war, and so did Panhard. The brand was in a bad financial situation ; the days of luxury cars for millionaires were over.

The programmed decline

This is where Paul Panhard, who took over as president in 1940, would have to make a painful choice: forget luxury and turn to more popular cars. The Dyna X was their attempt at survival. A small car with an air-cooled flat-twin engine and an ultra-light aluminum body. Innovative? Absolutely. Enough to save the brand? Not really.

Because during this time, the other French manufacturers were getting organized. Citroën, Renault, Peugeot... they had their factories running at full capacity, their sales networks well-oiled, their financial resources. Panhard, even with its prestige and know-how, was starting to struggle to keep up.

And this is where the man who would sign Panhard's death warrant came in: Pierre Bercot , the boss of Citroën. In 1955, this calculating businessman proposed a "partnership" to Panhard. 25% of the capital in exchange for the use of the Panhard factories to produce the 2CV vans and access to the Panhard sales network.

On paper, it looks like a win-win deal. In reality, it's the beginning of the end. Bercot, for his part, never had any respect for Panhard. For him, this century-old brand was just a springboard to develop his own projects, like the future SM. He was already preparing for the outright absorption .

The last card: the Panhard 24

Jean Panhard, who took over from his father Paul in 1965, saw that things were looking scorched. So he played his last card: the Panhard 24, launched in 1963. A magnificent car with its modern lines designed by Louis Bionier, its technical innovations, and its 850cc twin-cylinder engine developing 42 horsepower.

When I see a Panhard 24 today, I still feel a pang in my heart. It was the swan song of a brand that had invented everything. This car represented everything Panhard knew how to do best: innovation, originality, build quality. But it had one fatal problem: it was alone.

Panhard no longer had the means to develop a complete range. No small city car, no family sedan, no top-of-the-range model. Just this Panhard 24, as brilliant as it was, fighting on its own against manufacturers who offered ten different models.

This is where we find an incredible anecdote. In 1951, Pablo Picasso created his sculpture "The Monkey and Her Baby" using a miniature Panhard Dyna X that belonged to his son Claude. He placed the small car on an upturned Renault to form the head of a baboon. This work sold for $6.7 million at Christie's in 2002. Even Picasso understood Panhard's genius!

Yet, you know what? There were attempts to save the brand. Plans for the "Super Panhard 24 CT," a sports version that could have revived public interest. But Pierre Bercot said no. He preferred to let Panhard die rather than give it a chance to get going again.

The final execution

July 1965. Citroën takes complete control of Panhard. Jean Panhard, the last descendant of the founding family, watches helplessly as his company dies . Two years later, on July 20, 1967, the last Panhard 24 leaves the Poissy factory.

76 years of automotive history. 76 years! From 1891 to 1967. This brand had survived the Belle Époque, the First World War, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, the Second World War, and Reconstruction... and it had just died at the hands of the man who was supposed to save it.

This story revolts me. Do you know why? Because Panhard still had potential. Even in its death throes, they had advanced technologies. Their air-cooled twin-cylinder engines, their ultra-lightweight bodies, their know-how... all of this could have served as a basis for a renaissance.

But no. Citroën preferred to take over the factories, the sales network, and throw the rest in the trash. That's the reality of the automotive business : no matter your history, no matter your innovations, if you don't have the financial means to keep up, you disappear.

Incidentally, there was an exceptional woman who made her mark on Panhard's history in the 1900s: Camille du Gast, nicknamed "the Amazon with green eyes." This extraordinary woman - pianist, singer, aeronaut, parachutist, pistol shooter, and skier - was the first French woman to participate in a car race. In 1901, she finished 33rd out of 122 participants in the Paris-Berlin race with her Panhard-Levassor 20CV. A genius ambassador for a genius brand .

But hey, you know what annoys me the most about this story? I would have loved to be able to offer you Panhard miniatures on bernardminiatures.fr. Except that when a brand disappears like that, suddenly, it leaves a huge void in French automotive history. I still have a few Panhard pieces from time to time, but they are rare, very rare. Mainly Dyna X or 24 CT in 1/43 scale. But it's not like Renault, Citroën or Peugeot that are easily found. Panhards have become almost impossible to find collector's items, reflecting their rarity on the roads. Moreover, if you visit bernardminiatures.fr, you will see that I specialize in French cars from the 50s to the 90s. Delivery is free from 75€ in France, and each miniature is carefully packaged because these little treasures cannot be replaced. Like real Panhards, in fact. Want to know the saddest part of all this? The only part of Panhard that survived was the military vehicle branch. Panhard armored vehicles continued to roll in armies around the world for another 40 years. World number one in wheeled armored vehicles ! Even in death, Panhard remained a technical leader.

This military activity was finally sold to Auverland in 2005, then bought by Renault in 2012. Today, it's called Arquus. So yes, in a way, the Panhard legacy continues. But damn, what a difference from what this brand could have been if it had had the means to match its ambitions!

A lesson for eternity

In fact, when I tell this story, I always ask myself the same thing: what if Panhard had had the means of Citroën? What if Jean Panhard had been able to develop a complete range around the 24? What if Pierre Bercot had had a minimum of respect for the heritage he was destroying?

Well, maybe I'll stop fantasizing about an alternative history that doesn't exist. But you know what consoles me a little? It's that the Panhard 24s that survived have become extraordinary collector cars . Their rarity, their technical originality, their timeless design... they have become precious witnesses of an era when innovation took precedence over short-term profitability.

This is a bit like the story of Panhard: a masterclass in innovation, technical courage, but also in the cruelty of the business world. This brand gave us the "Panhard System" that we still use today, it was a pioneer in all fields, it equipped presidents and made generations of motorists dream.

The end of Panhard is a bit like watching an innovation giant die, stifled by financial constraints and the appetite of an unscrupulous competitor. It reminds me that in the automotive industry, as elsewhere, being right too soon can sometimes be very costly.

So the next time you come across a Panhard in the street or in a museum, take the time to stop. You will be looking at a piece of automotive history, a witness to an era when visionaries had the courage to invent everything. Eternal respect to Panhard & Levassor , the world's first car manufacturer, which died in 1967 amidst the general indifference of a market that had forgotten its pioneering lessons.