Chenard-Walcker

Chenard & Walcker
Chenard-Walcker

Chenard-Walcker T2 1913
Fate	Purchased by Chausson in 1936 following bankruptcy, after which the name continued to be used into the mid-1940s
Founded	19 January 1899 Registered 1900 as Chenard, Walcker et Compagnie Registered 1906 as Société Anonyme des Anciens Étabissements Chenard et Walcker
Defunct	1946 (1946)
Headquarters	Asnières-sur-Seine, France (1899 - 1908) Gennevilliers, France (1908 - 19__)
Key people	Ernest Chenard (1861–1922) Henri Walcker (1877–1912) Lucien Chenard (1896–1971)
Products	Automobiles Commercial vehicles

Chenard-Walcker, also known as Chenard & Walcker, was a French automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturer from 1898 to 1946. Chenard-Walcker then designed and manufactured trucks marketed via Peugeot sales channels until the 1970s. The factory was at first in Asnières-sur-Seine moving to Gennevilliers in 1906. The make is remembered as the winner of the very first Le Mans 24 Hours Race in 1923.

Ernest Chenard (1861–1922) was a railway engineer and maker of bicycles with a factory in the rue de Normandie at Asnières-sur-Seine, then just outside Paris on its north side. He joined with mining engineer Henri Walcker (1877–1912) in 1898 to make motor tricycles. Together they founded their automobile business on 19 January 1899, with Chenard in charge of design and Walcker sales and finance. The business was formally registered as Chenard, Walcker et Compagnie in 1900. In order to ensure short-term commercial viability they started out producing a quadricycle, but in 1900 their "first true automobile", the "Chenard et Walcker Type A" was homologated with the authorities. This had a two-cylinder, 1,160 cc (71 cu in) engine of their own design which drove the rear wheels through a four-speed gearbox and an unusual transmission system. From the gearbox there were two drive shafts, one to each rear hub, with the hubs driven by gear teeth cut on the inside. The car was shown at the 1901 Paris Salon. The "Chenard et Walcker Type B" followed in 1901 and a fuller range was very soon on offer.

In March 1906 the company went public, in the process being renamed as the Société Anonyme des Anciens Étabissements Chenard et Walcker, and moved to a new factory at Gennevilliers in 1908. The new name has caused confusion over the years as to whether the cars should be called Chenard-Walcker or Chenard et Walcker. Both names seem to have been used. Annual production steadily increased with a major market being the supply of taxis especially in Paris. In 1910 they made over 1500 cars making them the ninth largest car maker in France. A six-cylinder car of 4.5-litre (270 cu in) joined the line up in 1913 and at the outbreak of war in 1914 the model range consisted of the six-cylinder and fours of 2.0-litre (120 cu in), 2.6-litre (160 cu in) and 3-litre (180 cu in) capacities.