1907 Berliet C2 double-phaeton

Berliet was a French manufacturer of automobiles, buses, trucks and military vehicles among other vehicles based in Vénissieux, outside of Lyon, France. Founded in 1899, and apart from a five-year period from 1944 to 1949 when it was put into 'administration sequestre' it was in private ownership until 1967 when it then became part of Citroën, and subsequently acquired by Renault in 1974 and merged with Saviem into a new Renault Trucks company in 1978. The Berliet marque was phased out by 1980.

Marius Berliet started his experiments with automobiles in 1894. Some single-cylinder cars were followed in 1900 by a twin-cylinder model. In 1902, Berliet took over the plant of Audibert & Lavirotte in Lyon. Berliet started to build four-cylinder automobiles featured by a honeycomb radiator and steel chassis frame was used instead of wood. The next year, a model was launched that was similar to contemporary Mercedes. In 1906, Berliet sold the licence for manufacturing his model to the American Locomotive Company.

Before World War I, Berliet offered a range of models from 8 CV to 60 CV. The main models had four-cylinder engines (2412 cc and 4398 cc, respectively), and there was a six-cylinder model of 9500 cc. A 1539 cc model (12 CV) was produced between 1910 and 1912. From 1912, six-cylinder models were made upon individual orders only.

After the rustic type B, Berliet developed more models with four-speed and four-speed gearbox. Based in Lyon, Berliet's business expanded and in 1902 he bought the carmaker Audibert & Lavirotte. Three years later, an American industrial company, the American Locomotive Company, specializing in the construction of locomotives, approached Berliet to produce their cars under license in the United States. Marius Berliet, flattered, took up the front of a steam locomotive. Meanwhile, he had a go at racing, which was quite successful, a Berliet finishing third in the Targa Florio of 1906. Another Berliet finished third in the category for’

Under the hood of this model C2 is a large 3.7-liter four-cylinder in two-block, with impressive torque that allows for a very respectable performance of this age.

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