With the launch of his 7 CV Sport in late 1926, Émile Claveau showed that the future could be fun if you were driving the right car.
One of the French Republic’s most talented engineers produced wave after wave of advanced automobiles. Yet both hands would probably suffice to count all the cars he built. Émile Claveau deserves recognition for his undaunted creativity.
By Karl Ludvigsen
French pioneers, among them Panhard et Levassor, de Dion and Renault, made France the early leader in the production of motors and the promotion of motoring. Soon the French were building bigger and faster cars to compete in road races from city to city. They established the first club for motorists, led the founding of the first international association of motoring clubs and organised the first Grand Prix race in 1906.