A magnificent brochure heralded the arrival of the Claveau Descartes ‘for 1947’. Seen as a complete car in 1948, the Descartes was awesomely ambitious for a private entrepreneur.
By Karl Ludvigsen
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When war intervened Émile Claveau had almost completed the first prototype of a stunningly advanced envelope-bodied six-passenger saloon with a V-8 engine and aluminium alloy body/frame—the Audi A8 of its day. Claveau named it after the philosopher who had been his consistent inspiration: ‘Descartes’. At the 1947 Paris Salon this was present only in scale model form plus its impressive completed engine. This sufficed as a stage from which Claveau could and did discuss the shortcomings of the existing French makers with visiting President Vincent Auriol.