Not zero comfort!
The SARA Coloniale 600
The Coloniale variant, designed with french Archanian colonies in mind, quickly followed, with a detuned engine able to run on 80 octane fuel (*) and an even poorer equipment level. The manual windshield wipers were removed, as was the rearview mirror, and the door locks.
(*)well, able to run on basically anything, actually. It was a common sales trick to offer a glass of moonshine, then pour the rest in the tank.
While it never failed to impress the customer, it was nonetheless perceived as a inappropriate waste of perfectly drinkable moonshine
Extremely rustic, the car offered decent offroad capabilities and managed to be produced for close to 320$ (4366 adjusted) or 350$ MSRP, and even had decent load and tow capabilities, which helped swallow the awful perfomances and total absence of any comfort or safety.
It obviously is only available in Gris Neutre, called “Undercoat grey” for the rare english-speaking buyer.
Some stats
Engine Details
Based on the SARA Armistice I3 engine line - 64.9 bore and 86.6 stroke for 861 cc max capacity, all cast pushrod
Capacity : long-stroked, 58.5x73.6, 592.6 cc
6.0 compression, single-barrel carb tuned for low quality, 80 RON gasoline, cast log header
17.4 hp@4600 (redline), 31.7 Nm@2400, 8.8% efficiency
82.7 kg, 317.5$
Car Details
4366$ build cost (0 markup)
2 door - two seats, 2.06 wheelbase, 3.23 total
Front Longitudinal RWD
Steel ladder chassis and panels
front/rear axle coils, 2 gear manual
Weight : 556 kgs
Mileage : 15.3 l / 100 kms or about 15 MPG (US)
Max Speed : 75 km/h
1/4 mile : 34.35 s
Kilometer : 66.15 s
G : 0.61/0.58
Braking 0-100 : 89.4 m
Airfield time : 2.56.61
507 kg towing / 476 kg load capacity
4 Likes
The SARA 800S Turini
Helped by the reconstruction needs, and the willingness of the government to limit importations as a mean to avoid devaluation, the “Armistice” did actually quite well…
Certainly, the design choices were close to the archi-rival (well, at least in the engineers minds) from the FAAL and Merciel, but then, how many options to build a car is there with such a limited supply of steel and money ?
The french needed cars, and there was enough place for severak quirky little cars with 4 seats and zero (or very close to zero) comfort.
SARA got even lucky in 47 - a mechanic/tuner/driver from Modane (*) did enter the '47 Monte-Carlo with an Armistice, bored, stroked and tuned as agressively as he could, which lead to a 800 cc that more than doubled the power output (imagine, over 45 hp !!!)… and benefitted from the heavy snow and the owner’s experience in moutain climate to reach the podium in their category.
And the most beautiful ?
The mechanic’s name ?
Amedeo Turini.
That’s right, just like the mythic pass in southern Alps, where the “Spéciale de nuit” from the Monte Carlo is traditionally held - and where the Armistice came close to the scratch time thanks to a ride height that helped it ride through the snow drifts.
(*) Yeah, that’s Modane, not Modena. But the pun is somewhat intended
Management quickly signed Turini to a contract as the exclusive tuner for the firm, and started to produce a roadster version based on its 800 “Turini” variant - not bothering to detune the engine for a less rugged road use.
The Armistice 800 “Turini” was felt internally as a major step upscale, setting up a few “firsts” for the SARA :
- First SARA car without the mandatory “undercoat grey” (featuring instead a mandatory “Bleu de France” color)
- First SARA car with (some) chrome (or very nearly chrome, or, well, at least someone has taken some time to polish the naked steel) trimmings
- First SARA car to reach over 1.0 on the standardized Comfort evaluation
- First SARA car to break the 0.0 barrier on the standardized Sportiness evaluation
As an omen to the things to come, though, the Turini really had no market - way too rustic to appeal to people looking for some comfort or prestige, and with an outdated suspension that prevented it from having any real sports appeal.
Amedeo Turini was the saving grace of the model, investing much time in energy in convicing fellow gentlemen drivers into racing it, finally investing much of the money from the SARA deal to promote a monotype formula champion, and dedicating lots of time and energy to help wanna-be rallymen in fine-tuning the car so that they could be somewhat competitive.
It is the investment, caring and enthusiasm of Turini that explains the somewhat cult following of the first Turini, that persists today, with auction reaching into the 40 000 for a genuine '47 model (the price for the shop-modified Turinis, before the deal with SARA, being stratospheric)
But by missing the market with “bold” engineering moves on one side (this car runs on 97 RON super only, for instance) mismatched to archaic decisions on the other (the axle coils, for instance), the Turini - and its relative success thanks to Turini himself - did a lot to root in the firm a (bad) engineering culture that would bring the company on the verge of disaster in a few years…
But then again, would we have Porsche, Alfa Romeo and the muscle cars without those weird mismatches ?
Engine Details
Based on the SARA Armistice I3 engine line - 64.9 bore and 86.6 stroke for 861 cc max capacity, all cast pushrod
Capacity : long-stroked, 62.6x86.6, 800.0 cc (0.1 cc more and it wouldn’t have had any sporting career)
8.7 compression, single-barrel carb tuned for 97 RON french super,short cast header
45.3 hp@5200, 6.8 Nm@4800, 9.2% efficiency
85.5 kg, 327.7$
Car Details
6155$ build cost (0 markup)
2 door - two seats, 2.06 wheelbase, 3.29 total
Front Longitudinal RWD
Steel ladder chassis and panels
front/rear axle coils, 3 gear manual
Weight : 717
Mileage : 18 l / 100 kms (13 MPG US)
Max Speed : 117 km/h
0-100 km/h : 29.9
1/4 mile : 25.5
Kilometer : 46.06
G : 0.84-0.80
Braking 0-100 : 69.7
Airfield time : 2:07.20
300 kg load capacity
3 Likes
Alas, the tides would soon change for the SARA…
Succees breeds confidence, and confidence, in a company run by engineers, tends to lead to arrogance.
Now, imagine what this can do in a company run by french engineers…
Now, imagine what this can do in a company run by french engineers, and that cannot go bankrupt since it’s publicly owned.
Yeah, that is scary.
Coming soon, the Saga of the SARA Marshall and the “Presque Diesel” engine lines, a story on how to burn cash allowed by the Marshall plan with absolutely no return.
With political dramas, internal squabbles, absurd marketing decisions, and a definite absence of anything over 4 cylinders (or 60 hp, I’m afraid)
2 Likes
I can feel it too…
The frustration of not being able to do a proper French car company because of the absence of diesel engines in the game…
F
Sometimes, a company destiny relies on small things… And the SARA Armistice (well, the whole SARA lineup) would have suffered from brakes overengineering - due to the chief brake engineer suffering from some PTSD after a brake failure in his younger years - where it not for an ebriated exchange with a Merciel technician on the closing party of the '45 Paris Salon.
The engineering prowess of the brakes, costing more than 10% of the total car price, were quickly discarded, and the chief brake engineer relocated to Quality Control, where he will certainly have a lot of work to do.
The SARA Armistice 600 has been ajusted accordingly (with a big thanks to @Dorifto_Dorito for attracting my attention to the fact that my car was actually not really cheap for its technology)
3 Likes
The best laid schemes of mice and men...
So, on the surface, everything went smoothly at the SARA. The Armistice sold well, and the SARA benefitted from a huge influx of money from the US-backed “Marshall plan”, setting in motion a huge investment plan on the verge of the second half of the century.
The strategic plan, modestly called “Rebirth”, had been directly validated by the minister of transports, and it was ambitious. In less than three years, the SARA was to develop three new car platforms and two completely new I4 engines - one gasoline, one diesel.
Thus, the Armistice would be joined by the fourgonnette to corner the market on small vehicles, while the Marshall sedan (using the new Marshall I4) and the Percheron trucks (using the new Diesel Marshalls) would expand the brand into the large vehicles segment.
The trouble is, nothing ever goes according to plan. And the SARA wonky management amplified that tremendously.
You see, France has a tradition of “higher school” for everything - Commerce, Administration, Engineering… France has a “higher school” for that. Admission on a (very) selective examination, free tuition, guaranteed job in the administration afterwards. Including the SARA. With political ties, alumni loyalty and competition (or sometimes plain hate) between rival schools, the SARA was basically divided in a dozen of divisions, each of them refusing to talk or listen to the other one.
And then there was the political meddling.
While everything went, more or less, according to plans, the minister of transportation came to the board in '48, just a few months shy of the final tooling, and issued two orders :
- Due to the strong interest in developping the ECSC (the ancestor of the European Union), the family cars and engines were to be designed as en European car, able to please every market.
Thus, due to varying taxation systems, the engine had to be of a low capacity, no more than 1600 cc (or it wouldn’t sell in France nor in Italy), and it had to be as oversquare as possible (to sell it in the UK), while the car’s wheelbase had to large (again, small cars didn’t sell that well in the northern countries)
- Due to a complex political decision involving protecting diesel specialist companies (in which he happened to have large shares), there was no diesel engined to be developped by the SARA. Ever.
The Marshall I4 engines and Marshall I4 Diesel engines were hastily redesigned, restroked to the max, and the Diesel modified so that it would run on gasoline, while keeping the low-rev torque and economy of a Diesel. Meanwhile, they stretched the Marshall body somewhat and tried to throw in some cue intended for each market - some wood trim for UK, a tachometer for Italy, an armrest for Germany…
Needless to say, after two years of costly development, this was even worse than restarting from scratch…
3 Likes
When a company goes bananas
The 1949 SARA Marshall 7CV "CECA Familiale" Wagon
Also available in 5CV eco, 9CV Turini, and 7CV Coloniale and Utilitaire engine variants
Body variants : sedan, wagon, coupe (only with Turini engine) and pickup (with Coloniale and Utilitaire engines)
Nobody at the SARA expected the Marshall to be a good car, not after the botched development cycle it had. It was, bascially, a bigger Armistice, relying on the same agricultural chassis and engine.
But things that are ok on a 600 kg do not work that well on a much heavier car. It had a bad fuel economy, awful breaking distance, dismal road manners, almost no comfort, while costing a lot more than the Armistice.
Sure, you had more space, but between the vastly overdriven gearing and the softer suspension (to create some illusion of comfort), the car was actually even less of an utility vehicle.
The v-Shaped front grille, along with the round front lights, was its saving grace. Every time the chief design engineer, Eugene Fragonard, looked at the mess that the car was, he couldn’t help smiling a bit - at least, she looks happy, he would told to its depressed coworkers.
He explained that to a coworker from marketing at the cafeteria, and soon a memo was sent to all design teams, to make a systematic use of v-shaped grilles.
The car was started in early 49 with a large promotionnal campaign advertising "La voiture qui donne la banane" (litterally, the car that gives you the banana, a french idiom for “the car that makes you smile”).
Obviously, this backfired heavily, car reviews joking that the tyres rubber might have been made from banana skin, while lots of people expressed the feeling that “SARA nous prend pour des bananes” (litterally, they think we are bananas, which would translate to “they try to fool us”).
At 600$ (adjusted 6155) production cost, and 700$ MSRP, people were quite right about it
Yet, the v-shaped grille and smiling front fascia was indeed the saving grace of the car… It didn’t sell in the volumes expected, far from that, but it managed to gain some public sympathy.
We have a tendancy, in France, to root for the loser, and a car so obviously misdesigned, that managed to keep smiling, was fitting in french culture.
Still only available in undercoat gray, but look at those chrome trims !
Engine Details
Based on the SARA Marshall I4 engine line - 72.5 bore and 96.7 stroke for 1596 cc max capacity, all cast pushrod
Capacity : long-stroked, 67.9x96.7, 1399 cc
6.8 compression, single-barrel carb tuned for 89 RON french regular gasoline, cast log header
43.5 hp@4200 (redline), 90.6 Nm@2400, 12.9% efficiency
124.3 kg, 434$
Car Details
6155$ build cost (0 markup)
5 door - 5 seats, 2.56m wheelbase, 4.11m total
Front Longitudinal RWD
Steel ladder chassis and panels
front/rear axle coils, 3 gear manual
Weight : 943 kg
Fuel Economy : 14.3 l/100 (16.5 MPG US)
Max Speed : 114 km/h
0-100 km/h : 29.1
1/4 mile : 24.6
Kilometer : 45.6
G : 0.69-0.68
Braking 0-100 : 90.1 m
Airfield time : 2:13.53
400 kg load capacity
6 Likes
So that means the type of people who buys this car is the one who is happy and full of laughter?
1 Like
I wouldn’t go that far… But given the french propensity towards irony and rooting for losers, the few buyers who got tricked into buying a Marshall compensated with some pride in having a crappy car - with a smile
It has reached a sort of cult status in collection, both for his quirk factor and because very few survived rust (yes, it was also using poor quality steel)
Its smiley face might have put some potential buyers off, and its grill is actually too modern for a 50s car, but there is no doubt its front end makes it look as if it has a positive outlook on life.
1 Like
I was the kind of kid you could recite spec sheets from memory, but never got past “I like how it looks” as far as design goes - not to mention I built my kid car culture around 70’s french cars, so I have an absolute blind spot on cosmetic fixtures.
Until I started committing myself to the forum, I think I never put any fixture on my cars (except for mandatory grilles in Kee, and lips/spoilers at any place I can find on sportscars), and it still shows
Lore-wise, we’ll argue that the anachronic grill is typical SARA quirkiness - and hope that SARA will become, as time passes, a company known to have gone from poor designs to sleek designs as the years pass
Easiest way to learn design is to look at cars of the era, and take influences from their designs to shape how you want your car to look.
1 Like
The 1949 SARA Fourgonnette légère
The SARA's savior
Also available in a (somewhat) long version, and with the 5CV “Marshall” I4 engine.
Typo on the weight edited - thanks to @Private_Miros
The legend at SARA is that the idea for the Fourgonnette (small van) came on one early machon (*) between chief platform engineer Antoine Watteau and the accountant principal during the hardest days of the Marshall development.
The accountant came to discuss how they could limit the development costs to a maximum of three times the initial budget, but the magic of shared bottle of Chardonnay brought the exchange in another direction.
“- So, these Armistice, they still sell well, don’t they ?”
“- Yeah, people seem to need to haul things, no matter what the comfort or safety is, and the Armistice is surprisingly good at that. Considering.”
“- Is there any Chardonnay left ? Great, thanks… Try those tripes, they’re delicious”
“- From me to you, the Marshall is a crap car, but, you know what, I’m sure we could build a fourgonnette with some leftover Armistice engines. We could just slap four steel panels, see, just like a box, see, put some lights in the corners, et voilà, a new fourgonette”
“- See, that sounds swell. Did you see my checkbook ? Start this now. Oh, and bring me another bottle for the road”
- (a mâchon is a typical early breakfast from Lyon, a town proud to be the capital of gastonomy and home to the SARA headquarters. Traditionnally, you do a mâchon before starting your workday, and it consists of delicatessen, giblets, and wine)
So this is how the Fourgonnette project was put into motion. In a post-war France, (very) light commercial vehicles were very successful, and the Fourgonnette from SARA echos from the Citroen H and the Renault Estafette (although the SARA isn’t yet ready for FWD and unitary bodies) - not to mention the VW Typ 2 (and how much I would have loved to make the fourgonnette a RR vehicle…) (*)
- Sadly, there is no decent way to make a successful Piaggo Ape in Automation…
While very light, the Fourgonnette did offer a decent load capability - provided you didn’t make taking a very long time to accelerate and to brake - and was very economic, with just 10 l/100 kms, low upkeep costs, and a low price - 470$ before markup (4890$ adjusted for inflation), and was a huge success.
With an engineering time under ten months, it helped the SARA at the turnaround of the fifties - it used almost no specific tooling.
It kept the Fragonard “smiley grille”, in a larger (and even more anachronic, I’m afraid) format, and became an icon of the “Thirty glorious years” of France booming economy. Even today, it is not an unusual sight, typically for itinerant markets where butchers or bakers will keep it for marketing reasons - the fourgonnette says 50’s France like nothing else, quite like a pink Cadillac Eldorado screams 50’s USA (except there is more steel on a Caddy’s fintail than on a whole fourgonnette)
Can you guess the color ?
Engine Details
Based on the SARA Armistice I3 engine line - 64.9 bore and 86.6 stroke for 861 cc max capacity, all cast pushrod
Capacity : long-stroked, 58.5x73.6, 592.6 cc
6.8 compression, single-barrel carb tuned for 89 RON french regular gasoline, cast log header
18.5 hp@4300, 38 Nm@2200, 14.0% efficiency
81.3 kg, 290$
Car Details
4890$ build cost (0 markup)
4 door - 3 seats, 1.96m wheelbase, 3.76m total
Front Longitudinal RWD
Steel ladder chassis and panels
front/rear axle leafs, 2 gear manual
Weight : 778 kg
Fuel Economy : 10.0 l/100 (23.5 MPG US)
Max Speed : 81 km/h
0-100 km/h : you’re kidding, right ?
1/4 mile : 35.1
Kilometer : 66.8
G : 0.64-0.62
Braking 0-100 : 80.2 m
Airfield time : 2:55.12
400 kg tow - 900 kg load capacity
5 Likes
After a crash diet? I like it for the rest. It works with the simplicity here.
PMI Polezny is still looking to cooperate with engines from around 1960. In return PMI LLC - or rather one of their French subsidiaries - would not mind giving consultation on or simply providing design elements to SARA.
Thanks for the typo on the weight.
The SARA is looking forward to cooperating with PMI Polezny. Development plans for SARA engines for the late fifties include a whole new I3 family, up to 1.0 liter…
The planned V4 and flat 2 had to be canceled, sadly, and the status on our I4 engines is still uncertain. The Marshall will have to be redesigned by then, and could be available to PMI at a very low cost, even factoring in the tooling (there is not a lot), and workers’ training. But we might have a whole new design, less undersquare, and factored for economy, by then.
Low Comp engines will be a continued feature of the SARA and, due to massive overproduction of beets in France, we might start a study on ethanol engines.
We also are studying a lower-cost version of our Presque Diesel family, though that would be somewhat of a challenge - that new mechanical injection stuff seems perfect, but we don’t see how we could make it cheap ; the bakelite injectors we experimented with were economic, but sadly they had a mtbf of about 10 hours, which is not satisfying.
The opportunity to work with a PMI consultant for fixtures is also an interesting perspective, since it appears that people appreciate the decadent, american aesthetic of putting chromes everywhere. We like our cars sober, and we think France needs not imitating USA, but then we also have a mission to sell cars, so we might have to compromise there
2 Likes
The cooperation would be with the design team of PMI Puma SARL and/or PMI Minerva NV/SA. So, French / Belgian styling.
The 1949 SARA Percheron Builder
And the Quasi Diesel" engine Family
The last new model for the '49 lineup was yet another failed design, victim of excess money from the Marshall plans and the internal wars ruining the climate at the SARA.
The chief engine engineer, Eugène Delacroix, was a firm believer in Diesel engines. Sure, they were expensive to build, smelled awfully, and it sounded like… Well, like a diesel. But Delacroix was an eccentric (well, for an engineer, at least), who lived on a barge along the river Rhône, and he found the Barge large Diesel engine had its qualities.
It was nearly indestructible, it started in any weather (provided you waited for the preheating spark to do its job), it ran on bascially everything, from heating fuel to frying oil to… Diesel, offered loads of low-end torque, and was economic.
So, Delacroix started to work on a diesel engine, thinking there was a market for this in the utilitary and fleet vehicles, where large volumes would help mitigate the development costs.
SARA being Sarah, he was allowed a comfortable budget, and had the bases of a nice 2.7l diesel going when Chief Marketing engineer Corot heard about the project.
And Corot had a dream - he wanted to make the SARA a higher-end brand, and dreamt about inline sixes, classy advertising in luxury magazines, car reveals in exotic countries and palaces. Chief Marketing Corot wanted nothing to do with Diesel, and Chief Marketing Corot had an alumni in government.
Two months later, a new law was voted in parliament, banishing diesels. Sadly for Corot, all his maneuvers where for nothing, at least as far as getting upmarket was. The board simply decided to keep the diesel block, adapting it to gasoline while working on the lower end torque and robustness, and to spin it as the “Quasi Diesel” (almost diesel for the non-snail eaters).
Which made for a, well crappy engine family, with a crappy commercial stunt to go with.
The car is as good as the engine
So, now that we have a crappy, heavy, underpowered engine, let’s throw some steel panels around and call it a day, and be done with it, was the answer from chief design engineer Fragonard, who was already close to nervous breakdown from finishing, and having to put his name on the SARA Marshall.
And so the SARA did.
Using either the Quasi-Diesel or the smaller Marshall engine (in low comp and utility trims), the truck was truly awful, and missing entirely the market. While it had decent hauling and towing capacities, and came in various forms, plateau, van, minibus (with nine seats), and even in 4x4 offroad variants, it was underpowered while being too big for the European market.
The specialty versions (the Forester 4x4 Truck and the Carrier minibus, mainly) did manage, despite their shortcomings, some success in the administration, as they had least kept the rustic, rural qualities of the SARA vehicles.
But this was a failure and somewhat of an embarassment, especially considering the weird choices made by Chief Marketing engineer Corot regarding the branding of the truck
Yet another branding failure
Antoine Corot, the one who lobbied to forbid Diesel, didn’t really want to work on promoting a truck.
One day, at the hour of the apéritif, he was rehashing the failure of the SARA Marshall “banana” campaign with the accountant principal (who I will have to name since he seems to be a recurring character after all…)
“- Say, mister Poussin, do you have an idea how to sell that ugly workhorse those zoots Fragonard and Delacroix built ?”
“- Not as such, engineer Corot. I think playing again on the smile is a bit early, that at least I can tell you”
“- Now, that was mean, you know. You’ll have to pay the next round of anisette to apologize. But you’re right, though, this is a plowing machine, not a smiley thingumajig like the other, you ken, the one with a crappy US name, the guy who gave us money”
“- Now, hold my anisette for a second, I think you might have something there. Plowing, workhorse… Something rural, something strong. Why not call it the Percheron ?”
“- You mean, the Percheron, like those ugly big working horses we used to see in the country when we was young ? Isn’t that a bit of a silly name ?”
“- I don’t know, you’re the salesman there. But I know Rolls & Royce sell their limousines for an awful lot, and what is a limousine if it’s not some sort of cow ?”
“- You know, you’re brilliant. Hold my anisette while I write a memo”
Indeed, the Percheron is a breed of draft horse, while the Limousine is a cow breed (and a bodystyle, with some weird connections to the french region of Limousin)
And so we got the Percheron, which came in different trims, each one linked to a craftsmanship. The Forrester for the heaviest duty, 4x4 truck, the Builder for the intermediate, RWD truck, the “Delivery” for the van, the “Carrier” for the minibus…
Yep, undercoat grey FTW
Engine Details
Based on the SARA Quasi Diesel I4 engine line - 85.9 bore and 114.5 stroke for 2653 cc max capacity, all cast pushrod
Capacity : long-stroked, 78.1x114.5, 2194 cc
7.3 compression, twin single-barrel eco carb tuned for 92 RON regular gasoline, cast log header
46.1 hp@3300 (redline), 130 Nm@1400, 14.3% efficiency
178.9 kg, 869$
The obvious misconceptions, such as the choked exhaust, quality slider abuse, weird fuel system and noisy muffler are intentional. This has to be a heavy, noisy, expensive, lumbering engine with awful throttle response
Car Details
7249$ build cost (0 markup)
2 door - 3 seats, 2.92m wheelbase, 5.10m total
Front Longitudinal RWD
Steel ladder chassis and panels
front/rear axle leafs, 3 gear manual
Weight : 1180 kg
Fuel Economy : 16.1 l/100 (14.6 MPG US)
Max Speed : 109 km/h
0-100 km/h : 48.5
1/4 mile : 24.91
Kilometer : 48.15
G : 0.67-0.64
Braking 0-100 : 97.7 m
Airfield time : 2:21.20
750 kg tow - 850 kg load capacity
6 Likes
Next step in 1955, which the long overdue firing of chief marketing engineer Corot, and a somewhat decent car to replace the Marshall. With the profits returning, we should then be able to try to expand, using PMI to improve on our styling
The turmoil years
Despite the Armistice still selling strongly and the Fourgonnette being a hit, the SARA went into deep financial troubles, with their two major products, the one where SARA invested a lot, being complete failures. The margins on the small vehicles were low, but soon they had to start selling the Percheron and the Marshall at cost, sometimes even at loss, only to move inventory a bit and sell them before they reached terminal rust decay (which came quite fast, to be honest).
Had the SARA been privately owned, it would have gone bankrupt, but as a State-funded company, it survived, if only to avoid an unemployment crisis in the production sites.
Yet, in 1953, a new government came to office, and whistled the end of recess.
Chief Marketing Engineer Corot, being the most inept of the senior staff and closely tied to the former government, was the first to go, but basically the whole executive directory was changed.
And, surprisingly, the change was made in favor of able managers, not tied to political reasons.
François Jeanneret became the new CEO, with a six-years contract, and, behold, he actually came with a strategic vision for those years !
A relative of famous architect Le Corbusier, Jeanneret was a firm believer in the motto that “the functions dictates the form”, and that the cars built by SARA should be designed in accordance with the clients needs.
That might sound obvious, but that was actually a kind of cultural shock to the firm.
An alumni of the Higher School for Commerce, he had also made postgraduate studies in the USA, with a MBA from Stanford, where he had learned about qualitative marketing research and focus group. He quickly set up a task force to develop what would become the “Automation Marketing standard”, upon which he urged the design teams to rely heavily
Early draft of an “Automation Marketing standard”. Had the design team been using this kind of tool to design the Marshall, they would have known no one would buy it before it hit the market
Apart from implementing this consumer-focus culture, Jeanneret also set up the strategy for his mandate.
- Due to financial difficulties, there wouldn’t be major new developments during these six years.
- The Marshall, costing huge losses, would have to be replaced as quickly as possible, though, even though it was stated from the draft sheet that the car would be a stop-gap measure.
- The only other new car would be a redesign of the Armistice, trying to capitalize on its success while erasing the worst edges and going (slightly) upmarket, to increase margins and restore some financial health
- Also, he implemented some new production techniques and management, somewhat of a batardized lean management culture. Though obviously, given the company’s culture, this was limited in scope, it helped nonetheless by improving quality and social relations within the company, for a significant gain in productivity.
Work would then start on the new “Modulor” engine family. A tip of the hat to Corbusier’s work, the Modulor relied on the strong belief in standardization that characterized Jeanneret.
First draft of Jeanneret “Modulor Engine Brief”
On this basis, progressive introduction of a new car lineup could start. Jeanneret was impressed by the leaks about the CItroën DS, and requested cost/benefits analysis on new technologies - hydropneumatic suspensions, independant suspensions, front wheel drive, transversal engines, overhead cams…
Rhône-Alpes being a major actor in France aluminium production, it was also a political request to study the uses of aluminium
The target was to have at least one really new product - and a financially healthy company - by the end of his term.
Then he would seek a new mandate and start international expansion.
Jeanneret was an able manager, but he wasn’t without ego !
4 Likes