Jacques Durand (28 June 1920 – 16 August 2009) was a French engineer, model builder and automobile designer. He is primarily known for designing several sports cars, which were built in small volumes in France beginning in the 1950s and continuing into the 1990s.
100-686: Durand was born in Paris on 28 June 1920 and grew up at the family's summer home in Antony . He attended the Lycée Lakanal in Scéaux and then the École des Atelier des Postes, télégraphes et téléphones , graduating with a CAP (certificat d'aptitude professionnel) de mécanique de précision. Upon his return to Paris he took steps to avoid being conscripted by the STO (service de travail obigatoire) being run by
200-719: A Proto-Celtic form reconstructed as * kwar-is-io -. Alternatively, Pierre-Yves Lambert proposed to translate Parisii as the 'spear people', by connecting the first element to the Old Irish carr ('spear'), derived from an earlier * kwar-sā . In any case, the city's name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology . Residents of the city are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens ( [paʁizjɛ̃] ). They are also pejoratively called Parigots ( [paʁiɡo] ). The Parisii ,
300-432: A front-engine, front-wheel-drive configuration. Basic weight for the car was just 500 kg (1,102.3 lb). Financing to build a series of Atlas was provided by Renault dealer Jean Schwab, who also assigned one of his employees to help with painting and trimming the cars. The prototype was complete by 1957 and the car went into production the next year. A major price increase near the end of 1958 caused orders to come to
400-480: A rear mid-engine, rear-wheel drive layout. The chassis was steel and the fibreglass body was bonded directly to it. Suspension was independent at all four wheels and braking was provided by four disc brakes. Power came from an assortment of Renault engines, including the ones used in the R8, R8 Gordini, and R12. The car was sold in either kit or assembled forms. In 1973, having build just under 100 cars, Jacques Durand sold
500-404: A claimed power output of 37 hp (28 kW) SAE. By the time deliveries commenced, in early summer 1959, it was also possible for customers to specify a performance version, engineered by Amédée Gordini , which produced 40 hp (30 kW) SAE by means of various modifications to the inlet manifold and camshaft, and a compression ratio raised from 7.6:1 to 8.0:1. Power was delivered to
600-530: A fair amount of sunshine. Each year there are a few days when the temperature rises above 32 °C (90 °F). Longer periods of more intense heat sometimes occur, such as the heat wave of 2003 when temperatures exceeded 30 °C (86 °F) for weeks, reached 40 °C (104 °F) on some days, and rarely cooled down at night. Spring and autumn have, on average, mild days and cool nights, but are changing and unstable. Surprisingly warm or cool weather occurs frequently in both seasons. In winter, sunshine
700-618: A halt, so the Atla was only built for one year. The total number of Atlas built is estimated to have been fewer than thirty cars. The next car that Durand was involved with was the Sera. This was not the SERA-CD company founded by Charles Deutsch , as indicated by that company's full name of "Société d'Études et de Réalisations Automobiles - Charles Deutsch". The two companies were, however, contemporaries. The company for which Durand designed his Sera
800-720: A huge and emotional crowd down the Champs Élysées towards Notre Dame de Paris and made a rousing speech from the Hôtel de Ville . In the 1950s and the 1960s, Paris became one front of the Algerian War for independence; in August 1961, the pro-independence FLN targeted and killed 11 Paris policemen, leading to the imposition of a curfew on Muslims of Algeria (who, at that time, were French citizens). On 17 October 1961, an unauthorised but peaceful protest demonstration of Algerians against
900-513: A new front suspension, new rear geometry, new steering, and a new gear linkage. Moving the radiator behind the engine also freed up an extra 12 cm of space behind the front seat. Maximum power output increased to 48 hp (36 kW). Four-speed transmission, already included in the price at no extra cost on some export markets, now came as part of the standard with the new engine even for French buyers, although bottom gear still made do without synchromesh. The upgraded cars, first presented at
1000-582: A second would follow near Le Havre in 1964, but neither of these addressed the challenge of finding somewhere to assemble the Floride in 1958. The heavy engineering company of Brissonneau and Lotz , better known as a manufacturer of rolling stock for the railways, had launched a small cabriolet sports car in 1956. Based on the mechanical underpinnings of the Renault 4CV , the Brissonneau coupé had been
1100-619: A single generation — as a rear-engine, rear-drive open two/four-seater designed by Pietro Frua of Carrozzeria Ghia , using the floorpan and engine of the Renault Dauphine . Outside of North America and Britain it was, until 1962, marketed under the nameplate Renault Floride . Renault was envious of the growing success in North America of the Volkswagen Bug/Beetle and was looking for ways to match
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#17328023757281200-402: A small berlinette body to be made in fibreglass. The design was notable for having gullwing doors like the 300SL. The car received a tubular steel spaceframe chassis courtesy of engineer Charles Cusson. Most of the cars used a rear-engine powertrain sourced from the Renault 4CV , although at least one Atla was built with the air-cooled boxer-twin engine and transaxle from a Panhard Dyna Z in
1300-477: A steeply raked windscreen, and a removable roof panel. The car was presented at the 1965 Paris Auto Show and generated enough interest that Morin decided to put the car into production. Performance with the original 845 cc engine was disappointing, so Sovam soon made an 1108 cc engine available. A new hardtop model was released in 1967 with 2+2 seating, rectangular headlamps and a 1300 cc Gordini-tuned engine. Although over 100 Sovam sports cars were sold
1400-784: A sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones , inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the area's major north–south trade routes crossed the Seine on the Île de la Cité , which gradually became an important trading centre. The Parisii traded with many river towns (some as far away as the Iberian Peninsula) and minted their own coins. The Romans conquered the Paris Basin in 52 BC and began their settlement on Paris's Left Bank . The Roman town
1500-403: A tentative project and only around 200 cars were sold. Renault now persuaded Brissonneau to abandon their own automobile project and adapt their facilities for assembly of the Floride. Brissonneau's long standing experience with railway locomotives provided abundant relevant experience at operational and workforce level, and Renault contributed much of the investment which during 1958 and 1959 saw
1600-494: A total production of just over 100 cars about a dozen Arista JDs were built between 1964 and 1967. In 1967 Gaillard wound up the company, but by that time Durand had already left for his next project. The SOciété des Véhicules André Morin (SOVAM) was a French company based in Parthenay that started by building mobile shop kiosks on light truck chassis and later specialized in mobile equipment for airports. In 1964 they introduced
1700-569: A variety of cars in fibreglass. In 1991 AMD undertook to design a new full-size coupé with an advanced rocker-arm suspension. Although the design was completed this project never went beyond the point of having a scale model of the car built. Throughout the years that Durand was designing cars he was also involved in other projects. At various times he applied his experience with fibre-reinforced plastics to making sailboats, sports steering-wheels, tool-boxes, mud-flaps and radiator shrouds. Together with his son he made headlamp parts for Renault 5 Turbos,
1800-527: Is Montmartre at 130 m (427 ft). Excluding the outlying parks of Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes , Paris covers an oval measuring about 87 km (34 sq mi) in area, enclosed by the 35 km (22 mi) ring road, the Boulevard Périphérique . Paris' last major annexation of outlying territories in 1860 gave it its modern form, and created the 20 clockwise-spiralling arrondissements (municipal boroughs). From
1900-771: Is 450 km (280 mi) southeast of London, 287 km (178 mi) south of Calais , 305 km (190 mi) southwest of Brussels , 774 km (481 mi) north of Marseille , 385 km (239 mi) northeast of Nantes , and 135 km (84 mi) southeast of Rouen . Paris has an oceanic climate within the Köppen climate classification , typical of western Europe. This climate type features cool winters, with frequent rain and overcast skies, and mild to warm summers. Very hot and very cold temperatures and weather extremes are rare in this type of climate. Summer days are usually mild and pleasant, with average temperatures between 15 and 25 °C (59 and 77 °F), and
2000-746: Is derived from its early inhabitants, the Parisii , a Gallic tribe from the Iron Age and the Roman period . The meaning of the Gaulish ethnonym remains debated. According to Xavier Delamarre , it may derive from the Celtic root pario- ('cauldron'). Alfred Holder interpreted the name as 'the makers' or 'the commanders', by comparing it to the Welsh peryff ('lord, commander'), both possibly descending from
2100-440: Is scarce. Days are cool, and nights are cold but generally above freezing, with low temperatures around 3 °C (37 °F). Light night frosts are quite common, but the temperature seldom dips below −5 °C (23 °F). Paris sometimes sees light snow or flurries with or without accumulation. Paris has an average annual precipitation of 641 mm (25.2 in), and experiences light rainfall distributed evenly throughout
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#17328023757282200-485: The 1962 Geneva Motor Show , now featured disc brakes on all four wheels: the Floride was the first French volume car to benefit from this enhancement which also reduced unsprung weight by approximately 6 kg. The Caravelle name also replaced the Floride name in all markets from 1962 onwards. In 1964, another R8-derived engine of 1108 cc was introduced to the Caravelle, producing 55 hp (41 kW). This model
2300-619: The Champs-Élysées extended the city west to Étoile , while the working-class neighbourhood of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine on the eastern side of the city grew increasingly crowded with poor migrant workers from other regions of France. Paris was the centre of an explosion of philosophic and scientific activity, known as the Age of Enlightenment . Diderot and D'Alembert published their Encyclopédie in 1751, before
2400-825: The College of Sorbonne , and a palace for himself, the Palais-Cardinal . After Richelieu's death in 1642, it was renamed the Palais-Royal . Due to the Parisian uprisings during the Fronde civil war, Louis XIV moved his court to a new palace, Versailles , in 1682. Although no longer the capital of France, arts and sciences in the city flourished with the Comédie-Française , the Academy of Painting, and
2500-663: The European Space Agency , the European Banking Authority and the European Securities and Markets Authority . The football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris. The 81,000-seat Stade de France , built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup , is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis . Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on
2600-738: The French Academy of Sciences . To demonstrate that the city was safe from attack, the king had the city walls demolished and replaced with tree-lined boulevards that would become the Grands Boulevards . Other marks of his reign were the Collège des Quatre-Nations , the Place Vendôme , the Place des Victoires , and Les Invalides . Paris grew in population from about 400,000 in 1640 to 650,000 in 1780. A new boulevard named
2700-665: The Grand Paris project, to integrate Paris more closely with the towns in the region around it. After many modifications, the new area, named the Metropolis of Grand Paris , with a population of 6.7 million, was created on 1 January 2016. In 2011, the City of Paris and the national government approved the plans for the Grand Paris Express , totalling 205 km (127 mi) of automated metro lines to connect Paris,
2800-470: The Jaguar D-type and Mercedes-Benz 300SL , among others. Bodies for these scale models were made out of aluminum. In 1957 Durand met the father of racing driver Jean Vinatier . The elder Vinatier's Alpine A106 Mille Miglia had been damaged, and to understand what would be needed to repair the car's fibreglass bodywork Durand paid a visit to the workshops of Chappe et Gessalin to quietly observe
2900-493: The Montgolfier Brothers launched the first manned flight in a hot air balloon on 21 November 1783. Paris was the financial capital of continental Europe, as well the primary European centre for book publishing, fashion and the manufacture of fine furniture and luxury goods. On 22 October 1797, Paris was also the site of the first parachute jump in history, by Garnerin . In the summer of 1789, Paris became
3000-532: The Paris Commune held power for two months, before being harshly suppressed by the French army during the " Bloody Week " at the end of May 1871. In the late 19th century, Paris hosted two major international expositions: the 1889 Universal Exposition , which featured the new Eiffel Tower, was held to mark the centennial of the French Revolution; and the 1900 Universal Exposition gave Paris
3100-599: The Pont Alexandre III , the Grand Palais , the Petit Palais and the first Paris Métro line. Paris became the laboratory of Naturalism ( Émile Zola ) and Symbolism ( Charles Baudelaire and Paul Verlaine ), and of Impressionism in art ( Courbet , Manet , Monet , Renoir ). By 1901, the population of Paris had grown to about 2,715,000. At the beginning of the century, artists from around
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3200-634: The Pont des Arts . During the Restoration , the bridges and squares of Paris were returned to their pre-Revolution names; the July Revolution in 1830 (commemorated by the July Column on the Place de la Bastille ) brought to power a constitutional monarch, Louis Philippe I . The first railway line to Paris opened in 1837, beginning a new period of massive migration from the provinces to
3300-794: The Seine in the city centre has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991. Paris is home to several United Nations organizations including UNESCO, as well as other international organizations such as the OECD , the OECD Development Centre , the International Bureau of Weights and Measures , the International Energy Agency , the International Federation for Human Rights , along with European bodies such as
3400-614: The Siege of Paris (885–886) , for which the then Count of Paris ( comte de Paris ), Odo of France , was elected king of West Francia . From the Capetian dynasty that began with the 987 election of Hugh Capet , Count of Paris and Duke of the Franks ( duc des Francs ), as king of a unified West Francia, Paris gradually became the largest and most prosperous city in France. By the end of
3500-572: The third-busiest airport in Europe , and Orly Airport . Opened in 1900, the city's subway system, the Paris Métro , serves 5.23 million passengers daily. It is the second-busiest metro system in Europe after the Moscow Metro . Gare du Nord is the 24th-busiest railway station in the world and the busiest outside Japan , with 262 million passengers in 2015. Paris has one of
3600-480: The Île Saint-Louis and the larger Île de la Cité , which form the oldest part of Paris. The river's mouth on the English Channel ( La Manche ) is about 233 mi (375 km) downstream from Paris. Paris is spread widely on both banks of the river. Overall, Paris is relatively flat, and the lowest point is 35 m (115 ft) above sea level . Paris has several prominent hills, the highest of which
3700-511: The "Véhicule Utilitaire de Livraison" ('VUL'), a fibreglass truck or van body mounted on a shortened Renault 4 chassis for urban delivery work. The following year founder André Morin decided to develop a small sports car that was also based on the Renault 4 chassis and hired Durand to design the body. For the Sovam "Voiture de Sport" (VdS) Durand produced a compact coupé body with quad headlamps,
3800-521: The 12th century, Paris had become the political, economic, religious, and cultural capital of France. The Palais de la Cité , the royal residence, was located at the western end of the Île de la Cité. In 1163, during the reign of Louis VII , Maurice de Sully , bishop of Paris, undertook the construction of the Notre Dame Cathedral at its eastern extremity. After the marshland between the river Seine and its slower 'dead arm' to its north
3900-453: The 1600 cc Gordini from the R17 and an 1800 cc engine with either carburetors or fuel-injection. The Scora was sold only in kit form and was debuted in 1974. The car became popular with rallye drivers. Durand built the car until 1992, when he sold the brand. Durand partnered with his son Michel in a project called AMD (Automobiles Michel Durand) to produce a series of 1/5 scale models of
4000-551: The 17th century, Paris has been one of the world's major centres of finance , diplomacy , commerce , culture , fashion , and gastronomy . Because of its leading role in the arts and sciences and its early adaptation of extensive street lighting, it became known as the City of Light in the 19th century. The City of Paris is the centre of the Île-de-France region , or Paris Region, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 inhabitants in January 2023, or about 19% of
4100-503: The 1860 area of 78 km (30 sq mi), the city limits were expanded marginally to 86.9 km (33.6 sq mi) in the 1920s. In 1929, the Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes forest parks were annexed to the city, bringing its area to about 105 km (41 sq mi). The metropolitan area is 2,300 km (890 sq mi). Measured from the 'point zero' in front of its Notre-Dame cathedral , Paris by road
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4200-413: The Caravelle received a new 956 cc engine that would be also used by the new Renault 8 from June. Although the new "Sierra" series five-bearing engine shared no components with the existing 845 cc Dauphine engine, it was conceptually very similar: the engine size was chosen in order to come in (slightly) below the top of the 5CV car tax band in France. It had a sealed cooling system as well as
4300-534: The Floride, like the Dauphine on which it was based, came with an 845 cc (51.6 cu in) four-cylinder water-cooled engine mounted at the back of the car. However, the power unit on the Floride was fed using a Solex 32 mm carburetor as against the 28 mm diameter of the Solex carburetor on the Dauphine. The Florides making their French show debut on the stand at the 1958 Paris Motor Show came with
4400-731: The Frank , the first king of the Merovingian dynasty , made the city his capital from 508. As the Frankish domination of Gaul began, there was a gradual immigration by the Franks to Paris and the Parisian Francien dialects were born. Fortification of the Île de la Cité failed to avert sacking by Vikings in 845 , but Paris's strategic importance—with its bridges preventing ships from passing—was established by successful defence in
4500-616: The French police and gendarmes arrested 12,884 Jews, including 4,115 children, and confined them during five days at the Vel d'Hiv ( Vélodrome d'Hiver ), from which they were transported by train to the extermination camp at Auschwitz . None of the children came back. On 25 August 1944, the city was liberated by the French 2nd Armoured Division and the 4th Infantry Division of the United States Army . General Charles de Gaulle led
4600-566: The German forces then occupying France. In 1943 Durand started making a line of small-displacement engines (0.9 cc to 30 cc) for model airplanes, cars, and boats in the basement of his house. These engines were sold under the name "Jidé", which was a homophone of his initials "JD" in French. The Jidé line was succeeded by the Vega series in 1949. Durand then began putting the engines into his own series of 1/10th scale models of racing cars like
4700-422: The Jidé brand and moved on to his next project. Durand started his next project in Lapleau in Corrèze . This car was named the Scora, for "Société CORrezienne d'Automobile". In general appearance the Scora resembled its predecessor so closely that the then-current owners of the Jidé brand sued Durand. While the front-suspension was still from the R8, the back of the chassis was updated. Engines options included
4800-411: The Place Royale, now Place des Vosges . In spite of Henry IV's efforts to improve city circulation, the narrowness of Paris's streets was a contributing factor in his assassination near Les Halles marketplace in 1610. During the 17th century, Cardinal Richelieu , chief minister of Louis XIII , was determined to make Paris the most beautiful city in Europe. He built five new bridges, a new chapel for
4900-418: The Place des Halles. Paris Paris ( French pronunciation: [paʁi] ) is the capital and largest city of France . With an estimated population of 2,102,650 residents in January 2023 in an area of more than 105 km (41 sq mi), Paris is the fourth-largest city in the European Union and the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2022. Since
5000-452: The Renault Caravelle a year after its introduction in Europe. The car was offered as a 2+2 coupé, a 2+2 cabriolet and as a convertible, the latter being a cabriolet with a removable hardtop. The 2,265 mm (89.2 in) wheelbase was shared with the Renault Dauphine but longer overhangs meant that overall the Floride was longer by a significant 320 mm (12.6 in), as well as being slightly lower and very slightly wider. At launch
5100-429: The Revolution, but after 1799 it surged with 160,000 new residents, reaching 660,000 by 1815. Napoleon replaced the elected government of Paris with a prefect that reported directly to him. He began erecting monuments to military glory, including the Arc de Triomphe , and improved the neglected infrastructure of the city with new fountains, the Canal de l'Ourcq , Père Lachaise Cemetery and the city's first metal bridge,
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#17328023757285200-479: The Spitfire was a couple of mph ahead on top speed. The British car market was still protected by tariffs at this time, but even allowing for that the Renault looks expensive in this company: The Caravelle came with a UK recommended price of £1039 as against £666 for the Spitfire 4. Production got under way slowly, with only 3,777 cars completed in 1959. However, in 1960, following the important "Aérostable" suspension upgrades, Renault produced 36,156 Florides. By
5300-564: The Tuileries Palace. In 1793, as the revolution turned increasingly radical, the king, queen and mayor were beheaded by guillotine in the Reign of Terror , along with more than 16,000 others throughout France. The property of the aristocracy and the church was nationalised , and the city's churches were closed, sold or demolished. A succession of revolutionary factions ruled Paris until 9 November 1799 ( coup d'état du 18 brumaire ), when Napoleon Bonaparte seized power as First Consul. The population of Paris had dropped by 100,000 during
5400-421: The Volkswagen's success with their own Renault Dauphine . At a convention of North American distributors that took place in Florida , Renault's US dealers called for the creation of a Dauphine coupé/cabriolet which would improve Renault's image in the critical US market. Renault's chairman, Pierre Dreyfus , agreed, and since the concept had been born at a convention in Florida the car instantly became known within
5500-444: The bodywork for Jean Louis Schlesser's first Dakar buggy and once again returned to making a series of scale models of various sports cars, including his own Jidés. Durand died on 16 August 2009 in Mougins . He was survived by wife Denise, son Michel and daughter Claudine. In September 2010 a tribute to Durand and retrospective of his work was part of the 32nd Circuit International des Remparts d'Angoulême. The display took place on
5600-405: The capital of France, was the most populous city of Europe. By comparison, London in 1300 had 80,000 inhabitants. By the early fourteenth century, so much filth had collected inside urban Europe that French and Italian cities were naming streets after human waste. In medieval Paris, several street names were inspired by merde , the French word for "shit". During the Hundred Years' War , Paris
5700-501: The cars, which became known as the Arista JD. This new car was a development of Durand's ACPA berlinette, which Durand had shown to Gaillard after leaving his partnership with Cusson. Once again Durand selected a Panhard front-wheel drive power-train, as used in the ACPA and the previous Aristas. The engine was available in 42bhp normal or 50bhp Tigre versions. When the Panhard engine became unavailable some later cars were built with engines from Peugeot, Fiat-Neckar, Ford and Triumph. Out of
5800-454: The centre stage of the French Revolution . On 14 July, a mob seized the arsenal at the Invalides , acquiring thousands of guns, with which it stormed the Bastille , a principal symbol of royal authority. The first independent Paris Commune , or city council, met in the Hôtel de Ville and elected a Mayor , the astronomer Jean Sylvain Bailly , on 15 July. Louis XVI and the royal family were brought to Paris and incarcerated in
5900-435: The city. In 1848, Louis-Philippe was overthrown by a popular uprising in the streets of Paris. His successor, Napoleon III , alongside the newly appointed prefect of the Seine, Georges-Eugène Haussmann , launched a huge public works project to build wide new boulevards, a new opera house, a central market, new aqueducts, sewers and parks, including the Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes . In 1860, Napoleon III annexed
6000-399: The company as the "Renault Floride". The "Floride" name was considered unsuitable for 49 of the 50 states of the U.S., however, since it could have implied disrespect to states other than Florida. For this reason an alternative name, "Caravelle", was from the start used for North America and for other major markets (including the UK) where the principal language was English. The Floride name
6100-402: The curfew led to violent confrontations between the police and demonstrators, in which at least 40 people were killed. The anti-independence Organisation armée secrète (OAS) carried out a series of bombings in Paris throughout 1961 and 1962. In May 1968, protesting students occupied the Sorbonne and put up barricades in the Latin Quarter . Thousands of Parisian blue-collar workers joined
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#17328023757286200-510: The earlier Callista Ranelagh roadster that had first appeared at the 1950 24 Heures du Mans. Funding for the Callista came from Panhard dealer and racing driver Raymond Gaillard, who renamed the car Arista at the end of 1952 when the original developers of the car left the company. Gaillard added a coupé and a 2+2 to the model line-up that were styled by Max Berlemont and with bodywork in fibreglass by Chappe et Gessalin. These cars continued in production until 1963, when Gaillard hired Durand to revise
6300-419: The factory was shut down again. One of the Bordeaux Seras was exhibited at a fair in Barcelona Spain . This resulted in Durand receiving a proposal to build the car in Spain, which led him to relocate to Tarragona to restart Sera production there. Import restrictions imposed by the Franco government made it impossible to obtain the French Panhard components needed to complete the cars. One Spanish-built Sera
6400-443: The first Bishop of Paris: according to legend, when he refused to renounce his faith before the Roman occupiers, he was beheaded on the hill which became known as Mons Martyrum (Latin "Hill of Martyrs"), later " Montmartre ", from where he walked headless to the north of the city; the place where he fell and was buried became an important religious shrine, the Basilica of Saint-Denis , and many French kings are buried there. Clovis
6500-414: The first socialist mayor. He was re-elected in March 2008. In 2007, in an effort to reduce car traffic, he introduced the Vélib' , a system which rents bicycles. Bertrand Delanoë also transformed a section of the highway along the Left Bank of the Seine into an urban promenade and park, the Promenade des Berges de la Seine , which he inaugurated in June 2013. In 2007, President Nicolas Sarkozy launched
6600-453: The front line at the First Battle of the Marne . The city was also bombed by Zeppelins and shelled by German long-range guns . In the years after the war, known as Les Années Folles , Paris continued to be a mecca for writers, musicians and artists from around the world, including Ernest Hemingway , Igor Stravinsky , James Joyce , Josephine Baker , Eva Kotchever , Henry Miller , Anaïs Nin , Sidney Bechet and Salvador Dalí . In
6700-413: The innermost three departments around Paris, airports and high-speed rail (TGV) stations, at an estimated cost of €35 billion. The system is scheduled to be completed by 2030. In January 2015, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed attacks across the Paris region. 1.5 million people marched in Paris in a show of solidarity against terrorism and in support of freedom of speech. In November of
6800-416: The lacklustre market performance of the Frégate , thanks to the success of the recently launched Dauphine Renault still found themselves, in the second half of the decade, seriously short of production capacity. The main Billancourt plant, built on the Seguin island in the middle of the River Seine , was particularly ill-suited to further expansion. A new plant had been opened at Flins in 1952 and
6900-512: The late 12th century, Philip Augustus extended the Louvre fortress to defend the city against river invasions from the west, gave the city its first walls between 1190 and 1215, rebuilt its bridges to either side of its central island, and paved its main thoroughfares. In 1190, he transformed Paris's former cathedral school into a student-teacher corporation that would become the University of Paris and would draw students from all of Europe. With 200,000 inhabitants in 1328, Paris, then already
7000-419: The main Creil plant of Brissonneau, comprising 190,000 m2 of which 41,280 m2 were covered, transformed into a production facility for the Floride: the Floride would continue to be assembled by Brissonneau and Lotz until it was withdrawn in 1968. In October 1959, ready for the 1960 model year, the Floride, along with the Renault Dauphine, appeared with significant suspension improvements. The new suspension
7100-408: The mid-1960s, the Caravelle, which had been fashionably styled at launch, was looking dated, while the reduction and elimination of internal tariffs within the Common Market led to intensified competition in France for buyers of inexpensive sports cars, notably from Italy. Between 1966 and 1967, annual production tumbled from 4,880 to 2,991. During 1968, only 1,438 were produced, and it was during
7200-698: The modern city of Paris was first mentioned in the mid-1st century BC by Julius Caesar as Luteciam Parisiorum (' Lutetia of the Parisii ') and is later attested as Parision in the 5th century AD, then as Paris in 1265. During the Roman period, it was commonly known as Lutetia or Lutecia in Latin, and as Leukotekía in Greek, which is interpreted as either stemming from the Celtic root *lukot- ('mouse'), or from * luto- ('marsh, swamp'). The name Paris
7300-803: The most sustainable transportation systems and is one of only two cities in the world that received the Sustainable Transport Award twice. Paris is known for its museums and architectural landmarks: the Louvre received 8.9 million visitors in 2023, on track for keeping its position as the most-visited art museum in the world. The Musée d'Orsay , Musée Marmottan Monet and Musée de l'Orangerie are noted for their collections of French Impressionist art. The Pompidou Centre , Musée National d'Art Moderne , Musée Rodin and Musée Picasso are noted for their collections of modern and contemporary art . The historical district along
7400-732: The new site of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (1996), the Arche de la Défense (1985–1989) in La Défense , as well as the Louvre Pyramid with its underground courtyard (1983–1989); Jacques Chirac (2006), the Musée du quai Branly . In the early 21st century, the population of Paris began to increase slowly again, as more young people moved into the city. It reached 2.25 million in 2011. In March 2001, Bertrand Delanoë became
7500-620: The population of France. The Paris Region had a nominal GDP of €765 billion (US$ 1.064 trillion when adjusted for PPP ) in 2021, the highest in the European Union. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit Worldwide Cost of Living Survey, in 2022, Paris was the city with the ninth-highest cost of living in the world. Paris is a major railway, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports: Charles de Gaulle Airport ,
7600-442: The production of automobile bodywork in plastic by professionals. To him the process seemed simple, but much experimentation was needed before he was satisfied with the quality of his own work. Once he had mastered the fundamentals of producing automobile bodies he began planning to produce a body for a car of his own. The first full-sized car designed by Durand was the Atla, also called the A.T.L.A. in some references. Durand designed
7700-408: The rear wheels via a three-speed manual transmission with synchromesh on the upper two ratios. For a supplement of 200 New Francs customers could instead specify a four-speed transmission on the slightly heavier coupé version of the car. Having regard to the car's power-to-weight ratio most customers chose to pay extra for the four speed gear box. Although designed by Frua of Italy, the car's body
7800-544: The red clay of Roland Garros . Paris hosted the 1900 , the 1924 , and the 2024 Summer Olympics . The 1938 and 1998 FIFA World Cups , the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup , the 2007 Rugby World Cup , as well as the 1960 , 1984 and 2016 UEFA European Championships were held in Paris. Every July, the Tour de France bicycle race finishes on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris. The ancient oppidum that corresponds to
7900-580: The same year, terrorist attacks , claimed by ISIL, killed 130 people and injured more than 350. On 22 April 2016, the Paris Agreement was signed by 196 nations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in an aim to limit the effects of climate change below 2 °C. Paris is located in northern central France, in a north-bending arc of the river Seine , whose crest includes two islands,
8000-647: The students, and the movement grew into a two-week general strike. Supporters of the government won the June elections by a large majority. The May 1968 events in France resulted in the break-up of the University of Paris into 13 independent campuses. In 1975, the National Assembly changed the status of Paris to that of other French cities and, on 25 March 1977, Jacques Chirac became the first elected mayor of Paris since 1793. The Tour Maine-Montparnasse ,
8100-606: The surrounding towns and created eight new arrondissements, expanding Paris to its current limits. During the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), Paris was besieged by the Prussian Army . Following several months of blockade, hunger, and then bombardment by the Prussians, the city was forced to surrender on 28 January 1871. After seizing power in Paris on 28 March, a revolutionary government known as
8200-463: The tallest building in the city at 57 storeys and 210 m (689 ft) high, was built between 1969 and 1973. It was highly controversial, and it remains the only building in the centre of the city over 32 storeys high. The population of Paris dropped from 2,850,000 in 1954 to 2,152,000 in 1990, as middle-class families moved to the suburbs. A suburban railway network, the RER (Réseau Express Régional),
8300-542: The throne Henry IV , after converting to Catholicism to gain entry to the capital, entered the city in 1594 to claim the crown of France. This king made several improvements to the capital during his reign: he completed the construction of Paris's first uncovered, sidewalk-lined bridge, the Pont Neuf , built a Louvre extension connecting it to the Tuileries Palace , and created the first Paris residential square,
8400-513: The venture was never profitable and Sovam stopped production in 1969. Following the end of his time at Sovam, Jacques Durand moved to a town near Parthenay to develop a new sports coupe of his own that was based on the R8 Gordini engine and transaxle. For this car Durand resurrected the Jidé name that he had used for his earliest model engines. The Jidé car was a small hardtop two-seat coupé with
8500-495: The world including Pablo Picasso , Modigliani , and Henri Matisse made Paris their home. It was the birthplace of Fauvism , Cubism and abstract art , and authors such as Marcel Proust were exploring new approaches to literature. During the First World War , Paris sometimes found itself on the front line; 600 to 1,000 Paris taxis played a small but highly important symbolic role in transporting 6,000 soldiers to
8600-401: The year. Paris is known for intermittent, abrupt, heavy showers. The highest recorded temperature was 42.6 °C (108.7 °F), on 25 July 2019. The lowest was −23.9 °C (−11.0 °F), on 10 December 1879. For almost all of its long history, except for a few brief periods, Paris was governed directly by representatives of the king, emperor, or president of France. In 1974, Paris
8700-423: The years after the peace conference , the city was also home to growing numbers of students and activists from French colonies and other Asian and African countries, who later became leaders of their countries, such as Ho Chi Minh , Zhou Enlai and Léopold Sédar Senghor . On 14 June 1940, the German army marched into Paris, which had been declared an " open city ". On 16–17 July 1942, following German orders,
8800-456: Was an acronym that is variously reported to have stood for "Atelier de Carrosserie Plastique Automobile" or "Ateliers de Construction et de Production Automobile". (This project is also called "ALPA" by some, but there is little supporting information. Pictures also exist of the cars with "ACPA" nameplates. The same site shows an ACPA with the name "ARPA" across the rear, which name Cusson later used for his own line of Formula France cars.) The car
8900-606: Was an attractive berlinette with a large glass backlight. The windshield was taken from the Renault Floride . Four bodies for the new car were made. Durand took two and built them with front-wheel drive Panhard powertrains. Cusson took the other two and built his cars using engines and transmissions from the Peugeot 404 . In December 1963 Durand and Cusson dissolved their partnership and separated. The Arista predated Durand's involvement, having been created in 1952 by renaming
9000-737: Was built to complement the Métro; the Périphérique expressway encircling the city, was completed in 1973. Most of the postwar presidents of the Fifth Republic wanted to leave their own monuments in Paris; President Georges Pompidou started the Centre Georges Pompidou (1977), Valéry Giscard d'Estaing began the Musée d'Orsay (1986); President François Mitterrand had the Opéra Bastille built (1985–1989),
9100-452: Was completed with a three-cylinder two-stroke DKW engine in a front-wheel drive layout and a second car was fitted with a Fiat engine in a front-engine, rear-wheel drive configuration before the endeavour collapsed. After moving back to France from Spain Durand returned to Antony and in 1962 once again partnered with Cusson to design a new car. The name of the project was ACPA, which
9200-453: Was conceived by the by now almost legendary automotive engineer Jean-Albert Grégoire and baptised by Renault "Suspension Aérostable", being intended to improve the car's ride and road holding. The addition of extra rubber springs at the front reduced roll and auxiliary air spring units (mounted inboard of the conventional coils) at the rear gave the rear wheels a small degree of negative camber and increased cornering grip. In March 1962,
9300-467: Was constructed locally, by the automobile body maker Société des usines Chausson , based in Asnières-sur-Seine at the northern edge of Paris, and known in France as the producer of many of the school bus bodies used for transporting children in country areas. Following the rapid economic growth experienced by France during the 1950s, and despite the fall-off in demand for the 4CV and
9400-525: Was filled in from around the 10th century, Paris's cultural centre began to move to the Right Bank. In 1137, a new city marketplace (today's Les Halles ) replaced the two smaller ones on the Île de la Cité and Place de Grève (Place de l'Hôtel de Ville) . The latter location housed the headquarters of Paris's river trade corporation, an organisation that later became, unofficially (although formally in later years), Paris's first municipal government. In
9500-637: Was founded by M.G. Rey and was based in Porte de Villiers, Paris. For them Durand designed a stylish 2-seat convertible. The Sera was designed from the outset to use the engine and front-wheel drive transaxle from the Panhard Dyna Z. The car was unveiled to the public at the 1959 Paris Auto Salon . Early cars were built in a facility in Paris but production was later moved to the former Motobloc factory in Bordeaux where only another 15 cars were built before
9600-521: Was granted municipal autonomy by the National Assembly. The first modern elected mayor of Paris was Jacques Chirac , elected March 1977, becoming the city's first mayor since 1871 and only the fourth since 1794. The current mayor is Anne Hidalgo , a socialist , first elected in April 2014 , and re-elected in June 2020 . Renault Caravelle The Renault Caravelle is a sports car manufactured and marketed by Renault for model years 1958–1968 in
9700-618: Was occupied by England-friendly Burgundian forces from 1418, before being occupied outright by the English when Henry V of England entered the French capital in 1420; in spite of a 1429 effort by Joan of Arc to liberate the city, it would remain under English occupation until 1436. In the late 16th-century French Wars of Religion , Paris was a stronghold of the Catholic League , the organisers of 24 August 1572 St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in which thousands of French Protestants were killed. The conflicts ended when pretender to
9800-556: Was originally called Lutetia (more fully, Lutetia Parisiorum , "Lutetia of the Parisii", modern French Lutèce ). It became a prosperous city with a forum, baths, temples, theatres, and an amphitheatre . By the end of the Western Roman Empire , the town was known as Parisius , a Latin name that would later become Paris in French. Christianity was introduced in the middle of the 3rd century AD by Saint Denis ,
9900-567: Was revived for the Mégane Coupe Cabriolet Floride, a special edition convertible in ivory with red and ivory two tone interior, intended as a tribute to 1960s chic. The Floride was unveiled at the 1958 Paris Motor Show . A small rear-engined design by Pietro Frua at Carrozzeria Ghia , it used the floorpan and engine of the Renault Dauphine sedan. The Floride was launched in the United States and Canada as
10000-546: Was tested by the British " Autocar " magazine in November 1965. The car had a top speed of 89 mph (143 km/h) and accelerated from 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 17.8 seconds. An "overall" fuel consumption of 30.2 miles per imperial gallon (9.4 L/100 km; 25.1 mpg ‑US ) was recorded. The Caravelle's performance closely matched that of the contemporary Triumph Spitfire 4 under most headings, though
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