Who would have thought this coupé was made by a French manifold maker

Classic Citycar Once we were interacting in cyberspace and came across a picture of a unique and beautiful 1950s citycar posted on the Twitter of  QuirkyRides's account. After digging and searching infos related to this beautiful car in the internet. Finally we've found, it is called the Renault Autobleu 4CV Coupé.

The 1955 Renault Autoblue 4CV Coupé is designed by Ghia and bodied by Chapron. (Picture from: QuirkyRides)

Autobleu was a supplier of manifolds to Renault and the company was established in 1950 by Maurice Mestivier and Roger Lepeytre. They developed the famous "pipe Autobleu", an improved inlet/exhaust manifold, which was a popular tuning extra on the Renault 4CV and Dauphine in the fifties and early sixties as it gave considerably more power.

The 1955 Renault Autoblue 4CV Coupé is introduced a new front bumper with overrides. (Picture from: Daaraj's Imgurl)

Apparently then the company was interested in making cars under its own badge. And in 1953, Autobleu decided to build their own posh coupé based on the Renault 4CV. This car aimed to the rich and famous who were looking for an exclusive handbuilt citycar.

The 1955 Renault Autoblue 4CV Coupé available with spoke wheels or lage, chrome hub caps. (Picture from: Daaraj's Imgurl)

Then the French company commissioned Carrozzeria Ghia SpA. to make the design, and reportedly that the car's blue-print was done by the famous Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti who was still working for Ghia at the time. And then the first examples were made by Pourtout. Due to quality problems and production delays, the second series of cars were build by Carrosserie Henri Chapron and since then pronounced as the company's production line.

The interior space of the Renault Autoblue 4CV Coupé is very tight, wherever one sits, moreover the rear seats. (Picture from: Daaraj's Imgurl)

As mentioned above, this Autobleu classic fancy citycar was built based on the Renault 4CV legendary model and is powered by a Billancourt 747 cc rear-mounted four-cylinder engine producing 17 PS (12.5 kW) and coupled with a three-speed manual transmission system.

For 1955 Autobleu changed the rear lights, borrowed from the Frégate, and introduced a new front bumper with overrides. The cars will be available with spoke wheels or lage, chrome hub caps, although it is not clear if this ever went into production. In total, only 80 examples of Autoblue 4CV Coupé were made, as it was a rather expensive car at 2,5 times the price of a full option Renault 4CV.

The 1955 Renault Autoblue 4CV Coupé has the differ changed rear lights of the previuos, and borrowed from the Frégate. (Picture from: Daaraj's Imgurl)

Unfortunately, in addition to the high price of car products, making it difficult for them to compete in the market, coupled with the very tight competition in the automotive business at that time, as a result, the marketing of Autobleu's car models faltered. Although all Autobleu 4CV benefit from the assistance of the Régie Renault sales network. And in 1958 the French automaker should be ceased all car production and was no longer listed as an automaker.😭 Currently there is no data, how many more units of the original Autobleu 4CV Coupé have survived to this day.

In addition produced the citycar metioned above, turn out Autoblue had ever made a racing car prototype. As a newly automotive marque at that time, the French company also made promotional efforts to introduce the brand to the public to market its car products at that time.

1954 Auto Bleu 750 Million Miles racing car had a tubular frame and a tuned 750 cc engine with a streamlined ultra light body and has ever  participated in various racing events in Europe form 1954 to 1964. (Picture from: Wikipedia)

For the sake reason in 1954, Autobleu made a racing prototype called Autobleu 750 Mille Miles. The car had a tubular frame and a tuned 750 cc engine with a streamlined ultra light body which was developed by the aerospace engineer Marcel Riffard and bodied by Carrosserie G.T.R.

In this car Jean Bianchi took part in the Mille Miglia in 1954, 1955 and again in the 1956 Mille Miglia. This one-off Autobleu 750 Mille Miles also raced at the 12 Heures Internationales de Reims in 1956 where it finished 11th. While its last racing journey happened in 1964 at the Coupe de Belgique. Since then the French marque has never again been seen participating in any racing events in Europe. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | QUIRKYRIDES | WIKIPEDIA | CLASSICCARCATALOGUE.COM | FLICKRIVER | FLICKR ]

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