Autobleu

Did You Know?

• The company produced manifolds and exhausts for powerboat engines under the Autobleu Marine name, based on Renault or Peugeot engines.
• One of Autobleu's first hires was mechanic Roger Normier.

History

Autobleu was established in January 1950 by Maurice Mestivier and Roger Lepeytre. Mestivier, a former Amilcar mechanic and racing driver, served as President of l'AGACI; Lepeytre was a Peugeot representative and Secretary General of the same association. The company was based at 15 rue Aumont-Thiéville in Paris. Early success came from performance parts for the Renault 4CV, France's best-selling car at the time.

Autobleu became a parts supplier to Renault, at one point delivering 120 manifolds per day directly to the manufacturer. The company built customized cars from 1953 until 1957, with one final prototype shown in 1967. The auto parts division continued until 1971, having supplied as many as 200,000 manifolds for cars including the Renault R8 Gordini and Alpine models. Autobleu also built and sold Abarth parts under license for a short time.

In 1997, Nantes Echappement Cintrage Autobleu was established as an exhaust system maker; it was liquidated in 2009. As of 2022, reproduction Autobleu parts are available through Mecaparts, which acquired the manufacturing rights.

Auto parts and kits

Autobleu's most popular products were intake and exhaust manifolds, often called "le pipe Autobleu". The company offered several manifold product lines: Racer, Record, Rallye, Monza, Mille Miles, Sebring, Stelvio, and Veloce. Within a line, different models served specific applications; for example, the Veloce II was for the Renault Dauphine, the Veloce 16 for the Renault 16, and the Veloce ID for the Citroën ID 19. Autobleu parts appeared on Renault factory specials.

The company supplied manifolds for the Renault 4CV 1063, and the conversion kit was available through SAPRAR. The Renault 4CV "Pie" police version, adopted by police departments in 1962, used Autobleu parts. The performance-oriented Dauphine 1093 used the Veloce II manifold and was delivered only fully assembled. Robert LaMaison, the Renault executive in charge of American sales, arranged for US-market Dauphines to receive the same Autobleu parts under the Amélioration "Grand Tourisme" specification; the manifolds were later dropped as a cost-saving measure.

Autobleu also produced cast alloy sumps, a high-ratio steering rack pinion, a kit converting floor-shift Dauphines to column shift, and a quad-headlamp conversion for the R8 in 1964. Complete engine upgrade kits were sold, such as the "Type 40" kit, which included a "tête bleue" cylinder head, a "Rocket" camshaft, a Stelvio manifold, a Solex 32 PICBT carburettor, an air filter, a custom distributor, an alloy rocker cover, and a two-outlet exhaust, advertising 40 hp.

Car models

A cycle-fendered racing Special called the Autobleu Simca dates to 1948, built on a Simca 8 Type HS racing chassis and bodied by Carrosserie Autobleu. It won the 1100 cc class and placed third overall at the 1949 Bol d'Or automobile. After racing in 1949 and 1950, it was sold to l'AGACI for their racing school at Monthlèry. Rediscovered there in 1966, it was sold to Jacques Picard, displayed in his showroom for over thirty years, and restored between 2000 and 2005.

In May 1953, Autobleu unveiled a custom-bodied 4CV-based luxury coupé. The design originated from a meeting between Mestivier and Lepeytre and Luigi Sègre and Felice Mario Boano of Carrozzeria Ghia in Turin. Ghia delivered a prototype in May 1953, and Renault offered Autobleu access to its sales channels. The coupé used the 4CV's steel chassis and aluminium bodywork, with the same 2100 mm wheelbase but 3750 mm overall length.

It retained the rear-mounted 747 cc Renault Billancourt engine and 3-speed manual transaxle, producing 25 hp via an Autobleu inlet manifold and Solex carburettor. Later cars used the 845 cc Dauphine engine. The body featured prominent air inlets ahead of the rear wheel arches, a styling cue later adopted by Renault for the Dauphine. Maximum speed was claimed at 115 km/h.

Motor sports

For the 1954 Mille Miglia, Autobleu built its only works racing car, the 750 Mille Miles (MM). It used a Renault Billancourt engine enlarged to 950 cc and tuned by Porsche to develop 70 hp. The streamlined body was designed by Marcel Riffard and built by Carrosserie G.T.R. Driven by Jean Sigrand and Jean Bianchi in 1954, it retired due to an accident. It was entered in the 1955 Mille Miglia, but whether it raced is unclear.

In the 1956 12 Hours of Reims, driven by Lucien Bianchi and Christian Poirot, it finished eleventh in class and twenty-first overall. An earlier Riffard design, the Renault-Riffard, was built on a Guépard chassis between 1950 and 1954. This barquette had full-width "tank" bodywork with an airfoil side profile, fabricated by Heuliez. Its 4CV engine was bored to 904 cc and fitted with an Autobleu cylinder head, mounted ahead of the driver in a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout.