Tag Archives: osenat

Brouhot D1

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1904 Brouhot D1 Roadster

Offered by Osenat | Lyon, France | November 12, 2023

Photo – Osenat

Many early car companies sprouted up out of existing mechanical business, and Charles Brouhot was in the agricultural business in the late 1800s, making threshing machines and station engines. He started building automobiles in 1898.

The company would continue in both sectors until 1911, when they returned to focusing on farm equipment. This D1 from 1904 is powered by an inline-twin. It has known history back to 1921.

By the 1960s this car was on the London-to-Brighton run and has been in its current collection since 2008. It has not really moved in the last five years, so it’s going to need some service. The estimate is now $21,000-$31,000. More info can be found here.

Facellia Coupe

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1962 Facel Vega Facellia

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | July 10, 2023

Photo – Osenat

Most Facel Vega cars were boaty grand tourers meant for rocketing you from Nice to Monaco. With the Facellia, Facel Vega wanted to show they could do “sporty” too. It was supposed to be targeted at the Mercedes-Benz 190SL, Porsche 356B, and Alfa Giulietta.

Three body styles were offered: a cabriolet, a four-seater, and a 2+2 (the different between the last two, I think, being roofline). Power is from a 1.6-liter twin-cam inline-four that made 115 horsepower. That engine had serious problems, and warranty claims, in which Facel replaced broken engines, ate through all of their money.

The Facellia debuted at the 1959 Paris Motor Show, and a Series 2 came about in 1961. It was replaced by a Volvo-powered Facel III in 1963, but the financial issues pretty much spelled an end for the brand. Just 1,045 Facellias were made. Read more about this one here.

Simca Plein Ciel

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1960 Simca Aronde Plein Ciel

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | March 27, 2023

Photo – Osenat

The Simca Aronde was the company’s first original design and featured unibody construction. It was produced across three series between 1951 and 1964. The 90A Aronde was built between 1955 and 1958.

During that time, a number of special versions were produced, including the Plein Ciel with two-seat coupe bodywork by Facel. Power is from a 1.3-liter inline-four rated at 48 horsepower. Top speed was a claimed 83 mph.

This car is finished in white with a black roof over a red interior. It’s one of about 11,500 produced and carries an estimate of $19,000-$24,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Update: Sold, Osenat July 2023, $22,324.

Citroen BX 4TC

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1987 Citroen BX 4TC

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | March 27, 2023

Photo – Osenat

There are some really cool cars in Osenat’s lineup for this auction. The one we were most excited about is terribly photographed, so we can’t feature it. Instead, we bring you this. The BX was Citroen’s large family car from 1982 through 1994.

They took the BX rallying in Group B, and to do so required homologating it for road use. So they developed the 4TC, which was a much more extreme version of the ho-hum BX sedan. Ultimately, the BX Group B car was not very good. Citroen sold less than 100 road versions.

Power is provided by a turbocharged 2.1-liter inline-four that made just under 200 horsepower. It’s for four-wheel drive, a five-speed manual gearbox from the Citroen SM, and a hydropneumatic suspension. Osenat notes that only 38 of these cars are known to exist. This one has an estimate of $75,000-$85,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $86,508.

Dexter Sports

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1906 Dexter Two-Seat Sports

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | July 18, 2022

Photo – Osenat

Constructions d’Automobiles Dexter was founded by Auguste Faure as a spinoff of his Lyon-based bicycle company that dated back to the turn of the century. Dexter cars were produced from 1906 through 1909. And right up front, Faure wanted to prove his cars’ worth by taking them racing.

All of the cars he built – which was not many – had big powerful engines, and most of them were competition examples. This particular car is a reconstruction of a period racing car, one of two of its kind built. It’s powered by a 6.5-liter inline-four, with each cylinder in its own block, that was good for 120 horsepower. Most of the company’s other cars made at least 100 horsepower.

Dexters came with four-speed transmissions and dual carburetors in 1906. Uncommon stuff for the day. This chain-driven racing car means business and completely looks the part. It’s got an estimate of $125,000-$155,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Fortin-Jourdain

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1907 Fortin-Jourdain Runabout

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | March 28, 2022

Photo – Osenat

Fortin-Jourdain is a car that you will not find much information about. It’s not even mentioned in the grandest of automotive encyclopedias. What can be deduced, mainly from the catalog listing, is that Jules Fortin, a Frenchman born in 1856, was an electrician.

He partnered with his son-in-law, Charles Jourdain, to form Fortin-Jourdain. The company sold its first cars in between 1907 and 1909. It’s thought that as few as seven were built, and this is the only known survivor.

Power is from an inline-four sourced from Sultan-Lethimonnier, and the bodywork is sort of a small runabout/convertible with a pickup-y rear end. Hard to tell, as this is the only full-frame angle that Osenat has provided. So you know, bid blind. The pre-sale estimate is $21,000-$27,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $23,368.

Citroen Bijou

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1962 Citroen Bijou

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | March 28, 2022

Photo – Osenat

The Bijou is a small French coupe built by Citroen in England for the British market. It’s actually a 2CV underneath, but the 2CV wasn’t selling well there, so they decided to give it a makeover.

But part of the problem is that it was still a 2CV. The 425cc flat-twin made 12 horsepower. It still had the wonky long-travel suspension. The body is plastic, which kept the weight down (way, or weigh, down). It was actually styled by the same guy who did the Lotus Elite. So you know, sporting cred. But it didn’t work.

Only 209 were built: all right-hand drive. Production also spanned from 1959 through 1964. So they were leaving the factory at quite a leisurely pace. Apparently about 40 are still road-registered in the U.K. This one should fetch between $10,000-$16,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $22,459.

H6B Skiff

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1921 Hispano-Suiza H6B Skiff by Duquesne

Offered by Osenat | Rhinau, France | January 23, 2022

Photo – Osenat

Here’s another H6B from Hispano-Suiza. This is a very early example of the H6B, which technically debuted for 1922. This car was built in October 1921, and the main differences between the initial H6 and the later B model was essentially a power bump.

Both cars shared the same 6.6-liter inline-six that made 135 horsepower in the H6B. Both had power-assisted aluminum drum brakes on all four wheels. The body here is by little-known coachbuilder Duquesne from Tourcoing, France. The skiff body is attractive with woodwork beginning at the cowl and going rearward. The red running boards and polished hood add a sporting effect.

This car was restored in the 1960s and refurbished as needed thereafter, with a gearbox rebuild being performed in 1992. This rare, fully open H6B now carries an estimate “on request,” meaning it’s probably the biggest dollar car at Osenat’s sale. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold, I think?

1910 Brasier

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1910 Brasier 12HP Double Phaeton

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | March 29, 2021

Photo – Osenat

Charles-Henri Brasier and Georges Richard produced cars together under the Richard-Brasier marque between 1902 and 1905. Then, Georges Richard went off to found Unic, and Brasier kept going under his own name.

Beginning in 1908, Brasier customers got to mix-n-match to build the car they wanted. They selected a chassis size, engine, and body separately. This example is powered by a 12-horsepower inline-four and features a large double phaeton body.

Brasier cars were expensive, and prior to WWI they built about 1,000 cars a year. They survived the war building aircraft engines, but their fortunes dwindled afterward. 1926 saw a merger, and the company was gone by the early 1930s. This is one of the better examples of Charles-Henri Brasier’s cars that I’ve seen, and it should sell for between $47,000-$70,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Panhard PL 17 Wagon

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1965 Panhard PL 17 Confort S Break

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebeau, France | December 17, 2020

Photo – Osenat

Panhard’s PL 17 was one of the company’s final passenger cars, and it was introduced in 1959. In 1963, they introduced the Break, or the five-door estate state wagon. Production wrapped in 1965, when the PL 17 was replaced by the two-door-only Panhard 24.

Power is from an 848cc air-cooled flat-twin that developed 50 horsepower, which was routed to the front wheels through a four-speed manual gearbox. The cars were praised for their road holding and fuel economy, but dinged for their gearbox (no first gear synchro) and heavy steering.

The wagon variant is the rarest among PL 17s, with only about 2,500 examples produced. Chances are you’ve never seen one in person. No pre-sale estimate is available, but you can read more about it here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $29,269.