The history of the Paris motor show
Multimedia stories from history
Film now showing
Newsreel of the 1955 Paris motor show
Duration of video: 54 seconds
To view the film, scroll to the bottom of the page
The Paris motor show is the oldest and one of the largest motor shows in the world -now attracting nearly 1.5 million visitors at its biennial event.
The first show took place in the early 1890s as an add-on to a popular bicycle show, but as there were so few cars on the road at the time and still uncertainty about the future of this new form of transport, there were very few cars on display and a distinct lack of enthusiasm from the diehard cyclists.
But as interest in automobiles gained momentum, the next major show in 1898 attracted many more cars, and visitors, and by 1902, more than 200,000 people were drawn to the event. There was also many more manufacturers around producing new cars.
Over the years since, the Paris show has been the main showplace for France’s three main manufacturers, Renault, Citroen and Peugeot, but before WW2, it was also the place where the other main French car makers displayed their new models, such as De Dion Bouton, Panhard and Delage, amongst others.
The two world wars disrupted the continuity of the show, as well as French car production, but so passionate have the French been about their cars, and the Paris motor show in particular, that after each conflict, the show returned bigger and more successful than ever before.
The 1938 show was the last one before the outbreak of WW2 and many of the new and prototype cars which were on display were either never produced or didn’t enter the market until the best part of a decade later. The cars on show though included the Peugeot 202, the Renault Suprastella, the Bugatti T52 and the Citroen 15.
The show was next held in 1946 as France tried to rebuild itself after the physical and mental damage that had been caused during six years of fighting. And even though there were precious few new cars being built, more than 800,000 people attended (twice the pre-war figure) and the cars many people came to see were the Panhard Dyna and the Renault 4 CV -the car that came to symbolise France's post-war economic recovery.
By 1962 the show had outgrown its previous home at the Grand Palace and moved to the Porte de Versaille, where it has remained ever since.
It is now known as the Mondial de l' Automobile and since 1976 has been held every even year (alternating with the Frankfurt Motor Show) and is commonly regarded as one of the key international motor shows that ever major manufacturer has to attend.
Paris motor shows in the 1930s
Paris motor shows in the 1950s
Paris motor shows in the 2000s
Film provided courtesy of www.auto-history.tv
(c) Universal Motoring History Enterprises
Motoring through history
Follow the evolution of the motor car with a free, online, informative illustrated history of the automobile, go to:
www.motoring-history.com