Émile Salmson, an engineer, began building pumps and small engines in Paris, France, in 1890. The firm began building airplane engines, then complete airplanes, during WWI. After the war, production expanded into automobile manufacturing. Their first product was a British-designed GN cyclecar, built under license.
In 1920 Salmson began production of its first proper car, the model AL. Salmson was an early adopter of production automobile double overhead cam (DOHC) engines, in 1922.
The 2300S, introduced in 1953, was Salmson’s final model. The street version had a top speed of 112 mph, and was a popular race car—one competed in the 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans. Bodies were built by Esclassan and by Henri Chapron. High post war taxes on larger engines and slow sales (89 vehicles in 1952) led to Salmson’s bankruptcy and an end to automotive operations in 1957. The automobile plant was sold to Renault but the Salmson brand continues in France today as a high-quality manufacturer of pumps.
Our 1955 has wire wheels, air-conditioning and the Cotal Electro-mechanically shifting 4 speed manual transmission.
