Family Fortunes Part Seven

But Panhard was still a minnow, and Paul and Jean Panhard knew that the key to survival would be an alliance with another manufacturer. In the first instance, in 1951-’52, there were talks with Ford-France, the idea being that manufacture.Panhard cars would shift to Ford’s under-utilised Poissy plant. “Panhard couldn’t survive at the size it was, surrounded by competitors. We were heading for disaster. Panhard simply wasn’t making enough money,” says Panhard, who next approached Maurice Jourdain, head of Peugeot. “It was of no interest to him. That much was clear. It’s true that the vehicles we were making were in competition with Peugeot – and he didn’t see what Panhard could bring to the table: a highly effective design office.”

This effectiveness was proved in dramatic style by the 1953 launch of the all-ally Dyna 54 – also known as the Dyna Z. “Everything about the car was logical,” stresses Panhard. “We had lots of discussions, Bionier and myself. It was the two of us that established the specification. My idea was that, because we didn’t have the financial means, we would have to retain the previous mechanicals and, with that as a starting point, we had to try to make a much bigger car – but one that had good aerodynamics and was as light as possible.