Engine No. 2881

While Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler of Germany tend to be the most well remembered today when discussing the creation and development of the modern motorcar, in France, René Panhard and Émile Levassor were hard at work on their own contributions to the burgeoning motoring industry. Daimler and Benz had both beaten the Frenchmen to producing a functioning horseless carriage, however the Germans' creations were hardly "series production" vehicles. The enterprising Frenchmen were quicker to scale their operations, offering for sale to the public in 1891 a horseless carriage – albeit using a Daimler engine built under license – creating what might be considered the first true production motor vehicle.

Panhard's enduring legacy, however, would be in developing the Système Panhard, essentially creating the formula of a front mounted engine, rear-axle driven vehicle employing a gearbox, clutch, and differential. This basic recipe would serve as the basis for the rapidly moving field of motorcar development in a period that was truly on the cusp...a transformative time for human mobility when horse-centric transport gave way to horseless carriages, and ultimately the modern motorcar a few short years later.

As soon as there were motor cars there was motor racing, so it is no surprise that Panhard et Levassor's creations featured prominently in early speed competitions. Levassor's performance in the 1895 Paris-Bordeaux-Paris race did not go unnoticed; their cars would go on to win other major competitions such as the 1896 Paris-Marseille-Paris race. These successes helped establish Panhard's lasting reputation for superior performance, reliability, and build quality.

This 1901 Panhard et Levassor, according to prior research into factory archives, lived in its native France for much of its life, after its delivery on 5 June 1901 to Michel Planchard, of Carcassonne. It may be that Planchard was simply an agent, as after just a few months, in December 1901 the Panhard would be registered with the number plate "11 T" to Jacque Gustave, its registration signifying that it was only the 11th motorcar to receive a number plate in the city of Toulouse. A period photograph of the car with its first owner together with his family remarkably survives in the vehicle's history file and commemorates the exciting occasion of the arrival of the motoring age!

The Panhard wears particularly impressive original tonneau coachwork by the Parisian coachbuilding firm of Henri Labourdette. While his firm's name is more readily associated today with elegant and sporting coachbuilt creations from the 1920s and 1930s on chassis supplied by marques such as Bugatti and Hispano-Suiza, in fact Labourdette's outfit began as a carriage making firm in 1858, beginning to build motorcar bodies around the turn of the century on Panhard et Levassor chassis. This 1901 model is one such early creation.

The distinguished twin-cylinder Panhard et Levassor was discovered in the basement of a castle in Carcassonne in the 1990s, at which time it was exported to the U.S. and sold to California collector Rick Rawlings. A decision was taken to perform a correct, sympathetic restoration in order to ready it for the 1996 London to Brighton run, an event which it completed with particular gusto as it represented the 100th anniversary of the original 1896 Emancipation Run. After this achievement, the Panhard would be sold to known collector Richard Solove, and then to its prior owner, who would complete two more London-Brighton runs.

Acquired by its present longterm caretaker in 2014, the Panhard completed another London-Brighton in 2015, then being exported to join their collection in Southern California. Little used since its last London-Brighton appearance, the Panhard was serviced in July 2024 in preparation for auction by Chris Kidd's Tired Iron Works in Monrovia, California.

Complemented by its desirable early original UK registration "A 72," this extraordinary Panhard is a usable and impressive specimen from the dawn of the motoring age, and one which would be particularly well suited to future London-Brighton appearances. A wonderful combination of René Panhard and Émile Levassor's technical prowess combined with Henri Labourdette's coachbuilding expertise, this is an Edwardian motor car of substance, performance, and pedigree.