Panhard-Levassor – the epitome of pre-war luxury

It’s a pre-war luxury car, built in Panhard’s Paris factories in the summer of 1936. The name “Panoramique” comes from the rounded corner windows on either side of the windshield, offering excellent visibility. This technology was patented by Saint-Gobain (a glass manufacturer for automobiles) and developed specifically for this model; it was first presented at the Paris Motor Show in October 1933. The car, weighing over two tons, is fitted with a large six-cylinder sleeve-valve Knight engine of 4.1 liters. In this system, each piston moves inside two concentric sleeves, making the engine extremely quiet and almost free of vibration. However, when cold, it tends to smoke heavily until the sleeves expand.

At the time, roads were cambered, and having the steering wheel on the right helped avoid running off the edge. Another reason was the presence of horses in the streets: the chauffeur could step out on the right to open the door for passengers who exited on the same side. Today, however, it makes driving a bit trickier, especially for overtaking.

No, it’s a very rare car. Only five or six examples survive, and just two are still running worldwide. I’ve owned this car since 2005, and over twenty years I’ve driven about 30,000 kilometers. The longest trip was a round journey to Provence, about 2,000 kilometers.

It was in running condition. Most mechanical parts were still sound, but the entire interior and exterior paint had to be redone.

The color is a deep garnet red: it appears black in the shade but reveals bordeaux highlights in the sunlight. Inside, the dashboard and upper door panels are decorated with faux-wood paint directly on the metal — all original. Real wood was too expensive and impractical for industrial production. This technique also had a social dimension: disabled World War I veterans were employed to create these painted decorations.

It embodies the typical Art Deco aesthetic of the 1930s, with flamboyant decorations inspired by animals and plants. Another interesting detail: during stripping, we discovered that the red stripes on the cooling louvres were painted so that, when the car is moving, they shift from garnet red to bright red — giving an impression of speed.

Panhard is considered the first true automobile brand in the world. In 1891, the company built thirty cars before looking for buyers — matching the modern definition of a brand. Other builders at the time only produced cars upon customer request.

It’s a 6CS X73 Cabriolet Victoria, built by Janssen, a fashionable Parisian coachbuilder, on a chassis delivered by Panhard in late summer 1936. It has a six-cylinder, 2.9-liter sleeve-valve Knight engine. Like the X71, its structure is made of wood with metal panels nailed on top. Only six examples are known to exist today, and just two are roadworthy — this one included.

When stripping off the black paint, we found its original color: a classic blue. The fenders are made from a single sheet of 1.2 mm steel. At the time, factory workers in Paris would make the left and right fenders separately, and it took a full week of ten-hour days to produce just one. After stripping, we found no trace of rust — a testament to the exceptional build quality.

This car belonged to racing driver Toulo De Graffenried in the 1940s (there’s a photo from June 1947 at the Mille Miglia paddock). When I bought it, the car was completely disassembled — the parts were stored in 40 wooden crates! The reassembly, except for the engine restoration, was carried out in Luxembourg. Atelier Rétromobile handled the body and mechanics, Menuiserie Bonenberger the woodwork (both located in the Z.A.E. Ellange industrial zone), and Marc Pesch from Bascharage took care of the hood and interior. The reassembly took more than a year.

Yes, like the X71, this car has a freewheel system. This means that when a gear is engaged and you release the accelerator, the car continues to roll as if the clutch were disengaged — there’s no engine braking. When you accelerate again, the transmission smoothly reconnects thanks to a roller locking system. The total weight is 1.8 tons.