11 replies to this topic

[gommaire]

Gentlemen,

I have been from time to time reading the bb, but finally I have come up to "my" thread, I am looking for
information on a car called Porthos, I hope I spelled it right!
It was built at the beginning of last century, before WWI.
I even heard it was build in Luxembourg, europe, but can't give more details about that... It could be that it was build under licence!

another information, is that one model may have survived in England! is there a possibility to locate its owner?

who can shed some light on this? Any help is much appreciated!

thanks in advance

cheers

Gommaire

PS: this is the only information I have : http://www.industrie.lu/porthos.html

Edited by gommaire, 04 November 2009 - 08:59.

[Allan Lupton]

Georgano tells us that Porthos was in Billancourt, Seine, France from 1906-14
They even entered the 1907 and 1908 Grands Prix, but the cars retired

Ah, your link tells most of what I just wrote.



The 1907 GP Porthos was 9123cc, and was driven by Stricker
The 1908 cars were said to be 9121cc (probably the same sixe as 1907) and were driven by Gaubert and Simon

Edited by Allan Lupton, 04 November 2009 - 09:38.

[gommaire]

Georgano tells us that Prthos was in Billancourt, Seine, France from 1906-14
They even entered the 1907 and 1908 Grands Prix, but the cars retired

Ah, your link tells most of what I just wrote.



The 1907 GP Porthos was 9123cc, and was driven by Stricker
The 1908 cars were said to be 9121cc (probably the same sixe as 1907) and were driven by Gaubert and Simon

Hi Allan,

thank you very much for your quick reply! Who is Georgano?

A few questions are remaining, like if really a car has survived, how many were produced... where are they? France?

[Allan Lupton]

Nick Georgano is the editor of the Complete Encyclopedia of Motor cars, and he wrote the entry for Porthos himself.
Sorry, but I've no idea if any survive, so no idea where they would be.

[gommaire]

Nick Georgano is the editor of the Complete Encyclopedia of Motor cars, and he wrote the entry for Porthos himself.
Sorry, but I've no idea if any survive, so no idea where they would be.

Hello again,

as a book collector I never liked such books, now it makes sense, why I should have one...

if I find something out I will let you know!

cheers

Yves

[RA Historian]

Was it built by the same company as the Athos and Aramis?

(Sorry about that. I couldn't help myself)

Tom

Edited by RA Historian, 04 November 2009 - 16:34.

[robert dick]

Confirmation:
The "Société Générale des Automobiles Porthos" (a Société Anonyme Francaise) was formed in November 1905,
located at 12 Rue du Dôme, Billancourt (Boulogne-Billancourt/Paris),
with Armand Farkas, Michel Farkas, and J.-N. Kieffer as directors.
The shops/factory disappeared in 1909.

1908 GP de l'ACF, Dieppe
http://gallica.bnf.f...epage.f1.langFR

1911 GP de France, Le Mans
http://gallica.bnf.f...epage.f1.langFR

Edited by robert dick, 04 November 2009 - 18:46.

[Vitesse2]

Porthos were involved in the failure of a London taxi company called The Reliance Taxi-Cab Company Limited, whose share issue was announced in The Times on Nov 3rd 1908. Armand Farkas, described as President of Société Générale des Automobiles Porthos, was one of five directors - Porthos had been contracted to provide the new company with 500 cabs at a price of £300 each, the first 60 to be delivered within four months and then at the rate of 60 per month.

At bankruptcy proceedings on December 31st 1909 (the company had been liquidated on November 2nd) it was reported that Reliance had been promoted by the Romer Amalgamation Syndicate in order to take over a contract which Romer had made with Porthos for - you guessed it! - 300 cabs. Porthos were subsequently paid a deposit of £20000, but never actually delivered any cabs and were now in liquidation themselves.

Subsequent law reports suggest that there was more than a whiff of fraud and misrepresentation involved ....

Edited by Vitesse2, 04 November 2009 - 19:13.

[robert dick]

From the "Annuaire Desfossés: Valeurs cotées en banque à la Bourse de Paris" (1908),
Bibliothèque Nationale Paris:

http://gallica.bnf.f...hos.f279.langFR

[gommaire]

Porthos were involved in the failure of a London taxi company called The Reliance Taxi-Cab Company Limited, whose share issue was announced in The Times on Nov 3rd 1908. Armand Farkas, described as President of Société Générale des Automobiles Porthos, was one of five directors - Porthos had been contracted to provide the new company with 500 cabs at a price of £300 each, the first 60 to be delivered within four months and then at the rate of 60 per month.

At bankruptcy proceedings on December 31st 1909 (the company had been liquidated on November 2nd) it was reported that Reliance had been promoted by the Romer Amalgamation Syndicate in order to take over a contract which Romer had made with Porthos for - you guessed it! - 300 cabs. Porthos were subsequently paid a deposit of £20000, but never actually delivered any cabs and were now in liquidation themselves.

Subsequent law reports suggest that there was more than a whiff of fraud and misrepresentation involved ....

Good morning,

Thank you very much for your reply! I didn't know this! May I ask you where you found that?

thanks

Gom

[Vitesse2]

That's a précis of various advertisements, announcements and reports in The Times. No doubt there are more details to be found about the case, but I guess you'd need to consult a specialist law library.

[Graham Clayton]

The 1908 cars were said to be 9121cc (probably the same sixe as 1907) and were driven by Gaubert and Simon

Allan,

According to "Mercedes and auto racing in the Belle epoque, 1895-1915", by Robert Dick (McFarland, 2005), there were 3 Porthos cars in the 1908 race:

#9 - Stricker
#26 - Gaubert
#42 - Simon

Gaubert (lap 1) and Simon (lap 2) retired due to water pump problems, while Stricker retired on lap 9

Here is some more information on the company:

http://exhumoir.kaze...e,a2028032.html

Here is an excellent picture - is this one of the 1907 or 1908 Grand Prix cars?

http://silodrome.com...orthos-8-litre/