Dresch et Cie (1920–1949) was one of France's more important

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

manufacturers.The Illustrated Directory of Motorcycles. Micro De Cet, Mirco De Cet. MotorBooks International, 13 Feb 2003 It was founded in

Étampes Étampes () is a Communes of France, commune in the functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southwest from the Kilometre zero#France, center of Paris (as the crow flies). Étampes is a Subprefectures in ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

by the eccentric multi-millionaire French-Algerian industrialist Henri Dresch, whose other business interests were to include an upmarket spa hotel. Within five months of its founding, it was able to rise to the forefront of its specialty,PME et croissance économique: l'expérience française des années 1920. Michel Lescure. Économica, 1996 going on to use advanced designs such as press-steel frame and forks and shaft drives, and later moved to the Everest factory in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

's 15th arrondissement. The

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

's products ranged from 98cc to 246cc single-

cylinder A cylinder () has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infinite ...

two-stroke machines to luxury 750cc four-cylinder model. Dresch used proprietary engines from various suppliers including Aubier Dunne, Chaise,

JAP ''Jap'' is an English abbreviation of the word " Japanese". In the United States, some Japanese Americans have come to find the term offensive because of the internment they suffered during World War II. Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, ''Jap ...

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, Stainless and Train. In 1930, it produced a 498cc inline-twin model similar to the later British

Sunbeam A sunbeam, in meteorological optics, is a lightbeam, beam of sunlight that appears to radiate from the position of the Sun. Shining through openings in clouds or between other objects such as mountains and buildings, these beams of light scatter ...

models.

Dresch was a large

produced up to 10,000 solo and sidecar mounted motorcycles per year and bought other motorcycle companies such as Le Grimpeur in 1926, PS, Everest and in 1928, DFR. It aimed to sell good quality, low cost vehicles. The company built motorcycles for the Paris police. During its history, it went through numerous restructuring as ''Général Motos Cycles'' in 1929, Dresch-Macam, DFR-Macam in 1932 and, ultimately, SA Dreschmotor.The Motocyclettiste, No. 17 and 75 Production ended in 1939 and the factory was mothballed, due to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but the company attempted to restart after it afterwards and launch its planned "Baltimore" model, a 350cc single with

shaft drive A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power, torque, and rotation, usually used to connect ...

. Dresch never resumed production, however, a

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

Baltimore model was eventually shown at an

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibiti ...

in 1948 and the company continued producing spare parts into the 1950s. Unfortunately, pre-orders were insufficient and production was halted.

External links

History in french of Dresch and its constituent companies, with many illustrations

Bibliography

* Erwin Tragatsch, Alle Motorräder 1894-1981: Eine Typengeschichte. 2500 Marken aus 30 Ländern, Stuttgart 1997.

References

{{Major French motorcycle manufacturers 1949 disestablishments in France Defunct motorcycle manufacturers of France French companies established in 1920 Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Paris