Martin-Spéciale
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The Martin was a car developed 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 ...
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Eugène Martin Eugène Martin (24 March 1915 in Suresnes – 12 October 2006 in Aytre) was a racing driver from France. He participated in two Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 13 May 1950. He scored no championship points. Martin is b ...
. Only a handful were made. Eugène Martin (1915–2006) is best remembered as a racing driver. However, he was also a senior and long standing engineer with the French carburettor manufacturer, Solex. He had an exceptional understanding of carburetion issues in particular and of engines in general, and was recognised by colleagues as a talented trouble shooter in technical matters. He was also the director, along with his father, of a Paris-based garage in the Avenue Ledru-Rolin and here, in the 1950s, he began to specialise in developing performance versions of the
Peugeot 203 The Peugeot 203 is a small family car which was produced by the French car manufacturer Peugeot between 1948 and 1960. The car was exhibited at the Paris Motor Show in 1947, but by then had already been under development for more than five years ...
: the 203 was hugely popular at the time and by 1950 had, despite its size, become France’s second best selling car. From improving the performance of customers' Peugeots it seemed a natural progression to develop his own car, and the (Peugeot 203 based) Martin-Spéciale was an elegant two-door coupé, designed by Martin, and presented at the
Paris Motor Show The Paris Motor Show () is a biennial auto show in Paris. Held during October, it is one of the most important auto shows, often with many new production automobile and concept car debuts. The show presently takes place in Paris expo Porte de V ...
in October 1952. The Peugeot suspension was reinforced and the Peugeot engine had its capacity increased from 1290 cc to approximately 1500 cc. The extensive use made of Peugeot parts promised a car that would retail at a competitive price. Unfortunately, however, Eugène Martin never got through the hurdles necessary to put his promising design into series production. Nevertheless, its appearance at the Motor Show attracted the attention of Jacques Bernard of
Salmson Salmson is a French engineering company. Initially a pump manufacturer, it turned to automobile and aeroplane manufacturing in the 20th century, returning to pump manufacturing in the 1960s, and re-expanded to a number of products and services ...
, and Martin found himself invited to take charge of the technical development of Salmson’s own contender in the coupé sector. The result was the Salmson 2300 Sport. In the end this would turn out to be the last car produced by Salmson, but it nevertheless enjoyed commercial success ahead of anything achieved by the Martin-Spéciale, and also competed, from 1955, over three successive years in the Le Mans 24 Hour Race.amicale.salmson.free.fr


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin-Speciale Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of France Car manufacturers of France