Société des Automobiles Pilain (SAP) was an automobile manufacturer based in
Lyon
Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
between 1902 and 1920.
The SAP founder, François Pilain, had a nephew called Émile Pilain whom he trained in the automotive business and whose own company,
Rolland-Pilain
Rolland-Pilain was a French car maker formally established on 4 November 1905 at 95, rue Victor-Hugo in Tours by François Rolland and Émile Pilain.
The partners
Rolland was already a successful businessman locally who had made a fortune in ...
, presented its first car in 1907. François Pilain was based in the auto-making hub that grew up around
Lyon
Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
, however, while his nephew's business was based in
Tours
Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...
, more than to the west. Sources sometimes confuse the two companies, but in fact there was no link or collaboration between them, once the nephew had grown up and established his own company.
History
François Pilain (1859–1924) had a long career as an engineer-entrepreneur in and around the auto-business, working at different times with
Gardner-Serpollet
Gardner-Serpollet was a French manufacturer of steam car, steam-powered cars in the early 20th century. Léon Serpollet is credited with inventing and perfecting the flash boiler in the late 1800s.La Buire. Between 1893 and 1897 he ran his own company, ''Société François Pilain'', after which he worked for Établissements V. Vermorel.
In 1901 François Pilain established his own business, as an automobile manufacturer, in
Lyon
Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
. The cars were sold under the ''Pilain'' name, During 1906/1907 motor car chassis were being produced at the rate of approximately one per day. However, in 1908 SAP was placed in
liquidation
Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a Company (law), company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as :wikt:wind up#Noun, w ...
. It was permitted to continue in the auto-making business, but Pilain himself was obliged to resign, to be replaced by a new managing director called de Villeneuve.
During the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
SAP started out producing both twin cylinder engine cars and four cylinder cars, but production of the twin cylinder cars ended in 1904.
In 1906 the manufacturer was offering cars with engines of 4000cc and 8600cc. These were joined in 1909 by a 1900cc model, and in 1912 a six-cylinder 2400cc model was added. By 1913 the Société des Automobiles Pilain was offering a broad range of cars with engine sizes from 1000 cm³ to 6300 cm³. The cars were meticulously constructed and therefore very expensive.
A car of this type can today (2010) be seen at the ''Musée Henri Malartre'' in south-eastern
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 ...
at
Rochetaillée-sur-Saône
Rochetaillée-sur-Saône (, "Rochetaillée-on-Saône"; Arpitan: ''Rochetalyê'') or simply Rochetaillée is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in central-eastern France. It is a northern suburb of Lyon, on ...