Émile Constant Levassor (21 January 1843 – 14 April 1897) was a French engineer and a pioneer of the automobile industry and car racing in France.

After studying engineering and graduating from École Centrale Paris, he started his career in 1872 in a company that produced wood-working machines, where he met René Panhard.

However, Levassor gave more thought to the design and operation of the new car than had Benz, Daimler or Peugeot, all of whom had been more concerned with introducing a successful engine into what was still basically a small carriage.

The Panhard of 1891, with an engine built under Daimler licence, introduced a series of innovations that effectively created the modern car.

Levassor moved the engine from the rear to the front of the car and cooled it via a front-mounted water radiator rather than relying, as had been customary, on natural aspiration, which was often insufficient.