[1] Autobleu's original success came from manufacturing performance parts for French cars, the Renault 4CV in particular.

[1] By the time it ceased operations, Autobleu had supplied as many as 200,000 manifolds for cars such as the Renault R8 Gordini and various Alpine models.

[1] In 1997, a company named Nantes Echappement Cintrage Autobleu was established as a maker of exhaust systems.

[12] The company had several different manifold product lines, including ones called Racer, Record, Rallye, Monza, Mille Miles, Sebring, Stelvio, and Veloce.

[15] The parts that turned a stock 4CV into a 1063 were also available as a kit that could be purchased through SAPRAR (Société anonyme de Pièces, Réparations et Accessoires Renault).

[14] And in a departure from their usual mechanical products, in 1964 the company debuted a quad-headlamp conversion for the R8, one year ahead of a similar revision offered by Renault.

[1] The company also produced a line of manifolds and exhausts for engines used in powerboats, under the Autobleu Marine name.

[28] This car was built on a Simca 8 Type HS racing chassis, and bodied by Carrosserie Autobleu.

While there the two attended a concours délégance and noticed a Lancia with a body design done by Luigi Sègre and Felice Mario Boano of Carrozzeria Ghia in Turin.

The four met at the 1952 Salon de l'Auto, where Mestivier and Lepeytre laid out their desire to build a stylish car based on 4CV mechanicals.

[11] It also inherited the rear-mounted, water-cooled 747 cc (45.6 cu in) Renault Billancourt engine from the 4CV, and its 3-speed manual transaxle.

In the coupé, power output was 25 hp (19 kW), boosted in part by an Autobleu inlet manifold and a Solex carburettor.

[11] The Autobleu 4CV's body incorporated several futuristic styling cues, including prominent air inlets ahead of the rear wheel arches that were larger than those on the 4CV.

To create the tooling to produce the bodies, Mestivier and Lepeytre approached a friend named Francis Guérin, who was also a coachbuilder, for help.

[31] The company commissioned a single copy of a larger model based on the chassis of the Renault Frégate.

Advertising executive and automotive enthusiast Pierre Thiriot convinced Lepeytre to create a custom version of the car.

[36] Autobleu bought some of the earliest cabriolets in February 1967, and supplied them to the carrozzeria run by Pietro Frua to provide the basis of a new fastback coupé.

[36] It received a 40 mm Weber carburetor, custom exhaust, and new manifolds, raising power to 70 hp (52.2 kW), a 32% increase over the stock engine.

[38] Carrying a premium price, and facing strong competition in the market, the Autobleu 204 GT coupé did not go into production.

Built on the chassis of an existing race car called the Guépard some time between 1950 and 1954, this compact barquette had full-width "tank" style bodywork with the side profile of an airfoil cross-section.

The car's engine was ahead of the driver, and drove a rear axle in a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout.