Automobiles L. Rosengart

In the mid-1920s, he saw the opportunity to produce a very small car for a segment of the market in France that he believed was not being properly covered by any of the major players.

From 1931 the car appeared in modified form as the Rosengart LR4, now heavily differentiated from its Austin origins but still using the same 747-cc engine and three-speed gearbox.

In 1936 Rosengart himself was in financial difficulties and he transferred the company to a new organisation, Societé Industrielle de l'Ouest Parisien (SIOP).

[3] However, support for the Super 5 from the Societé Industrielle de l'Ouest Parisien (SIOP) itself (which had held the controlling interest in the business since 1936) was less than whole hearted.

[3] The Pons Plan reflected government determination to structure the French auto-industry according to priorities identified by politicians and civil servants: exclusion from it created great difficulties in obtaining necessary permissions and materials.

Little more was heard of the "Super 5", but late the next year, 1947, the company returned to the Paris Motor Show with two examples of the new "Rosengart Supertrahuit".

Although recognised for its elegance, the car was not helped in this politically sensitive period by the manufacturer's decision to fit an American 3,917 cc engine supplied by Ford's Mercury division.

[1] The 747 cc engine had offered adequate power when first used by the Austin 7 in 1922, and the 21 hp (16 kW) claimed for it in the 1951 Rosengart was a higher output than had been achieved when the company had first used the unit in 1927.

[1] Mindful of the uncompetitive price of the Ariette, early in 1953 the company (following the example set a few months earlier by the Renault 4CV Service) introduced a stripped-down version called the Artisane.

A few weeks after the end of the 1952 Paris Motor Show the Societé Industrielle de l'Ouest Parisien (SIOP company) was forced to file for bankruptcy.

Following negotiation with bankers and other creditors the plant was reopened early in 1953 and production of the Ariette resumed at the rate of approximately four per day, with plans for a rapid increase in those volumes.

[1] The company closed its doors in the summer of 1955, after failing to launch its new car, the Sagaie, a development of the Ariette with a flat-twin engine.