Soon after this Germain Lambert was running his own auto-repair workshop not too far away at Sainte-Menehould,[2] and the business appears to have prospered allowing him in due course to return his attention to more exciting, if less financially stable, ventures.
Lambert was still working out of his premises near Sainte-Menehould in 1940 at the time of the German invasion undertaking specialist jobs in connection with the auto-business and also components for saw-mills.
Fuel for civilian use rapidly disappeared and Lambert found it inappropriate to travel the region on public transport to deliver small items to customers, so in 1940 he came up with a design for a cycle car and constructed two prototypes.
Steel was in short supply: the new Lambert model was one of a number of cars appearing in France at this time with an all-aluminium body embellished with large wings that covered the rear wheels.
The Lambert that appeared at the 1948 motor show was itself never developed beyond prototype stage, but it provided the basis for a "competition" version followed in 1951 by a cabriolet branded as the Simplicia and a Torino coupe.
Lambert found himself required by his bankers to sell his workshop near Belfort, his machine tools, his inventory of raw materials and even his house.