Ernest Chenard (1861–1922)[1] was a railway engineer and maker of bicycles with a factory in the rue de Normandie at Asnières-sur-Seine, then just outside Paris on its north side.

In order to ensure short-term commercial viability they started out producing a quadricycle,[2] but in 1900 their "first true automobile", the "Chenard et Walcker Type A" was homologated with the authorities.

[2] This had a two-cylinder, 1,160 cc (71 cu in) engine of their own design which drove the rear wheels through a four-speed gearbox and an unusual transmission system.

[3] In March 1906 the company went public, in the process being renamed as the Société Anonyme des Anciens Étabissements Chenard et Walcker, and moved to a new factory at Gennevilliers in 1908.

[4] With peace, only production of the six-cylinder, now called the Model UU, was resumed but in 1920 a brand new 2,648 cc (161.6 cu in) four, the 12CV, was added.

[4] The "entente" was advertised in 1929 with the slogan "L'Union fait la force"[5][6] The arrangement lasted almost four years, until 1931, when it would be Chenard et Walcker that broke with the other partners.

The company never had sufficient capital to modernise and the cars remained largely hand-built leaving them unable to compete on price.

There were plans to rejuvenate (again) the appearance of the big Chenard & Walcker "Aigle 22CV" model for 1939, giving it a raked grille, but this came to nothing and car production finally ceased in 1939 or 1940.

Power output was in the region of 20 hp (15 kW) which seems to have been barely compatible with the stated 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) of carrying capacity.

Their third entry, car number 11 driven by Fernand Bachmann and Raymond Glaszmann, completed 110 laps and finished in seventh place overall.

André Lagache, winner of the inaugural 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1923 driving a Chenard Walcker, was one of the founders of Tracteurs FAR and was denoted by the "A" in FAR.

It was a three-wheeled articulated tractor unit fitted with automatic coupling gear to enable rapid change of trailers.