as a workshop in Paris (1890), making steam-powered compressors and centrifugal pumps for railway and military purposes.

It moved to Billancourt and manufactured the Salmson 9 series of air- and water-cooled radial engines.

Salmson air-cooled engines available in 1932 are tabled here: The Billancourt factory became the car manufacturing plant directed by Emile Petit.

[6] In 1922 the car part of the business became a separate company, named Société des Moteurs Salmson.

The first Salmson car proper used a four-cylinder engine designed by Petit with unusual valve gear: a single pushrod actuated both inlet and exhaust valves pushing to open the exhaust and pulling to open the inlet.

[8] As well as the sedan/saloon there was a four-seater two-door coupe version of the S4-61 although this variant represented barely 10% of the post-war S4-61‘s total sales.

[8] The revised frontal treatment also quickly found its way onto the coupé and cabriolet variants, making the 13CV (2312cc) S4-E easier to distinguish from the 10 CV (1730cc) S4-61 than hitherto.

Like France's other luxury car makers, Salmson sales suffered from a government taxation policy that penalised cars with large engines and a French economy which during the five-year period from 1945 to 1950 resolutely failed to show significant signs of growth.

[6] A new car, the 2300 S, was shown in 1953 and it took part in the 1955, 1956 and 1957 Le Mans 24-hour races[10] After bankruptcy in 1953, all activities ended in 1957 and Renault bought the factory.