[4] François Pilain (1859–1924) had a long career as an engineer-entrepreneur in and around the auto-business, working at different times with Gardner-Serpollet and La Buire.

Between 1893 and 1897 he ran his own company, Société François Pilain, after which he worked for Établissements V. Vermorel.

It was permitted to continue in the auto-making business, but Pilain himself was obliged to resign, to be replaced by a new managing director called de Villeneuve.

Afterwards, in 1920, it was taken over by a locally based recently created company called the Société Lyonnaise de l’Industrie Mécanique et Autos Pilain (“SLIM”).

A car of this type can today (2010) be seen at the Musée Henri Malartre in south-eastern France at Rochetaillée-sur-Saône.