Arista (1956 automobile)
Encyclopedia
The Arista was a French automobile
with a fiberglass
body, produced in Paris
from 1952 to 1967.
. Up to this point Gaillard had figured in the Callista business only as a substantial investor and potential sales distributor for the "Coupe des Alpes" model. Gaillard rescued the residual elements of the business and refounded it under the new name of Arista. From now on the firm concentrated on a smaller lighter and presumably cheaper model called the "Arista Ranelagh". The Ranelagh names came from the (then as now) fashionable Paris street, Rue du Ranelagh where Gaillard owned a Panhard
dealership.
Again based on the mechanical components from the Panhard Dyna X
, the car was a low cabriolet with long overhangs at each end, reflected in the difference between the 2130 mm wheelbase and the 4100 mm overall length of the cabriolet model. There was a shorter roadster of only 3620 mm in length. The car weighed only 550/640 kg and a top speed of between 135 and 140 km/h (between 84 and 87 mph) was claimed. Both the light weight and the front wheel drive lay-out were determined by the car's Panhard underpinnings.
About 100 were made.
1956 saw the arrival of the Arista Passy, powered by the 42 hp 848 cc engine from the Panhard PL17
, and still listed in 1962. The little Arista coupé, though stylish, had by now become extremely expensive for a car of this engine size and performance. Sales seem to have slowed to a trickle.
Other Arista designs appeared from time to time, but it is not clear if any others made it to production. Arista had disappeared from view by 1963, although the same business was later involved in making the Sovam sports car.
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
with a fiberglass
Fiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...
body, produced in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
from 1952 to 1967.
Background and ruin
The firm had been founded in the late 1940s by Antonio Monge and Robert Rowe under the name Callista, but the two fell out over the future direction of the firm after its original project, a sporting model called the "Coupe des Alpes" first seen in prototype form at the 1950 Paris Motor Show, appeared likely to be severely undercut on price when Panhard themselves launched their Panhard Junior with a comparable level of performance at a far lower price than Callista could achieve with their elegant low volume cars. Monge resolved to return to his former occupation, preparing cars for motor sport events. Shortly after this setback Rowe, who had previously worked as an electrical engineer with the Fulmen business, but who also engaged in other trading activities, suddenly found himself financially ruined after he imported to France several hundred Romanian tractors that turned out to be defective. So it was that at the end of 1952 both the firms founding partners, for their own different reasons, withdrew from the project.A new name and a new strategy
The enterprise was rescued by Raymond Gaillard, also known in the automotive world as a regular competitor in the Le Mans 24 Hour race24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...
. Up to this point Gaillard had figured in the Callista business only as a substantial investor and potential sales distributor for the "Coupe des Alpes" model. Gaillard rescued the residual elements of the business and refounded it under the new name of Arista. From now on the firm concentrated on a smaller lighter and presumably cheaper model called the "Arista Ranelagh". The Ranelagh names came from the (then as now) fashionable Paris street, Rue du Ranelagh where Gaillard owned a Panhard
Panhard
Panhard is currently a French manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its current incarnation was formed by the acquisition of Panhard by Auverland in 2005. Panhard had been under Citroën ownership, then PSA , for 40 years...
dealership.
Again based on the mechanical components from the Panhard Dyna X
Panhard Dyna X
The Panhard Dyna X was a lightweight compact saloon car designed by the visionary engineer Jean Albert Grégoire and first exhibited as the AFG Dyna at the Paris Motor Show in 1946....
, the car was a low cabriolet with long overhangs at each end, reflected in the difference between the 2130 mm wheelbase and the 4100 mm overall length of the cabriolet model. There was a shorter roadster of only 3620 mm in length. The car weighed only 550/640 kg and a top speed of between 135 and 140 km/h (between 84 and 87 mph) was claimed. Both the light weight and the front wheel drive lay-out were determined by the car's Panhard underpinnings.
About 100 were made.
1956 saw the arrival of the Arista Passy, powered by the 42 hp 848 cc engine from the Panhard PL17
Panhard PL 17
The Panhard PL17 was a motor car made by the French manufacturer Panhard from 1959 until 1965.Presented on June 29, 1959, as successor to the Panhard Dyna Z, the PL 17 was a development of the older car, but with an even more streamlined body than its predecessor...
, and still listed in 1962. The little Arista coupé, though stylish, had by now become extremely expensive for a car of this engine size and performance. Sales seem to have slowed to a trickle.
Other Arista designs appeared from time to time, but it is not clear if any others made it to production. Arista had disappeared from view by 1963, although the same business was later involved in making the Sovam sports car.
Sources and further reading
- Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader: Die große Automobil-Enzyklopädie. BLV, München 1986, ISBN 3-405-12974-5