The Atla was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 automobile

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...

 manufactured from 1957 to 1959 at Garches. Support for the project came from Jean Schwab who was the local Renault

Renault

Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...

 dealer at Garches

Garches

Garches is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.Garches has remained largely residential, but is also the location of the Hôpital Raymond Poincaré , which specialises in traumatology, road accidents and physiotherapy.-19 January Monument:The...

 and who sold the cars. Important input also came from an engineer called Charles Cusson who was responsible for the tubular chassis. The car was otherwise the project of Jacques Durand (later of Sera

Sera

Sera may refer to:- Music :* Sera, a Symphonic rock/electronica singer/composer/producer* Sera, the well known bass player in Greece- Places :* Sera, Hiroshima, a town in Japan* Sera District, Hiroshima, a district located in Hiroshima, Japan...

.Sovam Jide and Scora  )

The small car used a Renault 4CV

Renault 4CV

The Renault 4CV was an economy car produced by the French manufacturer Renault from August 1947-July 1961. The first French car to sell over a million units, the 4CV was ultimately superseded by the Renault Dauphine....

  747 cc 21 hp engine (Atla Type 750) or a Renault Dauphine

Renault Dauphine

Renault Dauphine is a rear-engined economy car manufactured by Renault in one body style — a three-box, four-door sedan — as the successor to the Renault 4CV, with over two million examples marketed worldwide during its production from 1956-1967....

  845 cc 30 hp cv

Constant-velocity joint

Constant-velocity joints allow a drive shaft to transmit power through a variable angle, at constant rotational speed, without an appreciable increase in friction or play. They are mainly used in front wheel drive and all wheel drive cars...

 engine (Atla Type 850) and featured 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 with "gull-wing" doors.

The car was initially priced competitively and about 20 were sold before the manufacturers revisited their costings and found themselves obliged to increase the price very considerably, at which point customer demand disappeared.

External links

History and photos (In French)