Mathis

Mathis was a firm in Alsace

Alsace

Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...

that produced cars between 1910 and 1950, founded by Émile Mathis (1880–1956) born Strasbourg (then in Germany), died Geneva.

Hermès-Simplex

Originally, Émile Mathis was a leading car dealer in Strasbourg

Strasbourg

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...

, Alsace, handling Fiat

Fiat

FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...

, De Dietrich

De Dietrich

De Dietrich is a holding company based in France which traces its history back to the early 17th century. It was active in the automobile, railway and industrial machines industry. It sold it holding stake in De Dietrich Ferroviaire to Alstom in 1990...

and Panhard-Levassor

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...

, among other makes from his Auto-Mathis-Palace. Two models were designed for him by the young Ettore Bugatti

Ettore Bugatti

right|thumb|Ettore Bugatti in 1932Ettore Arco Isidoro Bugatti was an Italian-born and French naturalized citizen automobile designer and manufacturer....

, which were marketed under the brand Hermes

Hermes

Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...

(1904–1905). Current for 1905-06, it was built in 28, 40, and 98 hp forms, all being Mercedes

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

-like cars with chain drives. Designer and racing-driver Dragutin Esser

Dragutin Esser

Dragutin Esser was a race car driver, driving cars designed or built by Émile Mathis.The production cars of Mathis driven by Dragutin Esser or by Emile Mathis achieved numerous successes in the touring classes:...

then created two cars of 2025 cc and 2253 cc which were built under license from Stoewer

Stoewer

Stoewer was a German automobile manufacturer before World War II whose headquarters were in Stettin .The first company was founded by the Stoewer brothers, Emil and Bernhard in 1896 for manufacturing sewing machines in Stettin...

The first "true" Mathis model (8/20 PS) was put on the market in 1910, however the first real success came just before World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

with two smaller models: Babylette had a 1.1 L engine and Baby had a 1.3 L engine. There was also a Mathis-Knight model.

During World War I, Mathis was sent by the German government (Alsace was then part of Germany) to Switzerland to buy tyres and after one of these trips he went to France and remained there. After the war Alsace became part of France and he was able to return to his factory.

After the war, the firm's production increased quickly and soon became No.4 in France making more than 20,000 cars in 1927. Mathis attempted to compete with Citroën

Citroën

Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...

. The SB model of 1921 was followed by a six-cylinder model (1188 cc) in 1923 and an eight-cylinder in 1925. From 1927, Mathis followed a one-model policy. MY has side-valve four cylinder engine (1.2 L). Not surprisingly, the next year saw the Emysix, with a 2288 cc six-cylinder.

Matam, Durant

In 1930 there was an unsuccessful attempt to co-operate with William Crapo Durant (the founder of General Motors in 1908). Their ambitious plan was to make 100,000 cars in Durant's Lansing, Michigan

Lansing, Michigan

Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...

plant. However, Durant ran out of money before production could begin so Mathis stayed in France. The American company was Matam, Mathis-America.

Depression

A short-lived model named FOH in 1931 had a 3 Litre straight-eight cylinder engine. More modern and successful was the 1445 cc Emyquatre in 1933, which possessed a synchromesh gearbox, hydraulic brakes and independent front suspension. Emyhuit (obviously, an 8-cylinder) came too late to prevent Mathis from a fast decline. The Mathis factories were closed.

Ford and Matford

Automobiles Ford S.A. Française

Ford SAF

Ford SAF was the French subsidiary of the American automaker Ford Motor Company, which existed under various names between 1916 and 1954, when Ford sold the manufacturing business to Simca....

's operations became uneconomic with the sudden erection of tariff barriers in 1932 against imported components, mainly from Britain

Ford of Britain

Ford of Britain is a British wholly owned subsidiary of Ford of Europe, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. Its business started in 1909 and has its registered office in Brentwood, Essex...

. Ford and Mathis entered protracted and uncomfortable negotiations. In 1934 a joint venture of Ford and Mathis emerged (Matford

Matford

Matford was a car and truck manufacturer in France from 1934 to 1940.In the 1930s, the Ford Motor Company was quickly expanding its European production. Before 1934,a front wheel drive version of Ford Model Y had been produced with an 8 hp engine under the marque Tracford...

SA Française, Strasbourg). Matford, which copied the style of contemporary British Ford models, soon became one of the biggest competitors - the original Mathis factory closed down in 1935. The last models featured a V-shaped windscreen. Matford ceased production in 1939.

Second World war

Émile Mathis regained his Strasbourg

Strasbourg

factory just before World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, but by now it was clear that he would not be able to remain so close to a part of the Franco-German frontier which was expected to be a major zone of protracted conflict. Matthis, as an Alsatian, had been conscripted into the German army during the First World War but in 1916 had deserted from the German army (with a large amount of cash) while on a mission to buy trucks in Switzerland, and had then joined the French army

French Army

The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...

. French defeat in June 1940 therefore found Émile Mathis high on the "wanted" list of the victorious Germans, but he was careful to get away in time and spent the rest of war in the USA with his company Matam.

The plant

PSA Poissy Plant

The PSA Poissy plant is a French car plant belonging to PSA Peugeot Citroën located in Poissy, Yvelines. It is dedicated to the manufacturer’s Platform 1 cars, which are cars in the subcompact class, with an annual output of approximately 200,000 cars....

at Poissy

Poissy

Poissy is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the center.In 1561 it was the site of a fruitless Catholic-Huguenot conference, the Colloquy at Poissy...

that opened in 1940 was not a Matford plant but a Ford of France plant, although the Ford 472A produced in it was little changed from the prewar Matford joint venture product.

Post-war

Mathis was left with his Strasbourg plant which was still relatively new but which had been largely destroyed by bombing. Mathis concentrated, initially, on rebuilding the plant, and this project seems to have been more or less completed by 1948.

Having spent the war in America, Mathis was not well connected with the post-Vichy

Vichy France

Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...

political class. After the war the company was not one of the automakers included in the Pons Plan. The Pons Plan reflected government determination to structure the French auto-industry according to priorities identified by politicians and civil servants: exclusion from it created great difficulties in obtaining necessary permissions and materials. Nevertheless, Mathis tried to find new projects: these included the "flattened egg-shaped" 700 cc three-wheeler (Mathis VL333) first exhibited in 1945. When this failed to find favour with the authorities he switched tack, producing a front-wheel drive prototype with a flat-six (2.8 L) engine, and an eyecatching "panoramic" style windscreen. These post-war projects failed, and the factory was only kept going by making engines for light aircraft and components for Renault. The Mathis company closed in 1950.

The plant was eventually bought by Citroën in 1954. Émile Mathis died in Geneva, 3 August 1956.

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