Reyonnah
Encyclopedia
Reyonnah is a former French
automaker. It produced 16 cycle-car style vehicles between 1951 and 1954.
of its founder’s name.
. Weather protection came from a hood which could be partially opened to expose only the drive to the weather (in a style dubbed "a la Milord" by at least one commentator) or fully folded back if the passenger in the back also wished to travel roofless. A single-cylinder engine from AMC or Ydral of 175 cm³ or 125 cm³ powered the rear axle via a three speed manual gear box and a chain drive mechanism.
An unusual feature of the front wheels was that when parked their supporting structure could be folded towards the centre of the car so that the parked vehicles had a curiously raised nose but a front track (corresponding in this case with the vehicle’s overall width) of only 750 mm, enabling it to park in a space little wider than a motorbike slot. For travelling, the front wheels had to be folded out, increasing the front track to a more stable 1320 mm.
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...
automaker. It produced 16 cycle-car style vehicles between 1951 and 1954.
The name
The company was established by a Parisian called Robert Hannoyer. Its name was the ananymAnanym
An ananym is a word whose spelling is derived by reversing the spelling of another word. It is therefore a special type of anagram. There is a long history of names being coined as ananyms of existing words or names for entities related to the thing named by the ananym.-Examples:...
of its founder’s name.
The product
The only model was a small four-wheeled vehicle with a relatively wide track at the front and a narrow track at the rear. The vehicle offered space for two, seated one behind the other, following the same basic lay-out as the better known Messerschmitt “Bubble-car”Messerschmitt KR200
The Messerschmitt KR200, or Kabinenroller , was a three-wheeled bubble car designed by the aircraft engineer Fritz Fend and produced in the factory of the German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt from 1955 to 1964.-History:...
. Weather protection came from a hood which could be partially opened to expose only the drive to the weather (in a style dubbed "a la Milord" by at least one commentator) or fully folded back if the passenger in the back also wished to travel roofless. A single-cylinder engine from AMC or Ydral of 175 cm³ or 125 cm³ powered the rear axle via a three speed manual gear box and a chain drive mechanism.
An unusual feature of the front wheels was that when parked their supporting structure could be folded towards the centre of the car so that the parked vehicles had a curiously raised nose but a front track (corresponding in this case with the vehicle’s overall width) of only 750 mm, enabling it to park in a space little wider than a motorbike slot. For travelling, the front wheels had to be folded out, increasing the front track to a more stable 1320 mm.
Performance
Hannoyer’s enthusiasm kept his small car alive and appearing at the Paris Motor Show for at least three years from 1950 till 1952 during which the car failed to attract customers in the numbers for which he had hoped. Five days after the salon doors closed in October 1952 he took a special light-weight Reyonnah 175 to the Montlhéry circuit of which he had previously made a study. The vehicle peaked at a speed above 100 km/h (63 mph) and achieved an average speed of 96.67 km/h (59 mph) during a non-stop run of 50 kilometres (31.1 mi).Sources
- G. N. Georgano: Autos. Encyclopédie complète. 1885 à nos jours. Courtille, 1975 (French)