Saoutchik
Saoutchik was a French coachbuilding company founded in 1906 and based in Neuilly-sur-Seine near Paris. The company was one of the best-known coachbuilders in France in the 1920s and 1930s and, together with Figoni et Falaschi and Franay, is considered one of the most important representatives of the "Baroque" style in French coachwork in the 1930s and 1940s.
A new Saoutchik company was founded in 2016, and revealed its first new design in 2024.
Iakov Saoutchik
Iakov Saoutchik was born, depending on the source, in Ukraine or in Minsk. Both were then part of the Russian Empire. The family emigrated to France in 1899, where Iakov completed an apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker and worked in this profession until 1906.Early history
In the year 1906, Saoutchik married and became self-employed as a coachbuilder. He belonged to the minority of coachbuilders without roots in carriage building. The workshop was on de rue Dulud. Supposedly, the first chassis he bodied was an Isotta Fraschini, while the oldest known surviving car bodied by Saoutchik is a 1907 Clément-Bayard 10CV. Saoutchik's ambition was to become one of the leading providers of individually manufactured car bodies. He achieved his goal in just a few years and remained at the forefront of the coachbuilding industry internationally until the decline of individual coachbuilding after the Second World War.History
Saoutchik was among the first to make transformables. These are large and complex four-door cars with a fully opening top and complete weather protection through retractable side windows; This is where they differ from a torpedo or phaeton. In contrast to the convertible sedan, there are no fixed side window frames or roof bars. These structures, known in the USA as convertible sedans, therefore present the body builders with special requirements in terms of stability, rigidity and operability of the top.Saoutchik was one of the most famous body manufacturers in France in the 1920s and 1930s. During this time he created a number of bodies for large Mercedes-Benz chassis. In addition to transformables, these were also roadsters called Torpedo breveté. In search of "visual magic", Saoutchik began to emphasize the main lines of his designs with nickel-plated, later chrome-plated and occasionally wooden appliqués. Saoutchik also built bodies for some Hispano-Suiza, Panhard & Levassor and Renault 40CV chassis; These were usually more conservative but elegant designs. Another preserved design from this era is a Rolls-Royce Phantom II, which Saoutchik very modestly dressed up as a Cabriolet de Ville in 1930. The vehicle is painted black and has subtle Art Deco decorations; Inside, brocade paneling on the rear doors and elaborate ornaments and appliqués. The customers for these vehicles tended to prefer coachbuilders such as Binder, Felber, Kellner, Million-Guiet, Hibbard & Darrin or Fernandez & Darrin.
Later, Saoutchik also took risks in terms of design. He was one of the pioneers of extremely low slung bodies. In the early 1930s he attracted attention with such designs, which, however, appeared somewhat more playful than the conceptually similar, formally strict structures of contemporary Voisin.
Bentley 6 ½ Litre (1929)
A suspected Saoutchik construction on a Cadillac V16 chassis around 1930 has not yet been verified, but there is a Bentley 6 ½ liter from 1929 with a short chassis that an American customer had bodied by Saoutchik. The chosen structure was a three-position convertible in which the top could be opened fully or partially, and there was also an integrated trunk. Saoutchik incorporated both French and British style elements and used nickel silver appliqués.Bucciali "Fleche d’Or"
An extreme example of the formally strict and low style of these years is the Berline TAV 12 “Flèche d’Or”, which was built in 1932 on a Bucciali chassis and was only 1.48 meters high with a length of 6.36 meters. This was possible due to the front-wheel drive layout of the Bucciali. This eliminated the cardan shaft and thus the main reason for the large distance between the vehicle floor and the road. Bucciali was, along with Tracta, one of the pioneers of this concept in the 1920s, but the TAV8-32 was the largest front-wheel drive car built to date, and outperformed the American Cord L-29 and Ruxton, the two other most popular front wheel drive automobiles at the time. The hood took up almost half of the vehicle's length. The intention of the ultra-low body was supported by huge wheels; the panes were more like visual slits. There were "helmet-shaped" fenders and no running boards. In order not to disturb the body lines, the two spare wheels were placed in the rear, but it was accepted that this would worsen the traction of the vehicle. On the side, there were ornaments in the shape of a flying stork along the entire length of the hood, almost an antithesis to the strict formalism of the rest of the structure.The original drawings of the Flèche d’Or go back to Paul-Albert Bucciali.
Competition with Figoni Et Falaschi
A respectful competition arose with the other main creator of the "baroque" design language in coachbuilding, Figoni et Falaschi. The now preferred brands were Delahaye and Talbot-Lago, for whose chassis Figoni & Falaschi also built numerous bodies.For a few years, this competition shaped car fashion and the development of French individual body construction, the "Americanization" of which Jacques Saoutchik complained about in 1935. In fact, these influences can be clearly seen in vehicles from Renault, Mathis or Rosengart. However, the response of the French coachbuilders also led to occasional excesses with shapes that are now perceived as pompous and exaggerated. During this time, both Saoutchik and Figoni & Falaschi won many awards at the Concours d'Elegance for their creations and remained in business despite the economic crisis.
Hispano-Suiza J12 and K6
Saoutchik designed a number of bodies for the J12 and K6, designed rather conservatively to suit the conservative tastes of customers. Most J12s received representative bodies - chauffeur-driven limousines, landaulets or transformables. A two-seater convertible with a "mother-in-law seat" was created for a French industrialist. The vehicle was then owned by Pablo Picasso for a long time. In the 1970s it was the model for a model that the Italian manufacturer Rio released.In 2010, a Saoutchik Transformable on a 1936 J12 chassis was auctioned for US$1.54 million.
In 1935, a very elegant convertible was created based on the "small" Hispano-Suiza K6, which has been preserved.
"Pantograph" doors
In the mid-1930s, Jacques Saoutchik patented a new kind of hinge system, which he called the "pantograph" in reference to the drawing device. With this special form of sliding door, the door is supported and guided by struts. When opening it is first pulled out to the side and, when it is far enough away from the body, pulled parallel to it forwards or backwards until it completely clears the door opening. When closed, the special functionality of the "Pantograph" door can only be recognized by the unusual position of the door handle in the middle of the optical longitudinal axis of the door leaf. Very few vehicles were equipped with this door system. Two otherwise rather conservative convertibles are known; the one on the chassis of a Delage D8-120 from 1939 could not be completed before the outbreak of war and was only delivered to the Élysée Palace in 1945. It served as President Charles de Gaulle 's first government vehicle. The vehicle, which was originally painted black, like all government vehicles, has been preserved and was presented in a red-bronze color for a long time. Although this change was probably not made by Saoutchik, it is in his tradition; he was one of the first French coachbuilders to work with metallic paints. Today the car is finished in silver over black.The other known convertible with "pantograph" doors appears to no longer exist. Saoutchik built it on the chassis of the eight-cylinder Renault Suprastella model for the future general Marie-Pierre Kœnig.
Dubonnet Xenia (1938)
One of Saoutchik's most famous bodies of this time is the Dubonnet Xenia, created in 1938, a test vehicle on which the engineer and racing driver André Dubonnet tested a further development of his Hyperflex Dubonnet suspension. The chassis came from a Hispano-Suiza H6 built in 1932, which Dubonnet had acquired in 1934, and was converted accordingly. It also subsequently received hydraulic brakes.Ironically, “Xenia” is not a Saoutchik design; The drawings were provided by the designer and aerodynamics specialist Jean Édouard Andreau. Due to the special design, the vehicle has a very early version of a panoramic windshield.
Jaguar SS 100 (1938)
Also in 1938, Saoutchik created a one-off, more conservative roadster body on the chassis of a Jaguar SS100. Saoutchik's body, fitted to an early 3½ liter chassis, leaves the hood, radiator grille and headlights with their characteristic struts untouched. The massive fenders are striking and typical, while the rear is longer and more curvaceous than the factory body. The SS Jaguar has some design similarities to the “Trossi-SSK”. Like that car, the Saoutchik Jaguar also appears larger than the original model. The vehicle still exists.Bentley Mark V Cabriolet (1939–1940)
In 1940, Saoutchik bodied one of the few Bentley Mark V chassis. It belonged to the sister of King Faruq of Egypt and was actually intended to be bodied by the coachbuilder Binder, where it arrived immediately before the outbreak of war. It was hidden from German access for a while. The very conservative lines suggest that a design by Binder was used.After World War 2
After the Second World War, business declined more and more as automobile manufacturers increasingly offered self-supporting bodies that they manufactured in-house. The rivalry with Figoni & Falaschi continued briefly after the war, now joined by designs from Franay, Gurney-Nutting, Freestone and Webb and a newcomer, Facel-Métallon. The latter would soon make a name for itself with its own car brand, Facel Vega.The dwindling market and the need to attract the attention of customers drove these coachbuilders to more extravagant designs. These vehicles were less practical as well, with the weight of the opulent bodies making even the sporty vehicles slow and thirsty, and the oversized fenders and bumpers putting a strain on the front axle, which made the steering more difficult. At the same time, the center of gravity of the vehicles shifted forward, which worsened the traction of the rear-wheel drive vehicles. Casing on the front wheels also led to a worsened turning circle, which made the car more unwieldy. Fewer and fewer customers were willing to do all this for a lot of money. The difficult times after the war were anything but suitable for showing off in such an extravagant car. In Saoutchik's home market of France, the de Gaulle government also introduced a very high luxury tax, which not only sealed the fate of many car brands, but also forced coachbuilders to give up.