Collection items starting with M

In 1926 brothers Otto and Wilhelm Maisch formed Maisch & Co. to produce small 2-stroke engines of JLO design, plus bicycles and parts. In 1932, the brothers began producing scooters and motorcycles under the Maico name.

In 1952 the Manom Company started on the prototype Manocar. The car was to have large curved body shapes that gave it a larger appearance.

Ten years prior to the launch of Renault’s Espace people carrier, microcar company Marden debuted their Espace in 1975. By 1979, Marden had dropped the Espace nameplate, now simply known as the 49 or 125 (depending on which engine you chose).

At the 1932 National Automobile Show in New York, James V. Martin displayed two experimental rear-engined cars of his own design–the four-wheeled Martin and the three-wheeled Martinette.

René Bonnet continued to make cars under his own name and also became a driver for Renault. To support his competition exploits, Bonnet unveiled three cars at the 1962 Paris Salon. The top range was his pioneering D´jet.

By 1980, the Bagheera had been replaced by Project M551, or the Murena. It was designed by Greek stylist Antonis Volanis, who also worked on both the M530 and the Bagheera.

Matra’s 530 was the first all-Matra road car design, carrying over the mid-engine architecture of its predecessor, the Jet (neé D’jet) series. The polarizing design was led by Philippe Guédon (later, best known for the Renault Espace) and styling was by a Simca stylist on loan, Jacques Nocher.