Georges Irat had already acquired the Majola factory at St Denis when he launched the first car bearing his own name in 1921.

Manufactured by Automobiles Georges Irat SA at Chatou, Seine-et-Oise, this was a fast tourer powered by a 2.0-litre, overhead-valve, four-cylinder engine designed by Maurice Gaultier, formerly with Delage.

Unusually, Irat manufactured the entire car, bodies excepted, marketing his products as 'La Voiture de l'Elite'.

Although on a small scale, production grew steadily throughout the early 1920s, peaking at around 200 cars annually, and then in 1928 Irat launched a 3.0-litre six-cylinder model based on the existing four.

The availability of large, American-built engines was exploited by various French manufacturers at around this time, Irat included, who opted to build cars powered by Lycoming straight-eights at a new factory a Neuilly.

At the same time Irat acquired the Chaigneau-Brasier company, marketing its 1,086cc light car under his son's name as the '...