The C.G.V.

automobile was the product of Fernand Charron, Léonce Girardot, and Émile Voigt, who went into the automobile business in Puteaux, a western suburb of Paris.

Charron and Girardot had run a successful Panhard dealership since 1897.

They took on Voigt as a partner in 1901 and produced their first car that year, not surprisingly along Panhard lines, although with a lower stance and hence a more stable center of gravity.

It used what is now called a “Renault hood” with a low-mounted radiator between the frame horns.

A 3,306-cubic-centimeter four-cylinder car, it had atmospheric intake valves, a four-speed gearbox and dual chain drive.

The first deliveries were made in 1902, and mechanical intake valves were soon adopted.

Models included an 8,616-cubic-centimeter T-head 40-horsepower car.

By then a worthy competitor to Panhard, the C.G.V.

was marketed in Britain, where distinguished customers included the Duchess of Devonshire and the Earl of Carnarvon.

The King of Port...