Home > Hotchkiss (auto)

A factory fire nearly killed all projects. Despite this, a six-cylinder model followed in 1906. During World War I, Hotchkiss manufactured tank parts and weapons. Post war came a luxury model called Type AK (6.6 litre) but only one was built. In 1920, there was an unsuccessful attempt to build Hotchkiss cars by the British arm of Hotchkiss in Britain - only a prototype was made. A refined model named Type AM was in production between 1923 and 1928. A new eight-cylinder model, named AM 80 came in 1928. The company made several successful racing cars. Hotchkiss racers won Monte Carlo Rally in 1932, 1933, 1934, 1939, 1949 and 1950. Hotchkiss 680 was an important model between wars - it had a 6 cylinder, 3 litre engine. In 1937, the company merged with Amilcar. J. A.Grégoire joined the company as a designer. After the World War II, "680" continued. The first new car post war was a 13 CV four-cylinder model.From 1947, 2 litre flat-four models are frequently called Hotchkiss-Grégoire. After 1954, Hotchkiss manufactured Jeeps under licence from Willys.

"Hotchkiss" is also the generic name for office staplers in Japan, probably deriving from the brand name stamped on the stapler, in much the same way as "Hoover" is used as a generic name for vacuum cleaners in the UK.

Extermal links

http://britishmm.co.uk/history.asp?id=457

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jeep_man/hist.htm