French founders of automobile manufacturers

Marcel Renault (14 May 1872 – 26 May 1903) was a French racing driver and industrialist, co-founder of the carmaker Renault. He was the brother of Louis and Fernand Renault.
Marcel Renault, Louis Renault, and Fernand Renault co-founded Renault Frères based on a automobile prototype built by Louis. The brothers took orders to construct new automobiles as early as 1899.Renault was born in Paris; he and his brothers jointly founded the Renault company on 25 February 1899. He and Louis raced the cars it built starting the next year. He died in Payré, at the age of 31, of severe injuries he sustained during the Paris-Madrid race.
After his death, a statue was built in Renault's memory which later would be destroyed by the German attacks during World War II.

Alexandre Darracq (10 November 1855 – 1931) was a French investor, engineer, cycle manufacturer and automobile manufacturer. By 1904, Darracq was producing more than ten percent of all automobiles in France and he sold a substantial part of his business to British investors. He became fascinated by the possibilities of a rotary valve engine, put it into production and although it became a disaster for Darracq & Cie, persisted in installing it in Darracq products. He was obliged to retire in June 1912 aged 56. After the Armistice his name was dropped from his Suresnes factory's mass-produced products.
In 1906 he founded Società Anonima Italiana Darracq (S.A.I.D.) in Milan, Italy, which became [Società] Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (A.L.F.A.) in 1910 and eventually Alfa Romeo.

Jean Rédélé (17 May 1922, Dieppe, Seine-Maritime – 10 August 2007 Paris), was an automotive pioneer, pilot and founder of the French automotive brand Alpine.
With a HEC diploma, he was the youngest Renault dealer in France, with a dealership installed in Dieppe. Rédélé first started (1950) rallying Dieppe-Rouen with a 4 CV, because he considered the small French car had a great rallying potential. This first race was a first victory, and he decided to continue. After a failed Monte Carlo Rally Rédelé started racing in the French Alps. In the Alps he had his greatest victories. That's why his cars bore the brand "Alpine" as a memento of his first victory in the 1954 Coupe des Alpes.
Jean Rédélé's first car was a 4CV coach, in 1952. Then the second special 4Cv spéciale "The Marquis" was presented at the New York car show in 1954, without posterity.
He created the brand Alpine on 1955. The first model is the A106 coach. The 106 is a reference to the power pack of the 4CV of the 1060 series. In 1971 Alpine won its first European title for European rallies. In 1973 Alpine was the first world champion of rallying with 155 points followed by Fiat (89) and Ford (76).

Jean Daninos (2 December 1906 – 13 October 2001) was a Greek-French constructor of luxury cars Facel Vega, born in Paris.
The brother of the Pierre Daninos, Jean Daninos had founded the company FACEL (Forges et Ateliers des Constructions d'Eure-et-Loir, forge and construction workshop for the department of Eure-et-Loir) in 1939 with hopes of one day designing and manufacturing his own automobile. An engineer, he had previously collaborated with Citroën on the Traction Avant and had worked in the aviation field.
The FACEL company produced the bodies of custom cars like the Panhard Dyna cabriolet and the Ford Comète.He had also a long time business partnership with Henri Théodore Pigozzi CEO of Simca. All the stylish Aronde sports derivatives (coupes and convertibles called PLein Ciel and Océane, targeted for well to do women customers ) were manufactured by Facel.
However Pigozzi and Simca chose cheaper and more trendy Carrozeria Bertone for the later the Simca 1000 derivatives (Simca 1200S) and ended the Simca partnership. The first Facel Vega model, designed by Daninos himself, debuted in 1954, equipped with a Chrysler engine. Daninos counted among his clients celebrities including (Tony Curtis, Ava Gardner) and racing drivers (Stirling Moss, Maurice Trintignant). Several sports car models followed until the company's demise in the mid-1960s. During ten years of production, FACEL had manufactured 3,000 automobiles.
Daninos died in Cannes at age 94 from cancer. He was buried with his relatives in Jouy-en-Josas.

Amedeo "Amédée" Gordini (23 June 1899 – 25 May 1979) was an Italian-born race car driver and sports car manufacturer in France.

Georges Tradée Bouton (1847–1938) was a French toymaker and engineer who with fellow Frenchman Jules-Albert de Dion founded the De Dion-Bouton company in 1883. The pair first worked together in 1882 to produce a self-propelled steam vehicle. The result gave birth to the company which, at the time, went under the name de Dion.
Bouton was the nominal winner of the 'world's first motor race' on 28 April 1887, when he drove a de Dion-Bouton vehicle 2 kilometers from Neuilly Bridge to the Bois de Boulogne. He was also the only competitor.

Louis François René Panhard (27 May 1841 – 16 July 1908) was a French engineer, merchant and a pioneer of the automobile industry in France.
Born in Paris, he studied engineering at the Collège Sainte-Barbe and then graduated from École Centrale Paris in 1864. He was then employed by Jean-Louis Périn in a firm that produced wood-working machines. It was there that Panhard met Émile Levassor. In 1878, he was named Chevalier of the Legion of Honour.
In 1889 after the death of Jean-Louis Perin, Panhard partnered with Levassor and Edouard Sarazin (and his widow Louise) to enlarge Avenue d'Ivry in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, develop the French engine manufacturing licenses for Gottlieb Daimler internal combustion engine and found the Panhard & Levassor car company. The company produced its first automobile in 1890.
In 1891, Panhard and Levassor designed and produced the first Daimler car engine, the twin V. Panhard also participated in and won many automobile races including the Paris-Rouen, 1894, the first major motor race in the world, Paris-Bordeaux-Paris in 1895 and the Tour de France Automobile of 1899. Panhard cars dominated racing everywhere until 1900.
In 1897, Levassor died as the result of a racing accident. Panhard then joined with his son, Hippolytus, to continue with developing and producing automobiles including, by 1900, a wide range of luxury cars.
In 1904, Panhard won a grand prize at the St. Louis Exposition.
Panhard was also a mayor of Thiais in the département Val-de-Marne. In Paris, a street in the 13th arrondissement is named after him.
René Panhard died in 1908 in La Bourboule and was buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

Armand Peugeot (French: [aʁmɑ̃ pøʒo]; 18 February 1849 – 4 February 1915) was a French industrialist, pioneer of the automobile industry and the man who transformed Peugeot into a manufacturer of bicycles and, later, of automobiles. He was accepted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1999.

Gabriel Voisin (5 February 1880 – 25 December 1973) was a French aviation pioneer and the creator of Europe's first manned, engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft capable of a sustained (1 km), circular, controlled flight, which was made by Henry Farman on 13 January 1908 near Paris, France. During World War I the company founded by Voisin became a major producer of military aircraft, notably the Voisin III. Subsequently, he switched to the design and production of luxury automobiles under the name Avions Voisin.

André-Gustave Citroën (French: [ɑ̃dʁe ɡystav sitʁɔɛn]; 5 February 1878 – 3 July 1935) was a French industrialist and the founder of French automaker Citroën. He is also remembered for his application of double helical gears.