17/05/2023
Renault test-driving his Voiturette A in Montmartre
Imagine that you've created a company which became hugely successful. However, decades afterwards, you made one horrible mistake and found yourself in jail for it, but you died before you could defend yourself. In the aftermath, your bereaved had to capitulate to the government as they expropriate the company that you had created.
That's what happened to Renault. Since the end of the WW2 until today, Renault is owned by the French state.
Louis Renault, its creator, was accused of collaborating with the N**i Vichy Regime and was subsequently punished very heavily after the war whereby the French government confiscated the Renault enterprise. A very heavy-handed punishment perhaps that other collaborators were lucky enough to evade?
And well, anyway, Montmartre has something to do with the beginnings of Renault. It was here, in 24th Dec 1898, that the young Louis Renault test-drove his voiturette, up along Rue Lepic, and managed to stir the curiosity of the crowd. It was in Montmartre that he got himself his first dozen orders, and the rest, as they say is history.
Photo source: https://www.1-jour.fr/24-decembre-1898-louis-renault-presente-sa-premiere-automobile/
