This photo proudly commemorates a victory – and a rare one. How often have we seen seven winning cars from one maker in a competition?
The picture comes from a full-page advertisement in a special 1925 Salon edition of La Revue Sportive Illustrée. Although the cars are French – made in Lyon – the magazine is Belgian. The win celebrated is from the Circuit de Belgique organised by the Automobile Club de Namur Luxembourg, and publicises “the victories that count – because they are obtained with cars that are strictly production models.”
The team won seven cups, and the plaquette of the A. C. N. L., for speed, efficiency, slow motion, starting, braking and running. And, in the general classification, a SLIM driven by M Montjoie achieved first place in all classes and categories.
Despite this rather bizarre set of attributes, the advertisement certainly has some logic in vaunting the all-round abilities of a standard SLIM car.
So what was the SLIM? The story begins with François Pilain (1859-1924), an engineer and entrepreneur who worked with Gardner-Serpollet and La Buire before running his own company, Société François Pilain, between 1893 and 1897. He then joined the business of Victor Vermorel, whose cars used the patented transmission developed by Pilain.
Sadly, this collaboration did last long. Pilain fell out with Georgette Vermorel, Victor’s wife and the company’s administrator, and in 1901 once again set up his own business in Lyon: Société des Automobiles Pilain – SAP. But after several successful years, forging a strong reputation for its cars (they were always marketed under simple name Pilain), the company fell into difficulties and Pilain was forced to resign in 1908. The business survived until 1918 – and during World War One assembled trucks for Hotchkiss.
At this point we should mention the connection with the Rolland-Pilain company of Tours. This completely separate business was founded by François Pilain’s nephew Émile in 1907, after the training he received from his uncle.
And finally we come to SLIM. In 1919 SAP was taken over by a newly-formed company, Société Lyonnaise d’Industrie Mécanique – SLIM. By this time, there was no connection with François Pilain, but the reputation of his cars was such that the new company initially kept the Pilain name in its publicity. But by 1920 a new SLIM logo was registered, and the name Pilain finally disappeared from advertisements after the 1921 Paris Salon.
Once again, the company fell into difficulties. By 1924 the signs of failure were evident in a reduction of the usual magazine advertising, and the company announced cessation of car production in October 1926.
So our 1925 picture appears to have been part of a final defiant throw of the dice for a company with a noble but difficult heritage.
Words and picture by Peter Moss