# Emil Mathis, the 333 and the 666



## Always"watching" (Sep 21, 2013)

(Pic from carlogos.org)

Time for another article relating to my interest in automobiles, I think, and time to look at one of the most innovative carmakers in automotive history that hardly anyone has heard of - Emil Mathis (acute accent on the 'E'). Indeed, although Britain has been associated with a policy if ignoring and failing to fund home-grown inventions and innovations that later turn out to be important, other nations can equally conservative in this regard, as the story of Emil Mathis shows.

Emil Mathis was born in Alsace in 1880, of German origins, and he was fascinated by cars from an early age. He was trained in business, and with his love of cars, it was only a short step for him to become a car dealer in 1898, establishing Auto-Mathis in Strasbourg. After success in dealing in various makes of automobile, Mathis commenced manufacture of cars himself, both under the Hermes (grave accent on second 'e') brand in collaboration with Ettore Bugatti and under licence from Stoewer.

A beautiful early Mathis-built Hermes Simplex of about 1905 (pic from upload.wikimedia.org):










From 1910, Emil was building cars under his own name, with his first own-label model being the 8/20 PS. By the start of World War One, Mathis had achieved some success with two small cars in particular - the 1.3 litre Baby, and the even smaller Babylette. The early Mathis cars were not particularly inspiring in engineering terms and they were not particularly successful in numbers sold. However, they did provide a foundation for expansion after the War. As for Mathis' wartime experiences, he was drafted into the German army on the basis of his German Alsatian background, but in 1916, while on a mission in Switzerland to buy trucks, he deserted, taking the cash for the trucks with him. He apparently later joined the French army before the end of the Great War.

Emil Mathis at the wheel of a Mathis at the French Grand Prix of 1921 (pic from upload.wikimedia.org):










After the War, and having returned to the business of car manufacture, Mathis now began to expand his enterprise. By 1927, his company was producing more than 20,000 cars a year, making him the fourth largest car company in France. At about this time, then stimulated by the fear of a coming economic depression in Europe, Emil Mathis started to have ideas about the possibility of forming a connection between his company and an American automaker. This was a bold idea for the time, and was partly a result of Mathis' love of American cars.

Gorgeous Mathis GM Sports of 1923 (pic from upload.wikimedia.org):










It was in 1930 that Mathis finally attempted a joint venture with an American car entrepreneur, and he chose to form a partnership with William C. Durant, late of General Motors and now making cars under his own brand. Mathis proposed that Durant should build a small Mathis car for the European market at the Durant works in Lansing, Michigan, and projected sales of about 100,000 cars per year. Unfortunately, Durant was unable to obtain finance for the project, and soon went out of business himself, leaving the project dead in the water.

Staying in France, and weathering the Depression, Emil Mathis now ploughed on alone, expanding his firm's lineup. His EMY 8 Deauville of 1932 was a large 8-cylinder vehicle somewhat derivative of American cars of the period. Overall sales were continuing to fall and so in 1934 Mathis introduced a smaller 1,445cc-powered car. This time, innovation was at the forefront, and the new car featured synchromesh transmission, hydraulic brakes and ultimately, fully independent suspension. The base model of this new car provided Mathis with a range of three car lines and four different trucks.

Mathis EY Coupe of 1934 (pic from p2.storage.canalblog.com):










Mathis was now over-extending himself, and once again his thought turned to the States and to a collaboration with a US carmaker. This time round, he was able to secure the interest of none other than Henry Ford, who was seeking to expand production of his Model Y in Europe. Ford wanted to take advantage of the underutilized Mathis factory in Strasbourg, and so in 1934, a new joint venture was launched - SA Francaise (circumflex under the 'c') Matford Strasbourg - with Ford taking a 60% stake and Mathis having 40% of the ownership. Ford invested a considerable amount of money in the new enterprise and the factory now started producing copies of British and American Fords. Only from 1936 were vehicles branded, Matford Alsace, produced, and although these were closely based on mid-1930s Fords, there were Mathis touches on some of them, including Mathis independent front suspension. Matfords were manufactured until 1939 when sales proved limited and Emil Mathis finally got fed up with playing second fiddle to Henry Ford. Mathis sold his shares in the joint enterprise thus ending his relationship with Ford; nevertheless, instead of choosing to remain in Europe, Emil moved to the United States, where he started making marine engines under the Matam brand.

A Mathis/Ford Matford production, 1936-9 (pic from upload.wikimedia.org):










Mathis remained the United States for the duration of the War. In 1940, there was a move to send him back to Europe, but because he was regarded as a traitor and embezzler by the Germans, he was not returned to the collaborationist Vichy regime in France. In fact, Mathis ran a munitions factory for the Americans during World War Two, and was also to provide the Allies with plans of his Strasbourg factory, which was now being used by the Nazis, so that the works could be effectively bombed.

In 1946, Mathis returned to France and started the enormous task of rebuilding his Strasbourg factory, and it was to take two years to get the works into operational condition. However, even when up and running, the factory did not see the resumption of car production. The bureaucracy and policies of the new post-War French government - particularly the Pons Plan - led to enormous problems for the smaller car companies in France and almost drove Mathis out of business. In reaction to the difficulties he encountered in immediately resuming production of Mathis cars, Emil turned his hand to designing a new type of car that would combine advanced engineering with mainstream appeal as a vehicle ideal for a continent engaged in reconstruction.

The name of the new vehicle was the Voiture Economique Legere (grave accent on second 'e') 333, more conveniently known as the VEL 333, and it is now considered to be the first all-aluminium car. The 333 designation refers to three features of the design - fuel consumption of 3 litres per 100 km (or 78.41 mpg), 3 wheels and 3 seats. The car had two wheels at the front, and a single rear wheel, and the seats were positioned accordingly. The body was of unibody architecture with the monocoque being electrically welded. The sporty and incredibly modern-looking design of the two-door aluminium was by noted aerodynamicist and designer, Jean Andreau, whose mantra (also echoed by Mathis himself) was "weight is always the enemy", rather in the manner of modern sports car makers. Power came from a 707cc water-cooled horizontally opposed twin putting out 15 horsepower and driving the front wheels, and top speed was estimated to be about 70 mph. Innovation continued in the inner workings of the vehicle, with each cylinder having its own radiator.

The Mathis VEL 333 (pic from assets.blog.hemmings.com):










Emil Mathis showed the VEL 333 in Paris in 1946, and about 10 examples were made. Mathis himself did not have the independent financial means to commence commercial production of the new car, and even though aluminium was then more easily available than costly steel, the French government would not give Mathis the go-ahead to use the necessary materials for his car. He realised that there was little point in pursuing his vision of competing with rival small economy cars from the big French players, and so he turned to the design of a more substantial and larger car - soon called the "666."

Early prototype VEL 333 (classiccar4you.com):










Rear view of the VEL 333 (pic from thetruthaboutcars.com):










Mathis had continued his love affair with American cars, particularly the large Detroit-built motors powered by low-stressed high capacity engines. He intended to design and build a similarly large automobile but one that was lighter in weight and so smaller in engine capacity, suitable for the European market. Once again, the designation, 666, referred to features of the vehicle - 6 cylinders, 6 seats, and 6 speeds - and once again Mathis was to reveal himself as an innovative car designer.

Power for the 666 as finally established was from a water-cooled flat six 2,840cc sidevalve engine, which used alloy block and heads, US-style hydraulic tappets and twin Solex carbs. The plan was to mate this low-revving unit to an innovative 6-speed transmission comprising three speeds plus a step-down high-low transfer box, thus creating a car that would rarely be working flat-out so that it would last for much longer than conventional cars before requiring a service. In addition to the innovatory engine and transmission, the 666 was given all-round independent suspension and hydraulic brakes, and steering was by cam and peg.

If the innards of the 666 were innovative, the body of the new car was no less so, although it was the styling of the body more than any other single factor that was to mitigate against the success of the 666. The hand-beaten steel body was apparently made by Mathis at his factory, and once welded to the platform chassis produced a very strong shell that permitted the use of the novel Vutotal panoramic windscreen invented by French coachbuilder, Laboudette. The style of the car was somewhat angular, and it was fully pontoon-sided - a style that did appear on the 1948 Ford Vedette but was then dropped in France until the 1951 Simca Aronde.

The extraordinary-looking Mathis 666 (pic from thetruthaboutcars.com):










The new Mathis 666 was shown at the Paris Auto-salon of 1948, but the debutante failed to garner approving attention at the ball. The rather angular styling and the wraparound windscreen were just too radical for a conservative French public, and continuing problems at Mathis with any attempt to restart car manufacture meant that even if the car had received general acclaim it could not have been put into production. At the Paris show of 1949, instead of a repeat showing of the 1948 car, Mathis exhibited a rolling chassis that came with a sketchy front-end reminiscent of the recently announced 1950-season "spinner front" Studebaker. This style was intended for a more conventional four-door saloon with a more anonymous rounded body style. Also exhibited by Mathis was artwork for drophead versions of the 666.

The Mathis 666 never went into production and it is not known how many prototypes were made. The car perhaps made some sense as a higher end engineering-led saloon, but it is clear that amendments to the design would have been necessary. The six-seta capacity, due partly to the relatively flat sides, was a bonus, as was overall performance, but the novel front-wheel drive was just too complicated and the Vutotal screen too thick and heavy. Also the boot proved to be difficult to load and had a rather high floor, and there are indications that the suspension was somewhat weak for the weight of the car - the peg and cam steering was apparently somewhat lorry-like as well. It is unfortunate that we only have prototypes to use as comparison cars, especially as Mathis would undoubtedly have ironed out the various faults during the initial commercial production phase, and it seems likely that a revised model of the 666 would have proved to be a truly modern car for its time, still radical yet acceptable, and important step forward in the history of cars.

Rear view of the Mathis 666 (pic from 2bp.blogspot.com):










The failure of the 666 and the intolerable slowness of the project to rebuild and re-equip the Strasbourg factory (compensation for war damage did not arrive until 1951) did not destroy Emil Mathis' will to re-enter car production, this time using a design for a jeep-like vehicle for the French army, taking some of its features from the 666. This new vehicle came to nothing, however, and a final attempt at a rebound by making Minneapolis-Moline tractors under licence also failed, with barely 300 produced between 1949 and 1952. Small-scale sub-contraction work was not enough to make up the shortfall and Emil himself gave up day to day involvement in running the business. After a deal with creditors in 1951, the Strasbourg factory ground to a standstill and the firm's assets started to be sold off. Mathis himself died in 1956, aged 76, when he fell from a window in a Swiss hotel. Questions have been asked about the nature of death, and suicide has been proposed as the motive, but we will never know and the achievements of his life are more important than the exact causes of his death.

Mathis 666 in black and white (pic from l'automobileancienne.com):










Emil Mathis is an important figure not only in the history of car engineering and design but also in his business acumen. Mathis was one of the first carmakers to understand the need for international cooperation and partnerships among car manufacturers, and he put his money where his mouth is. Today, we accept the global nature of car manufacture as normal, and understand the need for exchange of technology and manufacturing advances between car producers of different nations. Mathis was also keen to innovate in terms of technology and engineering in his own productions, and although it has been said that his management style left something to be desired, it has to be said that he was no quitter. If the French government had understood just how important the business and engineering innovations proposed by Mathis were to be, the history of French cars would have been enhanced, and the incredible Citroen DS would not have been the only highly advanced French car of the 1950s.


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## WRENCH (Jun 20, 2016)

Interesting stuff, thank you. Not so sure about the treble 6. :evil9kf:


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## RWP (Nov 8, 2015)

Fascinating :thumbs_up:


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## Always"watching" (Sep 21, 2013)

Thanks guys. I know what you mean Wrench, it is a bit... well... unusual.


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## BondandBigM (Apr 4, 2007)

Every day is a school day.

I've never heard of them before, great write up as usual


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

WRENCH said:


> Interesting stuff, thank you. Not so sure about the treble 6. :evil9kf:


 ...and Mach will have something to say about that as well.....he hates '666' especially on a Bulova Deep Sea dial....it gives him the 'willies'....being the number of the devil... :jawdrop1: :evil9kf:


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## Ventura (Nov 27, 2006)

I kept on misreading the title as Emily Matliss.


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