CG. Small sports car run, big influence

In 1966 a special French sports car was born. It is the CG A1000, which has the status of coachbuilder Bodywork Chappe Frères et Gessalin as the car manufacturer confirmed. The company was founded in 1932. After World War II, the French concentrated more and more on the manufacture of aluminum and fiberglass reinforced polyester bodies and the assembly of cars. Due to the loss of a number of clients, the company poured its ambitions into another vessel: building lightweight French sports cars based on Simca technology.

Built after the Second World War CG bodies for Delahaye trucks and for Talbot. From the 106s, the bodybuilder worked on special Renault sports versions. Over time, a strong collaboration with Jean Rédèle developed. Among other things, the A108 came out of this. It was built near Chappe et Gessalin just like the later A110. Nevertheless, Rédèle took steps towards independence, and eventually Alpine became an independent brand, which continued to build lightweight sports cars under Renault's direction. The legendary AXNUMX is one of them.

Push to independent sports car brand

CG also built bodies for Deutsch Bonnet, which resulted in 200 copies of the Panhard CD. Yet that collaboration also came to an end. René Bonnet and Charles Deutsch separated, initially remained a customer of CG. René Bonnet engaged CG in the development of the Djet body. Nevertheless, the collaboration ended when Matra acquired a majority stake in René Bonnet's company. At that point, CG's management was already carefully planning to become an independent car manufacturer. They were not blind to the developments at Alpine. And in Brie-Comte-Robert, where CG had been located since 1960, management got the final push from Simca, who was eager to give the still young Alpine a back seat.

A1000, a nice spider

A test model based on the parts of a defunct Simca 1000 was built. Ultimately, a lightweight sports car with a body of fiberglass-reinforced polyester was created. That was the A1000, which debuted at the 1966 Paris Salon. It was the spider on a CG-designed chassis and Simca influences. Incidentally, a hard top quickly became available for the Spider. The CG debutant's engine originated from the Simca 1000 and was coupled to a transaxle construction. The power was described as modest with 40 HP. Sport followed later. That was a simplified version, which also went through life as a coupé. Both models were retired in 1968, replacing them with the CG 1000 S and was available as a coupé and convertible. They were built until 1969 and got the 1118 cc engine, which generated 49 HP.

B1200

Meanwhile, CG released another model in 1968. That was the CG B1200. This model was offered as Coupé and Spider 1200 S. The 1204 cc engine came from the Simca 1200 S coupé and generated 80 HP. As with the 1000 versions, performance was curbed by four disc brakes all round. However, the installation now had a servo and very nice: the circuit was separate. The rack and pinion steering replaced the old Gemmer system. CG also fitted front and rear anti-roll bars.

Special version: the 548

The CG B1200 also got a new flexible rear axle, allowing for negative camber setup. Also noteworthy was the placement of two shock absorbers per side at the rear. In 1970 the series got a slightly more powerful engine. The displacement was the same, the power increased by 4 HP and the top speed increased from 185 to 190 kilometers per hour. Special was the 548 version (named after its weight), with an aluminum bottom and thinner body material, for example. The power of the 548 could rise to almost 120 HP.

The last: the C1300

CG's last sports car was the C1300, which succeeded the 1972 series in 1200. The 1300 was only available as a coupé, got a lower front and a modified rear section. The technology originated from the Simca Rallye 2: the engine was the 1.294 cc engine from that model. Initially with 80 HP, later the power increased to 95 HP: that was the 5HP (or 5CV) version. Speeds of almost 200 kilometers per hour were achievable with these lightweight trolleys. The CG C1300 was built until 1974. After this became the factory in bankruptcy Closed.

Small edition, great influence

The end of CG cannot be separated from the fact that Chrysler aimed its arrows at Matra, and designated the Bagheera as the successor to the Simca 1200 S Bertone. In addition, motorsport was an important pillar for CG, and the French government decided to ban motorsport for a year as a result of the oil crisis. That also counted. For the small CG (the A1000, B1200 and C1300 were good for a total production of around 400 units) there was no longer any place within the sports car ambitions of the Chrysler concern. The company ceased to exist. But what remained was a beautiful legacy of Chappe and Gessalin: the influence on the construction of small lightweight sports cars.