1926 Chenard Senechal Boat Tail Roadster

Description

Very little is known about the Chenard-Senechal, a combination of the established Chenard & Walcker marque and the smaller products of Robert Senechal, a former Bugatti racing driver who competed with the likes of Amilcar, Salmson, BNC and others in the light car sports market during the 1920s. Chenard & Walcker had already been in business for two decades by this stage, having been established at Gennevilliers, on the banks of the Seine in 1901. Famous for scoring a victory on home soil at the inaugural 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1923, Chenard & Walcker built a range of high quality sports and touring cars during the 1920s. In 1924 Robert Senechal joined forces with Chenard in order to broaden the model range, adding a new 970cc sports model to the line-up. Senechal's own engine design was used in the 1100cc aerodynamic 'tanks' raced by Chenard at Le Mans in 1925, recording fine class wins there, at the Spa 24-Hours and at the Georges Boillot Cup in 1926. According to documentation provided by the owner, the car offered here is believed to be a Z2 model, with a 2550mm wheelbase and four-cylinder side-valve engine displacing 1.5-litres, along with four-wheel mechanical brakes and a single-plate clutch. Ultimately Chenard & Walcker became part of a consortium that included Delahaye, Donnet and Unic in 1927, a relationship that only survived until 1932 and saw the cessation of all racing activities for the marque. Chenard solidered on into the 1930s with Ford or Citroen running gear but the glory days of the 1920s were well behind the company and it eventually was taken over by Peugeot to become the makers of components for agricultural equipment and industrial machinery.