Mathis EMY 8 cabriolet Gangloff 1933

Chassis n°685665 Engine n°501509 French registration The Mathis of superlatives. The car presented is reputed to be the only EMY 8 FOHL bodied by Gangloff. It is an exceptional car in many ways: 8-cylinder engine, signature of a great coachbuilder and finally, it would have belonged to none other than Mrs Mathis! The car led a quiet life before the outbreak of war, belonging in particular to a property dealer in the Besançon region (a Hispano Suiza enthusiast). The war broke out and it was in this region that it was requisitioned by the German army. Repainted in dark grey, it will have the sad task of driving German officers around the streets of Paris. Following the end of the war, it was a craftsman from the Haute Saone who took possession of the Mathis towards Dijon. The car remained in this family until the early 1980s, when it was discovered by Daniel Isaac, the former curator of the Peugeot Museum in Sochaux. He undertook a complete dismantling of the car, but a huge flood, which he narrowly escaped, damaged the disassembled parts and put an end to his enthusiasm. He handed over the project to André Grangeot who, with the help of Daniel Isaac, Jean François Blattner (author of Emile Mathis, constructeur automobile) and the club "Les amis de Mathis", undertook a considerable amount of restoration work over several years. He decided to restore the car to the configuration in which it was found in the 1980s, allowing the history of its various modifications over time to reach us. The dashboard is sublime, totally inspired by the Art Deco style The car's affiliation to the Mathis family became apparent with the discovery of the handbrake lever. Indeed, topped by a second horizontal lever, it can be released with a simple impulse of the left hand. As Mrs Mathis was handicapped in her left hand, Mr Isaac will contact her, and she will provide him with additional information on the car. Our HY type engine has a displacement of 3 litres and develops 72 hp. This in-line eight cylinder with side valves has the particularity of being equipped with two-cylinder heads. Each of the two-cylinder heads is an Emy4 cylinder head. The engine bore is 69.85 mm, and the stroke is 99.5 mm. Its exact displacement is 3050 cm³. It is equipped with an oil pump and a water pump. The ignition is by coil battery. The crankshaft has recently been rectified and the waterbox has been completely rebuilt. "Weight is the enemy! Emile Mathis, a native of Strasbourg, was very attracted to the automobile and had an innate business sense. In 1901, he had a buisness relationship with De Dietrich. At that time Ettore Bugatti, who worked for De Dietrich, met Emile Mathis. In 1904, they joined forces to manufacture Mathis Hermes Simplex vehicles with 40, 60, and 90 hp at the Graffenstaden factory for two years. In 1906, they ended their partnership. Emile quickly developed his garage and then held the sales monopoly for Germany (in 1918 Strasbourg was part of Germany). Until 1914, Mathis cars took part in numerous races. After 1919, Mathis, which had been building its own vehicles since 1910, became one of the most successful French car manufacturers. Advertising played an important role in this development with the famous slogan: "Weight is the enemy". In 1921, the Mathis factories in Strasbourg covered 90,000 m2 on a 15-hectare site. They manufactured everything from foundry parts to bodywork. After the Great Depression in 1934, Mathis joined forces with Ford to form the Matford Group until the war. An important file accompanies the car. It documents the restoration of the car after its discovery in the early 1980s. Numerous technical drawings by the former owner and hundreds of reproductions of the original documentation (including the FOH chassis) for the maintenance of the Mathis are also included. After almost ninety tumultuous years, our EMY 8 FOHL is still going strong. It is a delight to drive, and its majestic lines turn heads. This eight-cylinder Alsatian car bodied by Gangloff is a rarity to be added to the collection of any pre-war enthusiast.