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Donnet-Zedel 1903-1934 - Five Swiss and one Frenchman

Name: Donnet Six 10 CV 1930
Brand: Donnet

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Created in 2011

Text:

Roger Gloor

Photos:

Archiv Bernhard Brägger

Dirk de Jager - Courtesy Artcurial Motorcars

Archiv

Archiv Bernhard Brägger

Dirk de Jager - Courtesy Artcurial Motorcars

Archiv

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Donnet (1925) - very fast Voiturette by racing driver and later Derby engineer Etienne Lepicard - the engine had four cylinders and already 16 valves

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Donnet Type Donnette (1932) - as lot 330 at the Artcurial auction on the occasion of the Rétromobile in Paris 2018

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Donnet-Zédel Model G 1100 (1924) - early model

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Donnet 4 CV (1931) - body variants (illustration in a sales brochure)

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Summary

There were around 10,000 car brands and designers - most of which have disappeared. One of these vanished brands is Donnet-Zedel, which had production facilities in Switzerland and in France on the border. From 1926, vehicles of the Donnet brand were produced near Paris, which was France's No. 5 for a time. However, the economic crisis led to bankruptcy.

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Preview (beginning of the article)

From 1897, Ernest Zürcher manufactured the first Swiss motorcycle engines in his workshop in Neuchâtel. In 1899, he moved to the suburb of Saint-Aubin and founded Zedel SA (initials Z and L) with Hermann Lüthi in 1901. In 1903, Ernest Zürcher set up a branch factory in Pontarlier, close to the border, due to the high customs duties imposed by the main customer, France. There he also constructed the first small cars with four-cylinder engines. These and larger cars and motorcycles were built in Pontarlier as Zedel and in Saint-Aubin as ZL. In the meantime, another company illegally took over ZL production there until Zürcher returned in 1907...

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