Hardly anyone remembers the Sovam 850A
Most car enthusiasts are familiar with Alpine and Matra, two French manufacturers of small-series sports cars with plastic bodies. However, hardly anyone remembers SOVAM, a company that was considered the number three in the French small car manufacturing landscape at the end of the 1960s.
SOVAM, which otherwise specialized in commercial vehicles and caravans, began producing its own sports car in 1964. In 1966, 60 employees built five unconventional sports coupés per week (according to marketing statements), or an annual production of 102 cars (according to official figures). The mechanics of the vehicles came from Renault, initially from the R4 ( model 850A), later also from the Caravelle.
The fastest version was the Sovam 1300, which was presented at the 1967 Paris Motor Show with the mechanics of the R8 Gordini and, with a top speed of 195 km/h , was a sports coupé to be taken seriously. However, only five of the 1300 were built and the production of sports cars was probably discontinued in 1968 due to a lack of success.
Nevertheless, in 1966 the 850 model, driven by two French women, successfully completed a par force drive from Paris to Calcutta and back . The 850 model, like the 1100 model, only had a slightly "souped-up" Renault engine.
