After The Second World War
A prototype with an 1100 cc flat four engine driving the front wheels was shown at the October 1946 Paris Salon. It reappeared at the 1947 Motor Show looking broadly similar but the front panels were slightly reworked and the headlights were covered over with an extra layer of glass in order to present a smoother profile. Under the bonnet/hood the engine had now been replaced by a 1996 cc 4-cylinder in-line unit featuring a twin overhead camshaft and driving, now, the rear wheels via a more conventional transmission. At this time the French auto-industry was subject to extensive government intervention, and in this dirigiste context Georges Irat thought that the larger-engined car might be classified by the government, which controlled supplies of materials necessary for auto-production, as an "exceptional car reserved in the first instance for export" However, the car never entered production even though it re-appeared at the 1949 show.
In 1950 Georges Irat announced the VDB or Voiture du Bled made by a new company, Société Chérifienne George Irat in Casablanca, Morocco. This was a jeep-like vehicle powered by a rear-mounted Panhard engine. Only a few were made up to 1953.
Read more about this topic: Georges Irat
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