Book Review: Franco-Britannic Autos Ltd

Book Review:  Franco-Britannic Autos Ltd
1st exclusive importer in France (1958-1968)
By Cyrille Jaquinot

Review by Jim Weed

 

    Franco-Britannic Autos Ltd., goes further into the past than the Ferrari connection. 

    Walter Sleator was tasked to guide Rolls-Royce chassis through the body building process in France.

    Rolls-Royce customers often purchased bare chassis and had French body builders create body forms for their car. Coach-built at its finest.

    After the war, Sleator becomes friends with Battista Pinin Farina who soon introduces him to Ferrari.

    By 1958, Ferrari is pushed to increase production and distributorships are set up in each country. Franco-Britannic becomes the very first and exclusive importer for France.

    By the end of December 1968, Franco-Britannic Autos Ltd., is no longer the importer of Ferrari in France. The torch is passed onto Charles Pozzi. 

    Cyrille Jaquinot has filled the decade of Franco-Britannic’s history with many period photos and stories. Individual Ferraris are featured with stories about their famous owners.

    Franco-Britannic also supplied chase cars for the 24-Hours of LeMans. Not just the famous 250 GTE but others as a way to showcase the latest model from Ferrari.

    Filled with photographs, invoices and advertisements, this book gives us a look into the history of Ferrari and how Franco-Britannic helped develop an organization in France to further the Ferrari brand.

    Jaquinot has created a great homage to Ferrari history with the same high-quality stories and photos as he did with his other book ‘Ferrari 330 America’ as an homage to Chinetti. 

    Published by Blurb. 240 pages. Hardcover. Go to Blurb.com and search for Franco-Britannic. The English version is $201.86. It is also available in French.

    Or search for Cyrille Jaquinot to find all the fine books written by this author.