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Jon Pressnell is a journalist and auto-motive historian. Best known for his contributions to Classic & Sports Car magazine, for which he has written since the 1980s, he has a reputation as a rigorous and original researcher. Amongst his books are histories of the Mini, the Citroën Traction Avant and DS, and the Austin-Healey. His groundbreaking Morris – The Cars and the Company won the 2014 Michael Sedgwick Award presented by the Society of Automotive Historians in Britain. More recently he has authored The Lamborghini Miura for Kidston SA of Geneva and Marcel Pourtout – Carrossier for Dalton Watson Fine Books, both these titles winning major awards. Jon Pressnell lives in south-west France and works additionally as a book editor and editorial consultant. An M.G. owner for more than 30 years, he has a particular interest in the marque.
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Marcel Pourtout: Carrossier by Jon Pressnell Kim: A Biography of M.G. Founder Cecil Kimber by Jon Pressnell Rover: Design and Engineering; The Inside Story 1945-1976 by Jon Pressnell
Winner of the 2023 Royal Automobile Club “Motoring Book of the Year” award!

Marcel Pourtout: Carrossier
by Jon Pressnell

Pourtout is a name often mentioned as one of the greats of French coachbuilding. It was the company behind the rakish Darl’mat Peugeots of the 1930s and the famous ‘Embiricos’ Bentley. From modest beginnings, founder Marcel Pourtout – latterly working with designer Georges Paulin – created a respected business that bodied some of the world’s finest and most interesting chassis.

When bespoke coachwork became a thing of the past, Carrosserie Pourtout was one of the few companies to survive. It moved on to fresh areas of activity. Quick on its feet, it thrived in a newly dynamised post-war France, whilst remaining a family business under the direction of Marcel Pourtout’s second son Claude.

Extravagant publicity vehicles, notably for the ‘Tour de France’ cycle race, replaced special-bodied Hispano-Suizas and Delahayes. Then Carrosserie Pourtout became involved with ALM, for whom it created a cab body that redefined the image of the company’s rugged trucks, these becoming a staple of armed forces around the world. Finally it became France’s leading converter of Peugeot light vans and a sub-contractor for the aircraft and oil-prospecting industries.

Written by award-winning author Jon Pressnell, this is the first history of Carrosserie Pourtout and has been compiled with the full and generous support of the Pourtout family. Using surviving documentation from the archives held by Kévin Pourtout, it tells the complete story of this enterprising small business, from its inception in 1925 to its demise in 1994.

  • 488 pages
  • 754 photographs
  • 290mm x 219mm
  • Hard cover with dust jacket
  • ISBN: 978-1-85443-286-5
  • 20 MyRewards points with purchase


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Kim: A Biography of M.G. Founder Cecil Kimber by Jon Pressnell tells the story behind the MG initials.

Rover: Design and Engineering; The Inside Story 1945-1976 by Jon Pressnell. This definitive study of Rover’s post-war design and engineering uncovers the creativity that thrived within one of Britain’s most respected carmakers. Drawing on rare interviews and archives, author Nick Hull reveals how Rover balanced tradition with innovation, pioneering ideas like gas-turbine power and shaping some of the most distinctive British cars ever conceived.
   
 
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