Born in Paris to a well-to-do family of coach builders and renters of horse-drawn carriages, René Panhard joined up with Jean-Louis Périn in a company manufacturing machine tools for woodworking.
René Panhard
In 1886, he joined forces with Emile Levassor, who he knew from his time as a student, and founded the Panhard and Levassor company. Both were interested in steam engines then in petrol engines as patented by Daimler. They developed the first petrol-engined cars in the early 1890s with some of their ideas still applicable today (front engine, clutch, gearbox and pivoting wheels). They were the first in the world to manufacture cars in series production in 1891. After the army purchased its first Panhard and Levassor vehicle in 1898, their collaboration continued with many other vehicles such as the AML, AMD, EBR, VBL etc ...
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION…
Book : Claude-Alain Sarre, les Panhard et Levassor, une aventure collective, ETAI, 2000
Article : Biography de René Panhard, available on : http://doyennes-panhard-levassor.fr/fr/rene-panhard/