Bernardet

Bernardet is the name of a manufacturing company created in 1921 by three brothers named René, Robert and Roger Bernardet.

The company logo was a play on the brothers’ names, being a “3R” intertwined with a “B” and an “F” as in “Bernardet Frères” (Bernardet Brothers). The company was a manufacturer of sidecars and later of motor scooters, but between 1946 and 1950 Bernardet attempted to become an automobile manufacturer: this ambition was thwarted by government restrictions which prevented them from being able to acquire the necessary materials and components.

The car
For the 1946 Paris Motor Show the company exhibited a small front wheel drive car with a transversely mounted four cylinder two stroke engine of 798 cm³. The cabriolet body provided space for three thin people sitting in a row. The car had a 2070 mm wheelbase and was probably wider than competitor vehicles, in view of the three in a row seat configuration.

However, the Bernardet brothers had failed to obtain the consent of the authorities to their plans, and were unable to purchase the materials necessary to put the cars into production.

At the 1947 Paris Motor Show a similar coupé bodied "hard-top“ called the "A49“ was shown, and some of these cars may have been produced and sold. By 1949 the engine size was reduced to 748 cm³.

It is not clear how many, if any, of the cars were produced for sale.