La Buire

La Buire  was founded by J.Frossard de Saugy,  in Lyon, back in 1847, for the construction of  tramways and train carriages. In 1904 the company diversified into the automobile industry. Being today a relatively unknown car builder, La Buire had a great success with their powerful racing cars that had a solid reputation as good climbers. La Buire came first in Montreux, Lyon, Mont-Ventoux, Meeting de Provence, Aix-les-Bains and in the Circuit de Tourisme de l'Automobile Club du Nord. The company conceived an innovative ball bearing gear box. Despite being chosen to supply the Paris Post service in 1908, financial difficulties led the company to bankruptcy in 1909. M. Berthier, its ex-technical director, pursued with the business and founded the Société Nouvelle de La Buire Automobile in 1910. The new company managed to survive through the WWI but in 1925 they were again facing a shortage of money and decided to discontinue building commercial vehicles. In 1930 the company shut down, incapable to resist the competitiveness of mass production manufacturers.