B.N.C. Biplace Sport 527 GS (France) from 1926, four cylinders, 1098 cc, 40 HP, 140 km/h
Bollack, Netter, et Cie (French: Bollack Netter et compagnie), more commonly known as B.N.C., was a small French automobile company in Levallois-Perret, situated on Avenue de Paris 39.
B.N.C. was established by Lucien Bollack (an engineer who had also worked for Hispano-Suiza) and his financier, banker René Netter, in January 1923. The technical director was Jacques Muller, also known as “Jack”. Muller’s earlier J.M.K. cyclecar formed the basis of their first car the “DZ”.
B.N.C. were a successful maker of cyclecars, winning many rallies albeit not selling very many cars. In the late 1920s, the company tried to penetrate a higher market sector – unfortunately the demand for large passenger cars and for ultra-light racing cars were both low, and Bollack and Netter were forced out of their company in 1928 when the business was acquired by Charles de Ricou, an energetic businessman who by now had a reputation for rescuing financially troubled automobile manufacturing businesses.
In the case of B.N.C. his timing was less than perfect, however, in that (like many others) he failed to anticipate the Great Depression, B.N.C. launching the large 8-cylinder engined “Aigle” in October 1929, a few days before the stock market crashes gave notice of a decade of severe contraction and stagnation for the French economy.
