Donnet Type CI-8 from 1931 with four cylinders (1474 cc). Max. speed: 70 km/h. Made in France
Donnet was a French manufacturing company of the early twentieth century. Founded as Société des Établissements Donnet-Denhaut by Jérôme Donnet (formerly of Donnet-Lévêque) and François Denhaut at Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1914, the firm manufactured a highly successful line of patrol flying boats (the Donnet-Denhaut flying boat series) for the French Navy. The company became known simply as Donnet after designer Denhaut left it in 1919 (replaced by Maurice Percheron), but did not continue to build aircraft for long afterwards.
Jérôme Donnet purchased Automobiles Zedel of Pontarlier, Doubs, France in 1919, and changed the name of the enterprise to Donnet-Zedel.
From this factory he made the Donnet-Zedel CI-6 (later CI-8) with 2120 cc engine, a design originating from 1912. A new car, the 1098 cc Type G was introduced in 1925 and it sold well, helping Donnet to become France’s fourth largest car maker in 1927.
The Type G was made in a former Donnet aircraft factory at Gennevilliers, Seine. Most of the cars produced by Zédel, Donnet-Zédel and Donnet were powered by four-cylinder engines. The Zédel engine had a displacement of 3168 cc, and the Donnet-Zédel 1100 or 2120 cc. The Pontarlier works was sold in 1928 and the Zedel part of the name was dropped. An expanded range of cars appeared as production relocated to the Paris hub in the late 1920s.
