Foundation and location Amilcar was founded in July 1921 by Joseph Lamy and Emile Akar. The business was a leading beneficiary of a cyclecar boom, prompted by a government initiative which held out the promise of a reduced rate of annual car tax, fixed at 100 francs per year, for powered vehicles weighing no more than 350 kg (dry weight, without fuel or water or such extras as a spare tyre/wheel), providing seating for no more than two people and powered by an engine of not more than 1100 cc. There was also a competition version of the Pégase with a 2490 cc (14CV) engine. The Compound's ambitious use of aluminium in its body structure and its front-wheel-drive configuration meant that production got off to a slow start, and although it was launched in October 1937, 584 of the 681 passenger cars produced date only from 1939, with a further 64 produced during the early months of 1940, before the
German invasion of May/June 1940 effectively ended civilian automobile production in the Paris region. Production of the Amilcar was not resumed after
World War II. == List of important Amilcar models ==