Panhard et Levassor made their first petrol-engine vehicle in 1890, which makes them France’s oldest car manufacturer. By the 1930s, motorists across the country chiefly associated Panhard's Avenue d’Ivry factory with transport for the Grande Bourgeoisie. However, the post-war French government’s Plan Pon emphasised volume production over specialised vehicles, so Panhard introduced the Dyna X at the 1946 Paris Motor Show. This featured a lightweight aluminium body (as steel was then heavily rationed), an air-cooled flat twin alloy engine of either 610cc or 745cc, and front-wheel drive. Sales were promising, despite the price being 50% higher than its Renault 4CV competitor.
In 1952 the Dyna X gained an 851cc power plant, but by then the development of its successor was underway. Panhard’s management decreed that the new car should be able to transport six adults in comfort, achieve a top speed of 81mph and, as their funds were limited, use the same tiny engine as its predecessor! The Dyna Z duly made its bow at Paris’s Les Ambassadeurs restaurant on 17th June 1953, where it caused a sensation.
Head of Chassis Development and Chief Stylist Louis Bionier had designed the monocoque aluminium body, which he tested in a wind tunnel andof 28th August 1953 marvelled at how an owner could remove the entire power plant by 'detaching the brake, steering, petrol and electrical connections and withdrawing six bolts.'
