Monopole-Oliveira

Intro about Monopole-Oliveira

This car is one of the rare front-wheel drive FJ’s together with the French DB (also powered with Panhard engine), the British Bond (Ford engine) and the german Mitter ( DKW engine).
This car is unique .

4 Octobre 1959

Monopole-Poissy was a firm that made parts for the French automobile industry. From 1947, it had a competition department and built sports-racers with which it was successful in the Index of Performance at Le Mans in 1950, 1951, and 1952. The usual drivers were company directors J de Montremy and J Hermard and the cars used Panhard Dyna engines. After the 1955 Le Mans, Panhard decided to rely on Monopole for its racing activities, but in the winter of 1958 it withdrew from racing in favour of rallying. At around the same time, Jose Carvallo de Oliveira, who was a Monopole technician and race mechanic, asked boss de Montremy if he could build a car for the new Formula Junior, using parts left over from other racing projects. The flat-twin engine, suspension and body parts were Panhard and, with the help of people in the then-closed competition department, the car was completed and raced by de Oliveira in 1959 and 1960. At the end of its second season, it became obvious that the car was becoming uncompetitive and de Oliveira could not afford to develop it further. The car was stored at eh factory in Poissy, near Paris, then later at de Oliveira’s nearby home. He had plans to rebuild the car with his son in the ’90’s but never did and died in 2004. In summer 2007, de Oliveira’s son incorrectly advertised the Monopole for sale as a ‘Monomill’. Parisian Gilbert Lenoir was not put off by the wrong description and bought the car.
Text taken from Michael Ware’s Lost & Found column in the May 2008 Classic & Sports Car.

Return to the track

It made its debut after more than 40 years at the Formula Junior Golden Jubilee Celebrations at Brands Hatch in June 2008.

Gilbert Lenoir – Brands Hatch 2008