BSH

François Benais and Max Saint-Hilaire created the BSH Coupé in 1969. The badge combined the B of Benais with the initials of Saint-Hilaire, and their operating company is recorded as Issy Automobiles Plastiques or Issy Automobiles, based at 20 boulevard Voltaire in Issy-les-Moulineaux outside Paris. Saint-Hilaire shaped the first car directly rather than working from a complete drawing set; the prototype was finished in September 1969 and a company press car was registered in February 1970. Its low nose, glazed headlamp bubbles and compact two-seat proportions evoked contemporary competition berlinettes, while the higher rear accommodated familiar Renault components. Beneath the reinforced-polyester body was a purpose-built tubular backbone chassis in special steel with an integrated roll-over hoop. The kit included a Renault 8 Gordini front crossmember, a very strong one-piece polyester passenger cell with rear glass, separate one-piece front and rear panel/wing assemblies, fiberglass doors and bucket seats. Running gear could be sourced from mainstream Renault 8, R8 Gordini, Renault 12 and Renault 16 donors. Published engine capacities range from roughly 1,108 to 1,565 cc, with 1,255 and nominal 1,600 cc competition cars recorded; four- and five-speed transmissions likewise depended on the chosen donor. These were customer configurations of one Coupé rather than factory model lines. The finished rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive car measured approximately 3.95 metres long, 1.55 metres wide and 1.13 metres high and weighed about 660 kg, though a racing source quotes about 600 kg for a particular build. Buyers could order a completed car or a lower-cost kit and reuse mechanical pieces from a damaged production Renault. Because BSH was not registered as a conventional type-homologated series, each artisanal completion had to be presented individually to the French Mines authority, making individual cars unusually variable. BSH competed in French circuit events, hill climbs and rallies during 1970–71. Claude Badie drove a 1,255 cc example, while a 1,600 cc car entered the 1970 Tour de France Automobile; another Tour entry in 1971 retired with engine failure. Marland SARL took over production during 1971 at a branch in the same locality. When Benais withdrew at the end of that year, BSH-badged marketing ceased after 56 cars. Marland continued the same basic vehicle under its own name, eventually contributing to an often-quoted combined total near 400; those later cars belong to Marland and are not added to BSH's production. One model row therefore covers the complete BSH range while preserving its many donor-engine, gearbox, kit/completed-car and competition variations.

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