César

César was a French automobile marque offered only in 1906 by David, Boudène et Compagnie of Paris. The concern developed and marketed the cars but contracted their manufacture to Doriot-Flandrin, a Courbevoie vehicle builder active in its own right during the same period. Standard reference histories consistently identify two César models distinguished by engine architecture and rating. The smaller used a single-cylinder gasoline engine rated at 7 hp; the larger used a four-cylinder engine rated at 12 hp. Those differences establish two genuine chassis or mechanical families rather than body variants. No dependable factory type numbers have been recovered, so the catalog uses transparent descriptive names instead of inventing model designations. Likewise, accessible sources do not preserve engine displacement, bore and stroke, valve layout, cooling or ignition system, gearbox, final drive, wheelbase, dimensions, weight, speed, coachwork list, price, annual or model production, serial numbers, sales territories, competition activity, or authenticated survivors. A specialist survey of early French production confirms automobile manufacture in Paris during 1906 but gives output only as an unknown number. There is no sound evidence for the 1908 end date repeated in some unsourced compilations; the marque's supported production span is therefore limited to 1906. César's relationship with Doriot-Flandrin is treated as contract manufacture, not as an alias or successor, and Doriot-Flandrin remains a separately accountable marque. Two catalog rows—the 7 HP Single-Cylinder and 12 HP Four-Cylinder—exhaust the complete defensible César range presently recoverable from published references.

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