Chappe et Gessalin CG 1200 S

Even more than Britain, the field of post 1950 specialist French sports cars is dominated by certain characters whose names are stamped on a variety of low volume makes. In this case it is the brothers Chappe, Abel, Albert and Louis. These three make up the ‘C’ of Chappe et Gessalin, or CG. The ‘G’ comes from Jean Gessalin. In 1969 CG they released the model range CG 1200 S. This was based on the later Simca 1200 S Coupe, first released in June 1967, which itself used as its basis the latest Simca 1000s that were known internally as type B1200. A special car evolved out of this, of which 20 were to be built but in the end 18 were made. They were called the CG Lite “548”, in reference to their light 548kg all-up weight. 

Pictures via : pop.tv