1955 Salmson 2300S Spyder #27
Pilots: J-P. Colas, J. Dewez
Team: Jean-Paul Colas
Race: DNF (S 3.0 class) at Le Mans in 1955
Spark - S4547 (resin)
Published 08/13/25
In 1890 Émile Salmson founded Emile Salmson, Ing, a workshop in Paris. At his small shop he made steam-powered compressors and pumps for railway and military uses. A few years later he started building hydraulic lifts and gas and gasoline engines. Concurrently, he sets up an aeronautical division to produce airplane engines. By 1915, Salmson was one of the top French aeronautical firms. With the booming aeronautical business, in 1919 Salmson created the Société des Moteurs Salmson, their automotive branch. The automotive branch was a separate company, and the following year Salmson released their first car: the GN Salmson cyclecar. A series of models followed the cyclecar, and from 1921 to 1928 Salmson cars won 550 races worldwide. In 1929 they released the S4, the first of the S-series, that stayed in production up to 1951. However, with WWII, all their manufacturing capacity was diverted to airplane engines.
With the war over, car manufacturing resumed. Right after the war, sales ramped up, encouraging Salmson to release a new saloon, the Randonnée. Released in 1950, the Randonnée had a 2218 cm³ inline-4 engine, producing 51.5 kW (70 hp). However, the French market was contracting, and the Randonnée’s sales were far from a success. By 1953, Salmson was deep in depth. Even so, they released a new sports coupe, the 2300S. Using the Randonnée’s engine, though bored out to 2328 cm³, the 2300S counted on 81 kW (110 hp). They also used the same chassis, but cut down to 268.5 cm. The resulting car was much lighter than the original saloon, and with the 81 kW on tap, the 2300S offered good competition in its class. Nonetheless, Salmson was in a terminal situation, and filed for bankruptcy in 1953, closing shop in 1957.
One of the very few who bought a 2300S (chassis #85016) was Jean-Paul Colas. He commissioned coach builder Motto to make a spyder body for the car, creating the 2300S Spyder. Sporting #27, he enrolled it in the 24 Heures du Mans of 1955. Unfortunately, an oil leak took out his car, just a few hours after Le Mans’ worst tragedy. He returned to La Sarthe once again the following year with the same car, yet again DNF. Therefore, the 2300S was another of those Le Mans oddities that never achieved much.
A true oddball that most will sniff at it. For me however, these ugly ducklings are what makes Le Mans so special. Consequently, I ordered one as soon as I saw it listed for pre-order. And as expected, Spark delivered. Even with the radio in the cockpit 😲! I haven’t found a picture of that, but I guess it was for weather broadcasts that certainly would come on normal radio. If the pilot could hear anything is something up for debate… So, a lovely model in 143rd, rich in details and with a beautiful paint job. An oddball, yet a very cool oddball.