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Private company

Leyat

French automobile manufacturer

Leyat, Automobiles Leyat was a French automobile manufacturer, established in 1919 in Paris by Marcel Leyat. The Hélica was known as 'The plane without wings'. The passengers sat behind each other like in an aircraft, which was driven by a giant propeller powered by an 8 bhp (6.0 kW) Scorpion engine.2 It ceased to exist in 1927.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1913Founded1
  • Industryautomotive industry1
  • Headquartersbois de Boulogne1

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Helica de Leyat 1921
Photo: PHGCOM, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons4

Leyat, Automobiles Leyat was a French automobile manufacturer, established in 1919 in Paris by Marcel Leyat.2

Products and brands

  • car

Listed on Wikidata.1

Production

Between 1919 and 1925, Leyat sold 30 vehicles.

Vehicle models

1913: Helicocycle, 3 wheels, JAP engine, only one example

1915: Hélicocycle, 3 wheels, version 2, only one copy

1919: Hélica, 4 wheels, MAG engine, 6 examples

Read the full text

1921: Leyat propeller car, 4 wheels, ABC engine, 10 sedan cars, 3 sport cabriolet cars

1925: Rail/road draisine, intended for the director of mines in the Congo, 1 copy

1927: Record model, 3 wheels, ABC engine, 1 copy. On September 7, 1927, it reached a speed of 170 km/h on the Montlhéry race track.

From Wikipedia’s article on Leyat, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Timeline

  1. 1927Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1913Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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