Coadou-Fleury

Coadou-Fleury was a French automobile marque associated with Marcel Coadou, a captain in the French Air Force reserve who also served as director of a flying school at Saint-Michel-en-Grèves, in the Trébeurden area of Côtes-du-Nord.

Coadou began his automotive experiments with a small cyclecar featuring an aluminum monocoque frame, an 850cc four-cylinder Ruby engine, a two-speed epicyclic gearbox, and shaft drive. This early car was capable of a top speed of about 43 mph (70 km/h).

In 1927, he replaced the Ruby engine with a unit derived from the Citroën B2, which he modified with overhead valves, raising output from 20 to 30 bhp. To cope with the increased power, he equipped the car with front-wheel brakes. The bodywork was also made more streamlined, with the original flared wings replaced by aileron-style fairings behind each wheel.

By 1929, Coadou reverted to cycle-type wings and transformed the car into a coupé, later followed by a two-door saloon version. He patented his designs not only in France but also in Germany and Britain, hoping to attract a backer who would put the car into series production.

The final iteration of the design, though substantially reworked from earlier versions, featured an aerodynamic coupé body with an airtight sliding cockpit and wire wheels, replacing the disc wheels used on previous models. This car became known as the Aerolithe and has survived to the present day.