Pour la sauvegarde et la valorisation de notre Culture Industrielle

Fondation de l'Automobile Marius Berliet

The Collection

The collection of the Berliet Foundation represents to day:

280 CARS AND TRUCKS, RESTORED ENGINES AND COMPONENTS, representing 30 TRADE MARKS , FROM 1886 UNTIL TO-DAY

This “steel memory” is a testimony of the clever engineering and know-how of these to day vanished manufacturers.

The restoration of such parts represents complex operations achieved by highly qualified professionals able to implement a know-how prone to disappear. Mechanically, the vehicle is totally disassembled till the smallest washer, the missing or damaged parts are machined at the period dimensions and margins. For the bodywork,
which is usually the most deteriorated part, many parts are manually hammered out, the wooden frames being refabricated with the same species as originally (mainly ash tree).

Every year several vehicles and parts are restored and then added to the collection at the Conservatoire.