Corre La Licorne was a French car maker founded 1901 in Levallois-Perret, at the north-western edge of central Paris, by Jean-Marie Corre. Cars were produced until 1947.
The names
The first cars were named Corre, but racing successes by a driver called Waldemar Lestienne, who came from an old family with a crest featuring a unicorn, led to the company adopting the name Corre La Licorne. Nevertheless, this was a long name for a small car, and by the 1950s, even in France, the car was generally remembered simply as the Licorne.
Beginnings
Business began with the production of tricycles and a single-cylinder quadricycle single-cylinder cabriolet using De Dion-Bouton components. Early sales volumes were modest. To give greater prominence to the brand, the company began to participate in competition, and racing victories achieved, in particular in 1903 by the driver Waldemar Lestienne, gave the company valuable recognition. Sales improved and were soon challenging those of longer established brands such as Renault, Peugeot and De Dion-Bouton.
Early on the business was afflicted by litigation and after a trial that lasted five years the firm's founder, Jean-Marie Corre, found himself financially ruined and obliged to sell his business, in 1907, to Lestienne Firmin, a skilled financial administrator. It was at this point that the Corre name was changed to Corre-La Licorne.
In 1910 the model list included three models: one with a single-cylinder engine, one with twin 1.7-liter and a third model powered by a 4-cylinder. But by eve of World War I in 1914, the range had already been broadened substantially. The 4-cylinder engines were derived from Ballot and Chapuis-Dornier units.
With the outbreak of war, the business was moved to new premises in nearby Neuilly.
1918 - 1926
After the war a new model with a 1.2-liter engine was presented. This was a new version of an earlier model dating back to before the war. By the mid-1920s, the Neuilly manufacturer was offering a wider range, and the cars were joined by new commercial vehicle versions and even small buses.
In rural areas Corre-La Licorne cars were valued by farmers and small businessmen for their robust simplicity and the ease with which they could be maintained, but their reliability and economy also appealed to urban consumers. By the time of the October 1924 Motor Show, the basic Corre-La Licorne passenger vehicle range extended to four mid-range cars, all with four cylinder engines, as follows: 1390cc (8CV) with wheelbase, listed at 20,500 francs 1685cc (9CV) with wheelbase, listed at 21,400 francs 1614cc ohc (10CV) with wheelbase, listed at 26,500 francs 2292c (12CV) with wheelbase, listed at 38,000 francs
The prices shown are for a car with a standard body already fitted. In each case the cars were offered with a standard Torpedo-style body designed to seat four or, in the case of the longer 12CV, six people.
1927 - 1939
In 1927, the factory moved again, this time to Courbevoie. The company began to buy in sub-assemblies from Citroën, as part of a dependency relationship that would be extended in the 1930s. In the same year new 5V and 6CV models were introduced. These would remain in production for a decade.
1932, saw more new model introductions in the small/medium category. The cars were focused on the lower end of the market: they were both well finished and relatively affordable, and they met with some success. By 1935, the range also included slightly larger 10CV and 11CV models.