1897, the French 75.
A field gun in 1897, aircraft landing gear, de Gaulle's DS, the Leclerc tank, the Space Shuttle. The story of the technology inside our suspensions, and why our factory is in France.
Before it ended up under a 4x4, the technology in our suspensions had quite a career.
It started on a field gun in 1897. Then it had a go at the automobile, made its name in aviation, kept a presidential car level under gunfire, carried a tank of more than 55 tonnes and brought a space shuttle home from orbit.
We wanted to tell that story simply. It takes three minutes. Watch to the end.
Why France
Nimbus was born in Palm Beach, Florida. When it came to deciding where to build our suspensions, the answer was in that film.
Behind oleo-pneumatic suspension stands a line of French engineers. The ones who designed the recoil brake of the French 75. George Messier and his springless car, then the landing gear company that still carries his legacy. Paul Magès, who turned it into an art at Citroën. Few people did more to push this technology forward.
So we put our factory near Toulouse, at the foot of the Pyrenees, next to Airbus. Around us: the materials, the people and the know-how. And the Pyrenees to test on.
From there, we build suspensions for 4x4s and special vehicles driven all over the world.
On July 14, 64 years after de Gaulle’s DS at Petit-Clamart, the DS N°7 ÉLYSÉE drove down the Champs-Élysées on Nimbus suspension. The French president was riding on gas and oil again.
Every step of the story, with sources, is on our technology page.
We are one chapter in this story. We are doing everything we can to make it a good one.