DARMONT was a French automobile manufacturer based at Courbevole in the Paris conurbation and active between 1919 and 1939.
During the First World War, Robert Darmont started as an importer of Morgan cycle cars from England. When peace came he set up an auto-making business in partnership with his brother André, operating from a workshop at Courbevoie in the western part of Paris. In 1921, the brothers obtained a licence to build Morgan three-wheelers in France, and a faithful replica, the Darmont-Morgan, was the result.
From 1922 the Darmont-Morgan is virtually indistinguishable from the Morgan three-wheeler on which it was based. On the front was mounted an air-cooled 1084 cc ‘V’ twin engine, providing enough to power to reach 125 km/h (78 m.p.h.).
The October 1928 Paris Motor Show saw the manufacturer displaying a range of Morgan-based three wheelers, with both air-cooled and water-cooled engines. The Darmont-Morgan also had a successful career in street and mountain races, such as the Mont Ventoux Rally. In 1921, Darmonts took the first three places in a road race from Paris to Nice.
The Darmont Spécial was produced from 1926, fitted with a water-cooled ‘V’ twin engine and a claimed top speed of 150 km/h (93 m.p.h.). During the 1930s various more luxuriously fitted out variants of the Spécial appeared. The Darmont Étoile de France produced from 1932 closely resembled the Darmont Spécial.