HISTORY of PIC PIC Piccard and Pictet Genère Suisse Automobiles

The distant origins of Pic-Pic date back to 1858, the year in which Conrad Staib's son took over his father's locksmith's workshop in rue Verdaine in Geneva. He moved in 1861 to Malagnou and founded the company F. Staib & Cie, specializing in the manufacture of hot air heaters.

The company later became Weibel, Briquet & Cie and diversified its activities by embarking on the construction of hydraulic turbines.

In 1886, Paul Piccard (1844-1929) 1, a graduate mechanical engineer of Vaud origin, took over with Jules Faesch the company which took the name of Faesch & Piccard. They quickly abandoned the heating section to devote themselves as early as 1890 solely to the production of hydraulic pumps and turbines, notably those of Niagara Falls.

In 1895, Jules Faesch died and was replaced by Lucien Pictet (1864-1928) 3, a Geneva engineer who had worked for the company for five years. The association creates the name Piccard & Pictet, located at rue Adrien Lachenal in Geneva.

On December 23, 1905, Edwin Schwarzenbach, a Zurich financier, became chairman of the S.A.G. (Société d'Automobiles à Genève), a company with a capital of 500,000 Swiss francs with its head office in Geneva which entrusts Piccard & Pictet with the manufacture of cars.

Passionate about cars, Lucien Pictet is appointed director of the new company. He went to Barcelona to buy back the license for the cars manufactured by Hispano-Suiza from Marc Birkigt.

Back in Geneva, Lucien Pictet orders through the S.A.G. frame construction at Piccard & Pictet.

From 1906, the first range of S.A.G. leaves the factories, composed of three models: a 12/16 HP, a 20/24 HP and a 40/50 HP, all 4 cylinders.

In 1909, the company paid its first dividend (5%). It produced 220 chassis, most of them bodied by Gangloff in Geneva and Geissberger in Zurich. Costing at the time more than twenty thousand Swiss francs, these automobiles represent true luxury vehicles.

At first reluctant to the idea of ​​manufacturing cars, Paul Piccard finally absorbed the company whose corporate name became Société anonyme des ateliers Piccard & Pictet based at 109 rue de Lyon in Geneva, and joined to the manufacture of turbines that of automobiles. .

The termination of the license contract with Hispano-Suiza results in the abandonment of the S.A.G. bought back half a million Swiss francs by Paul Piccard and Lucien Pictet. From now on, the vehicles will be called Pic-Pictet.

ACF Grand Prix - Circuit de Lyon
157 - The Piccard Pictet de Tournier is getting ready for departure
editor S. Farges-Lyon

The Piccard-Pictet company was founded in 1895. First a Piccard and Pictet general partnership, then Piccard-Pictet & Cie in 1898, it became a public limited company of Ateliers Piccard-Pictet & Cie in 1906, the year in which the firm began working on the automobile on behalf of a group of Swiss investors. This group founded the SAG (Société d'Automobiles de Genève) in 1904. Aware of their country's poor automotive development, they decided to found this company in Zurich to fill this void. They bought a ready-made project in the form of a license to produce types of cars and engines designed by

a Swiss engineer living in Spain, Mark Birkigt, co-founder of Hispano-Suiza in Barcelona. Initially, SAG only marketed cars. Without its own production resources, SAG must subcontract its production to a competent and well-equipped firm. She chooses Piccard, Pictet et Cie, who previously worked for other car manufacturers. Soon, the company Piccard and Pictet entered the capital of SAG and created an automotive department.
In 1904, Piccard-Pictet built a racing car for the Gordon Bennett Cup, a vehicle studied by brothers Charles and Frédéric Dufaux. This 8-cylinder in-line with a displacement of 13 liters is entered under the name of Dufaux-Pictet

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