On October 7, 1948, when the Paris Salon de l’Automobile opened its doors in the Grand Palais just off the Champs-Élysées, it was to a world of postwar austerity. Yet despite the hardship, the great coachbuilders were out in force: Figoni et Falaschi, Pourtout, Franay, Chapron, and others showed elegant machinery that everyone wanted, but hardly any could afford.

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