Salmson 2300 Sport (1953 – 1956) Review

Rather sadly, the best car to come out of Salmson's Billancourt factory was its last. The 2300 Sport certainly looked the part – with styling strongly redolent of cars from Pegaso, Facel Vega and Ferrari. The 2300 Sport used a version of the company’s double overhead camshaft four-cylinder engine that had first seen the light of day in 1921 – in the first car ever produced by Salmson. When installed in the 2300 Sport, upping the engine capacity and boosting the power accordingly upgraded it further. As a result, the top speed was high at 105mph.

The car was fitted with an all-steel coachbuilt body, which was seen as unnecessary, and something that only added to production costs without being of any real benefit. More bizarrely, no fewer than seven body styles were tried before a definitive range was chosen in 1954. France was still recovering from WW2 when the 2300 hit the market in 1953, and few people could afford such an overtly sporting car – at such a high price. With no market, the Salmson factory was forced to close after three more years- with just 227 produced between 1953 and 1956.