Carrosserie Franay

Cars with bodies by Carrosserie Franay

The car itself is credited to its chassis manufacturer. Open a car to see its individual chassis.

• No licensed photo yet

  Bentley · 1947

  Mark VI Cabriolet by Franay (B26BH)

  1 Built

  One-offCoachbuilt

• No licensed photo yet

  Bentley

  R-Type Continental – non-Mulliner coachwork (Franay, Graber, Farina, Park Ward)

  Production not yet verified

  Coachbuilt

• 

  Delahaye · 1937

  145 Cabriolet by Franay

  1 Built

  One-offCoachbuilt

• No licensed photo yet

  Duesenberg · 1931

  Model J Convertible Sedan by Franay (J-446, Queen Maria of Yugoslavia)

  1 Built

  Royal, state & papal

Key facts

Founded

1903¹ Independently researched

Founder

Jean-Baptiste Franay^1,2 Independently researched

Headquarters

Levallois-Perret (Paris), France¹ Independently researched

Status

Closed in 1955² Independently researched

History

Jean-Baptiste Franay, who had trained as a saddler with the carriage maker Henri Binder, founded his own repair business in 1903 in Levallois-Perret, and it later became a maker of car bodies. His son Marius took over after the First World War and became chairman of the French coachbuilders' association. Between the wars the firm bodied makes including Bentley, Bugatti, Delage, Delahaye, Duesenberg, Hispano-Suiza and Rolls-Royce, and after 1945 it built drophead coupés on the Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith. Marius died in 1954 and the company closed in 1955.

Milestones

1. 1947
   Franay's Bentley Mark VI Drophead Coupé (B20BH) debuted at the Paris Auto Show.¹
2. 1948
   The same Bentley won Best of Show at Enghien, while Franay built drophead coupés on the Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith in 1947–48.¹
3. 1955
   Franay closed its doors, the year after Marius Franay's death.²

Sources

Each number links to the exact facts it supports.

1. 1
   1947 Bentley Franay Drophead Coupe Level C Sports Car Digest

   • debuted at the Paris Auto Show in October 1947
   • Best of Show at Enghien, June 12, 1948; Silver Wraith dropheads 1947–48
   • "In 1903, Franay founded his own repair business."
   • Jean-Baptiste Franay, trained as saddler with Henri Binder
   • Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret
   • Binder training; 1903 founding; Levallois-Perret; Marius; interwar and postwar clients

   Accessed 2026-11-11
2. 2
   1950 Delahaye 135M Convertible By Franay (lot listing) Level C Sotheby's

   • "closing its doors for good in 1955"
   • founder Jean-Baptiste Franay
   • Marius died 1954; closed 1955

   Accessed 2026-11-11