A Brief History of the Marque
Manufactured: René Briban & Cie, 14, Rue Palestro, Pantin
Marques which employed Briban include Ardex (microcars from Nanterre), Arliguie (125cc Briban), Chaplait, DS Malterre (SABB 1953), Duravia, Elite Sport, Génial Lucifer, Guiller (electric starter), Narcisse, Norlux, Onoto, and Valmobile.
Briban engines for motorcycles include:
Manufacture of motorcycle engines ceased in 1955; however, they remained on the market for some years afterwards to sell existing stock. In 1960 they built kart engines.
The company also built a considerable variety of stationary engines. In 1980 the company had 95 employees and 400 agents, it's major product being engines for agricultural equipment and garden mowers.
Briban ceased operations in 1987, and the following year M. René Briban died.
Sources: cyclememory.org, moto-scooter-annee50-60.over-blog.com, contemporary literature
moto-scooter-annee50-60.over-blog.com credits Didier Mahistre for much of the information on their page on Briban.
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