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Arista JD Sport - coupe body - manufactured in 1964
At the same time when most traditional French luxury and sports car makers faded away a flurry of new low volume and specialty car manufacturers appeared. Unlike the old established makes these manufacturers chose readily available mechanical components and platforms which were mass produced and low priced as a base for their cars. These parts were adapted to their own demands and fitted with attractive lightweight bodies, often made of fiberglass. The resulting cars varied in quality and appearance but they usually were colorful and sporty. Best known examples of these manufacturers were Alpine (based on Renault platforms) and René Bonnet/Matra (based on Renault, Ford or Simca components), but there were plenty more similar companies which reputation usually not extended beyond the French borders.
A typical manufacturer of the latter category was Arista. It was established in 1952 in Paris by Raymond Gaillard, a Panhard and NSU dealer. He had already tried his hand at car manufacture with the Callista, a small roadster based on the underpinnings of a Panhard Dyna X. He made and raced a few of these cars between 1950 and 1951 but had to abandon this project because of financial difficulties. The first Arista models were presented at the 1953 Paris Salon and were evolutions of the Callista designs. Later a new 2+2 coupe named Passy followed, it featured a very elegant fiberglass body and was to become Arista's best known model. A 2-seater version of this coupe was named Rallye.
During the early 1960s Raymond Gaillard contacted designer Jacques Durand (who later made the Jidé sports car) to create a successor for the Passy/Rallye models. Durand sketched a modern fastback coupe with Italian flair and streamlined appearance. It was introduced in 1963 by Arista as the type JD (after the initials of the designer). Like all Arista cars up to then the JD was based on Panhard components, in this case the PL 17 chassis. It featured the typical Panhard air-cooled 2-cylinder engine, displacing 850 cc and producing 60 hp. Thanks to its light fiberglass body the Arista JD weighed only a modest 620 kg, which meant that its Panhard engine could take the car to a top speed of 160 kph.
Despite its good looks the JD wasn't a success. Its hefty price tag hampered sales and also its by then almost obsolete 2-cylinder engine didn't attract many buyers. Ultimately only 6 Arista JD cars were made. This also spelled the end for Arista. Gaillard made some prototypes with engines from NSU, Ford and Triumph but this didn't result in any production models. In 1967 Arista had to close its doors, after producing a total of 106 cars.
The Arista JD Sport is a wonderful reminder of how incredibly varied car history actually is. No matter how many books you've read and shows you've visited, you can be certain there are still manufacturers or models around you've never seen or even heard of. To me this car was a nice surprise; it may not be very valuable or important but it shows plenty of creativity and individualism.
If you want to see more small French car manufacturers from the 1945 to 1980 era I can recommend the Autodoc site of Bruno Boulogne, which shows a wonderful collection of original brochure scans.
© André Ritzinger, Amsterdam, Holland
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