France’s own answer to the Jeep: 9,621 built between 1951 and 1955, almost all of them military, on a 2,150 mm wheelbase, 3,410–3,460 mm long and 1,360–1,460 kg, with independent suspension, an aluminium body and a light-alloy overhead-valve four of 1,992 cc and 63 hp through a four-speed all-synchromesh gearbox and a transfer box.
MODEL LINEVLRBUILT BYDelahaye, ParisPRODUCED1951–55OPERATED INFrancePRODUCTION9,621LAYOUT4 wheels · 85″
The record
The French army tested the VLR in the second half of 1950 and ordered slightly more than 4,000. It was the better vehicle on paper and the worse one in the field: the independent suspension and the aluminium body made it complex and fragile for conscript service, the differential locks were blamed for accidents and were often removed, and by the mid-1950s the army had gone to the mechanically simpler Jeep, assembled in France by Hotchkiss under Willys licence as the M201. A well-maintained VLR performed well; that was the problem.
STATUSreplaced in French service by the Hotchkiss M201
RECORD KINDBase model
MODEL LINEVLR
FAMILYVLR
WHEELS4
NOMINAL WHEELBASE85″
BODY STYLESoft top
VARIANTS1
Catalogue fields describe the vehicle's structure and body as this registry records it. They are not certified factory measurements, and no performance figures are published here.
Body styles & colours
Factory colours
Vert Armée (French Army green)
Codes on hover. Hex values are representative approximations of period paint unless a source states a measured value.
