Clénet was a manufacturer of Neoclassic automobiles with old retro styling, mixed with modern technology. Each limited-production model was conceived, designed, and produced by a small team in Santa Barbara County, California, in the 1970s and 1980s. The automobile's distinctive styling was based on the high-end automobiles of the 1930s. Despite their retro looks, Clénets used modern drive trains and suspension systems.
Founding
1979 Clénet Series I roadsterClénet Series II
Clénet Coachworks, Inc., started in a garage, with investors in 1975. Clénet's first car was called the Series I. It was a roadster designed in a 1930s style. This was then replaced by the heavier-looking Series II in 1979.
Originally the company was moved into an airplane hangar where an assembly line style of production was begun, later to be reborn in a "high tech" facility in Goleta, California, in 1980,[1] where production of Series II continued until the company ran into financial difficulties and ceased production in 1982.[1]
By 1984, Alfred J. DiMora (b. 1956) - owner of Classic Clénet Club and one of the first employees of Clénet - had purchased off the assets and the name of Clénet Coachworks, Inc.; Alain Clénet (b. 1944) filed for bankruptcy in 1987.[2] The remaining bodies, tooling and equipment went up for auction.
A total of 250 factory-authorized Clénet Series I, 187 Series II, 65 Series III, and 15 Series IV cars were produced by Clénet Coachworks, Inc. Clénets sold for around US$105,000 in the 1970s. Recently Clénets in excellent or new condition with no mileage have sold for US$100,000 to $150,000.[citation needed]
Repurchase
Alfred J. DiMora purchased the assets of Clénet Coachworks, Inc., revived Clénet and moved the company to a new production factory in Carpinteria, California, in 1984.[1] He re-established the production of the automobile to the same standards of the original, employing many of the original craftsmen from the first Clénet company. Production resumed on the two series of Clénets started at the Goleta facility. Later the Series IV and Series V Designed by DiMora were added to the line of Clénet automobiles.
Clénets were still built as of 2023 in Palm Springs, where Sir Alfred J. DiMora resides.
Honors
DiMora's Clénet was selected as the "Official Centennial Car" in 1986, when President Ronald Reagan declared the Centennial Year of the Gasoline-Powered Automobile that it resulted in honors for both DiMora and the Clénet at the Automotive Hall of Fame in Michigan.
In popular culture
Clénet appeared in media during the 1980s as a symbol of wealth and sophistication. In Blake Edward's 1981 comedy S.O.B., Robert Vaughn's character David Blackman drove a Clénet. Alain Clénet himself can be seen in one of his namesake cars, as a parent of one of the pupils at the upscale Calvin Finishing School for Girls, in the 1980 slasher filmTo All a Goodnight.
