Editing Charles Deutsch

{{Short description|French engineer and automobile maker}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| name                      = Charles Deutsch
| image                     = Charles-Deutsch.jpg
| image_size                = 
| alt                       = 
| caption                   = 
| nationality               = French
| birth_date            = {{birth date|df=yes|1911|9|6}}
| birth_place               = [[Champigny-sur-Marne]]
| death_date           = {{death date and age|df=yes|1980|12|6|1911|9|6}}
| death_place               = 
| resting_place             = 
| resting_place_coordinates = 
| education                 = [[École Polytechnique]]
| spouse                    = 
| parents                   = 
| children                  = 
| module                    = {{ infobox engineering career
| discipline           = 
| institutions         = [[24 Hours of Le Mans]], 1969-80<br>[[Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Ingénieurs des Techniques de l'Automobile|FISITA]], 1975-78
| practice_name        = 
| employer             = [[Corps of Bridges, Waters and Forests|Ponts et Chaussées]], [[DB (car)|DB]], [[CD (automobile)|CD/Sera-CD]]
| significant_projects = [[DB HBR 5|DB HBR]]
| significant_design   = 
| significant_advance  = [[Automotive aerodynamics]]
| significant_awards   = 
}}
| signature                 = 
| signature_alt             = 
}}
'''Charles Deutsch''' (1911–1980) was a French [[aerodynamics]] [[engineer]] and [[automobile]] maker, founder of the brand "[[DB (car)|DB]]" with [[René Bonnet (businessman)|René Bonnet]], and later of the "CD".

==Early history==
Deutsch was born at [[Champigny-sur-Marne]] on 6 September 1911. His father was a cartwright who had also expanded into manufacturing automobile bodies on a small scale in the early 1900s.<ref name=AQ54>{{cite journal | ref = AQ181 | journal = [[Automobile Quarterly]] | volume = XVIII | number = 1, first quarter 1980 | date = 1980 | title = D.B. stands for Deutsch-Bonnet | first = Griffith | last = Borgeson | location = Princeton, NJ | issn = 0005-1438 | page = 54 }}</ref> The young Deutsch proceeded to learn his father's business from the ground up, a knowledge set complemented by a degree from the prestigious [[École Polytechnique]].<ref name=AQ55>[[#AQ181|Borgeson]], p. 55</ref> Deutsch senior died in 1929, leaving the eighteen-year-old Charles in charge of the business while also pursuing his studies. This proved unfeasible, and in 1932 he sold the business to a [[René Bonnet (businessman)|René Bonnet]], while continuing to live upstairs and maintaining a day-to-day involvement in the ''charronnerie-carrosserie''.<ref name=AQ55/>

Charles Deutsch himself states that he was only fourteen when he designed his first car, which was built in his father's shop.<ref name=AQ55/> After a promised ride for Bonnet in the 1936 [[French Grand Prix]] failed to materialize, Deutsch and Bonnet proceeded to design their own car - using Citroën parts - which they competed with some success.<ref name=AQ567>[[#AQ181|Borgeson]], pp. 56-57</ref> This was D.B. 1, which gave rise to the [[DB (car)|DB company]] which lasted until 1961. After the breakup of the company, Deutsch proceeded to build a small number of lightweight, aerodynamic, front-wheel drive sports cars under the [[Panhard CD#The CD Dyna|CD]] (sometimes referred to as CD-Panhard, since they depended on Panhard engines). Together with [[Jean Bertin]], Deutsch also worked on solving the [[Facel Vega|Facellia's]] cooling problems as well as on a more powerful twin-carburetted version.<ref name=IMS362>{{cite magazine | title = Från skilda fronter |trans-title=From different fronts | page = 28 | language = sv | editor-last = Björklund | editor-first = Bengt | location = Lerum, Sweden | magazine = Illustrerad Motor Sport | number = 3 | date = March 1962 }}</ref>

In 1935 Deutsch began working for the ''[[Corps of Bridges, Waters and Forests|Ponts et Chaussées]]'', the French highway and bridge authority. He continued working full-time as a civil engineer, becoming chief engineer in 1951, while also running a competition car company and raising a family.<ref name=AQ55/> In 1966 Deutsch retired from the ''Ponts et Chaussées'' and proceeded to dedicate his entire time to his engineering firm.<ref name=AQ71>[[#AQ181|Borgeson]], p. 71</ref>

==Career==
[[File:CD Panhard LM64 (1964).jpg|thumb|right|The CD Panhard LM64 of 1964]]
Educated at the [[École Polytechnique]], Deutsch was a pioneer in the field of aerodynamics, and founded the Sera-CD vehicle engineering Research and Development Company (Société d’Etudes et de Réalisations Automobiles - Charles Deutsch). He used the [[Ground effect (cars)|ground-effect]] on race cars ten years before [[Chaparral Cars|Chaparral]] and his #53 entry from "Automobiles Deutsch et Bonnet" won the "Index of Performance" trophy at the [[1961 24 Hours of Le Mans]]. The Alpine M64 which won the Index of Thermal Performance at the [[1964 24 Hours of Le Mans|1964 Le Mans]] also had bodywork designed by Deutsch.<ref name=AQ71/>

Deutsch served as President of the [[Société des ingénieurs de l'automobile]] from 1971 until 1975, followed by holding the presidency of [[Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Ingénieurs des Techniques de l'Automobile|FISITA]], the International Federation of Automotive Engineering Societies, until 1978.<ref name=AQ55/> He was also the director of the [[24 Hours of Le Mans]] (from 1969 until 1980) and of the [[Grand Prix of Monaco]].<ref name=AQ55/> French aerodynamics engineer [[Robert Choulet]] ([[École Centrale Paris]]) is Deutsch's most famous disciple.

Although Deutsch died in 1980, Sera-CD continues research and development to this day, from light to heavy vehicles using conventional and hybrid propulsion technology. On 23 April 2007 it was acquired by Sogeclair.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160206200647/http://www.sera-ingenierie.fr/1.aspx SERA]
*[http://autodrome.fr/cd_panhard_le_mans_64_english.htm CD-Panhard – Charles Deutsch]
*[http://www.citroenet.org.uk/panhard-et-levassor/panhard-10.html PanhardNet]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Deutsch, Charles}}
[[Category:20th-century French engineers]]
[[Category:24 Hours of Le Mans drivers]]
[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:1980 deaths]]
[[Category:Aerodynamicists]]