Coeur de Belle: this fantasy Renault R8-based vehicle was designed in 1967 by M. Lehalle, a modéliste specialized in car bodies.
Completed few weeks before the 54 Salon de Paris, Coeur de Belle was then exposed at the Automobile Club de l'Ile de France, in place de la Concorde, thanks to Marcel Martin's intervention, President of the Federation Francaise de la Carrosserie, who lent his support M. Lehalle's project.
But why this name?
The "Carlina Acanthifolia" or "Coeur de Belle" as they say in Aveyron, is the name of a flower, chosen by the Cooperative des Metiers of Rouergue as their emblem.
In December 1966, this Cooperative informed the artisans from Paris that, if they where looking for a place were to move their work outside the center, there where a certain number of villages willing to accept them with good conditions.
M. Lehalle and his wife, painted furniture décoratrice, decided to accept and few weeks later moved in an abandoned farm in Murasson, a little village of barely 150 souls, whose Major, Aliès, was a fervent of the Automobile.
Lehalle arrived with the intention of building the most original car and soon Aliès was onboard.
Helped by the Cooperative des Metiers, Lehalle, with his great surprise, had a great contribution by the inhabitants of Murasson and by the Renault agent of a nearby village, Belmont.
When he finished the molds for the plastic body, Lehalle turned to the local artisans for all the works: each one did a small part in this work: bourreliers, blackmiths, mechanics, even the children of the school had their part, choosing the name.
On June the 16th, thursday, the Coeur de Belle made its first outside the farm, and two days later it went to Paris, to M. Martin, to became the vedette of the exposition de la Concorde, organized from 21 to 25 june by the ACIF.
