Amiot
Financed by the owners of Chanel, Félix Amiot built one of the ugliest bombers ever flown and one of the most elegant, guarded the Wertheimers’ perfume empire through the Occupation, then turned to boats.
Amiot: the company and the aircraft that made its name
A garage, a stamping press and Chanel money
Félix Amiot grew up watching the pioneers fly at Issy-les-Moulineaux and built his first aeroplane in a nearby garage at 18. Called back from the front in 1915, he devised a way of assembling metal parts by stamping. The idea caught the eye of armaments minister Louis Loucheur, and Pierre Wertheimer, owner of Chanel and Bourjois perfumes, put up the money for SECM in 1916. It first repaired and licence-built Morane-Saulnier, Breguet and Sopwith aircraft, moved to a new factory at Colombes in 1919, and in 1928 bought the Latham seaplane works.
The ugly 143 and the elegant 354
Amiot’s own designs arrived with the Amiot 120 family; an Amiot 123 twice tried to fly the Atlantic with a Polish crew in 1928 and 1929. Then came the Amiot 143 bomber, first flown on 1 August 1934, a slab-sided monoplane widely counted among the ugliest aircraft ever to fly; 138 were built. Its successor could not have been more different. The sleek Amiot 340, 350 and 370 series set a string of speed records in 1937–1939 and the air force ordered 1,800, but production delays meant few reached squadrons before the fall of France.
Junkers, perfume and the boats of Cherbourg
In June 1940 Amiot moved 3,000 workers south and the Wertheimers fled to America, leaving him their shares in SECM and in Chanel. He fended off Coco Chanel’s attempt to seize the perfume business and built 370 Junkers Ju 52s for the Germans, while quietly funding a resistance network. Cleared after the war, he saw SECM nationalised in 1946; Ju 52 production continued there as the AAC.1 Toucan. Amiot rebuilt his Cherbourg works as CMN, a shipyard whose missile boats slipped out to Israel on Christmas Eve 1969 in defiance of a French embargo.
Amiot in numbers
La empresa
- En breve
- Founded 1916
- Founded in Paris as SECM with Wertheimer family money
- Moved to Colombes in 1919; bought Latham in 1928
- Cherbourg factory opened 1938
- Nationalised in 1946, ending its aircraft activity
Producción
- Más conocido por
- Amiot 143 and 354
- Licence production of Breguet XIV and XIX, Farman F.50 and Dewoitine D.1
- Amiot 122 military biplane, first series order
- Amiot 143 bomber, 138 built
- Amiot 350 series fast bombers
- 370 Junkers Ju 52s in wartime; postwar AAC.1 Toucan
Hoy
- Ahora
- Aircraft work ended 1946
- Cherbourg plant became CMN shipyard
- Félix Amiot held about 100 patents
Los números
- Amiot 143 built
- 1381935–1937
- Amiot 350 series ordered
- 1,800from 1938
- Workers evacuated south
- 3,0001940
- Ju 52s built for Germany
- 370
- AAC.1 Toucan built
- over 400 (per Wikipedia; other counts differ)
Every notable Amiot aircraft
| Aeronave | Role | Primer vuelo | Construido | Estado | Nota |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amiot 122 | Bomber biplane | Jubilado | First Amiot type ordered in series by the military | ||
| Amiot 123 | Long-range biplane | Jubilado | Two Atlantic attempts by Idzikowski and Kubala, 1928 and 1929 | ||
| Amiot 110-S | Seaplane fighter | 1931 | Jubilado | ||
| Amiot 143 | Multiplace de combat bomber | 1934 | 138 | Jubilado | Raided the Sedan bridgeheads on 14 May 1940 |
| Amiot 340 | Fast bomber prototype | 1937 | Jubilado | Flown to Berlin by General Vuillemin, August 1938 | |
| Amiot 370 | Long-range record aircraft | Jubilado | Speed records over 1,000, 2,000 and 5,000 km | ||
| Amiot 351 / 354 | Twin-engine bomber | 1939 | Jubilado | Few delivered before June 1940 | |
| Amiot AAC.1 Toucan | Trimotor transport | over 400 | Jubilado | Licence-built Junkers Ju 52/3m |
Amiot aircraft in the world’s air forces
1 air forces in the Order of Battle fly or flew Amiot types. Ninguno de ellos todavía tiene uno en servicio.
| Fuerzas aéreas | En servicio | Anteriormente volado |
|---|---|---|
| Fuerza Aérea y Espacial Francesa | Amiot 143 |
Where Amiot built, who led it, what it achieved
Fábricas
- Colombes works · Colombes, Hauts-de-Seine — Main factory from 1919; burned by the French army in June 1940
- Latham works · Caudebec-en-Caux — Bought 1928; nationalised into SNCAN in 1937
- Cherbourg works · Cherbourg — Opened 1938; became the CMN shipyard
- Marseille factory · Marseille — Wartime plant in the unoccupied zone
Gente
- Félix Amiot · founder (1894–1974) — Inventor of a stamping process for aircraft metal parts
- Pierre Wertheimer · financier — Owner of Chanel and Bourjois
- Maurice Rossi · pilot — Flew the Amiot 370 records
Récords y primicias
- Amiot 370: speed records over 1,000, 2,000 and 5,000 km with loads up to 2,000 kg, 1937–1939
Amiot, year by year
SECM founded with Wertheimer finance
Moves to a new factory at Colombes
Buys Latham; Amiot 123 Atlantic attempt
Amiot 143 first flight
Partial nationalisation; Caudebec plant passes to SNCAN
Amiot 340 prototype first flight
Cherbourg factory opens; 1,800 Amiot 350s ordered
Factories bombed; 3,000 workers evacuated south
Amiot arrested for collaboration; charges dropped 1947
SECM nationalised, ending Amiot’s aircraft business
CMN-built boats sail to Israel in the boats of Cherbourg affair
Everything people ask about Amiot
What was the Amiot 143?
What was the link between Amiot and Chanel?
Did Amiot build aircraft for the Germans?
What happened to Amiot?
Around Amiot
Todos los datos, verificados
Verificado el 3 de octubre de 2026.