Boulogne

Boulogne is a French automobile company, famous for their engines in Formula A and prowess in Rally competitions. In 1999, the company merged with Itashi to create the Boulogne-Itashi Group and in 2016, it became the BIF Group.

History

The Boulogne ([bulɔɲ]) Corporation was founded in 1899, in Boulogne-Billancourt, using the city's name sake to make its name. Created by 2 brothers, Jean-Phillipe Magnier and Alain Magnier, who made several prototypes together. During their ventures, they met with a man named Milo Garnier, who was a designer, and became their business partner.

Boulogne's first car was made in 1898, and in 1905, a local taxi company bought several cars from them to make a fleet of taxis. These vehicles were later used in the military as well. By 1908, Boulogne was known as the 'taxi car maker' in several parts of the world.

Motor racing was starting to become popular and the two brothers decided to take part in it, but during a competition in 1903 Alain crashed his car and was left in a bed for the rest of his life. Jean-Phillipe stepped down from the company to take care of his brother and left the business to Milo, who ran the company until his death in 1944.

The years between the wars saw the company increase the production of their vehicles with inline-4 and inline-6 engines. Things didn't work out too well for the company and Milo, who kept full control of the company. After losing a lot of support during the Worker Strikes of 1936 and refusing to work with the Germans during their occupation, he was found dead at his home as he was about to be arrested by the provisional government.

The following year, the company was absorbed by the government, giving a chance to René Baschet to take over. The following years were mostly successful, with Boulogne making several new models that sold well both in their home country and internationally.

Boulogne's 500 model proved to be successful when it launched in 1972, and the company continued the production of more economical and compact models to further expand their market reach. At this time, the company created multiple partnerships with Dieppe Motors and Americana, who would produce tuned cars and American variants, respectively. While Dieppe Motors was fully acquired in 1973, Americana eventually found itself in financial troubles and Boulogne eventually bought the company in 1980, only to sell it in 1987 to the Mahogany Group.

The 1990s were a new era for Boulogne. With the release of the Calliope in 1990, who won Car of the Year in the year it was launched, the company was privatized in 1996. This allowed them to invest in emerging markets, which worked to a certain degree. However the market seemed to be consolidating and the company looked for a partner and after some talks, Itashi was selected for it, creating the Boulogne-Itashi Group in 1999.

Boulogne kept operating independently, creating new vehicles with bold designs as time passed. They expanded to Asia, thanks to Itashi rebadging their cars, and in 2016, Itashi purchased over 40% of Fusehiro Motors' shares, turning them into a member of the group, now named BIF Group.

In 2017, Boulogne faced a scandal, where the former Boulogne CEO, who was acting as the Group's CEO, Henrique Matias Silva was found under-reporting his income to the Japan government and was arrested for 50 days before paying. This led to a cascade of multiple CEOs keeping their jobs for less than a year until Henrique was arrested for gang formation and was sentenced for 40 years in prison.

After an internal reorganizing, Boulogne has confirmed that it will continue to produce superminis, SUVs, and will shift their cars to be EVs, with plans to make the entire lineup electric by 2030.

Boulogne Motorsport

The marquee Boulogne Motorsport was created in 1976 and is synonymous with their success in Motorsports, and many of their cars were developed with technology from their motorsport teams, making extremely successful versions of their cars.

The brand became a big winner in the early motorsport days, even before rules were made. The owners also did race back when they were young, and as such Boulogne and motorsports are almost synonymous. The company has competed officially in Rallying, all matters of Touring races and won several Formula A championships.

Particularly interesting is the Boulogne Formula A Team, created in 1977, which has supplied engines to many Formula A teams, and won several championships with their own teams. However, they announced that they would leave the Formula A premises entirely in 2025, with the last engine to be supplied in that year, and with their last branded team being renamed in 2020, Boulogne was no longer taking part in the competition.

Cars with the Boulogne Motorsport brand are sold with a BMS badge.

Featured Vehicles In Project Redline

Regular

500 Turbo II (1984)

Looks can be deceiving and the Boulogne 500 Turbo II is a prime example. Inside this hatchback supermini, there’s enough power to make one’s head spin. Primarily designed for Rallying, the vehicle comes with a different side profile compared to the regular Boulogne 500, being a completely new car.

Its weight is only 970 kg, making it very light and agile. This version is a homologated version for the FIMV World Rally Competition, now known as the FIMV RallyTouring Championship, with only five thousand 500 Turbo and three hundred 500 Turbo II being made during its six year production run. The 500 Turbo II was produced as a ‘cheaper’ alternative to the original 500 Turbo, with duller colors and cheaper parts, but it kept the same level of performance, making it an incredibly rare car.

As the name implies, the 500 Turbo II unsurprisingly comes with a turbocharger, packed tightly with an 1.4L inline-4 engine and a 5-speed transmission with a RMR configuration.

Calliope V (2023)

The Calliope launched in 1990 and is a successful successor for the Boulogne 500 and its variants, being named 'Vehicle of the Year' in Europe twice during its life. A car that is consistently on the top selling lists, the fifth generation of the Calliope debuted in 2019 and managed to get a facelift in 2023. The Calliope is sold in Japan as the Fusehiro Maverick.

This facelifted version of the supermini comes with a FF configuration, with a 1.3L inline-4 engine and a turbocharger.